UK government will not financially support Mossmorran

The UK government has said it will not offer financial support to keep the Exxon Mobil plant at Mossmorran open.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, Business Minister Chris McDonald said there was no realistic business plan to go with investment.

He said ExxonMobil's chairman Paul Greenwood had told him that the plant was inefficient and would need nearly £1bn of spending to make it profitable.

Hundreds of staff have been told their jobs are at risk as the petrochemical company prepares to close part of the site.

The Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) in Mossmorran is to close in February, the company confirmed earlier in the day.

A spokesman for the global energy company said there was not a "competitive future" for the site because of the UK's current economic and policy environment combined with market conditions.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the Scottish government would support workers, and the Grangemouth investment taskforce would be expanded to also consider the future of the Mossmorran site.

Exxon Mobil said 179 directly employed jobs will be at risk, along with 250 contractors.

Staff were told about the plans at a meeting on Tuesday morning, where details of financial packages and retraining and relocation support were discussed.

There is a possibility of 50 staff transferring to the Fawley Petrochemical Complex 480 miles (780km) away in Hampshire.

The site has produced ethylene for about 40 years through a process known as thermal or steam cracking.

Exxon Mobil said it had been seeking a buyer for several months and it would clean up and then demolish the site once production ends.

It plans to have a "full employee consultation" before the closure.

Shell, which processes natural gas liquids on the Mossmorran site, said it was unaffected by the closure.

Its operations at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire, which provides natural gas to the Exxon Mobil facility at Mossmorran, were also unaffected, it added.

The closure of FEP, which had been a "cornerstone" of chemical production in the UK, reflected the challenges of operating in a policy environment that was "accelerating the exit of vital industries, domestic manufacturing, and the high-value jobs they provide", an Exxon Mobil spokesperson said.

A statement from the company said: ''We understand and regret the impact this will have on our loyal and valued workforce, contractors and local communities.

"Our priorities are now to support our people through this challenging period, while ensuring continued safe operations through to end of production.''

The Fife plant has been operating for 40 years

Industry body Offshore Energies UK said the closure was a sign of industrial decline in the UK.

Chief executive David Whitehouse said: "We are sleepwalking into full-scale de-industrialisation; this announcement comes on the heels of widespread job losses in our domestic oil and gas sector.

"But it does not have to be this way. We should be building modern industrial Britain on the shoulders of our proud industries.

Ross Colquhoun said contractors were sent home until next Wednesday

Trade union Unite called on the company to withdraw the immediate threat of closure and to explore all options to safeguard jobs.

Bob MacGregor, industrial officer at the union, said: "Exxon Mobil is one of the richest companies in the world.

"It cannot be allowed to walk away and leave an industrial wasteland in Fife."

Robert Deavy, a senior organiser for GMB which represents contractors on the site, called for politicians to put together a "planned and measured" transition.

Contractors at the plant told BBC Scotland News the closure announcement came as a shock.

Ross Colquhoun, who works for Zenith, said it was "heartbreaking".

"We're contractors so we knew that our contract was coming to an end eventually, but I feel for all the Exxon guys who thought they had a jobs for life," he said.

"We've been sent home until next Wednesday and we'll just wait by the phone and see what happens."

Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative spokesman for business, said the proposed closure would "devastate the local economy and the livelihoods of hundreds of skilled workers".

He added: "By imposing high-tax, low-growth policies and opposing our oil and gas sector, the Labour and SNP governments are wreaking havoc on Scotland's economy. Our industrial capacity is being hollowed out."

Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell said the closure at Mossmorran would "feel familiar".

"Exxon Mobil has reported eye-watering profits and now it is cutting and running and abandoning workers," he said.

"This is exactly what happens when you leave Scotland's green industrial future in the hands of multi-millionaire owners of fossil fuel companies rather than bringing workers and trade unions to the table."

The news comes months after the oil refinery at Grangemouth closed its doors after more than a century in operation, with operator Petroineos citing soaring costs.

More than 400 jobs were lost, leaving both the Scottish and UK governments working to protect the workforce and subsequently to secure other work.