The UK head of Phillips 66 has pledged to continue investing in the business to equip it for the future as its Humber Refinery in North Lincolnshire reached it half century.

The company, at that time operating as Conoco, first entered the UK in 1960 as a fuel distributor and acquired Jet in 1961.

Eight years later in 1969 Conoco opened an 86,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery on the Humber. Today the multi-billion-pound refinery has tripled in size and now has a capacity of 221,000 bpd and provides 14% of the UK’s road fuel demand and 20% of all UK demand for petroleum products.

Mary Wolf, managing director of UK Marketing, Phillips 66, commented: “As we mark the Humber Refinery’s 50th anniversary, it is an ideal time to reflect and be proud of our successful heritage, but it is also essential that we look forward to the future.

“We have one of the most energy efficient refineries in Europe and our colleagues at the refinery are working creatively and intensely to not only manufacture the key products that society demands today, but also to transform our business to provide products which society will need for the next 50 years and beyond.

“By investing in developing renewable biofuels from waste oil and continuously striving to reduce our carbon intensity, we believe that Humber Refinery has a key role to play in helping the UK achieve the 2050 goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“We can look back with a great deal of pride for what the Humber Refinery has achieved over the past five decades and the inherent strength of our Jet network as a result of this. We continue to work across the business to ensure that we can keep providing the UK with quality fuels into the future, keeping the 2050 net zero intention firmly front of mind.”