|
(downstreamtoday) -- In January this year the company
declared itself insolvent and went into administration. O'Malley is back in the
United States, pursuing another project in the same industry.
"He was trying to replicate the business model of independent refining in
Europe based on his prior success in the U.S.," said
Gergely Varkonyi,
analyst at Deutsche Bank. "O'Malley underestimated the challenges in European
refining restructuring."
Shockwaves from the collapse of Petroplus spread
beyond the oil industry as the closure of its Petit-Couronne refinery on the
Seine became an issue in the French election campaign.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, struggling to hold onto power as unemployment
climbs, brokered a deal for Shell to supply the plant and allow it to reopen at
least temporarily.
In Britain, panic buying of gasoline broke out in January as motorists feared
disruption to supplies when the Coryton plant came under threat - although it
uniquely among the five Petroplus sites has kept refining without a break.
|
