Coryton Oil Refinery Sold As Terminal

Coryton Oil Refinery has been sold as a terminal, administrations confirm, with the majority of jobs at the workplace now going.

Administrators at The Refinery, off the Manorway in Stanford-le-Hope have said it will be a “significant reconfiguration of the existing site”, with Shell UK, Royal Vopak and Greenergy to become joint ventures. The Energy Minister has responded by saying “This is a very sad news for the workers”.

Around 850 staff are now looking at redundancies. The safe closure of the refinery is being managed, with all crude oil and refined products, now being removed from the site and the administrators.

Steven Pearson, who is a PWC partner, has said it is regretful that there have been no credible offers to keep the business as a going concern.

He added, “Ultimately, the administrators have a legal responsibility to achieve the best price possible for the assets and we have been able to obtain the highest price by selling the site for an alternative use.”

“We understand that the joint venture partners intend to develop the site in due course, which we hope will provide an important and stable source of supply of fuel for the foreseeable future.”

“We recognise that the closure results in the redundancy of the majority of the employees at Coryton and we intend to work with the local agencies and authorities to provide assistance during this difficult time.”
 
Published by Jack Sullivan, 6:00pm Tuesday 26th June 2012