BP has announced it will cease refining operations at its Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane by mid-next year, cutting jobs at the facility.
Speaking today, BP Australasia president Andy Holmes said the growth of extremely large refineries in Asia-Pacific was driving change with the fuel supply chain and put pressure on smaller scale plants.
“It’s against this background that we have concluded that the best option for strengthening BP’s long-term supply position in the east coast retail and commercial fuels markets is to purchase product from other refineries,” Holmes said.
“And while more of our transport fuel demand will be met by imports in future, ample supplies are available to maintain Australia’s energy security.”
He went on to say that the shutdown of the 102 000 barrels per day operation will “significantly improve our competitive position” he did admit it “it will result in job losses”.
Holmes add that the company will “be doing everything we can to support them through this transition”.
The shutdown of Bulwer will take approximately a year to carry out.
Once operations have been halted the storage tanks and pipelines will be placed into care and maintenance pending a decision to convert the site into a multi-product terminal.
The site employs around 380 staff at the site, which will drop down to 25 by mid-next year.