Production of fuel oil plummets across the EU

Whitegate oil refinery in East Cork is Ireland's only crude oil refinery. Photo: Denis Scannell

The production of environmentally damaging fuel oil has fallen 62% across the EU in the past 30 years, data show.

According to data from the European Commission's data analysis arm, Eurostat, over the past decade alone, the production of fuel oil in the EU dropped significantly. In 2020, 48,500 kilotons (kt) of fuel oil were produced, representing a 62% drop compared with 1990 levels, it said.