The Coryton oil refinery, one of the largest in Britain, has been placed
into administration, leaving 1,000 staff in danger of losing their jobs.
The Essex refinery, which supplies 20 per cent of all fuel in London and the South East, ceased sales on Monday, telling its staff it is not clear when supplies might resume.
Its Zurich-based owner, Petroplus, intends to file for insolvency, after being unable to come to an agreement with creditors to extend its loan repayment deadline.
Speaking on behalf of the administrators at PwC, Steven Pearson said: “Our immediate priority is to continue to operate the Coryton refinery and the Teesside storage business without disruption while the financial position is clarified and restructuring options are explored.”
Coryton has a total capacity of 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Based close to the M25, the site produces petrol, diesel, aviation fuels, liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oils and bitumen. Formerly owned by BP, the 586-acre site began operations in 1953.
There are only another seven refineries in Britain – two in North Lincolnshire, one near Southampton, Falkirk, Cheshire and two in Pembrokeshire.
Petroplus purchased the Coryton site from BP in June 2007 for $1.4 billion. The firm reported a net loss of $413 million for the first nine months of 2011.
