Page 41 - FINAL Phillips 66 50 Year Book

On land too, projects were gathering pace. In 1972, a unique contract
was signed to supply some 500 million therms of refinery tail gas to
Laporte Industries Ltd, near Stallingborough - one of Britain’s biggest
producers of pigments and chemicals. The 10-year deal saw Conoco
become the first refinery in Britain to sell tail gas to private industry
as prime energy fuel for a manufacturing process. It was fed from the
refinery to Laporte’s plant via a specially-laid 4.5-mile 14 inch pipeline.

Meanwhile, the importance the company placed – and still does to
this day – on people was highlighted. A feature in a summer edition of
Conocoverage focused on workers who swapped the forces for Civvy
Street – and found new directions within Conoco.

Roger Harris was a Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion of
the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. On his 40th birthday he was Above: Roger Harris.
in action in the Borneo jungle, at the forefront of a confrontation with Left: Tail Gas project.
Indonesia. Two years on he was working at the refinery as its Transport
Controller - one of some 50 ex-servicemen successfully carving out new
careers.

He told the newsletter: “When I came out of the forces I had been a
soldier for 25 years. I really didn’t know what I intended doing or what I
could do, and for that matter, I really didn’t know what civilian life was all
about. At first I found it difficult not only to find a job but also to adjust,
because there’s a lack of rules in civilian life that one can refer to in the
forces and know one’s place and how to conduct oneself – outside it’s
every man for himself. I’ve settled down now in my job, my wife likes our
home and the children have their friends at school.”