MINISTERS have been warned that the closure of Scotland’s last oil refinery risks fuel shortages and even rationing.
Petroineos stopped refining crude oil at Grangemouth on Tuesday and now the area’s MP has claimed this posed a major threat to fuel security.
Grangemouth is operating as a fuel import terminal where refined oil from abroad is brought into Scotland for use.
But Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman argued that the knock-on effects of 430 jobs at the refinery meant there was a greater chance of fuels being rejected, threatening supply.
He told the Sunday National: “The job losses will not be exclusive to refinery workers either. The shared services workers in areas such as laboratories rely on the refinery for work and they are currently going through a redundancy consultation process.
“One of the consequences of this is that fuels will arrive at the replacement import terminal and will undergo a greatly reduced testing process. If the fuels fail these tests then they cannot be distributed – meaning that Scotland will therefore be susceptible to a fuel shortage and the very serious possibility of rationing or even running out.”
Bosses dismissed Leishman’s warning as “highly irresponsible and factually incorrect” while the UK Government said they were “categorically false”.
Leishman has also raised concerns about increased traffic on the North Sea, after an oil tanker crashed into a cargo ship outside the port of Hull earlier this year.
One crew member from the Solong container ship was assumed dead after smashing into the Stena Immaculate in March, sparking a huge inferno when its cargo – a shipment of jet fuel – caught fire.
Leishman said this incident should concern Scots if more vessels are travelling to and from Grangemouth to transport oil.
He added: “The fact that an energy abundant country such as Scotland is now relying on importing fuels is utterly ridiculous. Especially at a time when there is war raging in Europe along with serious political upheaval throughout the world. The need for self-reliance is obvious.
“We are now at the mercy of European transport logistics and we know how precarious that can be, we saw this with the North Sea jet fuel spill off the coast of Humberside just the other month.”
The outspoken Labour backbencher also raised concerns that abandoning Grangemouth could be environmentally risky, arguing that using oil refined in the UK was less polluting than imported fuel.
He added: “Both the UK or Scottish governments have been environmentally negligent in that neither have carried out an environmental impact assessment of Grangemouth stopping refining and instead relying on European shipping routes. It is my fear that we are shifting emissions from one part of the continent to another, and are not effectively tackling the climate issues we face.”
Leishman (above) said the refinery should be nationalised – but blasted the SNP’s campaign on this point as “nothing more than a performance”.
He added: “Since being elected last July, I have called for the nationalisation of Grangemouth. It is wrong that my party in charge at Westminster refuses to even entertain the idea. It was rightly deemed good enough for Scunthorpe Steel. The same should also hold true for Grangemouth oil.”
A Petroineos spokesperson said: “Casting aspersions on the security of Scotland’s fuel supply in this manner is highly irresponsible and factually incorrect.
“As we have explained to Mr Leishman directly, Petroineos has invested £50 million in creating a modern import and distribution terminal. As part of this investment, tank storage and other infrastructure has been upgraded, ensuring our stock levels remain consistent with other refineries terminals and well able to meet Scotland’s demand.
“Even before the cessation of refinery operations at Grangemouth we regularly operated in ‘import only’ mode for sustained periods without any variations in supply to our customers. As an organisation, we are vastly experienced in managing complex fuel supply chains and our approach has been validated by an industry expert and scrutinised and approved by the UK Government’s energy security team.”
Scotland’s acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin (below) said that the decision to close the refinery was “premature, fundamentally short-sighted and detrimental to the transition to net zero” and that she was “disappointed” the SNP’s calls for nationalisation had gone unheeded.
She added: “Ministers could still act – just as they did at Scunthorpe.
“The UK Government has full responsibility for fuel security and we are actively working with them to ensure that Scotland’s needs are met.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “These claims are categorically false and ignore the resilient systems in place to ensure we have sufficient fuel to meet demand.
“When this Government came to power, there was no overall plan for the future of the Grangemouth refinery.
“Within weeks, the Government delivered an unprecedented package of support for the community, including a £200 million commitment from the National Wealth Fund to invest in a viable industrial future for the site.”
