Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery closure: 'Seismic moment' for communities in Immingham and blow for UK
The owners of Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery have “serious questions” to answer, a shadow minister said, after over 600 workers were told it will close, after efforts to find a buyer failed.
Winding up operations will begin shortly for the firm which went into administration at the end of June, after buckling under the weight of mounting debts, including about £250m owed to the taxman.
It is another blow for for the UK’s refining sector following the closure of Grangemouth refinery just months ago and comes amid mounting concerns over the future of Vivergo, the UK's largest producer of bioethanol on the north bank of the Humber.
Prax Group, led by Sanjeev Soosaipillai, bought the Immingham refinery from French firm Total in 2021. The plant reportedly recorded losses of about £75m between the takeover and February 2024.
Shadow Energy Minister Andrew Bowie told The Yorkshire Post: “It is obviously a dire situation for communities around Immingham. It is a seismic moment to be told the refinery has no future. The owners have genuinely serious questions to answer, but there is also the overarching negativity about gas and oil, from this government, be it drilling, exploiting or refining, which is leading to the situation where people are walking away from the UK.
"The government needs to reflect on the language it is using about oil and gas and whether they are comfortable about the UK being down to four refineries from over 20 in the 1970s and what that means for our resilience and energy security.”
Meanwhile major players across renewables and chemicals sectors on the Humber said urgent action was needed to save Vivergo as its possible closure draws nearer.
A consultation period began with 160 staff after Vivergo said a series of decisions by the government that undercut UK production in favour of US imports. The most recent US trade deal was the “final blow”.
A joint statement from signatories including Ineos, Humber Freeport and px Group, which runs Saltend chemical park near Hull, said its closure “would have consequences far beyond a single plant”: “It would drive up costs for other Saltend businesses, damage confidence in the Humber’s future fuels cluster, and put at risk new hydrogen and renewable fuel projects currently in development.”
In response to MPs, Energy Minister Michael Shanks insisted Labour is “investing in the industries of the future, delivering thousands of jobs on the Humber”. He said there’d been no impact on supplies with the larger Phillips 66 refinery next door taking up the slack. And he urged owners to “do the right” thing and improve on the statutory redundancy packages workers will receive.