BP has sold its last remaining refinery in the UK for $1.4 billion (£736 million), marking another break with the group’s illustrious past.

The Coryton refinery in Essex, which supplies petrol to forecourts across the South East of England, was bought today by the Swiss-based refiner Petroplus.

All 540 BP staff at the site will transfer to the new owner.

A spokeswoman insisted that motorists would not be affected by the decision. “This will not have any impact on the end user,” she said.

In a statement, John Manzoni, chief executive of BP’s refining and marketing business, added that BP remained committed to the UK.

“BP is very much committed to the UK and does not need to own a refinery in the UK to offer its UK customers the best in fuel products,” he said.

“This sale will enable us to concentrate on continually improving our remaining European refineries so that they remain top-class assets.”

Coryton started up in 1953 and processes 170,000 barrels of oil a day into petrol, diesel, bitumen and jet fuel. The output is enough to fill 100,000 cars with petrol a day.

Today’s deal comes 15 months after BP sold its oil refinery in Grangemouth.

(this article was taken from timesonline.co.uk)

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