BP has confirmed this morning it’s closing its Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, with 355 jobs to be cut by the middle of next year.
BP Australasia president Andy Holmes said in a statement the growth of large refineries across the Asia-Pacific was driving structural changes within fuel supply chains for the region, putting commercial pressures on smaller plants.
“It’s against this background that we have concluded that the best option for strengthening BP’s long-term supply position in the east coast retail and commercial fuels markets is to purchase product from other refineries,” he says.
“And while more of our transport fuel demand will be met by imports in future, ample supplies are available to maintain Australia’s energy security.”
The number of dwelling approvals in February decreased by 5%, seasonally adjusted, with the number of private sector apartments approved suffering the greatest fall.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of private sector houses approved also fell by 2.1%, seasonally adjusted, off the back of an 8.4% rise in January.
Private sector dwellings excluding houses had the greatest decline, falling 8.7% in the month.
However these negative numbers did little to affect the dwelling approval trend term, which rose 0.7% in February, marking its 26th consecutive rise.
Aussie shares have opened higher this morning, following a strong lead from Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 13.7 points to 5402.9 at 12:02pm AEDT. Overnight the Dow Jones closed 74.95 points higher, up 0.46% to 16,532.61.
