Shell Haven Refinery
Aerial image in 1934: [1] shows Shell Haven point with the first Shell Haven Refinery and another view [2] with the first Shell Haven refinery in the (foreground) and another refinery (presumably Thames Haven Refinery) in upper back ground.
Aerial image in 1947: [3] shows 2 refineries at Thames Haven (presumably the one on the left is the original Shell Haven Refinery and the other Thames Haven) with London and Thames Haven Oil Wharves storage tanks in the foreground and Shell Haven point in the distance.
Aerial images in 1952: [4] showing the Shell Haven point site of the new refinery [5] and [6].
Shell Haven, a port on the north bank of the Thames Estuary near Thurrock, Essex, became the site of a large refinery for Shell, initially as the Asiatic Petroleum Company, a sales company formed by Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading Co, prior to their merger as Royal Dutch Shell. The area was known as Shell Haven before Shell became involved in oil refining.
1912 A licence was obtained to store petroleum at Shell Haven, in iron tanks, each containing not more than 4,000 tonnes.
1916 Refinery opened by Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd/ Shell UK Ltd.; operations began with a distillation plant.
1948 Shell paid ... for the 700-acre site for a new £20,000,000 refinery at Thames Haven.[1] The Shell Company propose to erect a large refinery on the site acquired. The second part of the agreement covers the provision by Thames Haven of facilities and services .....[2]. The £15,000,000 oil refinery under construction at Thames Haven is expected to be completed in 1953. It will able to process 10,000 barrels of crude oil a day.[3]
1955 "A combined operation between Shell Chemical and Fisons covers the building of two new plants for fertiliser manufacture. At Shell Haven, the “Shell” company ..."[4]
1957 "A new project for taking gas from the oil refinery at Shell Haven will stop the price of gas rising, Mr. M. Milne- Watson, Chairman of the North Thames Gas Board, told the North Thames Consultative Council last week."[5]
1999 The refinery closed and the site was purchased by DP World who received planning consent in May 2007 for the new London Gateway deep water container port at the site. The neighbouring Coryton Refinery remained in operation until 2012.
The Refinery was used as a location in the film Quatermass 2.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Some of the above information was condensed from the Wikipedia entry.