EIR/202500494411 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Details of the notification that ExxonMobil planned to close the Mossmorran Industrial Complex: EIR release
Information requested
Date and time the Scottish Government and its Ministers were informed that ExxonMobil planned to close the Mossmorran Industrial Complex. Further to that, I would like to know whether Scottish Government Ministers or officials had been informed at any time in the last three years by representatives of the company of its intention to cease, pause or scale back operations at the site in the future.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
The Deputy First Minister first learned of ExxonMobil’s decision to close the Fife Ethylene Plant during a meeting, requested by the company, on Monday 17 November 2025. Officials were first notified by the company of the marketing exercise that preceded this decision on Tuesday 4 November 2025, which was the first time that ExxonMobil communicated to the Scottish Government the likelihood of closure in the near future.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.
Attachments
No attachments found.