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different options, the conversion into an import assistance was appreciated, what his com-
terminal was deemed the best way forward. pany needed was to get the Geelong facility
BP’s head of Australia, Frederic Baudry, said: back to operating at full capacity. The refin-
“Converting to an import terminal will not ery has racked up nearly $80mn in losses
impact the safe and reliable supply of quality fuel this year.
products to Western Australia; however, it will The Australian government railed against
require fewer people to run.” Victoria’s lockdown measures for months,
The refinery currently supports around 650 complaining about the long-term economic
jobs – 400 permanent staff and 250 contractors – impact. Now with hopes of maintaining a
but this will shrink to just 60 once the conversion long-term domestic refining presence slowly
is completed. BP said refining activities would waning, Canberra has been applying public
wind down over the next six months, with the pressure on Melbourne to provide assistance
conversion slated to wrap up by 2022. before it is too late.
The BP plant is not the only refinery strug- “As Victoria is home to two of Australia’s
gling, however, with two more refineries on the refineries, the Victorian government should
East Coast facing an uncertain future. be stepping up to provide tangible support
to the sector and its workforce,” the Sydney
What next Morning Herald quoted Australian Energy
Viva is in talks with the Melbourne govern- Minister Angus Taylor as saying. The min-
ment over a co-investment deal that will turn ister reportedly met with Viva executives on
the Geelong refinery into an energy hub, the November 3.
Sydney Morning Herald quoted unnamed Possibly joining the Geelong refinery on
industry and government sources as saying the chopping block is Ampol’s Lytton refinery
on November 4. in Brisbane, with the company announcing
“These government decision processes take October 8 that it had begun a review of the
time, but both parties are happy with the pro- facility’s future, including permanent closure
gress being made,” one source said. and conversion into an import terminal.
While the state government would not “The announcement at BP last week sent
comment on the situation, a spokesman said: a shudder down our collective spines,” the
“We’re well aware of the considerable impacts Victorian secretary of the Australian Workers
the pandemic is having on business and indus- Union, Ben Davis, said. “We are losing one
try and we’re closely monitoring the situation refinery; we do not want to lose a second or
at Viva Energy.” a third.”
While Viva has been pressing both the fed- While his concerns are understandable,
eral and state governments to do more to help one look at the Asia-Pacific downstream sug-
the sector recover from the pandemic, it has gests there are few long-term alternatives for
been hit hardest by local authorities’ decision operators of refineries that are more than half
to enforce some of the most stringent lock- a century old. New mega-facilities are starting
down measures of anywhere in the world. up in China with more on the drawing board,
Indeed, while Viva welcomed the news of while India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indone-
the fuel security package, CEO Scott Wyatt sia all have active expansion or upgrade pro-
said at the time that while the promise of grammes in place.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 05•November•2020