MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos Olefins & Polumers UK has today confirmed that it has received notification from Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rt Hon. Danny Alexander MP that its application for an infrastructure loan guarantee has been successful, reported the company on its site.
This confirmation now allows INEOS to raise the funds necessary to invest in a new terminal import, to store and process ethane from shale gas at its site in Grangemouth, Scotland, as North Sea supplies dwindle. The project protects thousands of jobs in Scotland and across the UK.
"Without doubt, this is one of the most important projects of recent times in Scotland, with implications to be felt right across the UK, not only for employment but also for manufacturing in general", said Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS Chairman. "Our ability to import US shale gas underpins the future of manufacturing at Grangemouth and across many businesses in Scotland. It is a vital step towards preserving the long term future of the Grangemouth site and those businesses that depend upon its continued presence in Scotland."
Ineos AG has invested more than GBP300m at its Grangemouth site as part of a long term survival plan necessary for the site to manufacture petrochemicals beyond 2017. The loan guarantee from the UK Government now enables it to raise financing on GBP230m specifically to cover the import facility and storage tank to be built at the site.
This is major step forward that ensures the long-term future of petrochemical manufacture at Grangemouth. The ethane tank will be the largest in Europe and is central to the site’s plans to import shale gas from the USA. By 2016 Grangemouth will be a shale gas-based facility, essential if it is to compete in world markets beyond 2017.
Ineos O&P UK has also finalised contract agreements with specialist engineering company TGE Gas Engineering GmbH for the construction of what will be the largest ethane storage tank in Europe.
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC