Coal And Oil
Oil
When oil companies started building their big oil refineries in
the 1920s and 1930s, they often chose sites near existing ports or
on deep water. This was so they could easily import their raw
material, crude oil, by sea in large tankers. It also made it
easier to distribute products such as petrol, fuel oil or chemicals
in smaller, coastal or river tankers. Because large areas of land
were needed - and possibly because of worries about fires,
explosions and unpleasant smells - the refineries were usually put
as far as possible from towns and cities. 
 `Volsella` oil tanker at Empress Dock |
For instance, Esso sited its refinery at Fawley, to take
advantage of the depth of Southampton Water, and well away from
Southampton itself. Fawley is on the south shore of Southampton
Water, about 5miles (8km) south east of Southampton. Shell built a
refinery on marshland at Stanlow on Merseyside, a few miles above
the entrance to the Manchester Ship Canal. These proved good
policies, as the refineries have expanded as demand for products
derived from petroleum has grown. Oil tankers have grown
enormously, too. Although large tankers can still berth near
Fawley, they cannot get into the Manchester Ship Canal. Hence, the
Stanlow refinery has to be served by pipeline from a jetty in the
lower part of the Mersey where the river is deeper and wider. In the last fifty years, liquefied gas has become an important
product. It is brought in to special terminals by tankers that have
round or cylindrical tanks, made that way to resist the high
pressures necessary to keep the gas liquid. Oil ports have pipes to handle the oil or gas, and enormous
tanks to store it. Sometimes these are underground for safety
reasons. They also have elaborate safety measures to avoid the risk
of a disastrous fire or explosion. For instance, tankers arriving
empty to fill up must be free from gases which could be
explosive.
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