Grangemouth firm Petroineos reportedly looking for hundreds of millions of pounds of financial assistance from UK and Scottish governments

Based at Ineos in Grangemouth, Petroineos is a partnership between the Ineos Group and Chinese firm PetroChina, which, along with its other site in Lavera, France, processes 420,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 19 million tonnes of oil products per year.

The company has reportedly been in talks with the respective governments for a number of weeks.

A Petroines spokesperson said: “The Petroineos refinery at Grangemouth supplies fuel for use in all sectors across Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. As critical national infrastructure within the UK, our focus is on maintaining reliable fuel supply to our customers during this public health pandemic.

“During this period of unprecedented challenge, with people following Government advice to stay at home, demand for road and jet fuel has dropped significantly. As a responsible operator of Scotland’s only refinery, Petroineos is in regular discussion with the Scottish and UK Governments on a variety of matters.

“We are taking steps to ensure the ongoing supply of fuel to Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland to support the needs of the public and industry as the economy begins to emerge from COVID-19 lock down.”