Generic Hero BannerGeneric Hero Banner
Últimas notícias do mercado

Eni to stop fuel output at Livorno in 2022: Union

  • Mercados: Oil products
  • 07/10/21

Italian integrated energy firm Eni has told the trade union representing workers at its 84,000 b/d Livorno refinery that the site will stop producing fuels permanently from next year. Base oils production will continue.

Further details will be confirmed when the general secretary of the FILCTEM-CGIL union meets with Eni management on 12 October, a spokesman for the union told Argus. If the move to cease conventional refining at Livorno goes ahead, it will add to upwards of 600,000 b/d of crude distillation capacity trimmed from Europe's refining sector since the start of the pandemic.

Eni declined to comment on the future of the refinery. But the firm said early this year that it is considering converting Livorno into a biorefinery for hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) production and also constructing a waste-to-methanol plant nearby.

There has been no indication since, from either Eni or from unions, that the HVO plant is still under consideration. Eni has already converted two other domestic refineries into biofuels plants, at Venice and Gela. They have a combined HVO production capacity of 1mn t/yr, and Eni has said it aims to reach 5mn t/yr capacity by 2050.

Livorno looks set to join a growing list of European refinery closures since the pandemic weighed on fuel demand last year, including ExxonMobil's 120,000 b/d Slagen refinery in Norway, Portuguese firm Galp's 110,000 b/d Porto refinery and Finnish company Neste's 55,000 b/d Naantali refinery. Trading firm Gunvor has stopped crude processing at its 80,000 b/d Europoort refinery in the Netherlands, although it is still running feedstock through secondary units. It has also mothballed its 115,000 b/d Antwerp refinery in Belgium. Other refineries in the region that have been marked for conversion to biofuels production include TotalEnergies' 93,000 b/d Grandpuits plant near Paris.

Base oils output to continue

Eni plans to carry on producing base oils at Livorno, according to the FILCTEM-CGIL. But without fuel production on site, the firm will need to source vacuum gasoil (VGO) for its base oils feedstock from elsewhere.

The company has the option to source VGO from its other refineries in Italy. The alternative would be to import VGO from the spot market or via term contract. Eni produces SN 90, SN 150, SN 500 and bright stock at Livorno, which is supplied to domestic customers by truck, and to overseas markets by bulk and flexi-tank.


Compartilhar
Generic Hero Banner

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more