Grangemouth Oil Refinery Closure: Job Losses

Baroness Bryan of Partick Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Earl for the question. I do not know when the next date is, but I can write to him and let him know. The oil refinery sector is something that we are keen to see as a success. We need to make sure that the fuel that we create is as homegrown as it possibly can be, and we want to see a future on this. We know that we have competitors around the world, such as in India and Africa, and that the margins in the fuel refinery industry are very small, so this is something we would like to take up internationally. I will write to the noble Earl on what we are going to do in the future.

[Baroness Bryan of Partick (Lab)]

My Lords, another oil refinery is going bust, this time in Lincolnshire. It is run by an individual who has managed to turn a going concern into a so-called “loss-making” business. It is closing down with the loss of 400 jobs and more than 1,000 in the supply chain. The similarities to Grangemouth are obvious. Does the Minister accept that this is no way to run our energy policy? Does he agree that the only way to ensure energy security is to take Grangemouth and Prax Lindsey into public ownership—

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Baroness Bryan of Partick (Lab)]

Yes, public ownership; it does work—while sustainable, green jobs are developed?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that question. First, the problem with Prax was that it was a badly run company. If I have one message for it, it is to put its hands deep into its pockets and think about the 400-odd workers who have lost their jobs there. Secondly, we are investigating how that company was run. As far as the industry is concerned, as I said earlier, if we look just across the road, at Phillips 66, we see that that is a well-run oil refinery that is thinking about the future and looking at sustainable fuels. That is the future of the industry. We are looking at Project Willow, which is active in Grangemouth, to see whether we can utilise that in Lincolnshire as well, and at what kind of training package we can get together for the workers there. We are looking at this, and it is very important that we do, but the reason why Prax is in the position that it is in is that it was badly run.