Partner Article

Petroplus Teesside goes into administration

Petroplus refining and Marketing and Petroplus Refining Teesside Limited have gone into administration.

Steven Pearson and Stephen Oldfield, of PwC have been named as joint administrators to both companies, which operates in Teesside, Swansea and Essex.

Petroplus Refining and Marketing Limited is a subsidiary of Petroplus Holdings AG owns and operates the 586 acre Coryton oil refinery in Essex where it has approximately 500 employees and 350 contractors.

Petroplus Refining Teesside Limited which operates an oil storage site on Teesside and a Research & Development site in Swansea. Petroplus Refining Teesside Limited has approximately 60 employees.

The Petroplus Group has faced a number of challenges with finance and has suffered due to low refining margins and high restructuring costs. In December 2011 the firm announced that it was in discussions with its lenders to restructure financing agreements, but was unable to reach any agreement.

Commenting on the announcement, Stephen Pearson, joint administrator and PwC partner said: “Our immediate priority is to continue to operate the Coryton refinery and the Teesside storage business, without disruption while the financial position is clarified and restructuring options are explored.

“Over coming days we intend to commence discussions with a number of parties including customers, employees, the creditors and the Government to secure the future of the Coryton and Teesside sites.”

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