The La Teja Refinery is the only

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and is located in the

La Teja La Teja is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay. The neighborhood has a mix of residential and industrial properties, mostly occupied by working class communities, including with a number of informal settlements built o ...

neighborhood in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. Owned by the national industry ANCAP, the refinery primarily produces light-grade oil products used for domestic industries. The refinery is connected to an oil terminal in the

Port of Montevideo The Port of Montevideo (), in the northern part of the Old City of Montevideo, Uruguay, is one of the major ports of South America and plays a very important role in the economy of Uruguay. Notably the port includes a number of important faciliti ...

. The refinery was first operated in 1937, and currently has a total capacity of approximately 50,000 barrels a day. , two-thirds of Uruguay's petroleum imports come from the United States, with a further 18% from neighboring Brazil.

Emissions

A 2011 study measured found SO₂ emissions to be ~ 4×10¹⁷ molec cm⁻² slant column density directly over the oil refinery, decreasing as the plume disperses and NO₂ peaking at ~ 1×10¹⁶ molec cm⁻².

Planned future

The refinery undergoes overhauls approximately every 4 years. The capacity of the refinery is scheduled to be upgrade in 2023 to better produce lightweight petroleum products with residual oil solvent extraction and solvent deasphalting. Because of the

energy transition An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...

in the country, where Uruguay had over 94% clean energy and the government has plans for a transition for other industries like transport, Minister of Environment

Adrián Peña Nelson Adrián Peña Robaina (20 January 1976 – 4 April 2024) was a Uruguayan businessman and politician of the Colorado Party. He served as the first Minister of the Environment from 27 August 2020 to 30 January 2023. Peña was involved in ...

projected closing the refinery by 2035 to meet the

zero emission A zero emission engine, electric motor, motor, process, or other energy source emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate. Zero emission engines Vehicles and other mobile machinery used for transport (over land, sea ...

goal set out in Uruguay Long Term Climate Strategy.

References

Oil refineries in Uruguay {{Petroleum-stub