Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the financial information provided by Petroineos; and what discussions he has had with Petroineos on that information.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Petroineos is a private company – a joint venture between PetroChina and INEOS. We have worked closely with the company and with the Scottish Government to understand the financial challenges facing the Grangemouth refinery. Petroineos’ shareholders have invested more than $1.2bn since 2011 to maintain the refinery’s safe operation, recording losses in excess of $775m during the same period. The Government pushed the company to continue refining for as long as possible however the company made clear that there was no viable commercial future for the refinery operation, which it will now convert to an import terminal.
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Grangemouth oil refinery on operational difficulties.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery on consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is deeply disappointing to learn that Petroineos has confirmed its previous decision to close the oil refining operation at Grangemouth. All of my thoughts are with the workers and their families and the wider Grangemouth community.
The Grangemouth site will now convert to an import terminal. Imports are already part of the UK’s diverse and resilient energy mix. Since 2013, the UK has been a net importer of refined products, with imports accounting for 51% of UK demand for all petroleum products in 2023. Grangemouth refinery already imported almost all of its crude oil supply: it only received 13% of its crude oil supply from the North Sea via the Forties Pipeline in 2022.
Scotland already imports fuel via other sites, which is sold at competitive prices, so we do not expect imports via the Grangemouth site to impact road fuel prices in Scotland nor across the UK.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information his Department holds on the potential amount of funding required to keep the Grangemouth oil refinery in operation for the next 12 months.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Grangemouth refinery is a private business owned by Petroineos. Petroineos stated that its shareholders have invested more than $1.2bn since 2011 to maintain the refinery’s safe operation, recording losses in excess of $775m during the same period. The company made clear that there was no viable commercial future for the refinery operation at Grangemouth.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that refined oil products imported via Grangemouth are not sourced from Russia.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products into the UK has been banned since 5 December 2022, with the last cargo of primary oils arriving from Russia in October 2022 and finished products in November 2022. (Energy Trends Table 3.14). All importers of oil and oil products into the UK must provide proof of origin to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin to enforcement authorities.
The Government is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions and will continue to keep sanctions under review.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department provides (a) subsidies and (b) other financial assistance to types of energy production in the UK.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Yes, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does provide subsidies and other financial assistance to types of energy production in the UK.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Grangemouth Oil Refinery is a site of national strategic importance.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is deeply disappointing that Petroineos confirmed its previous decision to close the oil refining operation at Grangemouth. We stand with the workers at this difficult time and worked closely with the Scottish Government to announce a joint £100 million investment plan to support the Falkirk and Grangemouth community.
Grangemouth is important to the fuel supply of Scotland, and Petroineos will now convert the refinery into an import terminal to continue to provide a secure and flexible fuel supply. Alongside the Scottish Government, we have also invested £1.5 million into Project Willow to find a viable long-term future for the site in clean energy.
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the changes to the level of emissions from shipping.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of closing (a) Grangemouth refinery and (b) Finnart terminal on changes to the level of emissions from shipping arising from those closures.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is deeply disappointing that Petroineos confirmed its previous decision to close the oil refining operation at Grangemouth. We stand with the workers at this difficult time and worked closely with the Scottish Government to announce a joint £100 million investment plan to support the Falkirk and Grangemouth community.
Grangemouth is important to the fuel supply of Scotland, and Petroineos will now convert the refinery into an import terminal to continue to provide a secure and flexible fuel supply. Alongside the Scottish Government, we have also invested £1.5 million into Project Willow to find a viable long-term future for the site in clean energy.
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the changes to the level of emissions from shipping.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of Grangemouth Oil Refinery on energy security.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is deeply disappointing that Petroineos confirmed its previous decision to close the oil refining operation at Grangemouth. We stand with the workers at this difficult time and worked closely with the Scottish Government to announce a joint £100 million investment plan to support the Falkirk and Grangemouth community.
Grangemouth is important to the fuel supply of Scotland, and Petroineos will now convert the refinery into an import terminal to continue to provide a secure and flexible fuel supply. Alongside the Scottish Government, we have also invested £1.5 million into Project Willow to find a viable long-term future for the site in clean energy.
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the changes to the level of emissions from shipping.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the ongoing operation of the Grangemouth Oil Refinery.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is deeply disappointing that Petroineos confirmed its previous decision to close the oil refining operation at Grangemouth. We stand with the workers at this difficult time and worked closely with the Scottish Government to announce a joint £100 million investment plan to support the Falkirk and Grangemouth community.
Grangemouth is important to the fuel supply of Scotland, and Petroineos will now convert the refinery into an import terminal to continue to provide a secure and flexible fuel supply. Alongside the Scottish Government, we have also invested £1.5 million into Project Willow to find a viable long-term future for the site in clean energy.
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the changes to the level of emissions from shipping.