In a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), Galp states that “it will continue to supply the regional market while maintaining the operation of the main import, storage and shipping facilities for products existing in Matosinhos”, and that it is “developing adequate solutions for the necessary reduction of the workforce and to evaluate another use for the complex”.

The company says that "structural changes in the consumption patterns of oil products motivated by the regulatory context and the covid-19 context had a significant impact on Galp's industrial downstreaming activities", and states that "the supply and distribution of fuels in the country will not be impacted by this decision”.

This reconfiguration "will allow a reduction of more than 90m Euros per year in fixed costs and investments and c.900kt of CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2) associated with the current system", says the note.

Galp also says that it will focus on “increasing the resilience and competitiveness of Sines, with crude processing capacity of 200kbpd and equipped with higher conversion units, and initiatives to increase its process efficiency are being analyzed, as well as the integration of the production of advanced biofuels and other products with low carbon content and greater added value”.

"The potential investments associated with these initiatives could be supported by the savings from the ongoing restructuring and by the mechanisms to support the energy transition", adds the company.