Scotland's First Minister urges Petroineos to rethink 'premature' Grangemouth shutdown
Scotland's First Minister has called on the owners of the Grangemouth refinery to rethink the "premature" decision to shut down operations.
Petroineos, a collaboration between Ineos and PetroChina, announced its intention to close the refinery in the second quarter of the next year as it transitions into an import terminal - a move threatening 400 jobs at the facility.
The joint venture cited "significant challenges due to global market pressures and the energy transition" due to global market pressures and energy transition as reasons for the closure.
According to a Petroineos representative, the refinery has been losing about $500,000 (£381,000) daily, totalling losses of $775 million (£590 million).
Following discussions with union and workforce representatives on Friday in Falkirk, the First Minister pressed the company to rethink their strategy.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: "I talk to the company, my ministers talk to the company, I've talked to the workforce." He added: "We've made the point that we thought this was premature, the UK Government has talked to them, but we were told yesterday morning this is what was going to be happening.
"I think the decision is premature and I would encourage Petroineos to consider what options there are to prolong the life of the refinery."
Petroineos' spokesperson said: "We have always communicated openly and directly with Scottish and UK governments, including sharing financial and operational details."
"Our intentions regarding the refinery and a timing envelope were communicated publicly as far back as November 2023."
"It is hard to conceive that any owner would be able or willing to sustain losses on this scale indefinitely and in the face of competitive pressure from newer, more modern facilities across Europe and elsewhere in the world."
Unite the union's Scottish secretary, Derek Thomson, speaking to PA, expressed frustration with the pace of government efforts, saying: "Project Willow is about the work of tomorrow we need work today."
Adding that workers at the site "are angry", Thomson said: "They're in shock and there's a real disappointment around the way the government, both governments, have handled this."
He criticized the government's approach, and said: "Obviously they both come out pre- and post-general election to say they would be doing all they can to save Grangemouth - the first test of the just transition failed miserably yesterday."
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer, who was present at the meeting, called on both governments to intervene.
She said: "I don't expect anything less from Petroineos. They're a private, profit-making company, of course they will put commercial interests first.
"But the Scottish Government and UK Government have set out telling us they think the closure of this site is premature, that there are other options available in the future that we can transition to, but they have failed to make sure that transition happens.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is a failure on both our UK and Scottish governments, because they haven't got their ducks lined up.
"They've known this was coming and they need to ensure they have the political will to intervene when private companies like Petroineos and say: 'You've got your commercial interests, but we have the interests of our country, of our energy community, of the future security, of our communities, and of our economy long term, to put first.'".
In response, the First Minister said: "We've been faced with, in my view, a premature decision by Petroineos, so we've got to work in that context and to work to support the employees here to create those new opportunities and to find a way through what is a really difficult decision."
When quizzed about actions to assure what both administrations have dubbed a just transition for workers, Mr Swinney said: "Work was commenced when the possibility of this and it is a possibility, not a definite of this being raised as a potential closure in the second quarter of 2025.
"Work was put in place to develop new technologies and new opportunities. Now obviously, the more time we've got available to do that, the more advanced those propositions can be.
"But the assurance I gave the workforce today is that the Scottish Government will work with its partners to make sure that all energy is put into those measures to ensure that we create new opportunities for people in this community."
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