Port Stanvac is a former port and oil refinery in the suburb of Lonsdale south of

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It was operated by

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

between 1963 and 2003. Since its closure, the port and adjoining land-based refinery site have been decommissioned.

Oil refinery

It was announced in 1958 that a

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

with a designed capacity of 3.3 million tons per annum and owned by

would be built at Port Stanvac. The refinery first processed

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

there in 1963. Its closure in 2003 resulted in the loss more than 400 jobs. Decommissioning and remediation of the site is ongoing and is expected to continue until 2019. Once the site has been decommissioned, the land is expected to be sold in phases. Demolition of the refinery was completed in 2014.

Port Stanvac jetty

The Port Stanvac jetty is 670 metres long, and since the refinery's closure in 2003 remains with an exclusion zone for the purposes of public safety. The structure terminates in waters 12 to 15 metres deep. In October 2015, the South Australian government committed to retaining the existing 215 metre rock groyne adjoining the jetty, but according to ExxonMobil "had not identified a viable alternate use for the defunct structure." Mobil agreed to fund upgrade works estimated to cost $5.7 million to ensure that the groyne would be safe prior to opening it for public access. The jetty structure itself is expected to be demolished. The ''Southern Times Messenger'' previously reported that ExxonMobil had offered the Port Stanvac Jetty to the

City of Onkaparinga The City of Onkaparinga () is a local government area (LGA) located on the southern fringe of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the Onkaparinga River, whose name comes from ''Ngangkiparinga'', a Kaurna word meaning women's river. It i ...

. This was to allow anglers and divers access in the hope that one day the jetty could be used for recreational fishing and diving. Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg has said any responsibility for the jetty should fall to the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

. Shore-based diving opportunities near suburban Adelaide are few, making the jetty structure a prospective new dive tourism attraction. Onkaparinga city development manager Terry Sutcliffe said one of the council's aims was to see the jetty used as a port for local industries and said the council would need to consider maintenance and liability costs if it chose to take over the jetty.

Oil spills

A number of oil spill events occurred at or near Port Stanvac during the refinery's operating life. *One such incident occurred on 20 July 1978 when oil was discharged from the vessel ''Aphrodite'' into

Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Sp ...

. *On 22 January 1982, oil was spilled from the tanker ''Esso Gippsland'' during unloading at the Port Stanvac jetty. The slick was sprayed with chemical

dispersant A dispersant or a dispersing agent is a substance, typically a surfactant, that is added to a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a liquid (such as a colloid or emulsion) to improve the separation of the particles and to prevent their settl ...

, applied from the air. Oil later washed ashore at Seaford and

Aldinga Beach __NOTOC__ Aldinga Beach is an outer southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga and has the postcode 5173. At the , Aldinga Beach had a population of 10,557. It lies about a kilometre west of the smaller ...

. *On 28 June 1999, approximately 230 tonnes of oil was discharged from an offshore loading connection to the refinery. The discharge occurred 2 nautical miles offshore. The oil spill response in 1999 involved aerial spraying of 26.1 cubic metres of chemical dispersant and the employment of approximately 150 people in beach cleanups at beaches at

Sellicks Beach __NOTOC__ Sellicks Beach, formerly spelt Sellick's Beach, is a suburb in the Australian state of South Australia located within Adelaide metropolitan area about from the Adelaide city centre. It is an outer southern suburb of Adelaide and ...

and Aldinga Beach.

Grain terminal

The construction of a grain export terminal was proposed by the

Australian Wheat Board AWB Limited was a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. Founded in 1939 by the Government of Australia as the Australian Wheat Board, in 1999 it was sold off by the government, initially to be owned by wheat growers. It was acqu ...

and

Australian Barley Board ABB Grain was Australia's largest agribusiness. Founded in 1939, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange until its takeover by Viterra in 2009. For most of its history, the company focused solely on grain accumulation and ma ...

in 2002. The proposal did not progress, due to the progression of the Outer Harbor

AusBulk ABB Grain was Australia's largest agribusiness. Founded in 1939, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange until its takeover by Viterra in 2009. For most of its history, the company focused solely on grain accumulation and ma ...

grain terminal in the existing port precinct area. This was due to the additional infrastructure costs, and impacts on the community of additional freight movements in residential areas.

In popular culture

The South Australian band ''The Dairy Brothers'' wrote a song called "Port Stanvac", for which they also produced a music video.

References

{{coord, 35.09762, S, 138.446691, E, format=dms, region:AU-SA, display=title Economy of Adelaide Gulf St Vincent Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Australia Oil spills in Australia