Nicola Sturgeon held secret meetings dating back to 2016, which have raised doubts over when the Scottish National Party (SNP) Government first knew of the risk to the Grangemouth oil refinery. Scottish Labour has accused SNP ministers of being told about the threat to the plant's future five years ago. However, they failed to take action to save it.

It has now been revealed that Ms Sturgeon’s first meeting with the CEO of PetroChina International, Si Bingjun, took place in September 2016. Documents seen by the Scottish Daily Express show they discussed “refinery investment,” but specific details remain private. Two other topics were also discussed, but they are marked as too sensitive to be shown to the public.

Grangemouth was the UK’s oldest oil refinery, dating back to the 1920s. BP operated the site until Ineos took over in the 2000s. Following this, in 2011, a joint venture with PetroChina, owned by the Chinese state, took over Grangemouth.

The former First Minister met Mr Bingjun and James Chwu, commercial manager for Grangemouth Refinery, years before allegedly being aware of the plant's risk of closure. The 11-page briefing document from the talks has been heavily redacted.

However, the date of one meeting survived the censorship: "The Scottish Government have been in detailed discussions with PC regarding investment in the refinery since December 2013. You last met Mr Si on 9 February 2016."

The watered-down briefing includes 10 annexes, with Annex C, which is headed “Refinery Investment”, redacted completely. Annexes D and E have also been privatised, with the headings removed too.

The other annexes include “Biographies” of the two company heads, “Key Issues for Discussion”, “Industrial Emissions Directive", "Industrial Disputes”, “Bo-ness Road” and “Non-Domestic Rates”. All have been majorly redacted, apart from the biographies.

The two "key messages" for Ms Sturgeon to take into the meeting were: "Grangemouth has significant economic and strategic importance to Scotland, and the Scottish Government wants to see a sustainable future for the refinery business. The Scottish Government values PetroChina's presence in Scotland, and is keen to ensure this is continued."

The SNP Government claimed it wasn’t made aware of the risk of closure of the oil refinery until 2022 when energy minister Michael Matheson was told in a meeting in Glasgow. He then reportedly informed Ms Sturgeon.