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Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 28 October 2004 CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY FOR THE ‘CLEANER FUEL' PRODUCING CALTEX KURNELL REFINERY NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources, Craig Knowles, today marked the commencement of construction at the Caltex Kurnell Refinery on a $150 million upgrade that will see cleaner fuel being produced in just over a year.
“The ‘Clean Fuels Project’ will result in the refinery producing petrol which is lower in benzene, and diesel which has a reduced sulfur content.
“Both benzene and sulfur are contributors to air pollution and smog.
“The population of NSW is growing, particularly in Sydney where the city is growing by around 1,000 people every week,” said Mr Knowles.
“The emissions from vehicles have a significant impact on air quality, our health and the health of the environment. Cleaner fuels are essential for NSW – and particularly metropolitan areas – in improving all those elements.
“In NSW there are currently around three million cars on our roads. The introduction of cleaner petrol in 2006 will provide an immediate reduction in benzene emissions equivalent to that produced by 800,000 cars.
“Similarly there are about 350,000 diesel vehicles – trucks and buses – on our roads. When the sulphur reduced diesel is introduced it will be the equivalent of removing the sulfur emissions from 10,000 of those vehicles,” said Mr Knowles.
“The Kurnell refinery was commissioned in 1956 and is now the second largest refinery in the country, producing 124,500 barrels a day.
“The fuel it produces will have to meet new Commonwealth standards which will be in place at the bowser by 1 January 2006.
“This upgrade will ensure the fuel meets those standards and will also concrete the Caltex Kurnell Refinery as one of the leading ‘cleaner fuel’ producers in the region.
“For the local community, this massive investment in the Caltex upgrade will ensure the long-term future of the plant which employs around 530 people and 160 contractors, many from the surrounding suburbs,” said Mr Knowles.
“During the construction phase of the upgrade an average of 150 people will be employed to complete the work,” said Mr Knowles.
The Minister said the approval for the upgrade was subject to more than 60 stringent conditions, including community consultation and ongoing environmental improvement programs.
© NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources
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