Grangemouth

The first ever shipment of shale gas from the US has arrived in the UK. INEOS is taking the delivery of a tanker carrying 27,500 cubic meters of ethane at its Grangemouth plant in Scotland. It has travelled more than 3,500 miles via a “virtual pipeline” of eight tankers to reach Grangemouth, where the company […]

Petrochemicals giant INEOS has struck a deal to supply ethane from US shale gas via the new £450 million import terminal at Grangemouth. It has signed a long term deal with ExxonMobil and Shell to secure ethane for the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP), which has an annual capacity of 830,000 tonnes, from mid-2017. FEP is […]

A 330-tonne roof has been fitted on what is claimed will be Europe’s largest shale gas storage tank. Located at the petrochemical plant in Grangemouth, it is designed to hold more than 60,000 cubic metres of shale gas. It has a displacement volume of more than 108,000 cubic metres, which means 560 double-decker buses could […]

Finnish energy firm Fortum has sold its power plant at Grangemouth to the refinery’s owner, Ineos. Ineos handed over £54 million for the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. Able to generate up to 145 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 257 MW of heat, it provides power and steam to the petrochemical and refining plant. Excess […]

The operator of Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has been promised a £230 million loan guarantee from the UK Treasury to import US shale gas. International owner Ineos said the guarantee will help it raise money for building a new gas terminal to import and store ethane. It means by 2016 the UK business – which […]

The owner of Grangemouth refinery is apparently pinning the site’s future on shale gas from the United States. Until recently at the heart of a heated union row, the refinery is set to be the first chemical plant in the country to get American shale gas. Owner Ineos plans to build a new ethane tank […]

The official from the Unite union at the centre of the Grangemouth industrial dispute has resigned from his job. Stephen Deans had previously been suspended following which Unite members voted for strike action over his treatment, leading to the temporary shutdown of the plant. It was on the cusp of closing last week, which would […]

Questions will be asked about why the future of Grangemouth petrochemical plant came so close to the “cliff edge”, according to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Under today’s deal union Unite agreed not to strike for three years and accepted the plant owner INEOS’ survival plan. Mr Salmond said: “There will no doubt be continued debate and […]

The Grangemouth petrochemical plant has been saved from closure after the owner INEOS agreed a deal with the Unite union. It marks a lucky escape as the site has been shut down since last week and looked set to close for good after Unite rejected INEOS’ survival plan on Monday. It will now reopen after […]

Unite’s General Secretary Len McCluskey has said the union will “embrace” the survival plan of Grangemouth owner INEOS “warts and all” in order to prevent the closure of the petrochemical plant, which was announced yesterday morning. Union officials and management from INEOS met at 8am today to hold talks. Mr McCluskey said he had spoken […]