A tale of two refineries

About three years ago the collapse in petroleum product demand in France, Europe and the US, prompted Total to end refining operations at its Dunkirk site in northern France.

But instead of simply closing the Flandres refinery, the company decided to ‘repurpose’ the site with the installation of new operations support and petroleum logistics activities.

The plan involved no redundancies among the 370 employees at the refinery. Their skills and expertise were, instead, to be redeployed in areas such as training technical support, maintenance and administration.

The latter option has been an unwelcome part of UK manufacturing policy of the past, and one that – to use the Govenrment’s own word on Coryton – has proved “unsustainable”.

Others were to be employed on a biofuels pilot unit, while Total also set up a forum for local discussions on revitalising the Dunkirk region’s economy.

Fast forward to present day and a short hop across the Channel, where the Coryton refinery in Essex is set to close due to continuing overcapacity in the European refinery sector.

There are clear differences between the two situations, particularly as Swiss group Petrolplus, which owns the Coryton refinery, has essentially gone bankrupt.

It is also worth noting that Total’s foresightedness at Dunkirk followed a threat of a national oil strike in France over union concerns about the future of its six refineries in the country.

However, the point remains that, given the right set of pressures, the owner came up with an option that utilised the skills and expertise of the workforce rather than throwing them on the scrapheap.

The latter option has been an unwelcome part of UK manufacturing policy of the past, and one that – to use the Govenrment’s own word on Coryton – has proved “unsustainable”.