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The UK's Lindsey refinery, which is insolvent, has secured some crude oil supply to continue running for the moment

The UK energy ministry announced on Friday that the insolvent Lindsey refinery had secured crude supplies from Glencore to prevent its immediate closure. However, a source with knowledge of the situation claimed the agreement was only limited.

The refinery near the north-east coast of Britain will cease to operate if crude oil is not supplied. The energy ministry didn't respond to questions regarding how long the agreement could keep the 113,000 barrels per day refinery running.

The agreement to resume oil deliveries into and out of Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery has been reached. "The Official Receiver ensures continued safe operations on the site," said a spokesperson from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Stock levels are normal in the UK.

The government announced on Monday that Lindsey, the parent company owned by its owner Prax, had fallen into insolvency. It also said that the refinery was now under the control of an official receiver.

Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, said on Friday that the refinery will shut down in three weeks due to the 1.8 million barrels it currently has stored.

The ministry of energy did not respond immediately to the data, but referred back to its previous statement.

Glencore, the company that held the contract for crude oil deliveries to the site located in Northeastern England before its insolvency, has been in talks about the future of the deliveries.

Sources familiar with the matter said that on Friday, Glencore and the government had agreed to sell the crude oil that was in storage. This doesn't include future supplies for the refinery.

Glencore has declined to comment.

Britain is a net importer of fuel. According to Kpler, it imported nearly 700,000 barrels per day of jet fuel and diesel on average in 2024. It exported 370,000 barrels per day, of which a third was gasoline. (Reporting and additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Robert Harvey. Jane Merriman edited the story.

(source: Reuters)