The presumption against new oil and gas licences is not responsible for the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, Scotland's acting Energy Secretary has said.
It was confirmed last week that Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery will close in the second quarter of 2025.
Around 400 jobs are at risk at the 100-year-old site, however unions have warned the losses could be substantially higher.
PetroIneos, the joint venture between Ineos and PetroChina, has estimated around 280 workers could go in the three months following the closure while another 100 would be retained for up to a year to begin decommissioning work.
Gillian Martin, who is covering the net zero and energy brief while Mairi McAllan is on maternity leave, said work was being done to assess the possibility of carbon capture or bio-refinery at the site.
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Both the UK and Scottish Governments have also provided £100 million of joint funding towards Project Willow, a feasibility study looking at the plant’s next steps.
Ms Martin said: "It is my firm belief that there is a future for Grangemouth where the cluster can play a key part in Scotland's energy transition."
However, she was forced to defend the Scottish Government's position on oil and gas after opposition MSPs joined trade unions in blaming the strategy for the closure.
Scottish Tory energy spokesman Douglas Lumsden said former energy minister Michael Matheson had discussed the refinery's future with PetroIneos as early as February 2023.
He said: "This is bad news. Not just for the hundreds of workers and their families directly employed by PetroIneos, but the wider supply chain in the area.
“But this news is not unexpected to the devolved (Scottish) Government.
“The government has known that this has been coming for the last 31 months yet it seems that little has been done to prepare for the future.
“Yet it seems that little has been done to prepare for the future, with the Cabinet Secretary admitting last week that Project Willow was only just starting.
“So can I ask – why has the Scottish Government achieved so little in the 31 months it has known it was coming and would the SNP Government accept responsibility that it is their narrative and their presumption against oil and gas that has got us to where we are now?
“They are driving away investment and driving away jobs.”
A defiant Ms Martin hit back: "I do not accept that at all."
She added: “The Scottish Government and the UK Government have been a part of the Grangemouth Future Industries board for the last 18 months.
“In that time the Scottish Government has made sure that it its intentions has been to support the Grangemouth Growth Deal and to put funding on the table for Project Willow at the request of PetroIneos."
Mr Lumsden's intervention comes after The Herald revealed last week GMB Scotland had written to Ms Martin and UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to demand the ban on new oil and gas licences is lifted.
The UK Government previously said it would not approve new exploration applications as it looked to the net zero transition.
The union's Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour warned jobs lost at Grangemouth would only be the "tip of the iceberg" if decisive action was not taken by both government's to reverse the policy.
Meanwhile, during the statement, Ms Martin did not address the rumours that a potential international buyer was in the works to save the refinery in its entirety.
Rumours of a mystery buyer came from Falkirk East MSP Michelle Thomson who said last week she was in talks with a "serious" buyer.
However, she has signed a non-disclosure agreement and said she cannot reveal any additional information.
On Sunday, the Scottish Government said it was "slightly wary" of the talks around a buyer as the Scottish Government and Grangemouth owners PetroIneos had no knowledge of any interested parties.
Aberdeen-based Stacey Oil Services has confirmed its involvement in the rescue plan.
The firm, which specialises in tools and rental equipment for the offshore industry, is understood to be representing a Canadian company.
Berkeley March, who works for the firm, said: "We are focussing on getting a good outcome for the workers, not getting in the newspapers."
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