BP AUSTRALIA IS now producing low sulphur diesel through its two Australian oil refineries and the fuel they produce meets the highest environmental standards in the world.
Australians are increasingly discovering the beneficial fuel economy of diesel motoring but there have been many criticisms of high carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions as well as sooty exhaust fumes.
The new BP fuel delivers lower emissions of engine pollutants because of the lower levels of sulphur in the fuel.
BP has invested $300 million to reduce the levels of sulphur in its local fuel, bringing down the content by 98 per cent to 10 parts per million (ppm) since 2003. BP refineries have led the Australian oil refining industry by reducing the sulphur content in diesel at their Kwinana, Perth refinery and the Bulwer Refinery
in Brisbane.
The government has laid down specific requirements for lowering the sulphur content but BP said its low sulphur achievement has enabled it to comply ahead of the 2009 deadline. The company said it had reduced the sulphur content in diesel from 500ppm to 50ppm in 2003, two years ahead of government requirements at that time.
Kathy Hirschfeld, MD of BP's Bulwer Refinery in Brisbane, said that the latest transition to lower sulphur fuels "is just one example of BP's continued progress in improving the standards of fuel we sell in Australia.
"Supplying better and cleaner fuels is central to both our competitiveness as an oil refiner and our approach to sustainability, as it can lead to the introduction of advanced engine technologies in this country and ultimately greater fuel efficiency and further cuts in emissions," Hirchfeld said.