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Swiss-based refiner Petroplus Holdings AG has announced that it has shut its 117,000 barrels-per-day Teesside refinery ahead of its possible sale or conversion into a storage terminal.

Speaking during a conference call on first quarter earnings, Bob Lavinia, Petroplus' chief executive officer, said "At the end of March, we stopped buying crude. It's closed for Q2 and we are looking at alternatives. It's in a safe, shutdown mode and could be restored."

The Teesside refinery is located on a 40 hectare site on the northern coast of England. The site was built in 1966 and acquired by Petroplus in January 2001 from ICI and Phillips Petroleum Company United Kingdom Ltd.

The plant has focused on straight run distillation with a name plate capacity of 117,000 barrels per day. It has been the primary source of product for the bunker market in the Tyne Tees area.

The refinery's straight run fuel oil has been typically sold f.o.b. at the refinery to various European refineries and chemical companies, whilst middle distillates have been sold predominantly in the United Kingdom, by truck and train.

Heavy and light distillates, including naphtha, have been sold in more-distant industrial regions of the United Kingdom as well as abroad for industrial use, with delivery taking place by barge or pipeline.

Earlier this year Chief Financial Officer Karyn Ovelmen said the company was considering the idea of converting the facility into a storage site or terminal if it was not sold.

"We are looking to sell Teesside over the next six months," Ovelmen said in February. "If there is no sale we may turn it into a terminal or storage facility."