Chemical companies are putting European assets up for sale as they review their operations in the region to cope with high energy prices and competition from newer plants in Asia and the Middle East.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of petrochemicals group Ineos, has consistently warned that Britain’s chemical industry is heading for extinction because of high energy prices and carbon taxes.
Sure, let’s just import it all instead
You do understand that petrochemical industry is a nice term for oil refineries? The bit we actually need can be imported no problem, but not all of it, as most should be replaced with greener alternatives.
I do.
But replacing those with greener alternatives is easier said than done. Petrochemicals are used to make detergents, lubes (industrial and otherwise), tar for roads, plastics, etc… Importing all those things is a massive undertaking I’m not sure we’ll benefit from, either financially nor ecologically…
3/4 of refined oil is made up of gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel. We would import significantly less by just importing those products or just in between products.