New era for Caltex Kurnell

After nearly six decades of service as an oil refinery, Caltex's Kurnell plant is now Australia's largest fuel import terminal

Caltex Australia has announced that its Kurnell facility in Sydney has begun operations as a fuel import terminal, with this week also seeing the closure of the refinery's major processing units after nearly 59 years of service.

While the full decommissioning of the refinery won't be complete until the third quarter of 2015, Caltex says the commencement of operations as a fuel import terminal marks an important milestone in the site's $270 million transition.

According to Caltex Australia's General Manager for Supply Chain Operations, Andrew Brewer, it's been a momentous week for the site.

"This week Caltex marks two important events in its history: the safe, on-time and on-budget completion of Australia’s newest and largest fuel import terminal, and the final shutdown of a great Australian refinery after many decades of service," he said.

"The market has changed over the refinery's lifetime but for some time now – despite all our best efforts to make it as competitive as possible – it has been at a clear disadvantage compared with more modern, larger-scale and more efficient refineries in the Asia region.

"Caltex's priority is the safe and reliable supply of fuel to customers across Australia. After many decades of faithful service to New South Wales and the ACT, the Kurnell refinery's substantial contribution is coming to an end.

"We are pleased to have now transitioned to a modern import facility well-equipped to handle this important role for many decades to come."

As a terminal the Kurnell facility offers 750 million litres of storage and will supply fuel to service stations across New South Wales and the ACT.

Caltex Australia says it has offered an employee support program since 2012 to help retrenched Kurnell refinery staff, while some have moved into other areas of the company and around 75 are involved in decommissioning the refinery.

The company says it has been consulting with the New South Wales Heritage Council and the Australian Museum to preserve various items of memorabilia from the refinery and has commissioned a short film on the site's history and significance.

"This month we are releasing a 400-page colour commemorative book and will be providing this to our workforce as well as to the State Library of New South Wales and libraries in the local community," said Mr Brewer.

New era for Caltex Kurnell

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