Who we are

Since the early twentieth century, Shell owned and operated the refinery on Curaçao. In addition to operating the refinery on the island, part of its business was to provide the local markets of Curaçao and Bonaire with petroleum products through its distribution company SNAV (Shell Nederlandse Antillen Verkoopmaatschappij).

In 1985, after Shell ceased all operations at the Curaçao Refinery, the local government took the initiative to found a new distribution company in order to guarantee the supply of petroleum products. On November 1^st of that same year, Curaçao Oil (Curoil) N.V. officially started operations for the markets of Curaçao and Bonaire.

Curoil started out with little financial resources yet had a major responsibility to guarantee the supply of petroleum products for the markets of both islands. In the years that followed, the company faced several challenges to achieve its current solid position. Today, Curoil is one of the most respected employers on the islands of Curaçao and Bonaire.

In 1987, Curoil acquired the gas facilities that used to be operated by NAGM (Nederlandse Antillen Gas Maatschappij) and founded The Curaçao Gas Company (Curgas). Today, Curgas owns and runs the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station on the premises of the Curaçao refinery and distributes propane gas in cylinders or via bulk trucks to domestic and commercial clients. Curgas also supplies LPG to Bonaire on a regular basis and is the sole supplier of LPG on the islands.

In the late 1980’s, the Curaçao government formulated a policy to create a leaner government. Among other things, the decision was made to privatize gas stations which were formerly owned by the government. Nine gas stations were sold to private parties. Curoil maintained five gas stations in Curaçao and Bonaire, to guarantee the supply of fuel for the local markets.

In the first five years of Curoil’s operations, the company initiated a project of renovating all its gas stations, both on Curaçao and Bonaire. Mechanical dispensers were replaced by electronic ones. This marked the beginning of automated fueling based on computer systems. Today, Curoil has not only upgraded the automated fueling system, but it also enhanced the paying facilities by adding possibilities to purchase fuel with proprietary fleet cards. What started as the Outopomp, today bears the name of Curoil Comfort (C2).

In the 1980’s, the bunker industry in the Caribbean was heavily dominated by international well-known companies with many years of experience and success in the bunker industry. It took Curoil several years to gain a respected position in the bunker market, by consistently delivering high quality products and services and complying with customer demands.

In 1991, Curoil further solidified its position in the bunker market with the acquisition of the Esso bunker facilities next to its own facilities at Motet wharf in the harbor of Curaçao. With the integration of the two bunker facilities, Curoil increased the efficiency of its bunker station and also enabled simultaneous fueling of vessels.

In 1992, Curoil officially opened its new headquarters with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Crown Prince Willem Alexander, then Prince of Orange. The building is located in the historic Scharloo, at the center of Curaçao’s epic architectural landmarks. The new office was designed to be contemporary yet to blend in well with the monuments and historic features in the area, for which Willemstad was awarded the world heritage status in 1997. The office is just outside the inner city of Willemstad and has become a valuable addition to the up and coming monumental commercial district of Curaçao. Today, the Curoil office building hosts numerous events, among which the traditional Christmas tree lighting show on every first Sunday in December.

The year 1994 marked another historic moment for Curoil. In that year, Curoil expanded its services by entering the offshore bunkering market. With the acquisition of the tanker Sonny, through a lease agreement, Curoil was able to provide bunker services to ships at open sea, enabling ships to continue their voyage with only a minimum delay caused by fueling procedures. Since there was no need to enter the harbor, this new service was welcomed by Curoil’s customers as an ideal cost saving bunker solution.

In the mid-nineties, the company decided to handle its own filling of lubricants by building an automated lubricant filling station on a remote plant in Zeelandia. The plant was later fully integrated in a renovated plant at Valentijn on the premises of the Curaçao refinery. Having the filling process in its own hands, Curoil gained better hold over quality control and logistics. With a smooth-running manufacturing process, the commercial and marketing developments continued. More products were added to the motor oil line to offer variety and to comply with the demands of the motor industry.

In 1998, Curoil’s subsidiary Curoil Bonaire was founded on the island of Bonaire. Although Curoil was already distributing fuel products in Bonaire through contractors at the time, the company took a major decision to permanently invest in its operations on the island with the goal to enhance its services in Bonaire. Today, Curoil Bonaire, is the exclusive supplier of fuel products on the island and has become an integral part of the local community.

Before the turn of the century, Curoil expanded its fleet with the acquisition of two six tank custom-built barges. The Curoil I became operational in July of 1998, mainly for fuel transport to Bonaire. It also functioned as a floating storage unit to expand the storage capacity at the Bonaire depot. In July of 2000, Curoil acquired its second barge: the Curoil II, a self-propelled twin engine barge. Curoil II was mainly used to supply bunker fuels to ships mooring in the Curaçao harbor.

In 2003, Curoil expanded its storage facilities at Curaçao International Airport with additional tanks and also upgraded its facilities, including a complete renovation and construction of the hydrant fueling system to fit the fueling needs of its customers. Today, Curaçao International Airport is still one of the few airports in the Caribbean that has a hydrant fueling system.

In late 2006, a full rebranding of Curoil lubricants delivered the brand: Curoil Golden. The Golden brand of motor oils changed the face of Curoil lubricants where the needs and wants of consumers were considered in the process of rebranding. In 2012, Curoil redefined its primary business focus and discontinued the Golden brand.

Up until 2006, Curoil provided the local market with petroleum derived products, bunkering services (onshore and offshore) and aviation fuel. But in 2006, the company made a major leap forward to venture into the regional markets, providing not only the traditional products and services, but also cargo.

Entering the oil cargo market started with a spot charter and combined delivery to two ports in the Dominican Republic. That same year, Curoil acquired another vessel, the British Shield, to execute deliveries for oil rigs and other larger vessels.

Mid-2007, as the deliveries to the Dominican Republic increased, Curoil acquired a second vessel for its offshore bunkering operations, the double hull vessel, Angeles B, with a capacity of ten thousand metric tons. The Angeles B mainly performed cargo deliveries in the Caribbean region and supplied fuel to utility companies in the Dominican Republic.

Curoil’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant, located on the premises of the Curaçao refinery, was completely modernized in 2008, to meet production requirements and efficiency standards.

The two vessels, the British Shield and Angeles B, performed a historical bunker delivery in June 2009. For the first time Curoil delivered fuel to two VLCC tankers simultaneously. This operation took place just off the coast of Curaçao and Aruba.

Remote filling of LPG in small cylinders became a reality when Curgas introduced its first universal filling station (UFM) outside the premises of the refinery in 2010. This UFM station was located at the western part of the island of Curaçao, followed in later years (2012, 2015) by two other UFM stations at strategic locations on the island.

In 2012, Curoil broke new grounds with the introduction of the first environmentally friendly gas station on the island of Curaçao. The design and architecture of the gas station integrate energy saving into all aspects of its operations. All equipment installed help save energy. The gas station is powered by LPG generators and solar panels. Additionally, all dispensers are installed with a built-in anti-leak container, to prevent fuel residue from polluting the soil. To manage and perform leakage control, Curoil installed leak detectors that will immediately alert in the event of leakage on tanks and underground pipelines. Curoil will continue its efforts to invest in environmentally friendly energy solutions.

By the end of 2013, as one more step towards regional growth, Curoil Aruba was launched in cooperation with Aruba Port Authorities and the Directorate of Shipping Aruba. On the island, Curoil is the exclusive supplier of bunker fuels, providing 24-hours year-round bunkering services to vessels, both Inshore and Offshore from Curoil’s own fleet of barges and tankers.

In 2014, Curoil finalized the construction of three additional storage tanks, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels each, at Motet Warf in Curaçao. These additional tanks enabled Curoil to become more flexible when purchasing fuel and have strategic storage for emergency matters.

At the beginning of 2018, as the operator of the Curaçao Refinery was unable to guarantee a steady supply of fuel products, Curoil saw itself at a crossroad that would change the company’s business model for years to come.

In order to guarantee the supply of fuel products for the local markets of Curaçao and Bonaire and also provide its international clients with the high quality products and reliable service they were accustomed to,  in February 2018, the company expanded its fleet with an Aframax Tanker that carried the name of Red Majestic.

With a capacity of approximately 700,000 barrels, this 239-meter-long tanker was used as a floating storage for several fuel products. At the time, Red Majestic became the company’s largest vessel acquisition, giving Curoil the possibility to increase storage capacity and as such guarantee the availability of fuel products during a crucial time for the energy sector in Curaçao.

In 2019, after acquiring additional storage capacity through a leasing contract with the Curaçao refinery, the Red Majestic was sold.

By the end of 2019, the energy landscape on the island of Curaçao was going through a significant transition. The refinery’s contract with its decades long operator was terminated and from that moment on, Curoil Group had to import all fuels including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). At that point in time, Curoil Group was using the infrastructure of the refinery, which required Curgas to import and store LPG at -42º C.

To transfer the gas to cylinders and bulk trucks to be distributed to customers, the gas had to be warmed up to ambient temperature. This was a costly procedure as it required a vast amount of fuel, making the process very cost inefficient. In order to reduce costs, on September 7, 2021 Curoil Group initiated the operation of the LPG ISO-Container Terminal that was built to create more efficiency in the energy chain of Curaçao.

With the inauguration of the LPG ISO Container Terminal, Curoil Group eliminated this costly process, reducing operational costs by ANG 31.2 million on a yearly basis.