History
The refinery occupies nearly 1900 acre near the River Mersey and dates back to 1924, when a small bitumen plant was established.[10] Stanlow & Thornton railway station was opened in 1940 to give workers access to the site and the facility an extra mode of transport. However, this station is now only served by three trains daily towards each of Ellesmere Port (westbound) and Helsby (eastbound), with these services scheduled to depart at times which would be inconvenient for the workers.
In 1974 an oil pipeline was commissioned from Amlwch, Anglesey to Stanlow. Crude oil was pumped ashore from tankers moored at deep-water pontoons to a holding station at Rhosgoch, from there it was pumped through two 36-inch diameter pipelines, 127 km to Stanlow. The pipeline had closed by 1990.[11][12]
Crude oil is now received lower down river on the Mersey at the Tranmere Oil Terminal, operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company from its Liverpool headquarters, and is transferred via a fifteen-mile (24 km) pipeline to storage at Stanlow. Output is delivered via various means, including by pipeline via the UK oil pipeline network, road and the Manchester Ship Canal. There is also a pipeline for jet fuel to Manchester Airport.
In 2010, Royal Dutch Shell declared their desire to sell off some refineries in Europe to concentrate on emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, which led to the possibility that Stanlow would be shut down indefinitely.[13] However, Shell said that a number of refineries in their portfolio offered over-capacity and consequently Stanlow, their last British refinery, was put up for sale.[14]
After a prolonged period of negotiation, Stanlow was sold by Shell to Essar Energy for approximately $1.3 billion (£814 million) in 2011.[1] Essar has stated their desire to expand the site with a 25% increase in output.[15] Following the bankruptcy of Petroplus which ran the Coryton Refinery in January 2012, Essar stated their belief that Stanlow, being a large refinery, would be able to compete with refineries in Asia and the Middle East.[16] Essar plan a £250 million expansion of Stanlow, with production of diesel and aviation fuel to be increased.[17] In April 2021 the company was reported to be heavily in debt after fossil fuel demand dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] In September 2021 it was reported that the facility is at the "brink of collapse".[19]
In February 2023, Essar launched Essar Energy Transition for the development of what has been reported as the 'UK's leading energy transition hub' as part of the regional decarbonisation cluster known as Hynet, alongside a $2.4 billion (£1.9 billion) investment in the refinery.[20][21]
In December 2023, the company reported $66.3 million (£51.7 million) of profit on $11.8 billion (£9 billion) of revenue in its annual results to March 2023.[22][23]
Stanlow operator, Essar Oil UK, changed its trading name to EET Fuels in January 2024 and announced that $1.2 billion would be allocated to support the refinery’s industrial decarbonisation.[24] The refinery announced its plan to reduce carbon emissions by 95 per cent by 2030 through industrial carbon capture and switching from natural gas and other refinery fuel sources to hydrogen as a fuel.[24]
In July 2024, EET Fuels announced its plan to build Europe’s first hydrogen-ready combined heat and power plant at Stanlow, which is currently scheduled for completion in 2027 and operational by 2028 or 2029.[21] In the same month, it was reported that the refinery plans to invest in infrastructure and extra capacity to increase its national footprint.[25]
