During the past few years the Swiss refining market, in line with the European refining industry, has suffered severe market pressures due to higher imports of refined petroleum products, rapidly declining fuel demand and increasing regulatory costs, causing the Collombey refinery and Tamoil SA to record significant losses during this period. According to the Managing Director of Tamoil SA, Nuri Rifaat: “Tamoil has conducted a comprehensive exploration of a wide range of alternatives for the refinery. Since 2000 we invested more than CHF 700 million to raise the refinery’s competitiveness and improve its economic and environmental performance. In spite of our efforts, we consider the continuation of refining operations at Collombey to be unsustainable at this time.”

It is impossible to predict the duration of interruption. We will closely monitor developments in the business environment and market in order to decide the definitive future of the refinery.

Consistent with our Group strategy, Tamoil SA plans to continue its presence in the retail and wholesale sectors of the Swiss market where it currently has a network of 300 service stations, a sales volume of 2,3 million tons petroleum products, a fully owned network of regional distributors, 12 tank farms and a total storage capacity of 1,3 million m3. The company remains fully committed to its workforce and to serving its clients, partners and its other stakeholders in order to maintain a strong and vibrant presence in Switzerland.

The Collombey refinery has a long and illustrious operating history in which it provided close to 20% of Switzerland’s refined products demand. We are very proud and appreciative of the exceptional efforts and performance of our employees, who have demonstrated a strong commitment to operating the refinery in a safe, reliable and efficient manner over the years.

About Tamoil SA

Tamoil SA is one of the leading oil companies operating in the Swiss market, with total sales of approximately 2,3 million tons on a yearly basis. The sales
activities of Tamoil SA are concentrated in three main channels:
- A national retail network of 300 service stations
- A wholesale unit with annual volumes of 2 million tons
- A Heating Oil business that serves more than 70,000 end customers.

Tamoil SA is part of the Oilinvest Group that is currently operating under its Tamoil and HEM brands in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands and carries out its trading activities from Cyprus.

See the site of the Collombey refinery