Page 46 - FINAL Phillips 66 50 Year Book

1980s

1980s

By 1980, Conoco was producing crude oil from four North Sea fields
– Murchison, Dunlin, Thistle and Statfjord. The Humber Refinery
processed the crude for sale as gasoline and distillates throughout the
company’s European retail network in addition to its stations in Austria,
Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the UK and West Germany. By 1981 it was
making more than half of Conoco’s output, turning the UK from an
importer into an exporter – and this at a time when the refining industry
was in a depression. There was no doubt about it: the refinery, once the
subject of criticism because of its geography, was firmly on the map.

Despite the depression, the company reaffirmed its position as a
market and industry leader by continuing to invest and develop. In
April 1981, the refinery was awarded its second Queen’s Award to
Industry for Export Achievement. That same year, Conoco itself became
subsidiary of DuPont. Backtrack three months to January, and planning
permission was granted to create the UK’s first mined underground
storage caverns for gas.

It was a joint project: to be built with Calor Gas, the UK’s largest LPG
distributor, with a multi-million pound investment on Conoco’s land in
Marsh Lane, South Killingholme. Calor had surveyed all the major UK
ports and settled on the Humber as the ideal location for the caverns. Right: Alkylisation Unit.
Among other positives, it had deep water, there was an existing
suitable jetty available, the land was already scheduled for industrial
developments of this type, it was easily accessible for tankers and had
good sea, rail and road distribution facilities. Add into the mix that the
area had the geology suitable for cavern storage and refineries in close
proximity, it was perfect. Underground storage was the most economical
method for storing large quantities of inflammable gas: it used up little