Kenny MacAskill MP and Neale Hanvey MP have vowed to continue the fight to save Scotland’s oil refinery and secure a future for the workers in the North Sea energy sector following the passage of the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill at Westminster.

The two Alba MPs were speaking after their bid to have an amendment incorporated into the legislation was defeated in the Commons. 

The UK Government maintains the bill, which guarantees annual oil and gas licensing rounds, will strengthen the UK's energy security and safeguard energy supplies by increasing investor and industry confidence.

Ministers also say it seeks to protect the domestic oil and gas industry that supports more than 200,000 jobs and realise the UK's net zero target in a pragmatic way.

However, critics claim it shows Conservative ministers are "not serious" about tackling climate change.

The Alba amendment to the bill which was debated in the Commons on Tuesday would have required a zero carbon footprint to be attached to each new oil extraction licence, to be achieved mainly through connection to the carbon capture network and that a minimum of 30% of all new licences for oil exploration be linked to oil refining at Grangemouth.

Alba depute leader Mr MacAskill last night criticised the decision not to include the amendment in the Bill and told The Herald that his party would work with the trade union Unite to try and stop the closure of the facility which employs 500 people.

“The minister dismissed our amendment showing Westminster’s flagrant disregard for investment in and a viable future for Scotland’s oil refinery at Grangemouth," said Mr MacAskill.

"The UK Government will find that they cannot dismiss the workers at Grangemouth quite so easily. As the workers at Grangemouth and Unite continue to press the case for investment in the plant which would increase its profitability three-fold they can be assured of Alba’s continued support.

“By refusing to align new oil production licences with the need to refine oil at Grangemouth, the UK Government is continuing to consign Grangemouth to an uncertain future beyond 2025.  

"With the UK Treasury benefitting from billions of pounds in oil and gas tax receipts annually it is only right that Grangemouth receives the modest investment of £60-80 million it needs to increase its profitability.  

“However, if the UK Government think this fight is over they are very much mistaken. The fight for a sustainable future for Scotland’s oil refinery at Grangemouth continues.  Scottish oil must be refined at Scotland’s oil refinery.  

"We will continue to fight, alongside the workers and Unite the union, to save our oil refinery at Grangemouth. This is a battle for Scotland’s industrial base which can and must be won."

Alba Westminster leader Mr Hanvey added: “Alba put forward a concrete proposal to allow continued oil exploration to be squared with the ambition to achieve net zero through connection to the carbon capture network.  This would have guaranteed a secure future for the North Sea sector and the workers who depend on it.  

“The opportunities for carbon capture through the Acorn project linking to the plant at Mossmorran in Fife and a thriving energy sector in the North Sea remain and it is now incumbent on all Scottish MPs to stand up for these in the coming months.”

Plans to close the oil refinery at Grangemouth were announced last November with the plant expected to cease operations as soon as 2025. 

Its owner, Petroineos, a joint venture between the Chinese state-owned oil firm and the petrochemicals empire owned by Monaco-based British billionaire Sir James Ratcliffe, said it had had no choice but to adapt to global pressures affecting the refining market.

But campaigners seeking to save the facility say the closure plan “blows a hole” in Scotland’s industrial base.

Addressing the Alba amendment in Tuesday's debate, after which MPs voted for the bill, UK energy minister Graham Stuart said: "The oil and gas sector provides a significant portion of the investment that the UK needs to go into wind, carbon capture, usage and storage, and hydrogen, and I fear that the amendment would drive that investment elsewhere. 

"It would also tie UK production of oil and natural gas to the refining activities of one refinery—Grangemouth—which I am sure members across the House would agree is neither practical nor desirable."

The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill passed its third reading with 285 votes for and 218 votes against. As a result, the legislation will now continue its journey through parliament, firstly by being debated in the House of Lords.