Grangemouth refinery jobs threatened under scale-back plans
Nearly 190 jobs are under threat at Grangemouth oil refinery after its owners announced plans
to scale back operations at the site.
Petroineos is to launch a consultation period on Monday with up to 187 of its 637 staff at
the refinery.
It said the move to "reconfigure" the plant was in response to a global decline in demand for fuels.
The company added that the smaller operation would allow it to retain 450 highly skilled roles at
the site.
Under the plans, a crude distillation unit and fluidised catalytic cracker unit, which have been
mothballed since the start of the Covid pandemic, will remain closed.
'Critical infrastructure'
In a statement, Petroineos said keeping the two production units in a mothballed state would
"reduce future incurred costs associated with operating these two older plants".
It added that the proposals would align its "refining capacity to meet local demand in Scotland,
Northern England and Northern Ireland".
Petroineos Refining chief executive Franck Demay 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 for
the domestic market and for export.
"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."
'Vaccine within grasp'
Sandy Smart, Unite's industrial officer, said the union was "deeply concerned" by the news.
"We are acutely aware of the very challenging market conditions brought about by the Covid-19
pandemic that has resulted in a lower demand of fuels but there is now a vaccine within grasp
which could significantly effect demand in the coming months," he said.
"We firmly believe the proposal is premature and that Petroineos should instead be discussing
with us how to effectively use the extension in the UK government's furlough scheme to give
us more time to explore every option.
"The workforce also needs assurances from the company over the medium and long-term
security of the plant."
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