Hundreds of jobs at risk as Lindsey Oil Refinery set to close
Lindsey Oil Refinery will be wound down less than a month after it was announced that State Oil – the parent company of the refinery's owners Prax Group – had gone into administration.
It is thought about 440 people are employed at the Lincolnshire refinery, along with more than 180 staff at State Oil.
The site supports hundreds of other roles with contractors and in the supply chain.
Unions have said the refinery is "critical" to national infrastructure and called for the government to step in.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: 'We are deeply disappointed with the untenable position in which the owners left Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery.
'As a result, after a thorough process to determine whether a sale was possible, no credible offers have been made to purchase the entire refinery and it will be winding down operations, while the Official Receiver continues to pursue interest in individual assets."
He added the government would fund training for staff who lose their jobs to find work elsewhere.
Mr Shanks added: 'Our sympathies are with the workers, their families and the local community. While we continue to strongly encourage the owners to do the decent thing and publicly commit to making a voluntary financial contribution to support workers, all those directly employed at the refinery are guaranteed jobs over the coming months."
Prax Group, which is led by chairman and chief executive Sanjeev Kumar Soosaipillai, bought the refinery from French company Total in 2021.
The administrators wrote to the workforce informing them that no buyer had been found and the site was being wound down, with no more crude oil being purchased.
Unite general secretary Sharon Grham said: 'The government can't sit on the sidelines any longer. The Lindsey refinery is critical national infrastructure and is essential for the UK's fuel supply and the health of the regional economy.
'The government needs to reverse the premature decision to stop buying crude oil and to extend the time to find a viable long-term solution for the site."
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