Blog

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the duration in days that the South East of England fuel demand could run at full capacity based on current stock levels of (a) refined petrol and (b) diesel products in the event of an emergency on the scale of the Buncefield explosion in 2005.

Michael Fallon

UK supplies of aviation fuels are resilient to most hazards and additional protections have been put in place since the incident at Buncefield in 2005. Any impact upon supplies would depend entirely on the nature of any incident.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion as a percentage of the compulsory stock obligations for motor gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel products are currently being held physically on the UK mainland; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon

Obligated companies in the UK are required to hold at least one-third of their obligation as finished products of petrol, diesel and jet-fuel. The remaining two-thirds of the obligation can be met with a wider range of oil products and crude oil, known as ‘Any Oil’, potentially including additional stocks of petrol, diesel and jet-fuel. Companies are able to hold stocks both in the UK and in facilities within the European Union.

In April 2014 in total companies held 104% of the obligation for finished products of petrol in the UK, while for jet fuel this was 96% and diesel 78%. The higher figure for petrol is a result of stocks of this product also being held by obligated companies in the UK toward the ‘Any Oil’ obligation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what strategic level his Department has agreed with industry for the amount of motor gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel products required to meet the compulsory stock oligations.

Michael Fallon

EU Member States are required under EU Directive 2009/119/EC to hold oil stocks at the higher of 90 days of average net daily imports or 61 days of average daily inland consumption in order to mitigate a substantial supply disruption. At present, the UK is obligated at 61 days of average daily inland consumption. The UK meets this obligation by directing substantial suppliers of oil products to the UK market to hold stocks.

In order to meet the requirements of EU Directive, the UK requires that at least one-third of this obligation is held by industry in the form of gas/diesel oil, motor gasoline and Kerosene-type jet fuel.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department has taken to ensure equality of access to the UKOP, GPSS and MLP UK pipeline systems.

Michael Fallon

Both the UKOP and MLP pipeline systems are privately owned and operated and commercial decisions on access are taken by the companies concerned. The Pipelines Act 1962 contains provisions for owners/operators to offer third party access and for any spare capacity to be made available to anyone who wishes to apply for it.

The GPSS is a government owned pipeline operated by the Oil and Pipelines Agency (OPA), a public corporation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. The OPA lets commercial contracts on a similar basis to operators of private pipelines provided these are consistent with Defence requirements. Access to the GPSS may require the agreement of private companies which control ingress points, egress points or other pipelines connected to the network.

Following the recent cross- government review of the role of both the UK refining and import sectors in UK, and in recognition of pipeline access being cited as an issue by some stakeholders, the new independently chaired Midstream Oil Government and Industry Task Force will take forward further work on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to monitor the amount of available capacity in the UKOP, GPSS and MLP UK pipeline systems.

Michael Fallon

Both the UKOP and MLP pipeline systems are privately owned and operated. Currently there are no statutory provisions that require private pipeline owners and operators to make available commercial information on spare capacity.

The GPSS is a government owned pipeline and DECC is able to obtain information regarding available capacity on request.

Following the recent cross- government review of the role of both the UK refining and import sectors in UK, and in recognition of pipe-line access being cited as an issue by some stakeholders, the new independently chaired Midstream Oil Government and Industry Task Force will take forward further work on this issue.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the duration in days that airports in the south east of England would be able to run at full aviation fuel demand capacity in the event of an emergency on the scale of the Buncefield explosion in 2005.

Michael Fallon

UK supplies of aviation fuels are resilient to most hazards and additional protections have been put in place since the incident at Buncefield in 2005. Any impact upon supplies would depend entirely on the nature of any incident.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that former oil refineries being converted to bulk storage and distribution terminals meet post-Buncefield health and safety requirements.

Mike Penning

The COMAH Competent Authority (CA), comprising HSE and the environment agencies, is responsible for ensuring that oil refineries and fuel storage and distribution terminals meet new safety and environmental standards introduced in 2009 following the Buncefield fire and explosion. The standards were developed jointly by industry and the CA and published by the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG).

Refineries were required to produce risk-based action plans to implement the PSLG safety standards at their existing fuel storage facilities. HSE led the assessment of these plans during 2011 and has been inspecting sites to ensure the planned improvements are made. The timings of upgrades to containment standards at refineries’ existing fuel storage facilities is based on risk and will vary for each site. Agreed improvements are embedded in environment inspection plans for each site and followed up to ensure measures are implemented on time.

The CA is working with refineries undergoing conversion to fuel storage and distribution terminals to ensure the PSLG standards are applied in full to their new facilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what deadline has been set by his Department for former oil refineries being converted to bulk storage and distribution terminals to make the necessary upgrades to meet post-Buncefield standards; and how rigorously such standards are being enforced by the Environment Agency.

Mike Penning

The COMAH Competent Authority (CA), comprising HSE and the environment agencies, is responsible for ensuring that oil refineries and fuel storage and distribution terminals meet new safety and environmental standards introduced in 2009 following the Buncefield fire and explosion. The standards were developed jointly by industry and the CA and published by the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG).

Refineries were required to produce risk-based action plans to implement the PSLG safety standards at their existing fuel storage facilities. HSE led the assessment of these plans during 2011 and has been inspecting sites to ensure the planned improvements are made. The timings of upgrades to containment standards at refineries’ existing fuel storage facilities is based on risk and will vary for each site. Agreed improvements are embedded in environment inspection plans for each site and followed up to ensure measures are implemented on time.

The CA is working with refineries undergoing conversion to fuel storage and distribution terminals to ensure the PSLG standards are applied in full to their new facilities.