Page 45 - FINAL Phillips 66 50 Year Book

That same year, more of the Ministry Pipeline, originally built to
supply RAF and USAF bases during the war, became fully operational.
Conoco had used a 70-mile stretch from Killingholme to Blackmoor,
near Sheffield, since 1967. In 1969, it began using the next 30 miles
to Manchester. After a considerable amount of work, the longest
continuous multi-product underground pipeline in the UK – and the
second longest in Europe – came into operation four years on. The
Department of Trade and Industry-owned line covered 356 miles from
Killingholme to Aldermaston, in Berkshire, via Manchester, Chester and
Bristol.

It was a mutually-beneficial project: now Conoco could distribute oil
products from Humber to five of its major terminals, transporting 1.2
million tons a year – almost a third of the refinery’s entire output; and
the DTI had a fully-integrated multi-product pipeline system.

This was a decade of expansion. Among these developments were
the: Penex Unit expansion (1972); Utilities Plant expansion with a
fourth boiler, and Sour Water Stripper expansion (1975); Vacuum Unit
commissioning and No.1 and No.2 Cokers expansion (1976); Hydrogen
Plant and No.3 Calciner commissioning (1977); Gas Recovery Plant
expansion (1978); and No.2 Reformer commissioning (1979).

In April 1978, it won the first of four Queen’s Award to Industry for Export
Achievement. The 1970s had treated the Humber Refinery well.

Left: Tube Bundle - Reformer Furnace.