Grangemouth Refinery
Encyclopedia
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
located on the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
in Grangemouth
Grangemouth
Grangemouth is a town and former burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk, west of Bo'ness and south-east of Stirling. Grangemouth had a resident population of 17,906 according to the 2001...
, Scotland.
Currently operated by Ineos
Ineos
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom...
, it is Scotland's only oil refinery (one of nine in the UK), and is also the UK's second-oldest; it supplies refined products to customers in Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, as well as occasionally further afield.
History
Grangemouth Refinery commenced operation in 1924 as Scottish Oils, owned by the Anglo-Persian Oil CompanyAnglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
which in turn was a forerunner of British Petroleum (later BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
). Its location was made ideal by the adjacent Grangemouth Docks which supported the import by ship of Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
crude oils for processing, plus the cheap availability of large areas of reclaimed flat land.
The refinery was forced to shut down between 1939 and 1946 by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the resulting drying up of crude feedstock imports. When operations recommenced in 1946, the refinery underwent a number of major expansion programmes, including the building of an adjacent petrochemicals complex to process some of the refinery waste and byproduct streams.
In 1954 the refinery was connected to the Finnart Ocean terminal at Loch Long
Loch Long
Loch Long is a body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately 20 miles in length, with a width of between one and two miles...
on the west coast of Scotland by a 58 miles (93.3 km) pipeline, to allow the import of crudes via deep-water jetty, which supported the use of larger oil tankers. Later on in the century a second line was also installed to allow the direct supply of finished refinery products to the Finnart terminal, primarily for export to markets in Northern Ireland.
In the 1960s, a pilot "proteins-from-oil" production facility was built at the refinery. It used British Petroleum's technology for feeding n-paraffin
Paraffin
In chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...
s to yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, in order to produce single cell protein
Single cell protein
Single-cell protein typically refers to sources of mixed protein extracted from pure or mixed cultures of algae, yeasts, fungi or bacteria used as a substitute for protein-rich foods, in human and animal feeds....
for poultry and cattle feed.
In 1975 the discovery of North Sea Oil
North Sea oil
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid oil and natural gas, produced from oil reservoirs beneath the North Sea.In the oil industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and the area known as "West of Shetland", "the Atlantic Frontier" or "the...
brought the commissioning of the Kinneil Crude Oil Stabilisation terminal, which connected directly into the BP Forties pipeline system
Forties pipeline system
The Forties pipeline system is a pre-eminent pipeline network in the North Sea carrying 30% of the UK's oil, or about of oil a day, to shore. It is owned and operated by UK-based global energy company BP, who retained the asset after selling the Forties oilfield to Apache Corp. in 2003...
; this plant serves to stabilise Forties Crude oil for either export to third-parties or feeding into the Refinery, and allowed the processing of North Sea oil as part of the refinery crude 'slate' of feedstocks.
One of the refinery's biggest accidents happened at 7 am on Sunday 22 March 1987 when the unit's hydrocracker exploded. The resulting vibrations and noise could be heard up to 30 km away. The resulting fire burned for most of the day.
In 2005 the refinery and connected petrochemicals complex (excluding the Kinneil terminal) was put on the market by BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
as part of the Innovene sale, this company being made up of all of BP's petrochemicals plants and businesses. Innovene was eventually purchased by INEOS
Ineos
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom...
, a privately-owned chemicals company.
Operation
The Grangemouth Refinery is a major landmark, with its numerous gas flareGas flare
A gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying the presence of oil wells, gas wells, rigs, refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, and landfills....
s and cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
s visible across a wide area of the Scottish Lowlands
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
.
The refinery has a 'nameplate' capacity for processing 210000 barrels (33,387.3 m³) of crude oil daily. It currently employs about 1,200 permanent staff, and a further 1,000 contractors.
It processed approximately 400,000 tonnes of imported crude oil annually until the end of the Second World War, and subsequent expansion programmes have increased refining capacity to an excess of 10 million tonnes per year.
The BP-owned North Sea Forties pipeline system
Forties pipeline system
The Forties pipeline system is a pre-eminent pipeline network in the North Sea carrying 30% of the UK's oil, or about of oil a day, to shore. It is owned and operated by UK-based global energy company BP, who retained the asset after selling the Forties oilfield to Apache Corp. in 2003...
terminates at the Kinneil processing facility, and surplus crude is exported via pipeline to an oil depot
Oil depot
An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...
downstream on the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
, and subsequently shipped out from the jetties at the Hound Point loading terminal onto oil tankers suitable for the shallow water of the Forth.
Annual output share
- Petrol - 22%
- Diesel - 24%
- KeroseneKeroseneKerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
& Jet fuelJet fuelJet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
- 13% - Gas oil - 8%
- Fuel oil - 15%
- LPG/petrochemical feedstocks - 12%
- Fuel gasFuel gasFuel gas can refer to any of several gases burned to produce thermal energy.Natural gas is the most common fuel gas, but others include:* Coal gas or Town gas* Syngas* Mond gas* Propane* Butane* Regasified liquified petroleum gas* Wood gas...
/other - 6%
Safety record
In 2002, BPBP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
the former owners of the plant, were fined £1m for breaching safety laws. Ineos went to court in April 2008 over claims that it had polluted the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
in summer 2007.
2008 strike
In 2008, Ineos proposed that plant workers start contributing a share towards their own pensions (a final salary pension scheme), instead of the current situation of non-contributory fixed salary pensions. The request would have obliged future new entry employees paying 6% of their salary, phased in over a six-year period. However, 97% of the Unite trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
's 1,250 members at Grangemouth voted in favour of strike action
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. David Watt, of the Institute of Directors
Institute of Directors
The Institute of Directors is a UK-based organisation, established in 1903 and incorporated by royal charter in 1906 to support, represent and set standards for company directors...
in Scotland, believes that the average Grangemouth Refinery plant worker earns £40,000 per year (nearly twice the Scottish average.) However, this was disputed by the Deputy General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Trades Union Congress
The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....
, Dave Moxham, who stated that they earn £30,000 per year.
The strike began at 6 am on 27 April 2008 (Sunday), and lasted until 29 April (Tuesday). The petrol supply of Scotland was affected by the strike, as panic buying
Panic buying
Panic buying is an imprecise common use term to describe the act of people buying unusually large amounts of a product in anticipation of or after a disaster or perceived disaster, or in anticipation of a large price increase or shortage, as can occur before a blizzard or hurricane or government...
led some petrol stations across the country to run dry. However, the Retail Motor Industry Federation
Retail Motor Industry Federation
The Retail Motor Industry Federation represents the interests of motor industry operators in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, providing sales and services to motorists and businesses...
has stated that there is a stock of fuel that could last 70 days, easily covering the lapse in production so long as no panic buying occurs. With the shutdown of the plant, BP closed the Forties pipeline system
Forties pipeline system
The Forties pipeline system is a pre-eminent pipeline network in the North Sea carrying 30% of the UK's oil, or about of oil a day, to shore. It is owned and operated by UK-based global energy company BP, who retained the asset after selling the Forties oilfield to Apache Corp. in 2003...
as their Kinneil terminal relies on power from the Grangemouth refinery. With the shutdown of Kinneil, 70 North Sea oil platforms were forced to shut down or reduce production, at the cost of 700000 oilbbl/d. Shutting the pipeline down reduced Britain's petroleum supply (the Forties pipeline provides 30% of the UK's North Sea oil), and cost the UK economy £50 million in lost production every day it remained closed.
See also
- 2009 Jaipur fire2009 Jaipur fireThe Jaipur oil depot fire broke out on 29 October 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Indian Oil Corporation oil depot's giant tank holding of oil, in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan, killing 12 people and injuring over 200...
- Esso Refinery, Milford HavenEsso Refinery, Milford HavenThe Esso Refinery at Milford Haven was an oil refinery situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Construction started in 1957 and the refinery was opened in 1960 by Duke of Edinburgh. Construction cost £18million and the refinery had the capacity to process 4.5million tons of crude oil a...
- 2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fireThe Buncefield fire was a major conflagration caused by a series of explosions on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, an oil storage facility located near the M1 motorway by Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. The terminal was the fifth largest oil-products...
External links
- Website at Innovene
- Unite Union
- Q&A: The Grangemouth dispute - BBC news
- Institute of Petroleum - Refineries - Grangemouth – history of refinery