News Post
Total to close crude unit at Lindsey refinery in UK, eliminate 180 staff jobs
By TARA PATEL
Bloomberg
Total will shut a crude
distillation unit (CDU) at its Lindsey plant in the UK, eliminating 180 jobs, as
Europe’s biggest refiner cuts capacity to boost profitability.
Lindsey “is facing lower domestic sales and lower utilization rates which dangerously threaten its profitability,” the company said in a statement. Total had previously tried to sell the
refinery, located in Immingham in North Lincolnshire.
Total will halve refining capacity at the site by shutting a 5 million-tpy crude
distillation unit as well as improving the plant’s conversion capacity, according to the statement. The plan will be carried out by the end of 2016.
Permanent jobs will be reduced to 400 from 580 as part of the plan that includes 33 million pounds ($51 million) in investment. The company expects to spend another 150 million pounds in five years on turnaround
maintenance and other improvements.
Total has pledged to cut
European
refining capacity by a fifth from 2011 to 2017 amid sluggish economic growth and lower demand for fuels in the region. It has sold, closed and repurposed plants while at the same time shifting investment to expanding markets in the Middle East and Asia.
“Throughout Europe, petrol and diesel consumption has continually decreased over the last decade,” Total said today. “Although more than 10 percent of the European
refining capacity has been closed in the same period, overcapacity remains and competition from overseas is growing.”
In addition to the plan for Lindsey, Total in November announced a deal to sell its 16.7% stake in the PCK Raffinerie GmbH in Schwedt in Germany to OAO Rosneft. The previous year it announced the shutdown of a steam cracker at the Carling
petrochemicals plant in northeastern France.
The job cuts in the UK contrast with plans for France, where five of the eight
European plants operated by Total are located.
CEO Patrick Pouyanne said a planned reorganization of French
refining and chemicals installations will be announced in the coming months and won’t lead to the shutdown of any sites or job losses.
Total locked horns with the French government in 2010 over plans to shut its plant at Dunkirk. Strikes protesting the move led to nationwide fuel shortages and forced the company to guarantee no more French closures for five years.
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