The real reason for the intended Grangemouth refinery closure

By Jim Stamper

The real reason for the intended Grangemouth refinery closure is the same as the reason for the huge increase in energy costs in the UK leading to very high inflation and the subsequent reduced value of wages and increased poverty.  That reason is the privatisation of our oil and gas resources and industries by UK Governments.  The private oil and gas companies have no obligation to provide oil and gas to the UK.  So even although we have these resources in our territorial waters we had to compete for oil and gas supplies on the world market and prices increased hugely due to the Ukraine Russia war.

Grangemouth is shutting down processing because the private company’s priority is maximising profit.  If processing can be carried out cheaper elsewhere the company will stop processing here.  Any damage to the workforce and the surrounding area or the effects on Scotland and its economy are not the company’s priority.

As the Grangemouth processing plant and the workforce are of no value to them then why not take it into public ownership.  Its existing function could continue with carbon capture in the Acorn project.  That part of the Grangemouth plant proposed to handle imports would no longer have value to the current owners.

The oil refining in public ownership could gradually be reduced until no longer required and replaced by green energy produced in Scotland.  Avoiding profiteering privatisation of that green energy and keeping it in public ownership should make the just transition easier. 

Our low cost, never ending green energy will reverse the price increases generally.  Industry wanting low cost energy and to meet customer demand for green energy produce will be attracted here, improving further Scotland’s economy.

8 thoughts on “The real reason for the intended Grangemouth refinery closure”

  2. I think we can pretty well guarantee that the Hydrogen production centres opening in England will be using cheap Scottish renewable energy.
    Onshore wind is the cheapest form of renewable energy but is presently
    banned in England so without our resources,they will be less competitive than Hydrogen produced in Scotland.
    Of couse,if you syphon off our electricty before we get a chance to use it then you solve a few issues as far as England is concerned.
    HM press will be working very hard to keep this out of the news.

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  3. Pingback: Closure of Grangemouth Refinery - Pensioners for Independence

  4. Given global refining capacity is changing rapidly and Grangemouth is a very old plant, it would be very difficult to make a viable case to spend the extra millions needed to upgrade what is globally speaking a small aging, inefficient oil refinery, especially given the mega refineries coming on stream and planned in the middle east where the bulk of world oil supplies and consumption is. The North sea is entering a 20 year decommissioning period driven by rigs and fields reaching the end of thier natural lifespan, add in in a decade or so extracting fossil fuels will be old tech so to speak and will be increasingly moving towards largely feedstocks for plastics, chemicals, etc.
    Sadly the economic fact is if Scotland had voted yes in 2014 and public investment made in it then, it may have had a different future as part of Scotland’s own industrial base, as it is a decade later that ship has long sailed and Grangemouth will be transitioning to carbon capture and hydrogen production, which should over time soak up the 400 jobs lost.. I think this whole story is rather overhyped, Grangemouth is transitioning not “closing” per se https://www.ineos.com/sites/grangemouth/grangemouth-renaissance/

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    1. Sad that you miss the point. Whatever the future of the oil industry world wide, Scotland’s contribution to that future is not where it belongs, in the hands of the Scots. Nothing proves the point more than the future of what is a strategic Scottish asset has been decided by 2 foreign governments and a corporation, all three benefiting more from those assets than the actual owner, us.

      Golfnut

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  5. I think we are only getting half the story. Has anyone from INEOS been asked if the announcement made at the end of September 2022 is still going ahead after their oil refinery closes down in 2025?

    https://www.ineos.com/sites/grangemouth/news/ineos-awards-contract-to-atkins-to-design-its-world-scale-low-carbon-hydrogen-plant-at-grangemouth/

    “INEOS awards contract to Atkins to design its world scale low carbon hydrogen plant at Grangemouth”

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  6. Why not Scottish Government compulsory purchase site, commence conversion to be a Hydrogen producer. H2 is what will be the base load for renewable power supply in the future. That way the control stay with Scotland and her people.

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    1. Not quite.

      Base load energy typically comes from continuous supply. In future renewables will (largely, with
      caveats) provide the base load; but it won’t be as predictable as fossil fuel or nuclear supply is today.

      Hydrogen will be a part solution, along with options like pump storage, as back up to intermittent output from renewables.

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