FAQ about fuel strike
Saturday, April 26th, 2008What does the Grangemouth oil refinery do?
The plant, on the Firth of Forth, separates crude North Sea oil into usable commodities like petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and heating oil. The attached petro-chemical plant produces plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene, used by many industries.
How important is it?
Grangemouth is Scotland’s only major refinery and its main fuel supplier. Most Scottish filling stations and many in northern England depend on it, as do Scotland’s airports. It accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of Britain’s refining capacity, processing about 210,000 barrels of North Sea crude oil a day. It produces nine million litres of fuel a day - enough to fill the tanks of about 200,000 small cars.
What impact will the 48-hour shutdown have on petrol and diesel supplies?
Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, has said he “cannot guarantee” that stations will not temporarily run out. However, there should be no problem with shortages as long as motorists do not start to panic buy. Analysts have warned prices could rise to ?1.50 per litre.
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