INEOS has agreed to supply ethane from US shale gas to ExxonMobil’s chemical plant in Fife in a deal it said would help to underpin the competitiveness of a major Scottish manufacturing facility and to secure jobs.
The chemicals giant has signed a long term sales and purchase agreement with ExxonMobil and Shell under which the Fife Ethylene Plant at Mossmorran will receive ethane from INEOS’s new £450 million import terminal in Grangemouth.
The Mossmorran plant will use the gas to make ethylene, which is a key input in the manufacture of products ranging from plastic bags to paints.
INEOS said the agreement would provide a major boost for the Mossmorran plant by giving it access to secure supplies of relatively low cost gas from US shale areas.
ExxonMobil said the new source of ethane will help offset declining North Sea supplies.
The additional supplies, which will be available from mid 2017, could help ensure that Mossmorran can run at the kid of production levels needed to maximise efficiency.
ExxonMobil said the agreement benefits the 140 permanent staff and 50 contractors working at the Fife plant, and the local community’s economy.
Led by Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS believes the agreement provides an example of how investment in developing shale resources in the UK can provide a spur to the wider economy.
“We know that ethane from US shale gas has transformed US manufacturing and we are now seeing this advantage being shared across Scotland,” said the company.
In December an analysis by PwC found shale gas had given US manufacturing a boost through significant cost savings and jobs creation.
ExxonMobil has been producing ethylene at Mossmorran since 1985. It says the plant is one of Europe’s largest and most modern ethylene plants, with an annual production capacity of 830,000 tonnes.
Shell’s chemicals arm has the right to 50 per cent of the plant’s capacity.
INEOS has commissioned eight ships to carry ethane from the US to Grangemouth and its Rafnes plant in Norway.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here