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Refinery has had ?numerous? offers, but still no sale

A Teeside MP has said he feels “reassured –as far as it goes” after talks with Swiss based firm Petroplus on the future of a Teeside oil refinery.

Stockton North MP Frank Cook had meetings with execs from Petroplus, with an earlier six-month target of selling the refinery running short of time.

In February, Karyn Ovelman, Petroplus’ chief financial officer, said: “We are looking to sell Teeside over the next six months. If there is no sale we may turn it into a terminal or storage facility”

The 40-hectare site has had ‘numerous’ offers that are currently under consideration, according to Mr Cook.

He said: “I remain deeply concerned that every effort must be made to maintain Teeside’s refining capacity.

“But I did find the outcome of our discussions more positive and constructive than I had anticipated.

“It had appeared before that there was very little interest in the plant, but we now know that is not the case and in fact there are a number of interested parties involved in the process.”

The site was built in 1996, with an output capacity of 117,000 barrels a day – supplying up to 17% of all commercial diesel demand in the UK, according to Petroplus.

Mr Cook added: “It could be that no firm decision on the future of the site will be made before the end of the year, but the company have agreed to meet with me again and I will certainly be working with fellow MPs to press organisations such as One North East and Lord Mandelson’s Business Department to do everything possible to ensure that we retain a facility which is one of the cornerstones of the region’s chemical industry.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .