EMPLOYEES at Valero Oil Refinery have been sent emails confirming a member of staff has tested positive for coronavirus.
It is understood that the worker, who we are not naming, was send off site on Friday (Mar 20) and has tested positive for Covid-19.
This would make this the third confirmed case of coronavirus in Pembrokeshire.
The remaining refinery workers have been put on shift work of four days on and four days off – a change implemented in recent days to segregate the workforce into two separate groups. Valero employs 1200 workers and contractors at the Pembroke site.
A contractor, who asked not to be named, told The Herald that he was extremely concerned that non-essential work was going on at the oil refinery.
He said: “Yesterday, there was white line painting, grass cutting, non-essential electrical work being carried out – in my mind this is just crazy – essential workers could be kept on site and other things can wait.
He added “The number of people on site could be substantially reduced and we could still run a safe site. We have been told that areas where the person who has the virus has been have been deep cleaned – but morale is still low. A lot of people are not happy with the way the outbreak is being handled.
“There are many communal areas, and we all have to push through the same turnstile to get to work. I am very worried, and so are a lot of the other workers on site.”
Refinery spokesperson Stephen Thornton said: “Valero strongly believes in maintaining the privacy of our employees and contractors, particularly their health information.
“As such, we will not publicise individual cases of COVID-19.
“Our pandemic response in the case of a positive test, however, include compliance and cooperation with Government and medical guidelines, social distancing, deep cleaning or sterilization of affected areas, communicating with employees’ in “close contact” with the affected employees followed by implementation of appropriate quarantines, communication with our employees at the site, and, most importantly support of all affected employees.
“All facilities on the Milford Haven Waterway are taking similar precautions.
“Valero holds the health and safety of its employees and the wider community as its highest priority.”
This was similar to the statement issued by Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas last week. An employee at Valero Energy Corp’s Meraux, Louisiana, refinery tested positive for the coronavirus on March 19.
Refinery operations, for the time being, remain largely unaffected although many in the industry see run cuts and even closures on the horizon.
“Sooner or later they should shut down,” a products trader said in an interview with industry website S&P Global.
Analysts agreed that refineries will need to curtail their throughput as demand slows.
“Run cuts are expected in Europe due to the demand effect from the coronavirus outbreak,” S&P Global Platts Analytics said in a note. However, “refiners have not explicitly announced the degree of these cuts”.
The reason refiners are putting off run cuts for the moment is because the recent sharp falls in crude prices has supported margins. But, as one crude trader said, “what margin exists does not matter if there is not a buyer for products”.
“Globally, we are looking at a pretty significant reduction in short-term oil demand, probably down 3-4 million b/d for several months,” according to Stephen George, chief economist of energy consultancy KBC, who also saw the potential for “a general trimming of runs across the board in Europe”.
