ISSUE BRIEF OCTOBER 2017 PHOTO CC-BY © TOM JERVIS / FLICKR.COM Chemical Billionaire’s Bid for Fossil Fuel Empire: Ineos Corporate Profle Executive Summary was rapidly assembled by its founder, James (Jim) Ratclife, who has amassed a fortune during Ineos’ rise For the past decade, the United States has pursued a to become one of the world’s largest petrochemical failed experiment in natural gas extraction known as companies. hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking injects large volumes of water, sand and chemicals deep under- Now, Ratclife intends to use the same corporate ground, at extreme pressure, to create fractures in strategy to push into oil and gas extraction. Already, targeted rock formations to release the oil and gas. The Ineos has a foothold in the UK oil and gas sector. Ineos fossil fuel industry touts fracking as a revolutionary is keeping fossil fuels alive by doubling down on dirty technology that could deliver huge volumes of cheap, manufacturing and fracking, and not the clean renew- clean energy. able energy future that the UK and the world needs. But the fracking boom has been an environmental Ineos kept a low profle during its rapid ascent, and it catastrophe in the United States. The fracked gas and continued to do so even as the company became the oil industry has polluted the water supplies of heavily biggest player in the UK fracking industry. Few people drilled communities, produced massive volumes of know about Ineos’ corporate history, checkered envi- 2 toxic waste, caused earthquakes and imperiled vital ronmental record and relentless pursuit of profts. In aquifers from poorly constructed gas wells; mean- 2010, the Financial Times reported that Ineos has been while, oil and gas operations have become the second “a near-impenetrable business that, in spite of its size, 3 greatest global source of the potent greenhouse gas divulged few details of its operations”. methane, threatening the climate and the planet.1 The fracking “revolution” that Ineos promotes is a The private and secretive chemical company Ineos has return to the past, where corporate executives prof- been leading the charge to bring this environmentally ited of of environmentally destructive extraction and destructive method to the United Kingdom (UK) and generation of dirty energy. mainland Europe. The petrochemical conglomerate foodandwatereurope.org Chemical Billionaire’s Bid for Fossil Fuel Empire: Ineos Corporate Profle oil, gas and pipelines now supplies its refneries, power Introduction: The Ineos chemical empire production and petrochemical plants.18 From its 1998 founding, Ineos has grown to be one of Fossil fuel shale gas (or “natural” gas) is a key feedstock the top fve global chemical companies — behind only for its chemical plants. A signifcant portion of its busi- industry titans like BASF and Dow Chemical.4 In 2014, ness is manufacturing plastic pellets at its “cracking” the Financial Times described Ineos as “an industrial plants for further manufacturing.19 The key supply for force to be reckoned with”.5 The company grew from these cracker plants is ethane, derived from natural £121 million in sales in 1998 to £29.5 billion in sales gas liquids that are used to manufacture petrochemi- with £3.5 billion in profts in 2016.6 cals.20 The US fracking boom has produced large By mid-2017, Ineos had over 70 manufacturing facilities volumes of ethane — especially from the shale plays in and dozens of sales ofces with over 17,000 workers in the northeastern United States that have become key 18 countries across Europe, North America and Asia, sources of the ethane being shipped from the United with a substantial footprint in the UK.7 States to Ineos’ facilities in Norway and Scotland.21 Ineos manufactures an array of chemicals and prod- ucts, largely refned and processed from oil and natural gas.8 The company’s refneries, crackers, chem- Jim Ratclife: Fossil Fuel Fat Cat ical plants and manufacturing operations produce Ratcliffe is “Britain’s most successful post-war plastics, coatings, lubricants, solvents, acids and more.9 industrialist”, according to both the Daily Mail and the Ultimately, Ineos’ chemicals and products are used in Financial Times.22 But he also has been described as everyday goods including automobiles, bottle caps, reclusive, secretive and little-known.23 computers, cosmetics, packaging, tyres, toothpaste, vaccines and wind turbines.10 By 2017, Ratcliffe’s fortune was estimated at £5.75 billion — comparable to knights of the realm The Ineos corporate family is a tangled maze of holding like Richard Branson — making him the 18th richest companies, subsidiaries and ofshore branches. As person in the UK and 140th globally.24 In 2010, Ratcliffe of late 2016, Ineos was controlled by Ineos Limited decamped his fortune to low-tax Switzerland, before — founder Ratclife held 61.8 percent, and two other returning his personal tax residency to the UK in 2016.25 executives, Andrew Currie and John Reece, held the remainder (19.2 percent and 19.0 percent, respec- Ratcliffe has spent extravagantly, such as on his super tively).11 These three executives own the Ineos Limited yacht, Hampshire II, a 285-footer with a 23-person crew parent company, which in turn holds the entire that cost an estimated £100 million.26 He also recently sprawling corporate empire, and Ratclife has the bought a £2.7 million box at the Royal Albert Hall.27 He power to elect all of the directors, change management has become one of the biggest landowners in Iceland and approve any acquisitions or divestitures for each after buying a 118-square-mile farm, investment stakes of the scores of subsidiaries (see Figure 1 on page 3).12 in salmon fishing rights and other farmland.28 He also is the joint owner of a boutique hotel chain called Lime Ineos recently began promoting itself as an “Anglo-Swiss” Wood Group, including Home Grown Hotels.29 company.13 In 2016, Ineos re-opened a new London head- quarters with fanfare, and its executive owners became Ratcliffe also has used his fortune to invest in a fossil- UK tax residents — but the company only promoted a fuelled future. Ineos is planning to revive the Land Rover “new base in London” and described it as a “twin head Defender that was discontinued because it struggled 14 ofce”. Just six years earlier, in 2010, Ineos had fed from to meet emissions standards, aiming to build as many 15 the UK to the corporate tax haven of Switzerland. as 25,000 of the petrol guzzlers annually.30 He also is But despite Ineos’ substantial UK footprint, it is far planning to build a £4 million home near the New Forest from an English company. Ineos Limited, the ultimate that can be seen only from boats on the Solent Strait parent company that controls everything, is incorpo- separating the Isle of Wight from England.31 He wanted rated in the Isle of Man, a low-tax ofshore fnance his New Forest retreat to be equipped with jacks, which centre.16 And many of Ineos’ biggest holding companies would have raised the mansion as sea levels rise.32 But remain based in Switzerland — such as Ineos AG, Ineos his plans to isolate himself from the effects of climate Holdings AG and Ineos Europe AG.17 change that Ineos was contributing to was denied because of the excessive scale and environmental Over the past dozen years, Ineos has transformed from impact of the mansion.33 a global chemical powerhouse into an oil, fossil fuel gas and petrochemical conglomerate. Ineos’ expansion into foodandwatereurope.org 2 Chemical Billionaire’s Bid for Fossil Fuel Empire: Ineos Corporate Profle FIG. 1: INEOS’ COMPLEX CORPORATE STRUCTURE Belgium France Italy Luxembourg Singapore Sweden UK China Germany South Korea Norway Spain Switzerland USA HIERARCHY CHART: Parent company Ineos Limited is located at centre, Inovyn Industrial Investment Ltd. with all subsidiaries extending outwards. Inovyn Vinyls Finance Ltd. Newco 2 Ltd. Inovyn Inovyn ChlorVinyls Holdings Limited Kerling Newco Deutschland GmbH Espana S.L. Enterprises Ltd. 2 Ltd. Inovyn Inovyn Inovyn Treasury Limited Inovyn Group Ineos Champlor SAS Ineos Sulphur Chemicals Spain SLU Ineos Ent. France SAS Keuper Gas Europe Ltd. lc Storage Ltd. Inovyn e P nc a Ltd. Energy Inovyn Ltd. Runcorn Vynova Inovyn ChlorAmericas Inc in Ltd. International Sales Inovyn Ineos Chlor Quimica S.A. F Ltd. UK Vinyls Ineos Ineos Chlor Atlantik GmbH yn Ineos Chlor Trustees Ltd. Ineos Industries Property Ltd. v EVC Pension Trustees Ltd. no I Ineos Enterprises Group Ltd. td. s L Ineos Solvents Ethanol Ltd. Ineos ABS LLC ing old Ineos Solvents Holdings S.A. H Ineos ABS Ltd. n Ineos Solvents U.K. Ltd. Grangemouth CHP Ltd. vy no Ineos Ineos Compounds Ineos Vinyls Holding Italia S.r.l. I Enterprises Group Aycliffe Ltd. Inovyn Holdings Ltd. Ineos Compounds hlorViny Sweden AB td. C ls Ltd I L . ne yn o Ineos Compounds Ineos Ineos Chlorotolenes Ltd. v H s Switzerland AG no ol E Luxembourg I S.A. I di n n te Compounds Swindon Ltd. g r Group s p Ineos Offshore BCS Ltd. os L r Ineos Compounds Ineos Group ne i i s I ments m s Holdings Ltd. Holdings S.A. ie st e r . ve it s Ineos Styrenics International S.A. t d n e Ineos Holdings Ineos Chemicals Ineos Upstream Ltd. s t I ited In L im e d u L o Luxembourg S.A. Grangemouth Ltd. d s s n g s I s n e A Ineos Ineos Paraform Holdings Ltd. i i Ineos Styrolution s o r Ineos Grangemouth PLC d t . G o e Financing Ltd. l s d Ineos Styrolution e o n t Holdings AG I u n L Holding Ltd.