By George Caldow
In what little coverage (I have given up on expecting proper analysis in Scottish or UK MSM) I have seen or read, it has been about points scoring by Politicians.
The truth is not so easily constrained within a soundbite.
Ineos’s management is poor. To have “failed” to make a profit at a time of such high oil prices is unimaginable however they state they have. We have had statements of intent regarding introducing new technologies yet they have failed to complete many of the projects announced to much fanfare. They received money from the Scottish Government to build a BioDiesel plant yet it never came to fruition. Where did that £50 million go?
Grangemouth is an old plant and has not received the integrated investment it requires to be brought into the 21st Century. The power plant cannot work for new technologies but the replacement is years behind completion. The Cracker to split the oil needs replaced every few years and should be changed from gas to electric but no one will be the first to do so.
There are some parts of the problem that Politicians could assist with.
The EU and UK have imposed some legislation in terms of Health and Safety and Environmental which impacts badly against other producers worldwide which allows them to have significantly reduced costs. (Higher costs in terms of the environment and labour safety but the dollar is king)
There have been requests for tariffs to equalise the costs to prevent not just Scottish capabilities but also much in Europe to be retained. In an era where our “national security” of supply is deemed essential, if only in England, we need our own Trump but an intelligent one.
North Sea oil is not uniform. The constituents vary but each part of the complex has its own environmental regulations. As such, it is not possible to use Methane as the gas for the Cracker as it cannot be legally moved from the initial site hence it is flared off. If it could be moved and used within the other parts of the complex it would reduce the demand on Natural Gas which would lead to reduced prices elsewhere.
No one has asked the question, with all the potholes where will we get our bitumen from? Another constituent which could be utilised at other parts of the site.
The Energy costs Grangemouth and other industrial sites face are solvable if Politicians would legislate that electricity costs should be based on cost of production and not based on the gas equivalent.
To build a larger, more productive industrial base, we need a proper strategy, not soundbites. The SNP cannot continue to lay the blame at Westminster’s door when they don’t set out what an Independent Scottish Government could do.
This is the biggest own goal we’ll get under Starmer. We never exploited the ones we had under Cameron, May, Johnston or Sunak. We have to exploit this.
Operation Willow is pie in the sky. Without support to our renewable sector, it will fail. Acorn carbon capture, improvements to the Scottish grid, skills investment so production is based in Scotland. Set targets for spend on projects which must be spent in Scotland.
Highland have a new offshore submission in which the company say, “They will consider using Scrabster.” When we will we insist on those jobs we were promised.
We will need Oil and Gas for the foreseeable future so we need to take Grangemouth into public ownership and manage our security of supply needs while ensuring we reduce emissions by using the technology available.
If we stopped Oil and Gas today, we may be vitreous but naked. We’d lose a lot of our medical equipment. Back to using horses as rubber tyres don’t last long and where would we get the rubber. In the 19th century environmentalists were campaigning against the horse as London would be a yard deep under the horse manure and cars arrived to save them.
We need Keynesian investment to produce the infrastructure and growth to fund the future. Not Neoliberal greed, Oligarchs’ and bankers.
Will any one who purports to be for Independence come out and show a way to turn around Grangemouth and the Scottish industrial base or will Starmer complete Thatcher’s destruction of the hope for Scottish Independence?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Excellent questions, every. As for answers, there are none. Why not?
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You’re right to question the assertion that Grangemouth failed to make a profit. The National last year reported that Grangemouth had posted £100m in profit in 2023/24.
Grangemouth oil refinery to close despite posting £100m profit
https://archive.is/EH55t
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Any figures the English goverment puts out re any of Scotland’s resources especially energy related, will be way understated we can be sure of that.
There’s tons of oil still to be tapped into in Scottish territorial waters. yes it’s dirty, yes we need to stop depending on oil and divesting away from it, but the fact that Scotland is cammed out of £billions upon £billions in fact into the £trillions over time, is just despicable.
BTW anyone else see that ‘just stop oil’ have totally disbanded, a wee bit weird.
Anyway, maybe SNP can lay out plans to reinstate some sort of oil refining in Scotland, for when independence is secured. I know, a pie in the sky idea right now.
I was talking to my no voting neighbours about Grangemouth and in fact they seem to have the measure of things, they know who is closing it down, ie the UKEngGov.
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Here is Mark Carney…this won’t have changed since he was squirming in his seat having to tell the truth.
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Excellent questions John. If only our politicians would challenge the British/English governments on their crazy and unfair energy policies.
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Thatcher, she destroyed so much industry in Scotland, she started the asset stripping of Scotland.
Agree, SNP need to have a plan laid out for energy production post independence.
Ultimately though, so far they are justified in laying the blame at the EngUK govs’ door, because so far the SNP have had no say, and no control at all over what happens to our oil and gas etc.
So as for the future yes they can lay out their future plans, but that’s all pie in the sky as well, not a reality, control of energy is with England’s government at present and has been for a very long time. They are destroying Scotland’s lucrative oil industry not the SNP.
SNP should IMO keep blaming the UKEngGov for asset stripping Scotland when Grangemouth should NEVER have been closed down at this stage.
SNP should point out who is responsible for plunging so many people into unemployment etc.
Blame the EngGov, it’s their doing, it’s deliberate and it’s meant to hurt Scotland a big big way, practically and mentallly. That’s what colonisers do, destroy countries they want to keep robbing, and make sure to take down that countries’ democratically elected government.
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George Caldow
You can lay blame and there is plenty to lay the blame on.
What you also need to do is give a vision of what an Independent Scotland could do which would contrast with the actions of the Colonial power. Having a clear alternative would sway those on the fence. Why vote for Independence if nothing will change.
They could start the ball rolling today.
All Renewable projects must have a minimum spend of 40% in Scotland. which many countries like Canada, Qatar, Philippines insist upon.
I’d go further to 50%. UK Treasury figures show around 30% of such a spend is recovered in taxation. So the £8 billion Fife offshore farm would spend £4 billion minimum in Scotland. That would raise £1.6 billion in taxation and support how many jobs which would add more.
We’ve just had Moray East fully commissioned and “based” near where I stay in Moray. They boasted about how they used local manufacturers in Wallsend and Hull.
Starmer’s Government may try and stop them implementing such a planning rule but far better to fight for it than other interference which they have fought over.
The English Elite ruling party with two interchangeable cheeks see nothing wrong in dismissing the devolution settlement so why should we not highlight its failings.
80% of North Sea Oil is exported. Demand the supply to Scotland is at cost or market level whichever is lower or lose the licence to exploit our resources.
Demand that Electricity prices are unhooked from the price of Gas produced Electricity.
What would cheap energy mean to many businesses? The excess supply could soon be used by firms moving to Scotland to enjoy such savings.
Have Energy suppliers grilled at Holyrood on why with the price of gas almost being at pre-Ukraine war level their prices went up not down. Who controls OFGEN?
By showing where the restraints in improving, not just mitigating English cuts are, you can demonstrate a better future. Hiding them means the MSM can continue unabashed to decry the Scottish Government who allow them to slander them on a daily basis without any semblance of a fightback.
The likes of Farage and Co would be on the offensive. With 12 months until the final election, we need leadership not pacification, fearful of ruffling feathers. Words which inspire not send you to sleep as they are from bureaucrats embedded in a system.
We need younger versions of Winnie and Alex. Today- step up please!
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I would like to recommend this article. 👇
“We aim, also, to offer clarity on one particular area of confusion arising from the fact that the UK Supreme Court is the apex court across the UK: namely, that this ruling does not have the same effects in Northern Ireland as it does in England, Scotland and Wales. This is because of two separate but related factors: the first is simply that the relevant parts of the Equality Act 2010 do not apply in Northern Ireland, and the second is that even if the outcome of FWS was read across to Northern Ireland’s discrimination legislation, EU law made applicable to Northern Ireland on account of the Windsor Framework precludes a reading of ‘sex’ as meaning ‘biological sex’ in the context of gender reassignment, in areas which fall within the scope of the Windsor Framework.”
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Sorry John O/T again but hopefully you find this interesting.
Dodgy British ‘think tank’ with links to British Labour, British Tories, Russia, and support the Nuclear Energy industry fabricates dodgy Scottish poll.
Who are they?
Britain Remade, the name itself says it all.
Their plan is to ‘get Britain building again’.
They want to ‘make Britain energy secure by 2030’
They back ‘Great British Nuclear’
From their ‘plan’
‘Britain’s nuclear delivery body Great British Nuclear must be given full backing to buy sites and de-risk development for new fleets of SMRs. Government can play a crucial active role in shaping the market for nuclear energy. Targeted earlystage investment, for example funding companies to take SMR designs through the regulatory approval and planning processes, is vital to reducing financing costs and attracting private-sector investment in new nuclear.
The Government should remove the requirements that they can only be built on designated sites and allow SMRs to be built in any place that meets key conditions around population density and nature.’
Plan – Britain Remade
WHO is their CEO?
Sam Richards
He was Special Advisor (Energy and Environment) to Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister.
He was also a speech writer for David Mundell, a Parliamentary Assistant to Caroline Dinenage and director of the Conservative Environmental Network which is a ‘forum’ for Conservatives in the UK.
Sam Richards – Chief Executive Officer – Britain Remade | LinkedIn
Who is their Head of Campaigns?
Jeremy Driver
He was Parliamentary Assistant to Anna Soubry who left the Tories to join Change UK, which included seven Labour MP’s, all dissatisfied with Labour’s leftward direction under Jeremy Corbyn, it would have been eight but Ian Murray who had planned to resign alongside the others pulled out shortly before the launch.
Jeremy Driver – Head of Campaigns – Britain Remade | LinkedIn
WHO is their Head of Policy?
Sam Dumitriu
He was Research Director of the Entrepreneurs Network and worked with Tony Blair.
Sam Dumitriu – Head of Policy – Britain Remade | LinkedIn
Who is their Head of Communications?
Jason Brown
He was Deputy Chairman Political of the Conservative Party and was also a Special Advisor to Boris Johnson.
Jason Brown – Head of Communications – Britain Remade | LinkedIn
They ‘Launched’ in 2022 and according to their website, in ‘ Gods Own Country’ Yorkshire.
So where do they get their funding from?
They admit to two sources of funding which are actually the same source!
The ECF is funded exclusively by philanthropic sources engaged in climate change. It does not accept funding from corporate or government sources. Its funds are not used to engage with political or partisan activities, and do not support political parties, sectarianism or religious purposes. Every grantee is obliged to adhere to these rules when they accept the Foundation’s support.
In 2021, the ECF has awarded 1177 grants to 713 organisations.
However, the ECF does not provide information on the amount of money its funders contribute, which constitutes a lack of transparency.
European Climate Foundation – Wikipedia
John H. McCall MacBain is the Founding Chair of the ECF and also the Founder, President and CEO of Trader Classified Media who own La Centrale, in France which is actually Le Journal du Dimanche a right wing newspaper which was sold to conservative media tycoon Vincent Bolloré.
He also owns Hebdo Mag which ‘acquired’ Trader and Traders’ Post in the United States. Trader Classified Media N.V. is a leader in classified advertising, with operations in 21 countries in North and South America, Europe, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Australia and elsewhere.
John McCall MacBain (Founding Chair) – European Climate Foundation
Trader Classified Media N.V. — Company History
2. Quadrature Climate Foundation
According to The Guardian the European Climate Foundation are one of the climate groups who have accepted millions from the Quadrature Climate Foundation, a multibillion pound investment fund which is run by American billionaires Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiyann. . “Quadrature Capital has stakes worth more than $170m (£135m) in fossil fuel companies, according to filings with US regulators.”
Climate groups accept millions from charity linked to fossil fuel investments | Fossil fuels | The Guardian
Quadrature Capital: the hyper-secretive prop trading firm that’s “a bit of a cult”
Quadrature Capital: the hyper-secretive prop trading firm that’s “a bit of a cult”
Quadrature Capital donated £4m to the Labour Party shortly after July’s election was announced in May. Labour accepted the gift just days before the campaign rules – that require weekly declarations about donations – came into force, meaning it was not made public until after the election.
Owned via the Cayman Islands tax haven, Quadrature Capital’s donation was the sixth-largest donation in British political history, and the largest single donation the Labour Party has ever received.
The Labour Party’s largest-ever donation came from a hedge fund that stood to profit from Israel’s war in Gaza.
Quadrature Capital held $121m worth of shares in a range of arms, tech and logistics firms which have all supported the ongoing military campaign.
They include companies that help make Israeli F-35 fighter jets, which have been used in devastating airstrikes on a “humanitarian zone”.
Labour took £4m from hedge fund invested in firms that supply weapons to Israel | openDemocracy
Anyone that votes for the SNP will be more than aware of their opposition to new nuclear stations.
“Opposition to new nuclear stations
We oppose the building of new nuclear stations using current technologies. We believe that nuclear power represents poor value for consumers. This is clear from the contract awarded by the UK Government to Hinkley Point C nuclear station in Somerset, which will result in energy consumers subsidising its operation until 2060.”
Nuclear stations – Nuclear energy – gov.scot
JB
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A good article. The point is well made that oil isn’t just a fuel, it necessary for so many other things and frankly, burning it as a fuel should stop. At present, the production of crude in the North Sea is not done in anything resembling a strategic fashion. It’s all about making money and that has to stop.
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This. blog post and btl comments got me thinking about links between delivering ‘integrated investment’ in the national interest, having a ‘proper’ industrial strategy in the national interest and also the significance of NOT having the agency of a resource rich, independent nation-state with a population of c. 5.5 million in northern Europe when it comes to realising beneficial outcomes and impact in the national interest.
In Scotland, we do need to look forward but candidly, there is a huge steaming pile of ‘blame’ lying at Westminster’s door that we cannot ignore even when ‘strategising’ – aspirationally and in a realistic manner – for Scotland’s independent future.
Some context regarding Grangemouth and
Scotland’sthe UK’s oil wealth: on January 23, 2024, the BBC News website had this headline: ‘North Sea oil and gas claims fact-checked’.It reports: ’While the UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports, there’s no guarantee that extra domestic production would stay in the UK, especially when it comes to oil. This is because it is extracted by private companies, who sell it on the open international market, rather than necessarily to the UK. For this reason – and because some oil can’t be refined in the UK – around 80% of the oil produced in the North Sea is actually exported.’ (My emphasis)
Adding: ‘Amanda Solloway, a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, confirmed in December that there were no plans to force private companies to allocate oil and gas in the North Sea for domestic use.’
On January 13 2024, The Herald reported: ‘UKGov admits just 10% of our oil is refined in Scotland’. It reports: ‘Less than 10% of North Sea oil delivered through the nation’s major pipeline is being turned into fuel for cars in Scotland – as the nation increasingly relies on imports.
‘The admission has come from the UK Government which has also indicated that most of the production from Rosebank, the UK’s biggest untapped oil field off Shetland, is set to go overseas.’
Then there is this interesting piece from August 7, 2023: ‘Why does Britain export 80% of its oil? The answer is rather more interesting than you might have thought (Source: https://edconway.substack.com/p/why-does-britain-export-80-of-its)
Key points made here include:
The point seems to be that UK refineries – and successive UK governments – have by and large failed to invest in the ‘national’ interest in order to refine crude from the UK North Sea or wider UKCS.
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By contrast:
Equinor – formerly Statoil – the Norwegian and now international energy company was founded in 1972. Statoil was formed by a decision of the Norwegian parliament and incorporated as a limited liability company. At the time it was 100% owned by the Norwegian State.
Statoil was partially privatised and listed on the stock exchange on 18 June 2001, when it became a public limited company. Even after the initial offering, the government retained 81.7% of the Statoil shares. Through public share offerings in 2004 and 2005 the state reduced its shareholding in Statoil to 70.9%. During 2008, the Norwegian government built up the State’s ownership interest in Statoil by buying shares in the market. On 5 March 2009 the Government announced that the State’s ownership interest had reached 67%. At 31 December 2024 the Norwegian government still owned 67% of shares in Equinor.
Equinor’s current portfolio of projects includes oil & gas, renewables and low-carbon solutions such as carbon capture and storage. Headquartered in Norway, Equinor has c.25,000 employees in more than 20 countries.
Equinor operates nine onshore industrial plants in Norway, Germany and the UK, supplying the petrochemicals, petroleum products and energy. Notable amongst these is the Mongstad oil refinery established in 1975 in Vestland, south-west Norway. The oil refined at Mongstad comes from the Norwegian continental shelf.
According to Equinor: ‘The Mongstad refinery is the largest oil refinery in Norway and one of the most advanced in Europe. It began operations in 1975 and has undergone significant expansions and upgrades since then.
‘The refinery has a processing capacity of approximately 12 million tonnes of crude oil annually, producing a wide range of products including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The plant is strategically important for Norway’s oil industry, contributing significantly to the nation’s economy and energy supply.‘
The port at Mongstad is the largest in Norway, measured in tonnage and reportedly Europe’s second largest in terms of tonnage, with around 1500 ships calling every year.
In 2010, Equinor and Ørsted opened the Mongstad Power Station, a natural gas-fired thermal power plant, to provide the site with heat energy and electricity, as well as power to the Troll gas field. According to Wikipedia, all the crude oil refined at Mongstad comes from the North Sea.
Mongstad is also the location of Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) , claimed to be ‘the world’s largest and most flexible test centre for developing CO2 capture technologies and a leading competence centre for carbon capture’. First established in 2012, TCM is owned by the Norwegian State, through Gassnova (34%), together with the industrial partners Equinor (22%), Shell (22%) and TotalEnergies (22%). Equinor is the operator of the facility.
So Equinor’s – and therefore the Norwegian state’s – involvement at Mongstad now includes an oil refinery (Equinor Refining AS), an NGL processing plant (Vestprosess), a crude oil terminal (MTDA), a heating plant and the world’s largest technology centre for CO2 capture from flue gas (TCM).
In 2024, Equinor paid the Norwegian state NOK 64 billion (c.£4.6 billion) in a dividend payment: in 2025 it is expected the dividend payments will be NOK 28 billion (c.£2.0 billion).
The full extent of the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil & gas exploration and production on its continental shelf is summarised here: https://www.norskpetroleum.no/en/economy/governments-revenues/
And as things stand, as Scotland sees a second energy ‘bonanza’ emerge in fifty years with offshore wind, this time how will the long term outcomes and impacts be much different from those from the era of offshore oil & gas? Without agency, they won’t!
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Thank you, very helpful. As was the whole post and dialogue.
Now to try and post this, failed so many times over the last year or so. Me? WordPress?
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Thank you, very helpful. As was the whole post and dialogue.
Now to try and post this, failed so many times over the last year or so. Me? WordPress?
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