The Kurnell Refinery was a

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

located in

Kurnell Kurnell is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Sutherland Shire along the east coast. Cronulla ...

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It had a refining capacity of . It was operated by Caltex Australia, and owned by the

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

History

Construction began on the refinery in 1953. The refinery was built in 1956 by Caltex on of land located in

, close to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. About 3,000 men worked at the project's various sites during the peak of construction. It was further expanded in 1964 and 1973. On 26 July 2012, Caltex announced its decision to close the refinery in the second half of 2014. Caltex said that the closure would eliminate about 330 direct positions, and as many as 300 contracting jobs. The refinery ceased operation in October 2014 and was converted into an import terminal to supply imported fuel for Australian customers.Kurnell Site Conversion
Caltex Retrieved 22/12/2014

Technical features

The refinery had a capacity of , 56 storage tanks and a staff of approximately 700 employees. The site of the refinery also has a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

that can handle ships up to 60,000 DWT.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Sydney Kurnell Peninsula Oil refineries in Australia 1956 establishments in Australia 2014 disestablishments in Australia Kurnell, New South Wales