Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s largest oil company, will halt refining operations at its Clyde plant in Sydney before mid-2013 and convert the facility into a fuel-import terminal, Bloomberg reports. The refinery, which processes about 79,000 barrels a day, is no longer regionally competitive against Asian “mega- refineries,” the Hague-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. The plan was first mooted in April.
Shell intends to reduce global refining and marketing costs by $1 billion by the end of next year as it seeks to accelerate production growth through 2014, it said in March. The company, which also operates a second refinery at Geelong in Victoria state, acquired Clyde in 1928. The Clyde plant supplies about 40 percent of Sydney’s petroleum needs.
“The decision to convert Clyde into a terminal is consistent with Shell’s strategy to focus its refining portfolio on larger assets and to build a profitable downstream business here in Australia,” Andrew Smith, vice president of the company’s Australian downstream unit, said in the statement.
The plan to end oil refining wasn’t prompted by Australia’s proposed tax on carbon emissions, Shell said.
Shell intends to reduce global refining and marketing costs by $1 billion by the end of next year as it seeks to accelerate production growth through 2014, it said in March. The company, which also operates a second refinery at Geelong in Victoria state, acquired Clyde in 1928. The Clyde plant supplies about 40 percent of Sydney’s petroleum needs.
“The decision to convert Clyde into a terminal is consistent with Shell’s strategy to focus its refining portfolio on larger assets and to build a profitable downstream business here in Australia,” Andrew Smith, vice president of the company’s Australian downstream unit, said in the statement.
The plan to end oil refining wasn’t prompted by Australia’s proposed tax on carbon emissions, Shell said.