Kwinana Oil Refinery was sited on the shore of Cockburn Sound at Kwinana, near Fremantle, Western Australia. Built by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and completed in 1955, it was the largest oil refinery in Australia, with a capacity of . It was closed by BP in March 2021 to be converted to an import-only terminal.
History
In March 1952, the Government of Western Australia and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company signed a £40 million agreement to build the Kwinana Oil Refinery. The agreement was then sent to parliament for reading as two bills on 6 March; one, the Oil Refinery (Kwinana) Industry Bill, to ratify the agreement and the second, the Industrial Development (Kwinana Area) Bill, to acquire the land in Kwinana.
Infrastructure
Details in this final agreement included a requirement that the company pay at least 6% of the costs of dredging Cockburn Sound, estimated at between £4 and £6 million, with the state meeting the company's requirements for the dredge; supply of 12,000 kilowatts of electricity; cement to be imported by the company; sale of of land to the south of the refinery for recreation and amenities; provision of water and sewerage to the construction and final building; supply of potable water a day, rising to a day; sale of land at ; federal government assistance in obtaining migrant labour for the project. The state government undertook to build 1,000 rental homes within three years, with water, septic tanks, fences and roads to the refinery. Included were details of three pipelines to be built, one to Fremantle, a second from Fremantle to Perth and a third from Kwinana to Perth. The state also provided a guarantee against future socialisation and waived charges for pilotage of ships which were being used on company business.
Associated land provision
In the second bill, land for future industry was proposed and would stretch from Robbs Jetty south towards Rockingham Townsite and east to Jandakot, with it acquired at a reasonable price. Resumption of land would take place up until 31 December 1953 and possibly beyond.
Both bills passed the Legislative Council on 14 March 1952 and were sent to Governor Charles Gairdner for the Royal assent.
Commonwealth land and jurisdiction
At a meeting held in Canberra with Interior Minister Kent Hughes, the Federal Government agreed on 18 March 1952 to sell back 949 acres it had owned since its purchase in 1916 to the WA State Government at £10 acre. Hughes also agreed to return Commonwealth land, from Woodman Point down to Kwinana, to the state for use as industrial land. Concerned about the impact of the project on the disruption to sources of labour in WA, Minister for Works David Brand discussed immigration policy to make up the shortfall especially when it came to skilled workers. Discussion also took place as to Australian import restrictions when it came to material required for the refinery's construction, with the company willing to use local supplies but not to the detriment of the state's requirements for construction materials in other local projects.
Water supply
In May 1952, the State government authorised the commencement of a 19 km, 26 cm steel water pipeline from Melville reservoir to a 36.5m diameter, 1 million gallon storage tank on Mount Brown in Henderson, with completion in August and July respectively and on to the refinery site for use during construction. Also in late May, A. E. Mason arrived to become the head of the project in Western Australia for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Work also proceeded on soil surveys, hydrographic surveys and pile tests at the project site.
Dredging and rail services
Tenders were called for the dredging of Cockburn Sound over three or four years, dredging through two banks, a 4.4-km channel through the Success Bank and a 2.8-km channel through the Parmelia Bank.
Investigations took place in May 1952 to extend the existing railway line 9.8 km from Woodman Point and Coogee through to the refinery site. But by July 1952, the railway plan was modified with an extension line from a future Welshpool railway line through Bibra Lake to the proposed Coogee line to Kwinana. The main water supply for the project would come through a 76-cm trunk line from Armadale to a hill sited west of Lake Thompson where a 20 million gallon reservoir would be built from late 1952 with a pipeline to the refinery by mid-1955.