Phillips 66, owner of Jet, together with gas firm Calor, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of an LPG storage facility, which has the unusual feature of being set 200m beneath the earth in underground caves.
The Immingham LPG Caverns took six years to excavate and were opened in 1986. The two caves are the only mined hydrocarbon storage caverns even constructed in the UK, and each is capable of holding 110,000m³ of propane and butane. The facility is jointly owned by Calor and Phillips 66, and is located by the latter’s Humber refinery, Lincolnshire.
Described as “an important strategic supply point”, the significance of the caverns has rarely been more pronounced, with the Iranian conflict severely impacting global supplies of liquified petroleum gas.
Geoff Henderson, Phillips 66’s director for wholesale sales, UK marketing, paid tribute to the “pioneering” engineering and “vision and execution” of the teams behind the caverns’ construction, adding:
“Since commissioning in 1986, the Immingham LPG Caverns have played an important role in supporting reliable LPG supply across the UK. Together with Calor, we have maintained and invested in this facility for four decades.
Rogerio Lopes, Calor’s chief executive, says: “The Immingham LPG Caverns are a strategically important supply point for Calor, particularly in supporting secure LPG availability through the winter months and the service we provide to customers. Our joint venture with Phillips 66 Limited spans 40 years and has supported the supply arrangements that help us meet customer demand across the UK.”
