3. OIL
Table 3.1 Record of the BOS, 2017 (million litres)
Total disposal of petroleum-based road transport fuel |
4 439 |
|
|
Of which diesel |
3 293 |
|
|
Of which gasoline |
1 146 |
Total disposal of biofuel for road transport |
226 |
|
|
Of which biodiesel |
167 |
Of which bioethanol |
58 |
Source: NORA (2018), The Biofuels Obligation Scheme Annual Report 2017, www.nora.ie/_fileupload/457- 18X0074%20-%20BOS%20Annual%20Report%20for%202017.pdf.
As Ireland consumes more diesel than gasoline, biodiesel will continue to dominate the biofuel market in the coming years. Biodiesel sales accounted for 74% of the total biofuel sales in 2017, with the remaining 26% from bioethanol.
A key issue for biofuels in Ireland is the country’s high dependency on imports. There is no domestic production of biogas and only a small amount of production of biodiesel, mostly from recycled cooking oil. In 2016, when the BOS target was met with 174 million litres of biofuels, only 30 million litres were domestically produced. It is expected that there will be more opportunities in Ireland to develop commercial production of biofuels as the obligation rate increases. The biofuels obligation has been met each year since its introduction. Import dependency remained high at 81% in 2017. The country’s largest biofuel blending facility is the Whitegate refinery (see the section on “Refining” below).
Oil heating
The residential sector consumes gas oil and predominantly kerosene for household heating. Two-fifths of Irish households depend on individual oil-fired boilers, especially in rural areas. The government recognises the importance of decarbonising residential heating as a vital component to the energy transition and is implementing several projects to promote low-carbon transition in the heating sector. This includes district heating in two new districts in Dublin, encouraging the replacement of oil-fired boilers with electric heat pumps and the planned provision of solar rooftops for at least 170 000 homes.
Market structure
The Irish government promotes market flexibility and competition as a means to ensure security of supply (SoS). Ireland’s downstream industry is fully privatised and deregulated. The Irish market has seen the exit of international oil companies and the entry of new medium-sized players since the last IEA in-depth review in 2012. Irving Oil has acquired the Whitegate refinery from Phillips 66, and Vermilion is now the operator of the Corrib gas field after taking over from Shell.
There are six large companies in the oil wholesale market: Circle K, Maxol, Inver, Top Oil, Valero and LCC. LCC imports into Northern Ireland; Total imports aviation fuels and provides most of the demand for airports.
There are eight large companies in the oil retail sector: Circle K (formerly Topaz), Applegreen, Maxol, Emo, Inver, Top Oil, Tesco and Valero, which run about 1 800 retail stations in Ireland. Circle K is the dominant player, which together with the next big
40
IEA. All rights reserved.