Achi news desk-
He said this information was an operational and commercially sensitive matter.
READ MORE: Doomed Grangemouth Refinery set to wait for operation as unit restarts
Grangemouth is due to close next year, but on Tuesday we revealed that the hydrocracker, which produces jet fuel, diesel and LPG, has been restarted.
The decision to take it offline in April last year was seen as one of the main reasons why the Petroineos refinery was due to close, as the cost of repairing the unit would be around £30m .
Insiders told us that the company is now taking a “watch and see” approach and this could mean that closure could be delayed until closer to 2027, as this is when new investment in the hydrocracker will be essential.
Central Scotland Tory MP Stephen Kerr raised the Herald’s report in Parliament.
He asked Ms McAllan to confirm that the hydrocracker had been restarted.
“What impact does a return to sustained profitability mean for extending the life of the refinery?” he added.
The minister said this was “purely an operational matter for the company, and is commercially sensitive”.
He added: “It is not appropriate for me to speculate or speculate on what is essentially speculation in the media at the moment, but I can assure Stephen Kerr and members that ministers and officials are engaging regularly with everyone who are interested in the cluster. , including with the business, to understand the impact of current operations.
“We are interested in today’s operations and how that progresses into the future.”
Mr Kerr said it was “a matter of interest to her and her team to find out if the hydrocracker has been restarted”.
“We have from several sources that it has been, and that is a significant development,” he added.
The Tories suggested that the “window of opportunity brought by the restart of the hydrocracker” was “not irrelevant” to Humza Yousaf’s decision to scrap the Bute house deal and sack two Scottish Green ministers.
READ MORE: How Scotland’s ‘black gold’ has made the closed Grangemouth refinery iconic
Ms McAllan replied: “Given the importance that Stephen Kerr places on the matter – as I do – I urge him not to indulge in theories about political configuration on the one hand and, on the other hand, what are essentially commercial matters for them. Petroineos to consider.
“I reiterate the fact that it is not appropriate for me to comment on speculation in the media, but I reinforce the point that ministers and officials are very closely involved in the development of these matters.”
Sarah Boyack from the Labor Party asked the minister for an update on the just transition plan promised for Grangemouth.
Ms McAllan promised that it would “be announced very soon”.
