Coryton Refinery
Coordinates 51°30′47″N 0°31′16″E / 51.513°N 0.521°E | | |
Refinery details | ||
---|---|---|
Operator | See owner | |
Owner(s) | Socony-Vacuum Corp, Socony Mobil Oil Company, Mobil Oil Corporation, BP, BP Amoco, Petroplus | |
Commissioned | 1953 | |
Decommissioned | 2012 | |
Capacity | 208,000 bbl/d (33,100 m3/d) | |
No. of employees | 1040 | |
No. of oil tanks | 220 |
Coryton Refinery was an oil refinery in Essex, England, on the estuary of the River Thames 28 miles (45 km) from central London, between Shell Haven Creek and Hole Haven Creek, which separates Canvey Island from the mainland.
It was a part of the
In January 2012, Petroplus filed for bankruptcy. Coryton Refinery ceased production in June 2012. The site is being turned into an industrial hub to be called Thames Enterprise Park.[1]
History
Explosives factory
In 1895, the ammunition firm
Oil storage depot
In 1921, the site and CLR were taken over by coal merchants
Refinery
In 1950, Coryton and the CLR were sold to the American Vacuum Oil Company, later Mobil. The CLR to Corringham was closed, but the branch from Thames Haven was upgraded to main-line standards. A new refinery came on stream in 1953. In 1954, the annual throughput of Coryton refinery was 850,000 tonnes.[3] By 1964, the annual throughput of Coryton refinery was 2.4 million tonnes, with a planned extension of a further 0.9 million tonnes.[4] Coryton village was demolished and absorbed into the refinery site in the 1970s. In 1977, work started on an extension to the refinery including a hydrogen fluoride alkylation unit to produce more gasoline.[5] In 1978, about 1.5 million tonnes of oil and refined products were stored in the refinery tank farm, and about 800 people worked on the site.[6] The alkylation unit was commissioned in late 1981 and included a water spray system to dissolve any releases of hydrogen fluoride.[5]
BP
Coryton was operated by
Petroplus
In 2007, the plant was sold by BP to Petroplus for £714.6m (around $1.4 billion).
On 24 January 2012, it was announced that Petroplus had filed for bankruptcy, putting the refinery's future into doubt.
Shutdown
- PwC (Administration)
On 28 May 2012, it was announced that the refinery would close due to
Deepwater fuel import terminal
In 2012 the refinery was planned to be turned into a diesel import terminal by
Coryton Power Station
Coryton Power Station was commissioned on part of the site in 2002, and continues to operate.
Process units
Their main operating units were:
- Crude oil distillation unit (CDU)
- Vacuum distillation
- Fluid catalytic cracker
- Catalytic reformer
- Hydro desulphurisation units
- Gas recovery unit
- Isomerisation unit
- Alkylation unit
The thermal reformer unit and the Thermofor catalytic cracking unit (TCC) produced different grades of petrol and diesel. Along the south side of the refinery area, the propane de-asphalting unit, solvent refining furfural unit, MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) dewaxing unit and continuous percolation unit (TCP) constituted consecutive stages in the production of lubricating oils and waxes.[17]
Statistics
The Coryton refinery site covered an area of 370 acres (150 ha).[7] The main processing units were to the western end of the site, with the tank farm occupying the north and eastern part of the site.
The maximum refining capacity was 11 million tonnes per year or 208,000 bbl/day.
In 2000, the principal sources of crude oil for refining at Coryton were: North Sea (60%); Middle East (20%); Africa/Mediterranean (10%); and Russia (10%).[7]
There were about 220 storage tanks on the site, the largest were the floating-roof crude oil storage tanks each with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes.[7]
Cooling water for the refinery was taken from the Thames. After use, the water was treated and discharged into Hole Haven Creek. A moat around the site collects run-off, this was taken to the water treatment plant and was oxygenated prior to discharge into the Thames.[7]
Product output:
- petrol 3.6 million tonnes (One source states that in 2000 Coryton produced 13 million litres of gasoline each day.)[7]
- diesel 2.7 million tonnes
- kerosene/jet fuel 1.1 million tonnes
- LPG 0.2 million tonnes
- Fuel oil 1.7 million tonnes
- Bitumen 0.3 million tonnes
The principal product from the refinery were fuels (90.5%), comprising:[7]
- Liquefied Petroleum Gases 2.5%
- Gasoline 40.0%
- Diesel 23.0%
- Fuel Oil 15.0%
- Kerosene 10.0%
About 5.0% of the fuel was used on site for the refinery processes.
Non-fuels comprised 4.0% of the production comprising Lubricants, Bitumen and Wax.[7]
About 40% of the production from Coryton was exported abroad by ship. The majority (60%) was distributed around the UK by pipeline, road tanker, rail or coastal shipping.[7]
Fire
A major fire occurred on 31 October 2007.[18] Despite the scale of the blast, which was reported to cause buildings to shake 14 miles (23 km) away,[19] there were no physical injuries and only partial disruption to the refinery.
References
- ^ "Regeneration of former oil refinery site in Thurrock approved". BBC News. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ^ Henry W. Macrosty. (1907). The Trust Movement in British Industry. The Chemical Industries. (p. 166). Archived 29 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Batoche Books.
- ^ a b c Cracknell, B.E. (1952). "The Petroleum Industry on the Lower Thames and Medway". Geography. 37: 83, 88.
- ^ Luckas, M.R. (1965). "Recent Developments in the United Kingdom Oil Industry". Geography. 50:2: 154.
- ^ ISBN 0118836188.
- ISBN 011883200X.
- ^ ISBN 0852932901.
- ^ BBC: Coryton refinery job fears after Petroplus go bankrupt
- ^ Gosden, Emily (24 January 2012). "Petroplus insolvency risks 900 UK jobs amid petrol shortage fears". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ "Coryton refinery shipments start as deal signed". BBC News Essex. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ "Coryton oil refinery set to close within three months". BBC News. 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Insight - Russian bid for UK refinery brings controversy". Reuters. 15 June 2012.
- ^ "Coryton Refinery Flare decommissioning". 30 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Deal struck over sale of Coryton oil refinery site". BBC News. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ "Joint venture will create UK's first deepwater fuel import terminal". Port Technology International. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
- ^ Pearce, Alex (25 September 2014). "Partners in UK's Thames Oilport delay work to consider options for project". S&P Global. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ISBN 9781899890422.
- ^ Aislinn Simpson. (1 November 2007). Fire crews control oil refinery blaze[dead link]. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
- ^ BBC News. (1 November 2007). England | Essex | Inquiry into refinery fire begins. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
External links
- The Coryton Refinery, former Petroplus website, on the Internet Archive, 3 July 2012
- Thames Oilport, Vopak website