Ineos boss: Scotland will never be independent without fracking
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Jim Ratcliffe, whose company own the Grangemouth refinery, says that if the Scottish Government bans the controversial drilling technique then the country will be unable to move from a deficit in its economy to a surplus.
He also accused Nicola Sturgeon of hypocrisy by accepting Ineos’ decision to import shale gas from the United States in order to save the Grangemouth refinery from closure.
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Hide AdThe Scottish Government currently has a moratorium in place on fracking and is preparing a report on its long term environmental impact which is due by the end of the year.
He said: “If I look at Scotland as an independent state, the North Sea is not what it was. At $50 a barrel, the North Sea rally doesn’t make any money - not much money - and secondly there is no investment going on, nobody wants to invest in the North Sea at $50 a barrel because it is an expensive base.
“Personally, I don’t see how the numbers can work at the moment without shale because the North Sea isn’t generating any revenue for Scotland and (independence) needs to have a profit and loss account which is in the black and not in the red.”
Last month’s Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures revealed Scotland spent £14,8 billion more than it raised in 2015-16.
The deficit means Scotland would have to raise money through higher taxes or cuts to public spending.
Ineos had planned to shut down its Grangemouth refinery in 2013 following a dispute with staff however it reversed its decision and announced that it would be spending £300 million funding losses and converting the plant so that it could accept shale gas from the Unites States.
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