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BP closes Brisbane refinery, with hundreds of jobs to go BP closes Brisbane refinery, with hundreds of jobs to go
(35 minutes later)
BP will close its refinery in Brisbane, resulting in hundreds of job losses. BP has announced its Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane will close by the middle of 2015, with up to 380 jobs lost.
The company said it would halt production at the Bulwer Island plant by mid-2015. The president of BP Australasia, Andy Holmes, said the growth of large refineries in the Asia-Pacific region was putting huge commercial pressure on its Australian operations.
"While this decision will significantly improve our competitive position, it will result in job losses and I would like to acknowledge the enormous commitment and contribution made over many years by our staff at Bulwer Island," BP Australasia's president, Andy Holmes, said. “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,” he said.
"We will be doing everything we can to support them through this transition." “While this decision will significantly improve our competitive position, it will result in job losses and I would like to acknowledge the enormous commitment and contribution made over many years by our staff at Bulwer Island.”
The plant's staff numbers would fall from about 380 to 25, Holmes said. About 300 contractors may also be affected. BP said that staff would be cut from 380 to 25 over the course of the plant’s closure, which is expected to take about 12 months, and that supply would not be affected.
The Bulwer Island refinery was built in 1964 and has been operated by BP since 1984.
The news comes after Shell’s decision in February to sell its retail stations and Geelong refinery, which employs 450 workers, to the Swiss energy company Vitol for $2.9bn.
Caltex closed its Kurnell refinery in Sydney in 2012 citing similar pressures from large refineries in Asia. It operates the Lytton refinery in Brisbane, which a spokeswoman said the company had “no plans to close”.
The shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, said the announcement was sad news for workers. "Refining has been under challenge in Australia for many years now. We've seen refineries across Australia dealing with those challenges,” he said.
"Obviously we'd encourage BP and [federal] and state governments to work co-operatively to ensure every assistance is given to those workers."
Bowen said the federal government needed a plan for dealing with the plant’s closure, and the loss of jobs to follow when Toyota, Holden and Ford quit their manufacturing plants in Australia.
"This government seems more devoted to spinning their way into May's budget than they are determined to assist workers affected by change,” he said.