Waterside and New Forest Life

Fawley oil refinery and chemical works

Community

• Hompage
• Lepe
• Calshot
• Holbury
• Hythe
• Dibden
• Marchwood
• The New Forest

Business Directory

• Builders
• Plumbers
• Decorators
• Motoring
• Shopping

Leisure

• Pubs
• Clubs
• Eating Out
• Entertainment
• whats on

Leisure

• Pubs
• Clubs
• Eating Out
• Entertainment
• whats on

Local services

• Councils
• Police
• Fire Service
• Doctors
• Dentists

An oil refinery was first established at Fawley in 1921 by the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Company. The site was chosen because a large amount of land was available for development, as the area was not heavily populated, and because of Fawley's position on the Solent. This provided access to the large amount of water used in the refining process, and also made it possible for crude oil to be brought to the site in ocean tankers by sea. Proximity to Southampton was also a factor, as at the outset much of the plant's output was used to supply liners using Southampton docks.

The refinery is now owned by Esso, which acquired the site in 1925. It was rebuilt and extended in 1951 and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom. The site also houses a chemical facility operated by Exxon Mobil. As in earlier years, crude oil is brought to the site in tankers, making use of the docks which extend for 1.5 kilometres and are the largest independently owned docks facility in Europe. Over 3,000 people (including many contractors) are employed at the site.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia See The Full article

The following arrticle is from a magazine published in 1951 on compleation of the Fawley Esso Refinery

Rebuilding the Refinery July l949 to September l951

Find out about the processes used in an Oil Refinery such as Fawley's Howstuffworks oil-refining.htm

twenty-seven months of concentrated effort which have seen a corner of England completely transformed. On a flat stretch of land at Fawley, over looking Southampton Water, has risen the largest oil refinery in Europe. This book tells, in photographs, the story of that transformation. Steel, Concrete, timber,furnaces, instruments, electrical wiring : bricks and mortar, pipes and paint. These are the visible materials now assembled together to become the source of a great stream of new energy for Britain. From Fawley will flow more than 6,000,000 tons of petroleum products a year: over one quarter of the country's estimated total requirements.

Two basic reasons exist for the building of this new Esso Refinery-and, indeed, for the present drive to build or extend oil refineries in Europe generally. One - because of the onward march of mechanization is the rapidly mounting consumption of oil. The other is an economic reason : the need for the sterling countries, to conserve their foreign exchange and, so far as petroleum products are concerned, to aim at self-Sufficiency at least in the processing of crude oil, which itself must necessarily be imported. The Esso Refinery
Alone - its crude oil coming almost wholly from Middle East sterling supplies will save Britain well over l00,000,000 dollars a year.

Among the firstst tasks, the need to bore for water.
And then, the building of a Construction Camp, Here 750 workers were housed and fed. A newly built canteen also provided meals for the thousands of other workers who traveled in daily from towns and villages in Hampshire and Dorset.
Agregate Requirements
Suitable gravel on the site ensured an ample and steady supply of concrete and aggregate turned out from this plant at the rate of l40 cubic yards an hour. In all, 100,000 cubic yards of concrete are packed into the refinery.
Whatever the weather, the work went on. The winter of 1949-50 was unpleasant enough ;a year later Fawley, like most of the Country, suffered the longest, bleakest winter within local memory.Summer, with a hot drying sun, produced its own problems.
Within six months a branch railway, connecting the Refinery with the Fawley-Southampton line, was built. A cutting excavated; 3.5 miles of track laid and operating.
Early, too, the erection of the great Maintenance Building 800 feet long, twice the length of a full sized football pitch;180 ft wide. The largest of its kind in europe. Here, under one immense roof, the refinery's maintainance work will in future be conducted.
The Marine Terminal
The Marine Terminal, supported on hundreds of piles driven into the marshy foreshore and out into Southampton Water. The approach causeway nearly a mile long.
The jetty, capable of berthing four of the largest ocean-going tankers at one time, as well as coasters which will deliver the refined products round Britain.
Tanks for crude oil, for refined oil, for the water used in the Refenery's operations. A gleaming orderly array of great tanks sourround the main refining units .
The Largrest item of equipment to arrive at Fawley all in one piece - the Debutaniser Tower. 135 tons, 113 feet high, lifted into place all in one days work.
Time off for relaxation. Outdoor sports, indoor games . . . a fine cinema. Fawley's new recreation Club is a meeting place for all.
For 2.5 years some seventy American supervisors made their home at Fawley.
In the Control Rooms operations are registered: governed by the press of a finger.
Fuel for jet aircraft will be one of the principal products of the new Refinery.
The new Esso Refinery at a glance. A model built at fawley by three Esso emplyees: its scale-1/32 inch to a foot.
FAWLEY OUTPUT Main Products of the new ESSO Refinery, and their principle uses;
Moter spirit For motor cars, buses: for all petrol engines Marine Diesel Fuel For diesel engines in ships Tractor Vaporizing Oil For Agricultural tractors Heating Oil For central heating plants and for blending with heavy fuel oil. Turbo Jet Fuel For jet-propelled aircraft Bunker Fuel Oil For steam rasing, partiularly in ocean going ships Diesel Fuel For stationary diesel engines used for the generation of power in factories Kerosine For cooking and illumination High Speed Diesel Fuel (Derv) For diesel-engined vehicles such as buses and lorries Liquedfied Petroleum Gas For cooking and illumination Gas Oil For improving the quality and quantity of gas produced in gas works. Lubricating Oils For petroleum lubricants of al forms used in industry, transport and the home Hydrocarbon Solvent For extracting oils from oil seeds; for the manufacture of rubber solutions, compounds lacquers Bitumen For road making and roofing felts White Spirit For the manufacture of paint and wax polishes; also for dry cleaning. Sometimes known as "Turps Substitute" Sulphur For the manafacture of sulphuric acid and many sulpher compounds.     Find out about the processes used in an Oil Refinery such as Fawley's Howstuffworks oil-refining.htm

Businesses in Burley, Cadnam, Calshot, Exbury, Fawley ,Fordingbridge, Holbury, Hythe, Marchwood, Minstead, Southampton and Totton, Hampshire get a free listing on this site.

contact - shaun@moncasterservices.co.uk

Web site designed and hosted by Moncaster Services