INEOS chairman and founder Jim Ratcliffe has come top of an industry power league.

The ICIS Chemical Business Top 40 Power Players named Mr Ratcliffe as the most influential senior executive in the sector.

Mr Ratcliffe received the most votes with Dow Chemical chairman Andrew Liveris coming second and Khalid Al-Falih, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, in third place.

During the past year Mr Ratcliffe has underlined INEOS's ambitions in shale gas as well as making investment in its Grangemouth complex.

Last month the company announced it was planning to spend some £640 million to become a leading player in shale extraction in the UK.

It has also been advertising for senior staff for an offshore division to buy assets in the North Sea.

Along with that it has invested heavily in new ships to transport gas for US shale producers to Grangemouth and spent £880m buying the 50 per cent stake in polystyrene maker Styrolution which it did not already own.

INEOS director Tom Crotty said: "It truly has been a momentous year for INEOS. The company lead by Jim has moved forward on all fronts.

"As a business we are setting the agenda for the chemicals industry, so Jim thoroughly deserves this recognition from ICIS for his fantastic leadership."