Dangote fuel supply forces Scotland refinery to announce shutdown date

Dangote fuel supply forces Scotland refinery to announce shutdown date

Grangemouth, Scotland’s only oil refinery, is to close in 2025 with the loss of 400 jobs, operator Petroineos has said, according to Reuters, as part of plans to turn the 100-year-old plant into a fuels import terminal.

Petroineos said last November it was preparing to shut down Grangemouth, Britain’s oldest refinery. Production will cease in the second quarter of next year, subject to an employee consultation, a company spokesperson said.

The decision was criticised by trade unions and politicians.

“It is deeply disappointing that Petroineos have confirmed their previous decision to close Grangemouth oil refinery,” UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

The site will become an import and distribution terminal for finished fuels, which will cut the number of employees at the site from 475 to around 75 over the next two years.

READ ALSO:

• Petrol: Dangote pump price emerge as NNPC trucks begin loading
• FG begins CNG kits distribution, installation in three Ogun centres
• Nigerian who diverted UK firm’s funds to forfeit N342m, says EFCC

Petroineos is a joint venture between PetroChina International London (PCIL) and INEOS Group, a British chemicals firm founded by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The company cited economic difficulties as the reason for the closure, stating that the company had invested $1.2 billion since 2011, and returned losses in excess of $775 million over the same period.

“Grangemouth is increasingly unable to compete with bigger, more modern and efficient sites in the Middle East, Asia and Africa” where Dangote Refinery just opened.

Due to its size and configuration, Grangemouth incurs high levels of capital expenditure each year just to maintain its licence to operate,” the company said.

It said the plant is currently losing around $500,000 per day, and expects to see a $200 million loss for 2024.

Petroineos’s plans for Grangemouth had been opposed by trade unions and local politicians and there were campaigns to extend production until a low-carbon alternative for its long-term future could be secured.

Dangote fuel supply forces Scotland refinery to announce shutdown date