Jobs axed at Grangemouth
Last updated 10th Nov 2020
Around 200 jobs are being cut at the Grangemouth refinery, representing just under a third of the workforce.
Petroineos says it's going to mothball one of the three units which turn crude oil into fuels and chemical products, blaming reduced demand and the trend towards electric cars.
The company say they have not been operating since the start of the pandemic because of reduced demand in Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland.
Petroineos says it believes the cuts are necessary for a viable longer-term business, and plan to retain 450 jobs at the Grangemouth site.
Franck Demay CEO Petroineos Refining says, “As a national critical infrastructure it is vital we retain a productive capacity of fuels in Scotland.
For almost a century the Grangemouth refinery has reliably produced high quality fuels for the domestic market and for export.
We firmly believe that only by taking action now will we preserve one of Scotland’s last large manufacturing sites and a significant contributor to the Scottish economy.”
Crude Distillation Unit 1 (CDU1) was originally commissioned in 1949.
Crude oil is heated up to 300 celcius within the unit, and the individual components are separated by boiling point.
The FCCU (fluidized catalytic cracking unit) was built in 1952. It takes high boiling hydrocarbons (wax-type material) and converts them into high grade motor gasoline components plus LPG/Gas components.
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