Climate activists arrested for blocking Swiss oil refinery

Cressier is Switzerland’s last remaining oil refinery. The facility is owned and operated by the Varo Energy Group. © Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Climate activists who blocked the entrance to Switzerland’s main oil refinery, located in the northwest of the country, were arrested on Monday by police and their barricade was removed.

Around a dozen activists had blocked the entrance road to the Cressier oil refinery in canton Neuchâtel early on Monday morning. The police later arrested six people and removed a bamboo barricade at around 8.30am.

Around a dozen officers were called to remove the campaigners, including two who had glued themselves to the road.

They reportedly belong to the Swiss branch of the “Debt for Climate” group, who say they want to “keep fossil fuels in the ground”.

“The oil that is processed in Cressier comes from colonial destruction and is leading to severe humanitarian crises worldwide due to the climate crisis,” the group wrote on Twitter on Monday.

They claim that around 40% of the crude oil that is refined at Cressier comes from Nigeria.

Our activists are blocking a quarter of the Swiss oil products at the raffinerie Cressier right now.

They demand that Switzerland recognizes its historic role in the climate crisis and cancels the debt of the Global South.#DebtforClimateExternal link #ReparationsNowExternal link pic.twitter.com/MTlE4Y4PpLExternal link

— Debt for Climate Switzerland (@Debt4ClimateCH) October 10, 2022External link

Since the closure of the Collombey refinery in canton Valais, Cressier is Switzerland’s last remaining oil refinery. The facility, owned and operated by the Varo Energy Group, accounts for approximately 25%, by volume, of all refined products sold nationally. It has a capacity to refine 68,000 barrels a day.