Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe warned against blocking credible bid for Grangemouth oil refinery

The petrochemical plant at Grangemouth will remain open but the site's oil refinery will close in 2025
-Credit: (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)


Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of Ineos, has been cautioned about blocking any credible buyers for the Grangemouth oil refinery

Tireless campaigner and former MP Kenny MacAskill, who played a pivotal role in bringing the parties to the negotiating table, commented on the situation after The Sunday Mail has uncovered that Aberdeen's Stacey Oil is brokering a potential deal from a significant North American company interested in "vertically integrating" the Grangemouth oil refinery into its enterprise.

Mr MacAskill said: "The Scottish and the UK Government need to step up and make sure all possible steps are being taken to keep the refinery open and to support any possible bid to buy it if Petroineos are not willing to operate the site themselves."

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Moreover, MacAskill asserted: "Petroineos must also be told in no uncertain terms that it would be unacceptable for them to retain control of the site while shutting down the refinery if a viable alternative bid is on the table."

Stressing the importance of the facility, he continued, "This is a key industrial asset and closure will have deep ramifications not just for jobs but also energy security across the UK."

Kenny MacAskill
Kenny MacAskill Alba party politician in campaign to save Grangemouth Oil Refinery -Credit:Garry F McHarg

Petroineos, the venture co-owned by Ratcliffe's Ineos and the Chinese government-run PetroChina, faces scrutiny as MacAskill also spotlighted a contentious deal wherein the UK Government extended a £600million loan guarantee to Ineos for a chemical plant project in Antwerp, Belgium.

He stated: "Not a penny should be given to Ineos until a guarantee is given that the refinery remains open, it is clearly obscene that public funds could be used to support a company's activities in other countries while they decimate Scotland's industrial base."

Trade union Unite, representing hundreds of workers at the refinery, has expressed belief in the credibility of the takeover proposals.

General Secretary Derek Thomson commented: "If there are investors interested in buying the Grangemouth oil refinery then Unite stands ready to enter discussions on any serious proposal which could deliver an extension of its operations."

"Our priority is to protect all jobs and any viable option needs to put to Petroineos and the Scottish and UK governments. We await details on any concrete proposal but it is Unite's firm belief that due to highly-skilled workforce at the refinery it can still have a future and it remains an attractive proposition."

Petroineos confirmed on Thursday that it was closing the facility on the Firth of Forth, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs, with plans to convert the site into an import depot for oil products refined elsewhere.

Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe
Ineos chemicals group CEO Jim Ratcliffe -Credit:VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images

Concerns have been raised that this could lead to Russian crude entering the UK via third countries to circumvent sanctions. It has also been disclosed that the Stanlow oil refinery in northern England is gearing up for expansion in anticipation of Grangemouth's closure.

The Stanlow oil refinery near Liverpool is embarking on a major investment drive to boost its infrastructure, including terminals development and storage capacity expansion, in a bid to streamline logistics costs.

Deepak Maheshwari, who steers the refinery, commented: "We are trying to increase our footprint. It is important for us to provide customers with a proposition to have a national contract rather than a regional contract."

Meanwhile, Falkirk East MSP Michelle Thomson has been engaged in conversations with Stacey Oil about the potential future of the plant, though she asserts that she cannot disclose the identity of interested parties due to confidentiality agreements.

Petroineos, the Grangemouth refinery operator, believes transitioning the facility into an import terminal for various fuels will ensure secure fuel supply for Scotland. Nonetheless, this move would necessitate slashing the workforce from 475 to under 100, positioning Scotland as a rare case of an oil-producing nation without its own refinery.

Grangemouth stands as a critical hub, supplying aviation fuel to Scottish airports and a significant portion of petrol and diesel for vehicles.

A representative for Petroineos countered claims of interest in buying the refinery by stating: "We have seen no evidence of a credible bid for the refinery. If a genuine offer is forthcoming, we will engage seriously with it.

"Since Petroineos was formed in 2011, our shareholders have invested nearly £1bn in the refinery, absorbing losses of more than £590m in the same period. This year alone, we are anticipating losses of more than £150m."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government stated: "The Scottish Government has no direct involvement with any potential buyer for the Grangemouth site. Any interested parties should be engaging with Petroineos as the owners of the refinery."