Caltex starts importing products to Kurnell

Caltex Australia has completed the A$270mn ($237mn) conversion of its 135,000 b/d Kurnell refinery in Sydney to an oil product import terminal, leaving the firm with just its Lytton refinery in Brisbane.

The closure of the Kurnell refinery is part of a trend in Australia that will leave the country with just four refineries once BP's 98,000 b/d Bulwer Island refinery near Brisbane is closed in mid-2015.

The Australian government plans to keep a close eye on the diminishing refinery capacity in case it becomes a supply security risk.

Australia's refinery industry has struggled to compete with larger, modern and more efficient refineries in Asia. The closure of Kurnell and Bulwer will leave Australia with just 449,000 b/d of capacity at ExxonMobil's 80,000 b/d Altona refinery in Melbourne, trading company Vitol's 120,000 b/d Geelong refinery in Victoria, the 109,000 b/d Lytton and BP's 140,000 b/d Kwinana refinery in Western Australia.

Caltex, which is 50pc owned by Chevron, started the conversion of Kurnell to an import terminal two years ago. ExxonMobil demolished its 72,000 b/d Port Stanvac refinery in Adelaide, South Australia in 2012.

Australia is a net importer of major products, importing 291,337 b/d of diesel, 40,170 b/d of gasoline and 48,489 b/d of jet-kerosine in July. Australian sales of these products were 404,342 b/d, 311,828 b/d and 140,190 b/d respectively in July.

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