Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
, south of
Birkenhead
Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the
Stanlow Oil Refinery by a crude oil pipeline and a fuel oil pipeline. Part of the terminal occupies the site of a former ferry service to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, with the extant pier considerably modified.
The terminal is operated by the
Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.
History
The terminal was built jointly by
Shell Oil
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...
, then the owner of Stanlow Oil Refinery, and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board at a cost of £6 million.
It was built to replace the role of the
Herculaneum Dock and the later
Eastham Oil Terminal which had only been inaugurated in 1954, but which did not have sufficient water depth to handle the 65,000 ton vessels that were operating by 1960.
By 2001, the terminal had two converted crude oil tanks which could handle .
These were used for the storage of
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 ...
from the
Foinaven oilfield.
Current operations
All the crude oil feedstock for Stanlow Oil Refinery is delivered via the Tranmere terminal. The terminal is capable of handling vessels of up to 65,000 tonnes, and cargo sizes up to 170,000 tonnes on part laden
Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
Tranmere handles 140 ships every year, carrying a total of 9 million tonnes of crude oil.
The size and operating pressure of the pipelines between Tranmere and Stanlow are as shown:
The minimum water depth at Tranmere is 40 ft. (12.2 m), and there is a tidal range of 30 ft. (9.14 m).
See also
*
Oil terminals in the United Kingdom
*
UK oil pipeline network
References
Sources
*
External links
MultiMap
{{Coord, 53.3782, -3.0015, source:geograph.co.uk_region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Buildings and structures in Birkenhead
Mersey docks
Petroleum infrastructure in the United Kingdom
Oil terminals
Peel Ports