Displaying items by tag: refineries

The UK's energy and climate change committee (ECC) has called for government action to address the burden of UK and EU legislation on the competitiveness of UK refineries. It also wants a more level playing field with European and global competitors.

In a report on UK oil refining, published 26 July, the ECC highlighted risks to the health of its refining industry and supportrd calls for a long-term framework to help secure its future

“The scale of legislative and regulatory burdens on the industry may undermine long-term sustainability," said the report. "DECC’s strategic objective should be to level the playing field between domestic refiners and importers, approaching these sectors as an integrated industry of two parts….”

Welcoming the report, Chris Hunt director general of UKPIA, commented: “The ECC’s inquiry and conclusions are timely and complement the ‘Call for Evidence’ from DECC on refining and the wider supply of fuels."

The DECC study will draw upon a report published in May by energy analysts Purvin &Gertz to assess the role and future of the oil refining industry and its value to the UK economy.

“We look forward to publication of DECC’s conclusions later this year," said Hunt, who also urged the Government to maintain its dialogue with the European Commission.

There is, he said, a need for an "urgent analysis in 2013 of all current and impending EU legislative impacts through the ‘Fitness Checks’ process being undertaken at the EU level via the Refining Forum.”

The UK’s oil refining industry supplies over 30% of the primary energy used by consumers in the UK and manufactures over 90% of the petroleum products sold in the UK.

UK oil refining capacity has declined from 18 refineries in the late 1970s to seven today. With two refineries having closed between 2009 and 2012, the loss of further UK refining capability may pose a risk to energy security of supply and resilience, by increasing dependence on imports.

A Deloitte report commissioned by DECC in 2010 concluded that UK refineries were facing increased pressure from a number of different sources, including increased competition from refineries in the Middle East and Asia, expected slow growth in demand and increasingly stringent environmental standards.