Worrying refinery closures

Oil refineries around the world  are closing at an alarming rate, according to Oilprice.com, which has recently documented a closure 'boom' in America.

Refineries that are not owned by major oil companies are losing money at an increasing rate in America, and the same thing is happening around the UK and Ireland.

Croyton refinery is desperately seeking crude oil supplies after Swiss owner Pereoplus Holdings filed for insolvency, putting around 1,000 jobs at risk.

In America, refineries in Westville, NJ, and Yorktown, Va were closed and refineries in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey were also shut down. A large refinery in Philadelphia is up for sale and will be closed in July if no buyer can be found.

Transport will become a significant obstacle to moving oil products. The Jones Act requires that all products being moved from one U.S. port to another be transported in US-built, owned, manned, and flagged ships, but there are not many tankers that meet these criteria.

Essentially, this will result in higher oil prices in the US, and the same could happen in the UK and elsewhere.

There was good news recently for the Croyton refinery, after Monaghan Mushrooms has signed a two-year deal with a Belfast firm to provide off-shore software development support which will sustain the site for a little longer, but a long-term deal will be crucial to the refinery that supplies 20 per cent of fuel in London and the south-east.

Posted by Lauren Steadman