4,400 jobs lined up at oil plant

Oct 11 2007 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

PLANS for a £2bn crude oil plant which could create up to 4,400 jobs are expected to pave the way for further heavy investment in the region’s resurgent energy industry.

London-based SONHOE Development Company yesterday announced plans for a processing facility on a former ICI site on Teesside which would create up to 400 operating jobs, 2,500 construction jobs and 1,500 associated jobs over the next seven years.

The project, which would be the biggest ever industrial investment on Teesside, will be followed by a number of other significant investments into the region’s energy sector, said Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR).

TVR chief executive Joe Docherty said: “The proposal underpins the future of the region’s energy industry and is as significant as the original decision by ICI to set up in the region.

“We are currently in discussions with a number of other major investors who are looking at the Tees Valley area. They are investors who are looking to grow their businesses in energy related sectors. We are confident there will be more companies like SONHOE coming here in the future.”

SONHOE, which is planning to build the facility over the next four years at the site of the former ICI plant at Wilton, near Redcar, is currently waiting for the green light for the project from local authorities. If, as expected, it gets the go-ahead, the firm said it will “enhance the infrastructure” around Teesside as it develops the plant for operation by 2014.

SONHOE managing director Mike True said the company had considered sites across the world for the plant before choosing Wilton.

Mr True said: “Tees Valley is the ideal location for this development with the availability of brownfield land, deep water access and a highly experienced and world class manufacturing workforce.

“We are still in the early stages of this project but the fundamentals for the facility are very strong.

“The technology is proven and has been demonstrated to work in many other facilities around the world and we are confident it will bring benefits to the region, the UK and Europe as a whole over a long period of time.”

The proposed plant will source heavy oil from the North Sea, Latin America, the Middle East and other areas and turn it into high-quality diesel.

According to SONHOE the demand in Europe for low sulphur diesel is increasing, but existing refineries are unable to process lower grade crude into useful diesel.

Mr True said there were an estimated four to eight billion barrels of heavy oil in the North Sea – as much as has already been extracted – which could be useful if more sophisticated refining processes were employed.

The firm’s Wilton plant will process around 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year, which is approximately 12% of the UK’s annual demand.

Read on as we answer your questions on the proposed plant and to hear reaction from around the region to the project.