Forties Pipeline System
(Grangemouth Refinery Closure Impacts)
4. Liam Kerr (North East
Scotland) (Con)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates that
the planned closure of Grangemouth oil refinery will have on the
Forties pipeline system and associated jobs and businesses.
(S6O-03840)
The Deputy First Minister
and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic ()
We continue to engage constructively with businesses at
Grangemouth to fully understand the impact that the closure of
the refinery will have on the area, in particular on employment.
Ineos has
confirmed that the Grangemouth refinery does not process
significant volumes of Forties pipeline system derived crude,
with the majority of the asset's feedstocks being imported.
Therefore, it is expected that the refinery's closure will have
limited impact on the Forties pipeline system.
More generally, and as outlined in the Scottish Government's
draft energy strategy, oil extracted from the North Sea is
predominantly exported to international markets.
Liam Kerr
The cabinet secretary's complacency is extremely concerning,
because industry voices and experts warn that the Forties
pipeline—which connects 80 fields to the mainland and enables
around 59 per cent of the United Kingdom's oil and gas to reach
customers—could shut down as early as 2030 due to the fiscal and
licensing regime that both of Scotland's Governments are
pursuing. The GMB says that both Governments have taken a
hostile, fundamentally dishonest position on the realities of oil
and gas.
Will the cabinet secretary be honest and tell us when the
delayed, discredited draft energy strategy will finally be
published and whether the deeply damaging presumption against oil
and gas will be removed?
It is somewhat bizarre to hear a member discredit a strategy that
has not yet been published.
The oil and gas fiscal regime and the UK energy profits levy,
which the member referenced, were reserved to the UK Government
and introduced under the predecessor regime to the current Labour
Government. I agree with Liam Kerr on one point, which is that we
have consistently called for a fiscal regime for North Sea oil
and gas that provides stability and certainty to businesses,
protects jobs based in Scotland, and incentivises investment in
renewables.
I confirm that the Government is concerned about energy security.
It believes that we should do everything in our power to support
the transition and never lose sight of the importance of energy
security in that process.
On the specific issue of the Forties pipeline system—
The Presiding
Officer
Very briefly, please.
We recognise that it is critical and will continue to work hard
to support the careful management of the North Sea energy
transition.
