About

Our world-scale petrochemical plants make around 1.4 million tonnes per annum of product, used as the building blocks in the manufacture of household items that society depends upon every day.

INEOS @ Grangemouth

grangemouth-about.jpgGrangemouth represents one of INEOS’ largest manufacturing site by volume of products. It is home to Scotland’s only crude oil refinery and produces the bulk of fuels used in Scotland.

Our world-scale petrochemical plants make around 1.4 million tonnes per annum of product, used as the building blocks in the manufacture of household items that society depends upon every day. These include synthetic ethanol, ethylene, propylene and polymers: polyethylene and polypropylene.

Our products are used extensively in the petrochemical industry and transformed into bottles and pipes, cabling and insulation, food packaging and are used in the pharmaceutical industry.

Bringing science to life

Information for visitors to the Grangemouth site

By Train
Polmont is the nearest station to site ~ 40 minutes walk. The train journey from Edinburgh takes ~30 minutes; from Glasgow ~25 minutes.

By Road
The Grangemouth site is located 25 miles west of Edinburgh, one mile north of the M9.
Heading northbound from Edinburgh, leave the M9 at Junction 5, signposted Grangemouth/Falkirk; from Glasgow/ Stirlingleave at Junction 5 signposted Grangemouth Industry/Bo'ness.

Please note: if using SATnav, the closest residential postcode is FK3 9UR

By Air
Glasgow Airport is ~40 miles from the Grangemouth site; Edinburgh Airport is ~20 miles.

INEOS Grangemouth Visitor Information

The beginning

The History of Grangemouth starts in the mid 19th Century, when in 1850, Glasgow scientist Dr James "Paraffin" Young took out a patent for 'treating bituminous coals to obtain paraffine therefrom'. The first oil works in the world were opened in Bathgate in 1851 producing oil from shale or coal.

However, in 1859 the world's first oil well was sunk in Pennsylvania in the USA and, as the price of oil dropped, many Scottish works closed or concentrated production on lubricants, paraffin wax and sulphate of ammonia.

VIEW OUR TIMELINE

1900—1940

By 1919 the six surviving companies, including Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company Limited came together under the management of the newly formed Scottish Oils. In the same year Scottish Oils was acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, later to become BP.

BP was persuaded by Scottish Oils to locate a refinery near Grangemouth rather than in north-east England due to its flat ground to the east, its transport links and most importantly, the rich vein of labour skilled in shale oil refining.

By 1924 the refinery was in operation. It maintained a throughput of 360,000 tons per year until the outbreak of war in 1939 when imports of oil dwindled and forced it to close. It reopened in 1946 to a world even more hungry for refined oil products. This demand made it essential for economic reasons that the crude oil was utilised completely, and this led to the growth of the petrochemical industry.

1941—1975

In the 1940s, the Distiller’s Company Ltd, was investigating synthetic processes for the production of their alcohols, to replace the traditional process using molasses, due to unreliable supply and cost fluctuations depending on the harvest.

Thus an overlap existed between the needs of both Distillers and BP in their interest in petrochemical development. As a result, a new joint company, British Petroleum Chemicals Ltd., was established in 1947.

It decided to locate its site adjacent to the existing BP Refinery at Grangemouth, which had available feedstock. The petrochemical plants commissioned in 1951, were the first in Europe.

Our pipeline from Finnart Ocean Terminal on the west coast, capable of receiving larger tankers, first imported crude oil in 1951.

BP’s operations at Grangemouth grew over the next twenty years to meet the growing demands for both petrochemicals and fuels.

1976—2000

The advent of a new source of crude oil feedstock in the shape of North Sea Oil in 1975, further increased the opportunities for the site. The Forties Pipeline System has been the key to Grangemouth's continuing success. The fact that it provides direct access to raw materials for refinery and petrochemicals use has been instrumental in maintaining employment, investment and expansion across the whole complex. This provided the advantages previously only experienced in areas such as the Middle East.

2001 - 2014

In 2004 BP decided to divest its worldwide olefins and derivatives business: this included the refinery and chemical plants at Grangemouth.

In March 2005, the new company created to run this business was named Innovene. In late 2005 UK-based INEOS bought BP's olefins and derivatives business and so began a new chapter in the history of the site.

In July 2011, INEOS’ refining business entered into a joint venture (JV) with Petrochina. This new company, Petroineos, owns and operates the refinery at Grangemouth.

On 27 March 2014, INEOS confirmed TGE as the preferred bidder on the Grangemouth Ethane tank build contract. TGE is well placed to deliver this element of the Grangemouth scope having already undertaken a similar project for INEOS at our facility in Rafnes, Norway.

The Scottish Government provided the business with a £9m Regional Selective Assistance grant.

On 14 May 2014, INEOS O&P UK announced that it had received notification from Falkirk Council that its planning application for the construction of an ethane tank at its Grangemouth site had been approved.

INEOS O&P UK received notification of approval for an infrastructure loan guarantee from the UK Government to the value €285m / £230m on 17 July 2014; this allowed INEOS to raise the funds necessary to invest in a new import terminal.

Grangemouth today employs over 1300 people working on the 700 hectare site.

2015 Onwards

In 2015, we awarded the contract to construct the new business HQ for the O&P UK business: BAM Construction was appointed principal contractor; announced agreement with Shell ExxonMobil to supply US shale gas ethane from Grangemouth to the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) in Mossmorran; we raised the roof on the ethane tank.

In 2016: September we saw the opening of the O&P UK HQ (12 months after construction began), first Dragon ship delivery of US shale gas ethane, commissioning of the ethane storage tank, the restart of KG’s second manufacturing train following mothballing in 2008.

In 2017: October INEOS announced acquisition of the Forties Pipeline System from BP - the acquisition reunites North Sea and Grangemouth assets under INEOS ownership; project announced to replace ageing steam and power plant with a new energy plant (NEP) – community events August 2017.

Overview

The Grangemouth site is home to Scotland’s only crude oil refinery (via our joint venture company, Petroineos) as well as petrochemical plants.

We have the capacity to produce around 7 million tonnes of fuels and 1.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals per annum.

Our petrochemicals are used as intermediates in the manufacture of other chemicals and applications that a modern society demands and has become reliant upon. These applications range from pharmaceuticals to non-drip paints, medical appliances to the lightweight plastics used in the automotive industry.

Our main products

The petrochemicals produced at Grangemouth keep people in touch, mobile, housed and healthy.

  • Ethylene - the essential intermediate (building block) employed in the petrochemical industry. It is used in the manufacture of the plastic: polyethylene (on site) and other chemicals in the petrochemical industry (eg VAM – emulsion paint, car fuel tanks, resins, adhesives)
  • Propylene – intermediate (building block) used to manufacture, for example, the plastic: polypropylene (on site)
  • Polyethylene – typical applications include plastic bottles (milk, shampoo), wrappers, food film etc
  • Polypropylene – carpets, carpet backing, DVD cases, cabling, water pipes etc
  • Ethanol – used in the pharmaceutical industry in the manufacturing process as a solvent
  • LPG – for example camping gas
  • Gasoline (petrol) – fuelling vehicles
  • Jet fuel – aviation
  • Home heating oil
  • Diesel – fuelling vehicles

Facts & Figures

  • Grangemouth is one of INEOS’ 194 sites around the globe.
  • We produce around seven million tonnes of clean fuels every year and around 1.4 million tonnes of product every year.
  • The site was the first to introduce Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) and Ultra Low Sulphur Petrol (ULSP) to the UK market.
  • The site provides aviation fuel for Scotland's major airports, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Prestwick.
  • Grangemouth also despatches a dedicated train load of aviation fuel for the Rolls Royce engine testing facility in Derby.
  • The site holds ISO14001 accreditation, the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems, by demonstrating high environmental standards and compliance with legislation.
  • The site employs almost 2000 people directly across the three businesses (INEOS O&P UK, INEOS FPS and Petroineos).
  • The site occupies almost 1,700 acres of land – or around 640 football pitches.
  • Road tankers leaving the site’s tanker terminal typically carry around 35,000 litres of fuel – that’s enough fuel to keep an average car going for 200,000 miles.
  • We have over 4,000 kilometres of pipework on the site at Grangemouth. If they were laid end to end, the pipes would stretch from Edinburgh to Nice and back.
  • INEOS acquired the Grangemouth site in December 2005.
  • INEOS is one of the largest chemical companies in the world.
  • In 2011, INEOS and PetroChina formed a joint venture company, Petroineos, to operate the refineries at Grangemouth and Lavéra.

Further Reading

Careers

Interested in joining a winning team? A team whose employees share in the ownership of the business and are empowered to make a difference?

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INEOS Laboratory

INEOS Laboratory Grangemouth offers a diverse range of analytical techniques for a wide variety of materials.

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Grangemouth News

Find the latest news releases from INEOS Grangemouth and who else is talking about the Grangemouth Manufacturing Plant.

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