Page 25 - FINAL Phillips 66 50 Year Book

1970s

1970s

From some areas of the industry came criticism. Why did Conoco build
a refinery on the east coast of England? The company’s reasoning had
been sound, on all bases - but the decision was more than validated
when oil was found in the North Sea.

While the refinery was being built, Britain’s oil came mostly from the
Middle East - and the North Sea oil and gas goldmine was but a distant
dream. It was a time of instability: the 1967 Arab-Israeli war meant
prices were rising and petrol was rationed. But there was also great
foresight and confidence from Britain.

Realising the oil industry was going to have a major future impact, the
British Transport Docks Board – now Associated British Ports (ABP)
– built the Immingham terminal to serve Conoco and the Lindsey Oil
Refinery, built nearby at the same time.

At the end of the 1960s, the Conoco-National Coal Board discovered
three million cubic feet of natural gas in several fields in the Viking area
off the Norfolk coast and within four years, the area was delivering gas
to the fledgling UK distribution system.

The Gas Council’s proposal for a 200-acre Theddlethorpe terminal
made the front page of Conoco’s December 1969 newsletter. Subject
to planning permission, it was expected to be fully commissioned by
mid 1972.

“Conoco is closely involved in a new development concerning the
production and processing of natural gas,” it read. “Gas flowing through
the proposed terminal would be delivered by under-sea pipelines from

Left: Original main administration building.