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| Milford Haven's Murco oil refinery deal collapses | Milford Haven's Murco oil refinery deal collapses |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Hundreds of jobs are under threat as a proposed deal to buy a Pembrokeshire oil refinery has collapsed. | Hundreds of jobs are under threat as a proposed deal to buy a Pembrokeshire oil refinery has collapsed. |
| Murco's deal to sell the Milford Haven refinery to the Swiss-based Klesch Group is "no longer in effect" as conditions were not met. | Murco's deal to sell the Milford Haven refinery to the Swiss-based Klesch Group is "no longer in effect" as conditions were not met. |
| American owners Murphy Oil said it had "no choice" but to use the site solely for storage and distribution with "a significant number of redundancies". | American owners Murphy Oil said it had "no choice" but to use the site solely for storage and distribution with "a significant number of redundancies". |
| Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said: "We're very, very disappointed." | Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said: "We're very, very disappointed." |
| He called it a "hammer blow for the local economy". | He called it a "hammer blow for the local economy". |
| He told BBC Wales: "The problem wasn't on the government's side, the problem wasn't on the seller's side. The problem was the buyer wasn't finally in a position to do the deal. | |
| "That suggests that there were perhaps problems with the financing at the last minute." | "That suggests that there were perhaps problems with the financing at the last minute." |
| 'Fog of confusion' | 'Fog of confusion' |
| Mr Crabb, who is also the MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire which covers Milford Haven, said the deal had all looked to be on track until late last week when it "started to unwind" over the weekend. | Mr Crabb, who is also the MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire which covers Milford Haven, said the deal had all looked to be on track until late last week when it "started to unwind" over the weekend. |
| "There was a fog of confusion over the weekend over why the deal wasn't happening," he added. | "There was a fog of confusion over the weekend over why the deal wasn't happening," he added. |
| The refinery, which employs 400 people, will now enter a shut-down period and will be decommissioned while the company looks for a new buyer. | The refinery, which employs 400 people, will now enter a shut-down period and will be decommissioned while the company looks for a new buyer. |
| According to the Unite union, the refinery also employs a further 200 contract workers. | According to the Unite union, the refinery also employs a further 200 contract workers. |
| Bryan Kelly of Murphy Oil said: "For the past four years we have worked tirelessly to secure a positive outcome for the future of the refinery and our workforce. | Bryan Kelly of Murphy Oil said: "For the past four years we have worked tirelessly to secure a positive outcome for the future of the refinery and our workforce. |
| "Unfortunately, and despite every effort on the part of Murphy and our employees, we have been denied the desired outcome." | "Unfortunately, and despite every effort on the part of Murphy and our employees, we have been denied the desired outcome." |
| He told BBC Wales on Wednesday: "We're all disappointed and frustrated that despite four years of our best efforts to find a buyer for the refinery who would continue to operate it as such, we have been unable to do so. | |
| Mr Kelly said they had made the decision to turn the refinery into a storage and distribution site, and added: "We know that's difficult news for our employees. | |
| He said because the negotiations were commercially sensitive he could not go into details of what had happened, but explained: "There were a number of conditions that both parties agreed had to be met and unfortunately those conditions were not met." | |
| He said macroeconomic conditions in the refinery business in Europe as a whole had been a factor in the outcome, and believed that after speaking to dozens of potential buyers in the past few years they had now exhausted the possibility of selling the refinery as a going concern. | |
| Economy Minster Edwina Hart said: "This is a devastating blow to staff at the Murco refinery and companies within the refinery's supply chain, as well as the local communities around Milford Haven." | |
| Allan Card, regional officer for the Unite union, said it was an "incredibly difficult moment" for workers at the plant. | |
| "It's bitterly disappointing to have come so far, after so much hard work and to get to the 11th hour for it to fail," said Mr Card. | |
| "Over the weekend we were picking up messages that there was some sort of glitch but I was under the impression that it wasn't serious enough to stop the signing by the end of the week. | |
| "This is a devastating blow to the employees and to west Wales." | |
| Analysis by BBC Wales' business correspondent Brian Meechan | Analysis by BBC Wales' business correspondent Brian Meechan |
| It has been a story of great hope followed by bitter blow. Twice it has looked like the Murco oil refinery would be saved, only for the deal to collapse close to completion. | It has been a story of great hope followed by bitter blow. Twice it has looked like the Murco oil refinery would be saved, only for the deal to collapse close to completion. |
| The Klesch Group has just entered into a major deal to buy large parts of Tata Steel's operations in the UK and Europe, though that does not include Tata's Welsh facilities. | The Klesch Group has just entered into a major deal to buy large parts of Tata Steel's operations in the UK and Europe, though that does not include Tata's Welsh facilities. |
| Perhaps then the sale of the refinery at Milford Haven was squeezed off the agenda as the bigger takeover became the priority for Klesch. | Perhaps then the sale of the refinery at Milford Haven was squeezed off the agenda as the bigger takeover became the priority for Klesch. |
| It is a devastating blow to the workers at the site and also to the local community. | It is a devastating blow to the workers at the site and also to the local community. |
| It is estimated the refinery contributes £30m a year to the economy in Pembrokeshire and supports a further 4,200 jobs in the area. | It is estimated the refinery contributes £30m a year to the economy in Pembrokeshire and supports a further 4,200 jobs in the area. |
| Murco says it has no other options on the table but to sell the refinery. | |
| The company said it would support its employees "as much as possible." | The company said it would support its employees "as much as possible." |
| 'End point' | 'End point' |
| Mr Crabb added: "The loss of those jobs will leave a very big hole in the economic activity of west Wales and it will take a number of years for the local economy to recover. | Mr Crabb added: "The loss of those jobs will leave a very big hole in the economic activity of west Wales and it will take a number of years for the local economy to recover. |
| "It does feel very much like it's reached the end point. We're very, very disappointed." | "It does feel very much like it's reached the end point. We're very, very disappointed." |
| He said the UK needed facilities like the refinery - one of only seven in the country - for energy security but believed it maintaining the site in its present state was now not going to happen. | He said the UK needed facilities like the refinery - one of only seven in the country - for energy security but believed it maintaining the site in its present state was now not going to happen. |
| "The goal is now they want to retain some jobs on the site and keep it as a terminal operation," he said. "That's a storage for oil and petroleum products. That's not refining on site and requires a fraction of the jobs that a refinery would. | "The goal is now they want to retain some jobs on the site and keep it as a terminal operation," he said. "That's a storage for oil and petroleum products. That's not refining on site and requires a fraction of the jobs that a refinery would. |
| "The hope would be that they could find a company that would buy it as storage operation." | "The hope would be that they could find a company that would buy it as storage operation." |