By Ben Winkley
LONDON--Workers at Scotland's Grangemouth refinery have voted to
strike, raising the prospect of disruption to North Sea crude-oil
supply.
Should the strike go ahead then the 210,000 barrels-a-day
facility, Scotland's only refinery, would be forced to shut. A key
piece of infrastructure, the facility also powers and is the
terminal for the Forties Pipeline System, a key conduit for around
one-third of North Sea crude. Grangemouth is also connected to an
import terminal on Scotland's west coast.
Unite, the U.K. biggest labor union, said that on an 86% turnout
some 90.6% of workers voted for industrial action short of a
strike, with 9.4% voting against, while 81.4% voted for strike
action and 18.6% voted against. The dispute is over the treatment
of a labor union representative.
Grangemouth is jointly owned by Ineos Group Holdings and
PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR). Neither were immediately available for
comment.
Write to Ben Winkley at ben.winkley@wsj.com