Economic Contribution of ExxonMobil’s Fife Ethylene Plant to Scotland

On 17 November 2025, ExxonMobil informed the Scottish Government that the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) in Mossmorran would cease production. Following this decision, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic confirmed that the Scottish Government would commission an assessment of the FEP’s economic contribution. 

Shortly thereafter, the Scottish Government engaged with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) and instructed the firm to supply the assessment. ExxonMobil agreed to share data with PwC to enable the analysis to be carried out. The Scottish Government’s Office of the Chief Economic Adviser conducted a final review of the assessment following the presentation of findings to the Scottish Government.

The completed assessment was shared with the Scottish Government in March 2026. 

The assessment is a product of the FEP’s recent historical economic contribution, on the basis of 2025 data shared by ExxonMobil during the period of January to March 2026. The analysis shows estimates of the economic footprint of the FEP in terms of the number of Full Time Equivalent (“FTE”) jobs and Gross Value Added (“GVA”) that are supported both directly and in the immediate supply chain as well as associated wider household spending impacts as employee earnings are spent in the wider economy. The analysis also attempts to provide some information about the potential local impact of the FEP’s closure.

Using data provided by ExxonMobil, PwC estimates that the FEP employed 188 people (on an FTE basis) in 2025. Additionally, the FEP supported 197 jobs in the immediate supply chain, including between 100 and 150 contractor jobs. Although the headcount supported by the FEP was not a large proportion of Fife’s working-age population (262,200), it did support a set of relatively well paid and skilled technical jobs. The FEP workforce earned a median salary of approximately £68,000 which is around 106% higher than the average earnings in Fife and Scotland. Accounting for its supply chain and the spending of its employees in the wider economy, the FEP supported a total of 477 FTE jobs.

PwC estimate that, in 2025, the FEP provided £92.5 million in GVA, of which £69.8 million was direct, £13.8 million was indirect, and £8.8 million was induced. Of the plant’s supply chain spend, 48% was directed to Scottish suppliers and 48% was directed to the rest of the UK. 

The Scottish Government will continue its engagement with ExxonMobil to support the successful delivery of the Scottish Government’s Mossmorran Skills Intervention, which is being led by Fife College and will run initially during financial year 2025/26 and financial year 2026/27. More broadly, Scottish Enterprise is working with the company and triaging enquiries from investors with a view to identifying a future use for the site that would create new, well paid employment in Fife and across Scotland.