The Clyde Refinery was a crude oil refinery located in Clyde, New South Wales, Australia, operating between 1925 and 2013. At the time of its closure it had a refinery capacity of 85000 oilbbl/d and was the oldest operating oil refinery in Australia. It was operated by Shell Australia.
History
The Clyde Refinery was built by John Fell and Company Pty Ltd in 1925. It was constructed largely from plant and materials relocated from a shale oil refinery the company had operated at Newnes and old shale retorts at Torbane, both north of Lithgow.[1] The refinery was purchased by Shell Australia in 1928, who would continue to operate the refinery throughout the rest of its existence. The refinery was located in Clyde where the Parramatta River and the Duck River converge, 16 km west of the Sydney central business district.[2]
In 1948 Shell opened the first major bitumen refinery in Australia at Clyde, with a production capacity of 35,000 tons p/a of bitumen and 10,000 tons p/a of finished lubricants.