Production has ended at a Lincolnshire oil refinery after supplies of oil ran out on Friday.
Lindsey Oil Refinery, near Immingham, was taken over by the Official Receiver in June after its owner Prax Group went into administration. after recording losses of about £75m over hree years.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks previously said “no credible offers” had been made to purchase the entire refinery and it would be “winding down operations”.
The government said the Official Receiver would continue selling refined products for a number of weeks, giving buyers time to adjust their supply chains.
The closure affects 420 jobs. Scottish nationalists have continued to claim that the UK government had “saved” the refinery, suggesting a different policy to the manner in which Grangemouth closed with a similar loss of jobs.
Despite the almost certain likelihood that Lindsey would close and the UK government would not bail it out, Graham Leadbetter, SNP MP for or Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey and the party’s energy spokesperson, wrote to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar on 23 July saying: “Be it Prax refinery, British Steel or Sizewell-C, when it comes to projects south of the border the Westminster cheque book can’t come out quick enough.”
Mr Shanks this weekend said the government was “deeply disappointed with the untenable position in which the owners left Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery”.
The Official Receiver is continuing to “pursue interest” from potential buyers for “individual assets”.
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