UK drivers could face chronic fuel shortages and higher petrol prices at the pumps after Petroplus, Europe\u2019s largest independent refiner by capacity goes bust after talks with its lenders failed.<\/p>\n
UK forecourt bosses and MPs said there was a risk of parts of the South East \u2018grinding to a halt\u2019 amid reports production had stopped at the Coryton refinery, which supplies around a fifth of the fuel in the region and 10 per cent of the UK\u2019s supplies.<\/p>\n
The warning came as the refinery\u2019s Swiss parent company Petroplus said talks with its lenders had broken down and it would be filing for insolvency with the loss of up to 1,000 UK jobs.<\/p>\n
Petroplus Struggled with Bankruptcy<\/strong><\/p>\n Zurich based Petroplus has reportedly been struggling with bankruptcy since last year with oil prices spiralling and credit hard to come by. It previously owned a refinery in Teesside, which closed in 2009.<\/p>\n Petroplus admitted that talks with lenders had broken down and its European refineries, including Coryton, which produces 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day, would close. Petroplus said its primary goal was to ensure that operations are safely shut down and to preserve value for all stakeholders.<\/p>\n Coryton, which stands close to the M25, was bought by Petroplus from BP for $1.4billion (\u00a3714.6m) in June 2007. It began operating in 1953, producing petrol and diesel, new cleaner fuels, aviation fuels, liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oils and bitumen for roadworks.<\/p>\n Petroplus had about $1bn in credit lines frozen last month and since then has been fighting to stave off bankruptcy and has already suspended fuel deliveries from Coryton.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n