The most sophisticated oil refinery in the 海角视频 is ready to play its part in a carbon neutral future.
A half century of operations has been rung up at Phillips 66’s Humber facility, and while celebrations have looked back to 1969, it is the 2050 net zero intention now front of mind for the man at the helm.
Darren Cunningham is lead 海角视频 executive and general manager of the South Killingholme refinery, in his third spell having first joined as a chemical engineer graduate.
Blown away by the birthday bash laid on by a dedicated team for more than 2,000 people, he is enthusiastic about what the next 50 years can bring.
“We have a proud and successful heritage, but it is of absolute importance that we are forward-looking,” he said. “Government has recently put into law achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and we believe the Humber Refinery has a key role in helping society achieve that goal.
“We are part of the solution, not part of the problem. We make products society will need and continue to need for 2050 and beyond. We recognise we have a role in making those products, achieving a carbon balance, and we will help reduce the carbon intensity.”
Within the multi-billion pound refinery the vision is fuelling the future; spelling out the commitment to people, the community and customers.
“We continue to look at our business model and we are adapting, as we have seen for lithium ion for electric vehicle batteries and consumer electricals,” he said. “We are the first refinery in the 海角视频 to reprocess waste oil and biofuels, we are continuing to do that and investing to expand capacity in 2020 as we look to increase rates.”
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Conoco entered the 海角视频 in 1960, as a fuel distributor. Following the discovery of oil in Libya, a desire to build a 海角视频 refinery to handle it quickly emerged.
It was conceived in the mid-1960s, with contracts signed in London’s Waldorf Hotel. Oil first passed through in September 1969, launching as an 86,000 barrel-a-day refinery. North Sea oil soon flowed too, very similar to Libyan, both low in sulphur with other similar properties.
“Humber was built to manufacture premium petroleum coke, and it continues to this day to be a premium manufacturer of premium petroleum coke products,” Mr Cunningham said. “It has tripled in size, we’re now at 221,000 barrels, we have continuous substantial investment, and we anticipate it will continue.
“With decarbonisation there will be less demand in the 海角视频, and we need to make sure Humber Refinery remains the premier refinery that is able to continue to thrive in that environment. We believe it will. “We believe we will be here 50 years from now, still a thriving, successful industrial operation. I truly believe we have a bright future. It is a great plant, with great people, and it does a lot of good things. “We have to adapt, to provide the products that society needs, and we recognise that we need to be doing that in an increasingly sustainable way, accepting the direction of travel, which is reducing carbon intensity.”
As well as transport fuel, the aluminium smelting and steel industries are key markets, with another having recently and rapidly emerged - lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles and other consumables such as smart phones and tablets.
“It is a market we have grown sales considerably in, and a market forecast to grow at a rapid pace,” he said.
Technical innovations to improve and transform refining operations are also at the core of future planning and proofing.
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“We are energy efficient, one of the most energy efficient refineries in Europe, and there are all sorts of other areas which we are actively exploring, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, green power, all of which we believe can play a role in helping to reduce carbon intensity,” Mr Cunningham said.
“The Humber region is the largest C02 emitting region in the country. It is ideally situated, with the concentration of heavy industry, Drax Power Station up the road and the proximity to the North Sea, a potential reservoir for storing C02. There is real opportunity for the region to be a demonstrator as to how we reduce carbon intensity while still supporting jobs, products and energy intensive industry.”
Sunday saw more than 2,000 people, predominantly employees and contractors’ families, enjoy a fun fair, music, food and drink and educational activities on site.
It was a clear reminder of the scale of the operation, and the place in the community, building on a founders’ lunch for retirees and an Easter community event.
“We employ over 1,000 employees and contractors,” Mr Cunningham said, having had 20 years on site in a 34 year career punctuated by time in London, Singapore, Houston and New Jersey in operational, commercial and strategic roles.
“These are highly skilled, highly paid jobs and we contribute more than £100 million annually to the regional economy through salaries, investments and payment for goods and services,” he said of the team he has huge pride in.
“The team did a fantastic job for the celebrations; it was a classic example of what can be achieved when you empower people. I was blown away, it was absolutely brilliant.”