Refinery jobs under threat

Almost 200 jobs are e xpec ted to be axed at Petroineos’ Grangemou th refinery, the company has announced.

Bosses at the plant, which was established almost a century ago, said they will restructure operations in the wake of falling demand for fuel.

Two production plants at the site, which have not been operational since the lockdown in March, are being mothballed, the company said.

It said the move will reduce future operating costs at the site.

Bosses at Petroineos – a joint venture be tween PetroChina International London and Ineos – believe the company can have “a v iab le longer - term business” employing up to 450 workers at the site.

It currently has 637 fulltime staff there.

A company spokesman said the changes come after 30 years of demand for fuel falling, with cars and other vehicles becoming more efficient and more people opting for electric or hybrid motors.

He added: “Covid has really taken that over a cliff edge.”

Shutting down the two affected parts of the Grangemouth refinery – the Crude Distillation Unit 1 and the Fluidised Catalytic Cracker Unit (FCCU) – will have the impact of reducing CO2 emissions there by 500,000 tonnes a year.

The refinery at Grangemouth has been operating since 1924.

Fran ck De may chief executive of Petroineos Refining, said :“As a national critical infrastructure it is vital we retain a productive capacity of fuels in Scotland.

“For almost a century the Grangemouth refinery has reliably produced high quality fuels.

“We firmly believe that only by taking action now will we preserve one of Scotland ’s last large manufacturing sites and a significant contributor to the Scottish economy.”

Petroineos is now entering into a statutory consultation period with workers and trades unions.

Scotland’s infrastructure secretary Michael Ma the son said :“The Scottish Government will do everything it can to support those whose jobs are at risk of redundancy at Grangemouth and we will provide support through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (Pace) initiative.”

The Unite trade union described the mothballing of the two plants at the site as “premature”.

RESTRUCTURE: Petroineos’ Grangemouth refinery is expected to cut almost 200 jobs.