The owners of Scotland’s only oil refinery have rejected a US-led approach to a possible takeover bid months before its planned closure.
Sky News has learned that a consortium believed to be led by Robert McKee, a veteran of the US energy industry, has written to Petroineos, owner of the Grangemouth site, to express its interest in buying it.
This approach, which would have taken place at the beginning of the month, was rejected by Petroineos, 50% owned by the petrochemical empire founded by the group. Manchester United FC shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The consortium reportedly includes The Canal Group, which is reportedly developing a green energy refinery in Texas, and Trading Stack, a Middle East-based commodities trader.
Mr. McKee spent nearly four decades at ConocoPhillips, one of the largest energy companies in the United States.
Sources familiar with the matter said Petroineos rejected the offer in order to focus on a publicly announced project to transform the century-old plant into a finished fuels import terminal.
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They added that the nature of the consortium’s approach had raised questions about its access to finance and its expertise in operating an asset of this type.
The Grangemouth refinery, which employs around 450 people, loses around £200m a year.
Its other shareholder is state-backed Chinese energy giant PetroChina.
The site is due to closure next year.
A person close to the consortium insisted its financing was strong and said it would assess the feasibility of building a new refinery elsewhere in the area.
They added that the consortium had had “positive interactions” with union officials and believed there was scope to quickly bring operations at the Grangemouth refinery to profitability.
On Monday, a Petroineos spokesperson said: “Since the creation of the Petroineos joint venture 13 years ago, our shareholders have invested almost £1 billion in the refinery, only to absorb losses of £600 million. pounds sterling.
“Last week the refinery lost an average of £385,000 every day and we expect to lose more than £150 million in total over the course of this year.
“We have not received any credible or viable offers for the refinery.”
A spokesperson for the consortium declined to comment.