Port Stanvac Refinery Explained

Port Stanvac
Location Map:Australia South Australia
Coordinates:-35.1102°N 138.4712°W[1]
Country:Australia
State:South Australia
City:Adelaide
Operator:ExxonMobil Australia
Owner:Petroleum Refineries (Australia) Pty Ltd
Founded:1963
Closure:2009
Capacity:3.3 million tons per annum

Port Stanvac Refinery was an oil refinery in the Australian state of South Australia located in Lonsdale, a southern suburb of Adelaide. Its construction was announced in 1958 and began refining crude oil in 1963.[2]

It had a capacity of 3.3 million tons per annum[3] and was owned by ExxonMobil Australia (and previously Mobil). The refinery was mothballed in 2003, and in 2009 ExxonMobil announced its permanent closure and demolition.[4]

The site is being demolished and cleaned up through 2019.[5] The site has been slated for a housing development. This was announced in November 2024, for completion in late 2020’s.

The refinery's most prominent structure, the chimney, was demolished on 31 January 2014. Mobil will face penalties if the site is not remediated by 2019.[4] The land will be sold in phases.[6]

Part of the site is now used for the Adelaide Desalination Plant.[4] Four gas turbines were installed by the Government of South Australia in 2017 for the Temporary Generation South power station. Operation was transferred to Infigen Energy in May 2020 under a 25 year lease, and will be moved to a different site at Bolivar.[7]

References

Citations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search results for "Port Stanvac Oil Refinery, Ftry" with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities' and 'Gazetteer' . Location SA Map Viewer . Government of South Australia . 10 April 2020.
  2. Web site: Mobil history . ExxonMobil. 1999-11-30 . 2012-11-01.
  3. Web site: Remco Van Santen . Table 1 . Chemlink.com.au . 2012-11-01.
  4. Web site: Old Stanvac refinery set for demolition. ABC News. 2009-06-25 . 2012-11-01.
  5. Web site: Whiting . Jessica . Exxon Mobil to demolish, remediate Port Stanvac . Southern Times Messenger. 10 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120305073213/http://southern-times-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/exxon-mobil-to-demolish-remediate-port-stanvac/ . 5 March 2012 . 25 June 2009.
  6. Web site: Clarke . Brett . Mobil site demolition may take years . Southern Times Messenger. 10 April 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120305072906/http://southern-times-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/changing-face-of-lonsdale/ . 5 March 2012 . 11 January 2011.
  7. Web site: Firming Assets . . 13 March 2021.