Northern Ireland

Brexit: Republic to remove all oil reserves from the UK

Tankers could be deployed to redistribute the oil between Ireland and fellow EU member states.
Tankers could be deployed to redistribute the oil between Ireland and fellow EU member states. Tankers could be deployed to redistribute the oil between Ireland and fellow EU member states.

THE Republic will remove all of its oil reserves from the UK, where they have been held for almost 20 years, as part of its Brexit preparations.

UK refineries store 200,000 tonnes - 40 per cent - of Ireland's overseas oil reserves, but ministers are to sign off on the move "for security reasons" on Wednesday, according to the Sunday Independent.

The newspaper describes the removal as "one of the most significant Brexit decision the government has taken".

It could see tankers deployed to redistribute the oil between Ireland and fellow EU member states.

Another option is reported to be via trade deals, where ownership of British oil in other member states is changed to Ireland, instead of physically moving the fuel.

Around 500,000 tonnes of Ireland's 1.5 million tonnes of oil reserves is held in the UK, Holland, Denmark and Spain.

Under EU laws, each member state must have 90 days of oil reserves in case of national emergency.

One million tonnes are held in ports around the country.

It is suggested that France could be a possible new depositary for the oil previously held in Britain.

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