Petroplus Holdings AG announced that it intends to suspend next year’s 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 has today 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 the year. This potential reconfiguration would impact approximately 120 out of a total of 550 employees
at the site.

Jean-Paul Vettier, Petroplus’ Chief Executive Officer, 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. The clear target is to drastically reduce the break-even point of the refinery in the coming years.”
Petroplus will provide further updates as this process continues.

Petroplus Holdings AG is the largest independent refiner and wholesaler of petroleum products in Europe.

Petroplus focuses on refining and currently owns and operates five refineries across Europe: the Coryton Refinery in the United Kingdom; the Antwerp Refinery in Belgium; the Petit Couronne Refinery in France; the Ingolstadt Refinery in Germany; and the Cressier Refinery in Switzerland. The refineries have a combined throughput capacity of approximately 667,000 barrels per day.

To see the Petit-Couronne refinery site