BBCA deal has been reached to ensure supplies of crude oil to a refinery after its owner went into administration.
Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery Limited, which owns the plant in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, filed for insolvency on Sunday, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said an agreement had now been reached to resume deliveries in and out of the refinery.
The BBC understands crude oil stocks already held at the site have been bought with taxpayers’ money to allow the refinery to keep operating.
Earlier this week, the Reuters news agency reported the government was in talks with commodities trader Glencore over the status of its supply and offtake contract with the refinery.
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for DESNZ said: “An agreement has been reached to resume deliveries in and out of the Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery. The official receiver is ensuring continued safe operations at the site.
“The UK is well supplied with fuel – the site is right next door to one of the biggest and most efficient refineries in the country, and stock levels are normal across the UK.”
Prax Group, which is led by chairman and chief executive Sanjeev Kumar Soosaipillai, purchased Lindsey Oil Refinery from French company Total in 2021. The company’s financial reports indicated the plant recorded losses of about £75m between the takeover and February 2024.
There are 420 employees at the refinery, though Unite the Union said 1,000 jobs could be affected when taking into account contractors and the supply chain.
Getty ImagesSpeaking in the Commons on Monday, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said workers had been “badly let down” and the government was demanding “an immediate investigation into the conduct of the directors and the circumstances surrounding this insolvency”.
Shanks also said the government was actively looking for a buyer for the business and, if that failed, other potential uses for the site.
According to the government, Lindsey is the smallest of the UK’s oil refineries producing fuel. It is located next to the Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which is the dominant fuel supplier in the region and continues to operate at profit.