The refinery was established in 1921 by the Atlantic, Gulf and West Indies Oil Company on 270 hectares of land. The site was chosen because a large amount of land was available for development, and the area was not heavily populated, and because of the position on Southampton Water. This provided access to the large amount of water used in the refining process, and also made it possible for crude oil to be brought to the site in ocean tankers by sea. Proximity to Southampton was also a factor, as at the outset much of the plant's output was used to supply liners using Southampton Docks. Atlantic, Gulf and West Indies were bought out by British-Mexican Petroleum in 1923, and they, in turn, were taken over by the Anglo-American Oil Company in 1926, which was the British affiliate of Esso. In 1939 capacity was around 600,000 tonnes of crude oil per annum (approximately 12,000 barrels per day) which met just 6.7% of UK demand. Refining ceased during World War II, when most refined oil for the UK was imported, and Fawley was used as a storage depot.
In 1949 Esso embarked on the construction of a new refinery, and a further 1200 hectares of land were acquired. The first stage of this expansion, which came on-stream in 1951, consisted of primary distillation units, a catalytic cracker and numerous treating units. The refinery was opened by British prime minister Clement Attlee on 14 September 1951. It had an initial estimated capacity of 157,000 barrels per day, or around one third of UK demand at that time. The chemical plant was created in 1958. Additional refining capacity was added, and Fawley's capacity reached around 19,500,000 tonnes of crude oil per annum in 1973 (approximately 400,000 barrels per day), and has since decreased, partly because of reduced demand for oil. SOURCE: Wikipedia
