As Western Refineries Close, Think Energy Is Ready to Supply Diesel to Industrial Operators
Something significant is happening in the global refining industry, and most industrial operators have not yet felt the full consequences. Across Europe and North America, refineries are closing at an accelerating pace. In Scotland, the Grangemouth refinery, the oldest in the United Kingdom with over a century of operations, permanently ceased crude oil processing in 2025 and was converted into a finished fuels import terminal. In Germany, Shell closed its Wesseling refinery and BP reduced capacity at its Gelsenkirchen facility. In the United States, Phillips 66 ceased crude oil processing at its Los Angeles refinery in October 2025, with remaining units idled by year end. Together with Valero's planned closure of its Benicia refinery, these two facilities alone produced around 20% of California's gasoline supply.
These are not isolated decisions. They are part of a structural shift that has been building for years. According to Wood Mackenzie, nearly a quarter of today's global refining capacity is at risk of closure over the next decade, with Europe facing the steepest challenges as demand falls and high carbon costs erode profitability.
The refineries replacing them are not being built in the same places. Spending on new refining capacity is shifting to Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, driven by growing demand from those regions. These new mega-facilities are designed primarily to serve their own domestic markets. They are not being built to export diesel to Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, or the industrial operators in emerging markets who have historically depended on Western refining capacity to meet their fuel needs.
The result is a growing gap between where diesel is produced and where it is needed. For industrial operators in mining, cement, asphalt, logistics, manufacturing, and power generation, that gap translates directly into higher costs, longer supply chains, and greater exposure to disruptions that are increasingly difficult to predict or manage.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis of early 2026 made that exposure impossible to ignore. But the refinery closures happening in the West are a slower, quieter version of the same problem. Every closure removes capacity from the global system. Every new mega-refinery built in Asia serves Asian demand first. And every industrial operator that continues to depend on imported diesel absorbs more risk with each passing year.
Think Energy Holdings was built for exactly this moment. Our modular crude oil processing technology allows industrial operators and energy producers to convert local crude and condensates into specification-compliant diesel and low-sulfur marine fuel on site, in 90 to 120 days, without the capital intensity or timeline of conventional refinery projects. H2S is removed at the source. CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 50% compared to conventional refining, directly improving Scope 3 emissions reporting for operators with ESG commitments. And fuel quality meets the same industrial and maritime standards as conventionally refined products, independently validated by the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University.
As the Western refining system continues to contract, the operators and producers who act now to establish local fuel production capacity will be the ones best positioned to maintain operational continuity, control costs, and meet the energy demands of a market that is becoming structurally tighter every year.
The gap left by closing refineries will not fill itself. Think Energy is ready to fill it.
