Eesti Energia planning a gasoline refining facility

Estonia's national energy company Eesti Energia is planning to complement its Auvere shale oil plant with a refinery to separate valuable chemical agents used in the plastics industry from low-grade gasoline created as a byproduct of shale oil.
In 2018, Eesti Energia's Auvere oil plant installed industrial-grade gasoline separation equipment. As a result, liquid fuel production now comprises 15 percent high-sulfur gasoline, which the company sells below cost, according to Enefit Power's CEO Andres Vainola.
It would be practical to extract substances from this gasoline that are five times more valuable.
"Large European plastic manufacturing companies, such as Borealis, BASF, among others, have shown great interest in the preliminary project. Indeed, this would be a raw material specifically for chemical industries to produce polyethylene," Vainola explained.
Polyethylene is a highly versatile material, widely used in packaging, for instance. Vainola mentioned that the main project is expected to be completed by the beginning of next year, and its analysis will reveal the investment's potential.
"And then we could proceed with those decisions. Likely, the construction of the plant would take another three to four years from there; we'll see. But again, about a year from now, we'll reach the decision on how much to invest, whether to invest, and how profitable it is," Vainola said.
The investment must also be approved by the government as the owner of Eesti Energia.
"The fact that we need to increasingly valorize oil shale today, moving more and more towards a circular economy, is in line with the owner's expectations and strategy. There is certainly no contradiction here," Vainola stated.
As the owner's representative, Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev (Reform) noted that it is too early to comment on such a new topic.
The coalition partners, Eesti 200 and the Social Democrats, believe that valorizing oil shale is entirely sensible.
"Eesti 200 has always been in favor of any innovation, and I personally think that one of the most positive aspects of this oil plant is indeed that it can produce raw materials necessary for the chemical industry from our valuable mineral resource, oil shale," said Tarmo Tamm, a member of the Riigikogu Economic Affairs Committee (Eesti 200).
However, the Social Democrats would like to see profitability analyses before making any decisions.
"Is it economically viable? We know that there are plans to phase out oil shale, and this raw material is not intended to be left on the market for very long. And definitely, in our view, this factory should pay itself off very quickly and then allow for the valorization of this raw material," said Priit Lomp, chair of the Economic Affairs Committee (SDE).
The plant would cost over €100 million and create jobs for nearly 100 people.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Marcus Turovski