Overview
- Federal Minister Katherina Reiche launched a formal multi‑stakeholder dialogue with the mineral oil industry, unions, states and ministries on Friday, October 23, 2026, to draw up a national refinery strategy.
- The ministry called preserving domestic refinery capacity a “strategic priority” but the process is still consultative and currently contains no binding measures, spending commitments or legislative timetable.
- Workshops are scheduled to begin in late November 2026 and the government expects working‑group results and a strategy proposal in the first quarter of 2027.
- Industry groups and the IGBCE union are pressing for investment support, lighter bureaucracy and reform of the EU emissions trading regime to keep sites competitive, while Green politicians warn support must target new green business rather than extend fossil operations.
- Germany runs eleven refinery sites with about 92 million tonnes annual crude processing capacity that supply transport fuels and chemical feedstocks, and recent supply disruptions and rising diesel imports have increased concern about import dependence and the large, multi‑billion euro cost of transforming plants.