Government must not talk country into fuel crisis

4.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 25th Apr 2008

The shutdown of the Ineos oil refinery at Grangemouth in central Scotland has been completed, the company has said. The 1,700-acre plant is being closed in preparation for a two-day strike by staff over pension changes, which is due to start on Sunday. BP has said that if the action goes ahead, it will have to close the Forties oil pipeline, which links North Sea oil production with Grangemouth, delivering 30% of the UK's oil output.

Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat MP said "Malcolm Wicks' comments that the Government could not guarantee petrol supply were very ill-conceived. Ministers must be very careful not to end up talking the country into an avoidable fuel crisis. Given the importance of this facility, it is absolutely essential that ministers put pressure on both Ineos and the unions to bring this strike to an end as soon as possible."

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Michale Moore said "The BP plan to close the pipeline shows that the situation has escalated since Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks made his ill-conceived comments this morning. It is now essential that the UK Government spells out its contingency plans for dealing with this dispute, given the trade union's intention to increase the scale of their action if no resolution is reached. The Government should have learned from the fuel shock of 2000 the importance of providing clarity and certainty to reassure the public."