WILLEMSTAD - According to Refineria di Korsou (RdK) or Curaçao Refinery, the first phase of the renovation at Bullen Bay has been completed. The storage capacity for 5.8 million oil barrels is ready for use. The first oil tanker is expected to dock this week.

Red line is the new path taken by the government for the future of the refinery focused on sustainability using modern technologies. But in the short term, the storage capacity at Bullen Bay provides much-needed income. Curaçao Refinery and Utilities (CRU) still employs 535 people. They work on the maintenance of the installations, but also on improving the organization and internal processes.

CRU manager David de Haseth says that five million guilders have been invested to use the capacity of 5.8 barrels. That investment must pay for itself quickly. CRU works with 12 local contractors. In the second phase, the storage capacity is expanded by four tanks. The third phase requires an investment of 100 million guilders. It concerns the major maintenance of ten tanks that will take three years and will provide work for 300 to 400 contract workers.

"We carry out the operation of Bullen Bay ourselves, with our own people," emphasizes RdK director Marcelino De Lannoy. Unlike the refinery, Curaçao can handle the operation at Bullen Bay itself. "This requires less capital," says De Lannoy. “The risk is less great. We do not produce ourselves, but offer our capacity for lease, we provide a service. We send an invoice for this every month. We have to do something in return, such as good maintenance and not make mistakes with the blending of the products.”