WILLEMSTAD – Although commercial interest in restarting Curaçao's Emmastad refinery remains limited, the terminal at Emmastad continues to play a strategic role in safeguarding the island's fuel supply, according to the government's June 2026 Financial Management Report.
The report says 2BAYS is maintaining its focus on the Emmastad terminal because the facility is necessary to serve Curoil and support what the government identifies as “Plan B3,” intended to guarantee fuel supplies to the Curaçao population.
This creates a distinction between the future of the refinery itself and that of the terminal infrastructure at Emmastad.
The government acknowledges that there is little investor interest in the refinery. Most interest in Curaçao's former oil-industry assets is instead concentrated on the Bullenbaai terminal.
Nevertheless, Emmastad is not being abandoned.
Besides its importance to Curoil and the island's fuel-security arrangements, the area is beginning to accommodate new maritime activities.
During the second quarter of 2026, a joint venture involving local parties began providing ship-repair services at Emmastad for vessels weighing up to 400 tons.
The development is part of the broader shift by 2BAYS toward services instead of relying primarily on a future refinery restart.
The report indicates that the new strategy encompasses terminal operations, storage, logistics and marine services using the assets already under 2BAYS' control.
Emmastad could therefore continue playing an important economic and strategic role even if large-scale conventional refining does not return.