Caltex has shut down the last of its fuel refinery process units, and started operation of the site as a fuel import terminal.
It first announced the shutdown of the refinery in 2012 following a review that found “without substantial investment” it would not be economic to continue operations as “it still could not become competitive with newer, larger scale plants in the region”.
The oil and lubricants company went on to outline a $270 million plan to upgrade the site into a major fuel import terminal, with today’s announcement officially opening the new terminal.
“This represents a significant milestone in the two year project to convert the historic refinery site to Australia’s largest fuel import terminal,” Caltex said in a company statement.
The new terminal will provide around 750 million litres of storage capacity and supply fuel to retail sites and commercial customers across NSW and the ACT.
Of the $270 million slated for the conversion of the site, around $40 million has been deferred until next year “for operational efficiency reasons,” Caltex said.
This includes additional upgrades to the wharf and final tank conversions once the refinery is fully closed.
Additional site works include demolition of redundant plat and remediation of the site.
Speaking on the conversion Caltex Australia chief Julian Segal said this marks the transformation of Caltex from two businesses, refining and marketing, into a single integrated transport fuel supply chain company.
“The strong progress of the closure and conversion works has presented Caltex with the opportunity to undertake a company-wide cost and efficiency review, which we announced on 25 August 2014,” Segal added.
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