Our Locations
Stanlow
ERL Fuels is investing to make our refinery at Stanlow, the UK’s first low carbon process refinery.
Sited on a 770 hectare industrialised area of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, Stanlow benefits from its close proximity to major north-west metropolises, a robust configuration and reliable, well maintained assets.
The refinery plays a strategic role in the UK economy, supplying 16% of all road transport fuels. It is also a major regional employer with over 900 staff, an additional 800 on site contractors and a further 5,000 people employed indirectly through the extended value chain.
The UK’s first low carbon hydrogen facility will be built at Stanlow and will sit at the heart of the HyNet low carbon cluster, to produce a total of 1GW per year of hydrogen, across two units, from 2026. This is equivalent to the domestic heating energy used by a major British city region, such as Liverpool.
Stanlow contributes an estimated £60 million each year to the local economy and will house the UK's first low carbon hydrogen facility.
Oil supply
Crude oil is supplied to the refinery via a 15 mile pipeline from the company’s Tranmere facility further downstream in the Mersey Estuary. The Tranmere Oil Terminal, with its two dedicated jetties, can handle Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tankers loaded with up to 170,000 tonnes of crude. It also enables the import of large parcels of diesel.
Single train operation
Stanlow’s reconfigured and optimised single train operation delivers significant upgrading capability and produces an above average proportion of middle distillates, principally diesel and jet fuel, helping to address the significant and growing deficit in the UK and Europe.
Stanlow also plays an important part in Britain’s petrochemical industry, providing feedstocks such as toluene, propylene and ethylbenzene. In addition, ERL Fuels operates an integrated terminal and marine facility at Stanlow and Tranmere on behalf Stanlow Terminals.
Distribution
Stanlow has a highly efficient distribution capability for refined end products:
- The Stanlow Terminals Road Terminal which has significant spare capacity which provides supply resilience for the region
- A direct connection via the UK Oil Pipeline through to Kingsbury, Northampton and beyond towards London
- A pipeline connection to the UK’s busiest regional airport at Manchester
- Six berths on the Manchester Ship Canal handling export parcels of up to 10,000 tonnes
ERL Fuels remains the lowest cost supplier into the North West and is highly competitive in supplying adjacent markets.
The Stanlow Manufacturing Complex
Stanlow produces:
- 4.4 billion litres of diesel every year – enough to drive a car doing 40 mpg 4,000 times around the equator every day
- 3 billion litres of petrol a year – enough to drive a car 20 million times around the world
- 2 billion litres of jet fuel a year – enough to fuel 17,000 jumbo jets flying from Manchester to Los Angeles
Stanlow facts
Oils
- Stanlow is one of the largest refineries in Europe covering an area the equivalent of 300 football pitches
- The refinery processes up to 9 million tonnes of crude every year – that’s more than 20,000 litres per minute
- Distribution of products from Stanlow is mainly via road and pipeline. The remainder of our products leave via the Manchester Ship canal
- The energy recovery plant processes both liquid and solid waste and is capable of generating 350 tonnes of steam every day for refinery use
Chemicals
The chemicals manufacturing plants uses technologically-advanced process units to produce propylene and turn ethylene, benzene, hydrocarbons and other feedstocks into a wide range of polymer and other products.
- Products manufactured by chemicals produced at Stanlow are used in the manufacture of foams for furniture and bedding, artificial sports tracks, ski suits and waterproof leisure wear
Tranmere Oil Terminal
All of Stanlow’s crude oil arrives at Tranmere Oil Terminal by tanker, a total of 9 million tonnes a year.
Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the West side of the River Mersey, 1½ miles south of Birkenhead and opposite the Albert Dock Complex and Liverpool City centre.
Opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tonnes, at present it is capable of handling cargo sizes up to 170, 000 tonnes on part laden Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
9 million tonnes of crude oil a year arrive at Tranmere.
There are two berths (Tranmere North and South) used to unload the oil to storage tanks within the terminal, after which it is pumped 15 miles by pipeline to Stanlow. There are also monthly import cargoes of Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD). Tranmere handles a total of 140 ships each year.
Typical cargo size
80KT for Crude and 40 KT for ULSD.
Typical types of ship
All oil tankers are double hull, including specialised North Sea offtake vessels and occasional Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) with part cargo.
Crude oils handled
Stanlow refinery processes mainly North Sea Crude Oils, e.g. Forties, Ekofisk, Gullfacs, DUC, Brent, with increasing volumes from the Mediterranean and West Africa.
Operations
Vessels are scheduled to berth on high water tide only, with departure from the berth permitted either four hours or one hour before high water. Senior Liverpool Pilots are assigned to pilot all vessels.
At least two tugs are used for the berthing or unberthing of all crude oil tankers with three in use for vessels over 50,000 tonnes dwt. All procedures for vessels bound for Tranmere are covered by formal agreements with the Liverpool Pilots Service and Peel Ports.
Safety
Safety is an absolute priority at Tranmere, and all practicable steps are taken to prevent incidents of any type, with systems and procedures in place to detect fire or leaks of substances and to raise the alarm.
Measures preventing such releases are taken into account during the design, construction and maintenance of the tanks and equipment at the Terminal, with the highest industry standards applied throughout.
Marine facilities associated with the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex comprise three distinct facilities. These are:
Kingsbury Terminal
Kingsbury is a joint venture (JV) with Shell. Essar Midland Ltd is a JV shareholder with Shell UK Ltd of Kingsbury Terminal.
It has 14 tanks operated on a co-mingled product basis with a storage capacity of 101m litres. The terminal is pipeline fed and there are eight vehicle loading gantries, which allows approx. 220 road loadings daily.
Kingsbury Terminal stores gasoil, kerosene, diesel, jet, gasoline unleaded BOB, gasoline super unleaded and ethanol, as well as a number of additives and marker dyes. All dispatches are via road.
The terminal is operated by Shell UK Ltd in six shifts running a 24-hour, 7-day a week operation, 52-weeks of the year.
For any product availability enquiries, please email us at: commercial.sales@easthamrefinerylimited.com
Northampton Terminal
Northampton Fuel Terminal is owned by Infrastructure North Ltd (INL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Midlands Ltd (EML).
It has eight main storage tanks, four horizontal ethanol storage tanks and a total storage capacity of 28.6m litres. The terminal is pipeline fed and there are five loading bays which allows approx. 80 road loadings daily.
Northampton Terminal currently stores gasoline, unleaded BOB, gasoline super unleaded and diesel.
Essar is currently investing to make commercial grades of kerosene and gasoil available, from Q2 and Q3 of the current calendar year respectively. The terminal is operated for INL by px group, who provides innovative operations management, engineering services and energy management solutions to Essar.
There are eight employees at Northampton, supported by contractors, operating in six shifts and running a 24-hour, 7-day a week operation, 52-weeks of the year.
For any product availability enquiries, please email us at: commercial.sales@easthamrefinerylimited.com
UK Oil Pipeline (UKOP) system
Eastham Refinery is a shareholder in the UK Oil Pipeline system.
UKOP transports 9.5 billion litres of product each year from ingress points at import terminals on the Thames and Eastham refinery and egress points into, West London, Hemel Hempstead and Kingsbury as well as a spur to Northampton Terminal.
The pipeline is operated and maintained by UKOP’s Agent, the British Pipeline Agency (BPA). UKOP is currently owned by a consortium of five shareholders – Essar Midlands Ltd, BP, Shell, Valero and Total.
It consists of two pipelines that link the Thames in the south with Stanlow refinery in the North West, via terminals at Hemel Hempstead, Northampton and Kingsbury.
Carrington
Located on the Manchester Ship Canal, just upstream from the Cadishead Viaduct, is LyondellBasell’s polypropylene facility. A common user berth has facilities to load or discharge propylene from a ship should the normal pipeline supply from Stanlow be interrupted or insufficient.
The jetty is the property of the Port of Manchester and is subject to their regulations and bylaws.
It is approved by H.M. Customs and Excise for the loading and unloading of liquid gases by direct transfer via pipeline to on-site storage.
Marine facilities associated with the Essar Oil UK Stanlow Manufacturing Complex comprise three distinct facilities. These are:
Cross-country pipelines
Some of Stanlow’s products are distributed via direct pipelines to Manchester Airport and also via the UK Oil Pipeline (UKOP) network to the Midlands and London.
Essar Oil UK has a dedicated pipeline team that manage the operation and maintenance of several nationally critical under-ground pipelines. These include:
- Essar’s crude oil pipeline from Tranmere to Stanlow
- Essar’s propylene pipeline from Stanlow to Carrington
Ensuring the integrity and safety of these pipelines is the team’s number one priority and this is achieved through surveillance (from land and air), in-built monitoring systems and routine inspection. Essar Oil UK also work closely with local authorities, land-owners, the emergency services and other third parties.
Essar Oil UK are actively involved with UKOPA – United Kingdom On-shore Pipelines Operators Association – with several team members participating in a variety of working groups where best practice is shared and developed.
Opened in 1969, the UKOP system stretches from the Mersey down to the Thames Estuary linking to London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport.
International Supply & Trading (IST)
International supply and trading (IST) is the commercial face for Essar Oil UK when it comes to sourcing feedstock and distributing products in the international market. It boosts Essar’s value through several functions, such as supply of feedstocks, trading logistics and risk management.
To maintain a diverse diet, crude oil is sourced from different regions such as The North Sea, West Africa, North America and The Mediterranean. Logistics operations ensure vessels load the crude and transport it in a timely and economic manner to Tranmere from where it is discharged and dispatched to Stanlow refinery for processing. Refinery products are sold to both domestic and international customers. Apart from importing crude oil for processing, IST also deals in finished products such as diesel to serve additional demand in the country.
The risk management team ensures that price exposure to a volatile oil and product price is controlled.
Operations, credit and financing teams manage the trading execution, liaising with external counterparties, authorities and internally with refinery, treasury and other support functions.
Certifications and memberships
Eastham Oil UK conforms to international standards in all stages of production. Product quality release processes and internal quality management systems ensure that from feedstock selection through the manufacturing process to final release, products always meet customer expectations.
Stanlow road transport fuels; petrol and diesel, are certified respectively to British Standards BS EN228 and BS EN590. They meet the most stringent regulatory requirements for supply within the European Union.
Aviation fuel (Jet A-1) is certified to UK MOD Defence Standard 91-91, the internationally recognised standard for Jet A-1 aviation fuel for use in commercial aircraft.
Eastham Oil (UK) Ltd has been certified by HM Revenue & Customs as an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO). AEO is an internationally recognised quality mark indicating that Essar Oil UK’s role in the international supply chain is secure and that EOUKL’s customs controls and procedures are efficient and tax compliant.
Management systems certifications
Eastham Oil UK management systems for production and supply of petroleum products conform to the following standards and are certified/accredited as appropriate:
Quality management ISO 9001
Environmental management ISO 14001
Inspection management ISO/IEC 17020
Memberships
The UKPIA is an association of eight member companies engaged in the downstream oil industry in the UK. It represents their interests on a host of common issues such as refining, distribution and marketing. The association also leads the industry’s position on various legislative issues.
The CIA represents chemical and pharmaceutical businesses across the UK. The Association focuses on influencing policy agenda across various industry issues and providing advice and professional services to its members. This includes training, handling and implementing new regulations.
The FPS Limited is the Trade Association for the oil distribution industry and ancillary interests in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It provides members with a collective voice for the industry at national level, services to assist members in optimising their business efficiencies and promotes best practice in the industry.
