Grangemouth Refinery To Stop Sunday Over Strike

Workers at Grangemouth refinery are to begin a two-day strike starting Sunday that will suspend the production process and decrease fuel supplies in Scotland and northern England.

Talks between the union and the plant's operator, Ineos, broke down Wednesday over a company proposal to modify the salary pension plan, a union official said.
Ineos CEO Tom Crotty said "the union rejection means we have no option but to completely shutdown the Grangemouth site to be sure it is safe during the 48-hour strike."

A full shutdown of the 200,000 barrel-per-day refinery could trigger a fuel crunch in Scotland and northern England, areas that are already facing some sporadic fuel shortages amid motorist stockpiling.

The refinery, which is integrated with a petrochemicals plant, had already begun shutting down a crude distillation unit on Monday in anticipation of the strike.

McNulty said the union and Ineos had come to an agreement on the safety and integrity of the plant during the strike and added that both sides had agreed to maintain fuel supplies to vulnerable customers.

Aside from cutting into refined fuels supply, any shutdown of the refinery could affect flows on the BP-operated Forties crude oil pipeline system, which has the potential to cut up to 20 percent of Britain's natural gas supply, analysts said.