The three large oil refineries in the port of Antwerp are to be completely modernised. ExxonMobil, Total and Gunvor are investing a total of around €2.3 billion in their plants. This will safeguard the continued existence of the refineries. Elsewhere in Europe, a lot of refineries have had to close in recent years due to the competition from the Far East and Middle East. Rotterdam will benefit The investments in Antwerp are also good for the port of Rotterdam. The crude oil for the Belgian plants is largely imported via Rotterdam and transported by pipeline to Antwerp. In addition to this, refinery products are exchanged between the port areas by pipeline and inland shipping. 100 million tonnes of crude oil a year is shipped to the port of Rotterdam and then pumped to five refineries in Rotterdam, one in Vlissingen, three in Antwerp and two in Germany. Together, these refineries form the biggest petrochemicals cluster in the world.
The three refineries in Antwerp process around 35 million tonnes of crude oil a year. In Rotterdam, the Shell, BP, Exxon, Kuwait Petroleum and Koch refineries process roughly 50 million tonnes of crude oil.
The American concern ExxonMobil is putting €1.3 billion into a new plant at the existing site in Antwerp, to convert heavy crude oil into lighter products such as car fuels. The French oil company Total intends to invest around €1 billion in its refinery for the production of diesel. In October, the Russian concern Gunvor will tackle the refinery in Antwerp that it acquired earlier this year.
Source: Het Financieele Dagblad