Esso Refinery

During the 1950's when the demand for oil was rising rapidly, Esso was looking to expand its refining capacity. Its existing refinery at Fawley, near Southampton was considered for expansion, but it was decided that this would have been limited, so the best option was to build a second oil refinery somewhere in the UK.

The port of Milford Haven was chosen as the preferred site as it had a deep waterway to allow access for even the largest oil tankers and the local government were co-operative as they welcomed the creation of jobs.

The necessary approvals were giving to the project and the construction of the refinery near Herbrandston began in 1957. The jetty was built extending out from the site into the deep water at the centre of the Milford Haven Waterway. The refinery had an initial design capacity to handle 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

In 1960 the Esso oil refinery was opened by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and on the 8th July the first tanker, the Esso Portsmouth, berthed at the jetty. The following day there was a fire on the tanker, but the fire fighting team quickly extinguished the fire before any major damage could be caused.

The output from the refinery was distributed though many methods. Part of the output was distributed by the Mainline Pipeline which was routed from Milford Haven to outlets near Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester. Products were also moved by road and rail tankers, and some was shipped from the jetty in small tankers. In 1973 the oil refinery was expanded so that the capacity reached 180,000 barrels of crude a day.

In the mid 1970's the oil industry experienced several difficulties and the demand fell dramatically. As a result of the decreased demand Esso announced in November 1982 that they would be closing the refinery at Herbranston. In March 1983 the refinery ceased to process crude through the plant. However, petroleum products were still distributed from the refinery site until 1988, when the depot was closed.