andMr. Manning asked the Minister for Industry and Energy what the effects of charging the Whitegate refinery from use as a refinery to use as a storage depot for refined products would be on: (a) the staff currently employed in the refinery; (b) the security of oil supplied in this country; and (c) the cost to the Irish energy user.
Written Answers. - Whitegate Refinery.
715.
It is not possible to say what the effects of using Whitegate as a storage depot would be until such a policy, if contemplated, was specifically detailed and costed. There would be a number of policy options, such as, for example, whether or not to mothball the refining hardware which would have a significant impact on employment levels and costs. Certainly there would be a reduction in staff employed both in the refinery itself and in ancillary services. The effect on security of oil supplies, apart from the loss of flexibility in not having an active refinery, would also depend on the volume and type of oil stored. The capital or financing requirement of having all the refinery tankage full with oil products would be of the order of $70 million or an financing charge of the order of $9 million per annum. The operating cost would be up to $2 million per annum in addition to this.