Petroplus mulls base oil closure at France refinery
Petroplus says it intends to suspend next year’s planned turnaround of the base oil complex at the Petit Couronne refinery in France, and is considering a reconfiguration of the refinery which would include a shutdown of the base oil complex.
Petroplus on Thursday informed the refinery employees that it intends to commence a formal information and consultation process related to this reconfiguration, as required under French law, before the end of 2011.
This potential reconfiguration would impact approximately 120 out of a total of 550 employees at the site.
Jean-Paul Vettier, Petroplus’ CEO, said: “We continue to improve the performance of our refineries through our 3-year improvement plan. But it has become clear that the Petit Couronne refinery needs more structural changes to significantly improve its competitiveness in a very difficult refining market.
“The reconfiguration would be a broad action plan which would result in improved reliability and cost structure, in addition to reduced working capital and capital expenditure needs," he added. "The clear target is to drastically reduce the break-even point of the refinery in the coming years.”
Petroplus said it will provide further updates as the process continues.
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