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Britain sleep-walking into new energy crisis as Grangemouth shuts down, AA warns
Britain is sleep walking its way into a new energy crisis that will see millions of motorists hit by petrol "super spikes", the AA warned tonight, as talks to resolve the bitter dispute at Grangemouth oil refinery collapsed.
The AA's attack came as forecourts in Scotland were urged to build up stocks in the event Grangemouth remains shutdown beyond Tuesday. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Steve Hawkes, Consumer Affairs Editor
5:30PM BST 18 Oct 2013
16 Comments
Motoring chiefs warned that the uncertainty over the future of Grangemouth reflected the growing concerns over the rest of the refining industry in the UK following the closure of Coryton in Essex last year.
The AA said it feared that without an urgent action plan from Ministers, the country would soon be as reliant on imported fuel as it is on imported gas and electricity to keep the lights on. This could lead to "super spikes" similar to the one at the start of 2012, when speculators were blamed for pushing unleaded to a record of more than 140p per litre.
The AA's attack came as forecourts in Scotland were urged to build up stocks in the event Grangemouth remains shutdown beyond Tuesday.
Luke Bosdet, AA public affairs spokesman, said: "Grangemouth is a symptom of a bigger threat. There is a lot of talk of European refineries needing to close because of over capacity and because they are old.
"But our concern is that this echoes what has happened with the domestic energy generators - ageing plants being closed down and a greater reliance on imports.
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"The country could be sleep-walking into the same consumer nightmare that we have with gas and electricity."
He added: "What happens when the recovery comes and the demand for fuel, particularly diesel reaches 2008 levels? Imported and hoarded fuel will go to where it can get the best price."
Ineos, the owners of Grangemouth, today insisted they would restart production at Grangemouth if union chiefs representing the 900 workers agreed not to strike for the rest of the year.
But union chiefs at Unite claimed workers could not agree to such a demand with the threat of sizeable pay, pension and holiday cuts hanging over them.
Unite separately called on HM Revenue & Customs to investigate Switzerland-based Ineos' tax affairs, claiming its tax arrangements "obfuscate the true position" of its activities.
Writing to Chris Davidson, head of the anti-avoidance group for HMRC, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "The current uncertainty as to the true nature of the company's UK activities is causing genuine confusion, not least to the Ineos employees we represent, as well as other stakeholders."
Insiders claimed that Ineos Jim Ratcliffe had also taken offence at the use of a giant rat in union demonstrations. The row started over the treatment of a union convenor but now involves the future of the Scottish site.
Ineos, which runs Grangemouth in conjunction of PetroChina, wants £150 million of Government grants and loan guarantees as part of a survival plan designed to combat rising costs and declining North Sea oil production.
Industry officials said the the Department for Energy and Climiate Change had set up a taskforce to monitor the situation given the importance of Grangemouth to fuel supplies across Scotland and the north of England.
A three-day stoppage in 2008 cost hundreds of millions of pounds and led to panic buying at the pump. Calum Maclean, Grangemouth chairman, said: "We have been very clear that for compelling safety reasons, we cannot restart the site until we know that the risk of further industrial action has been removed.
"We can confirm that we would restart if there was a clear guarantee that there would be no further action during the next 60 days. This would allow us to complete a full consultation process with our employees on the changes that the site so urgently needs."
Britain is sleep walking its way into a new energy crisis that will see millions of motorists hit by petrol "super spikes", the AA warned tonight, as talks to resolve the bitter dispute at Grangemouth oil refinery collapsed.
The AA's attack came as forecourts in Scotland were urged to build up stocks in the event Grangemouth remains shutdown beyond Tuesday. Photo: GETTY IMAGES By Steve Hawkes, Consumer Affairs Editor
5:30PM BST 18 Oct 2013
16 Comments Motoring chiefs warned that the uncertainty over the future of Grangemouth reflected the growing concerns over the rest of the refining industry in the UK following the closure of Coryton in Essex last year.
The AA said it feared that without an urgent action plan from Ministers, the country would soon be as reliant on imported fuel as it is on imported gas and electricity to keep the lights on. This could lead to "super spikes" similar to the one at the start of 2012, when speculators were blamed for pushing unleaded to a record of more than 140p per litre.
The AA's attack came as forecourts in Scotland were urged to build up stocks in the event Grangemouth remains shutdown beyond Tuesday.
Luke Bosdet, AA public affairs spokesman, said: "Grangemouth is a symptom of a bigger threat. There is a lot of talk of European refineries needing to close because of over capacity and because they are old.
"But our concern is that this echoes what has happened with the domestic energy generators - ageing plants being closed down and a greater reliance on imports.
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"The country could be sleep-walking into the same consumer nightmare that we have with gas and electricity."
He added: "What happens when the recovery comes and the demand for fuel, particularly diesel reaches 2008 levels? Imported and hoarded fuel will go to where it can get the best price."
Ineos, the owners of Grangemouth, today insisted they would restart production at Grangemouth if union chiefs representing the 900 workers agreed not to strike for the rest of the year.
But union chiefs at Unite claimed workers could not agree to such a demand with the threat of sizeable pay, pension and holiday cuts hanging over them.
Unite separately called on HM Revenue & Customs to investigate Switzerland-based Ineos' tax affairs, claiming its tax arrangements "obfuscate the true position" of its activities.
Writing to Chris Davidson, head of the anti-avoidance group for HMRC, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "The current uncertainty as to the true nature of the company's UK activities is causing genuine confusion, not least to the Ineos employees we represent, as well as other stakeholders."
Insiders claimed that Ineos Jim Ratcliffe had also taken offence at the use of a giant rat in union demonstrations. The row started over the treatment of a union convenor but now involves the future of the Scottish site.
Ineos, which runs Grangemouth in conjunction of PetroChina, wants £150 million of Government grants and loan guarantees as part of a survival plan designed to combat rising costs and declining North Sea oil production.
Industry officials said the the Department for Energy and Climiate Change had set up a taskforce to monitor the situation given the importance of Grangemouth to fuel supplies across Scotland and the north of England.
A three-day stoppage in 2008 cost hundreds of millions of pounds and led to panic buying at the pump. Calum Maclean, Grangemouth chairman, said: "We have been very clear that for compelling safety reasons, we cannot restart the site until we know that the risk of further industrial action has been removed.
"We can confirm that we would restart if there was a clear guarantee that there would be no further action during the next 60 days. This would allow us to complete a full consultation process with our employees on the changes that the site so urgently needs."
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