INEOS has been accused of kicking its Grangemouth workers “in the teeth” after acquiring billions of dollars of oil and gas assets in the United States.
It was announced earlier this month that Ineos, who own the Grangemouth oil refinery in a joint venture with the state-owned PetroChina, had acquired more oil and gas assets in the US Gulf.
Ineos said that the completion of the deal marked the third “major investment” by the firm in the US in the past three years and increased the spend on energy assets in the country to more than three billion dollars.
Last year, Ineos announced it would close its Grangemouth site and would make 400 workers redundant as it said Scotland’s only oil refinery was no longer profitable despite posting record profits of more than £100 million in 2024.
Falkirk East MSP Michelle Thomson MSP said that Grangemouth is a strategically critical infrastructure and that it should play a key role in Scotland’s green energy transition.
“The news that Ineos is investing billions in US oil and gas assets whilst letting its Grangemouth site die will be a kick in the teeth for the hundreds of workers set to lose their livelihoods at the refinery,” she said.
“While the UK Labour Government was asleep at the wheel when it came to securing a sustainable future for Grangemouth, it was able to underwrite £600 million for Ineos to develop a new plant in Belgium.
“As the UK’s only oil refinery, the Grangemouth site is strategic critical infrastructure which should play a key role in the switch to green energy, the UK’s energy security and securing Scottish energy jobs.”
Thomson said that the Project Willow report, which was released last month and aimed to identify new industrial opportunities in the area, indicated that Grangemouth could play a “key role” in the production of products such as sustainable aviation fuel.
She added: “It is imperative that the UK Government take action to secure a future for Grangemouth, its workforce and the wider economy.”
On Saturday, MPs were recalled to Parliament to debate a Bill aimed at blocking British Steel’s Chinese owners, Jingye, from closing blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant.
Labour MP Brian Leishman (below) said he hoped the UK Government would nationalise British Steel and take the plant at Scunthorpe “under Government control” and also insisted that “the same should happen to the Grangemouth oil refinery”.
The MP for Alloa and Grangemouth has criticised both the UK and Scottish Governments for “selling off essential services and resources” which he claimed has only served to “line the pockets of shareholders”.
He said: “The folly of having a key piece of national infrastructure in the hands of private capital and a foreign government is plain to see.
“For decades, we have seen both the UK and Scottish Governments sell off essential services and resources.
“This has only served to line the pockets of shareholders and lead to workers and communities being put in vulnerable and precarious positions.”
In a joint response to the closure plans, both the UK and Scottish Governments announced a £100 million package for the workers at the plant and the wider community.
The £1.5m Project Willow report also looked at more than 300 different technologies to identify what Grangemouth could best transition to in the future.
In the report, nine best options for the site were identified, with these falling into three broader categories: waste recycling, bio-feedstocks, and offshore wind conduit projects.
However, the report said that around £3.5 billion in private investment will be needed for projects like hydrothermal plastic recycling, e-methanol and methanol-to-jet and second-generation bioethanol being identified as potential options.
Ineos has been approached for comment.
