HUNDREDS of jobs could go at Grangemouth oil refinery after owners announced today it will close in 2025.

The refinery, owned by billionaire tax exile Jim Ratcliffe’s Petroineos, is set to instead become a fuel import terminal.

Petroineos Refining chief executive Franck Demay claimed it would be “business as usual” until spring 2025.

Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay said: “This is an appalling way to treat workers who only months ago were being promised that they would be part of a just transition for the site. Instead they are being told their jobs are at risk just weeks before Christmas.

“Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his executives must explain themselves to the community that has for 100 years worked and loyally supported this site and fully expected a better and more sustainable future that would support generations more.

“I grew up less than 200 yards from the plant and I can tell you right now that workers at the plant are bewildered, betrayed and furious at finding out about this from a story on the internet long after shareholders were made aware. 

“They have been given next to no information — in fact, I broke the news to one senior union official. 

“I am now calling for an urgent summit to be held, including the Grangemouth Just Transition Board, who must share what they knew and when.

“Make no mistake, we must move away from fossil fuels — but this is the exact opposite of a just transition.

“This is not a staged change towards a more sustainable way of working: this is the industry cutting and running and offshoring expertise to continue making as much profit as possible.”

Faced with hundreds of members’ jobs going at the site, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite will leave no stone unturned in the fight for jobs and will hold politicians to account for their actions.”

Unite’s Scottish secretary Derek Thomson urged the Scottish and UK governments to act due to the implications the proposal will have on both economies.

“Every option must be on the table in order to secure the hundreds of highly skilled jobs based at the Grangemouth complex for the long-term,” he said.

GMB general secretary Gary Smith said: “This is a deeply worrying time for the future of the workers and communities dependent on Grangemouth.

“Time and again, GMB has said the UK needs a plan and not bans for better energy independence and prosperity.

“Today’s announcement should be a huge wake-up call to policy makers across the political spectrum.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Rosie Hampton said the announcement showed a failure of government planning. 

She said: “Workers at the refinery and the wider community at Grangemouth deserve better than how they have been treated today by rich bosses in distant boardrooms.

“Escalating climate breakdown and the phase-out of fossil-fuelled vehicles means that the transition away from oil and gas is essential in the coming years.

“Today’s announcement is, sadly, the inevitable consequence of the Scottish government’s repeated failure to grasp this reality and to put concrete transition plans in place with workers.”