Oil refinery report was ‘proactive’

The Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources report into oil refineries was commissioned well in advance of the expiry of Whitegate’s oil refining obligation in 2016 and yet recommends that the department find out what the ConocoPhilips intends to do with their Irish unit, which they have already put up for sale.

Minister Pat Rabbitte said that he had commissioned the report “as a proactive measure, well in advance of the expiry of Whitegate’s refining obligation in 2016”.

However, the key recommendation of the Study of the Strategic Case for Oil Refining Requirements on the Island of Ireland, which was published yesterday was that the department should engage with Philips 66 to find out what they planned to do with the Whitegate refinery.

The report stated: “The Department should engage as soon as practicable with ConocoPhillips, at an appropriate level in order to inform itself of the company’s intentions for its Irish business unit, post 2016.”

It added that if Philips 66 was planning on shutting their refinery at Whitegate that they should be encouraged to sell the refinery for use as an oil terminal.

“The Department should seek assurances that there would be no precipitous loss of supply of refined product to the Irish market and that the use of the site for a product import terminal would be seriously considered. In such an event, ConocoPhillips should be encouraged to sell the assets for use as a terminal if they were not interested in converting it to a terminal themselves,” the report said.

Philips 66 are already at an advanced stage of selling the refinery having appointed Deutsche Bank as the advisors to the sale which they hope to complete within months, before the refining obligation finishes in 2016.

The department insisted that they are in regular contact with the company and that in the short term they had committed to continuing to operate the refinery.

“The Department is in regular communication with Philips 66 but will not make any comment about matters of commercial confidentiality to the company. Philips 66 have indicated that they intend to continue operating the assets as usual during the marketing process which is expected to last for several months,” a spokesperson for the department said.

Minister Rabbitte said he welcomed the finding of the report that Ireland could continue to function without at least one of the six oil distribution ports.

“I welcome an additional finding of the study — that the existing oil import facilities on the island of Ireland offer a robust infrastructure that would provide comfortable alternatives in the event of a serious disruption at any of the six principal oil ports. They could supply the total oil demand, regardless of any future decisions on the operation of Whitegate as either a refinery or terminal,” he said.