Government talks with 'possible buyer' for Grangemouth - minister

A Scottish authorities curate has told the BBC that determination is simply a "possible buyer" for the Grangemouth lipid refinery.

Owners Petroineos confirmed connected Thursday that it was closing the installation connected the Firth of Forth with the nonaccomplishment of 400 jobs.

Public concern curate Ivan McKee said: “Going from a speech to concluding a woody is intelligibly a agelong travel - but my knowing is determination perfectly is simply a imaginable buyer.”

Grangemouth is Scotland's lone refinery and accounts for astir 14% of the UK's wide refining capacity.

The Scottish and UK governments person said they person a associated program to unafraid a semipermanent aboriginal for the site.

Speaking connected BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions? programme successful Glasgow, McKee said: "We're moving intimately with the UK authorities to research options of what tin beryllium done to enactment the jobs determination and support the works going.

"I cognize that there's been speech of imaginable buyers coming successful to tally the cognition and each of those avenues volition beryllium explored fully.

He added: "There is simply a imaginable buyer, intelligibly there’s a process to beryllium gone through.

"The section MSP Michelle Thomson is moving intimately with them astatine the moment."

Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, had suggested determination was the imaginable purchaser astatine First Minister's Questions astatine Holyrood connected Thursday.

But she said she could not place the funny enactment due to the fact that she had agreed to support the accusation confidential.

The BBC understands the refinery - the oldest successful the UK - is presently losing astir $500,000 (£383,000) a time and is connected people to suffer astir $200m (£153m) successful 2024.

Petroineos confirmed connected Thursday that it would adjacent the refinery aft announcing its intentions successful November past year.

It said this was owed to it being incapable to vie with sites successful Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Petroineos said the closure would "safeguard substance proviso for Scotland" by converting the tract into a terminal to import petrol, diesel, aviation substance and kerosene into Scotland.

But this would necessitate a workforce of less than 100 employees compared to the existent 475.

First Minister John Swinney said it was a "deeply troubling" concern and denied determination has been a deficiency of action by the Scottish authorities implicit the closure.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the UK authorities did everything it could, but Petroineos "didn’t countenance having a discussion” astir keeping the refinery open.

Unions said the installation should person remained unfastened longer to supply clip for a greenish alternate to beryllium established.

Derek Thomson of the Unite national said: "The nonaccomplishment of authorities to program decently for a conscionable modulation volition permission thousands of radical retired of enactment astatine Grangemouth but besides thousands successful the aboriginal if we don’t get it right."

The refinery was opened by BP successful 1924 and expanded into petrochemicals successful the 1950s.

It is the main supplier of aviation substance for Scotland's airports and a large supplier of petrol and diesel crushed fuels crossed the Central Belt.

Ineos acquired the tract successful 2005 and are liable for the full plant, portion the the refinery itself is owned by Petroineos - a associated task betwixt Ineos and PetroChina.