Whitegate refinery sale is ‘still on’

The potential sale of the country’s only oil refinery in Whitegate, Co Cork is back on the table despite its parent company appearing to pull the plug on the sales process last year.

US multinational energy company Phillips 66 has confirmed to the Irish Examiner that it is considering selling the refinery, which employs 300 people locally, adding that, longer-term, it expects that the “asset will be challenged”.

Whitegate’s future has been shrouded in uncertainty for some time and little progress has been made in terms of securing its longer-term future, with a contractual obligation between the Government and Phillips 66 to operate the refinery until July of next year drawing ever closer.