THE BBC has changed a story about the closure of Grangemouth oil refinery after an “incorrect” statement was included.
It comes after Mairi Spowage, the director at the Fraser of Allander Institute, called out owners Petroineos over a statistic which was being widely reported around the story.
As was previously claimed on Petroineos’s website, media outlets including the BBC were reporting that the Grangemouth refinery was “responsible for 4% of Scotland's GDP” (gross domestic product).
But Spowage said this was “incorrect”.
Writing on social media, the institute director said: “I just wanted to do a quick thread [on] one of the figures that has been referenced in relation to the news that Grangemouth is to stop refining petroleum in 2025, with the possible net loss of 400 jobs.
THIS IS INCORRECT. According to official statistics, chemical AND petroleum production accounted for 1.1% of Scotland’s economic output in 2021 (0.7% in 2019), of which around 74% of employment is in chemical production. 4/
— Mairi Spowage (@MairiSpowage) November 22, 2023
“These high value, high wage jobs are very important for the local area, and it is of course important to consider what this could mean strategically for the UK’s energy security to lose refining capacity.
“However, the figure that has been quoted widely in the media about the impact on GDP is not accurate. The claim, according to Petroineos, is that ‘the refinery is responsible for 4% of Scotland's GDP and approximately 8% of its manufacturing base’. THIS IS INCORRECT.
“According to official statistics, chemical AND petroleum production accounted for 1.1% of Scotland’s economic output in 2021 (0.7% in 2019), of which around 74% of employment is in chemical production. So the figure for refining is likely to be much closer to something like 0.25%–0.3%, NOT 4%.
“This is still an important, significant and worrying announcement for Grangemouth and for Scotland. But it does no one any favours to use statistics which are incorrect.”
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf speaks out as oil refinery at Grangemouth to close
The claim previously appeared on the website www.petroineos.com/refining/grangemouth/. However, it has now been removed.
The BBC had reported the figure, but made clear it came from Petroineos.
In a story published on Wednesday, the corporation reported: “According to Petroineos, the refinery is responsible for 4% of Scotland's GDP and approximately 8% of its manufacturing base.”
This has now been updated to include the intervention from Spowage, adding: “However, economists at the Fraser of Allander Institute dispute this, suggesting a lower GDP figure of around 0.25% to 0.3%.”
BBC Scotland editor James Cook acknowledged the incorrect statistic on social media, writing: “Yesterday we quoted a claim made on the Petroineos website (which we attributed to Petroineos as a claim rather than reporting as a fact) that the Grangemouth refinery is responsible for 4% of Scotland’s GDP. The respected Fraser of Allander Institute says that’s not accurate.”
At the time of writing, there is no mention of the correction on the BBC’s dedicated errors page.
The BBC has been asked if the page will be updated.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel