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.