Port Stanvac Refinery

Port Stanvac[a]
Port Stanvac Refinery is located in South Australia
Port Stanvac Refinery
Location of Port Stanvac[a]
CountryAustralia
StateSouth Australia
CityAdelaide
Coordinates35°06′37″S 138°28′16″E / 35.110204°S 138.471234°E / -35.110204; 138.471234[1]
Refinery details
OperatorExxonMobil Australia
Owner(s)Petroleum Refineries (Australia) Pty Ltd[2]
Commissioned1963
Decommissioned2009
Capacity3.3 million tons per annum[2]

Port Stanvac Refinery was an oil refinery in the Australian state of South Australia located in Lonsdale, a southern suburb of Adelaide. Its construction was announced in 1958 and began refining crude oil in 1963.[3]

It had a capacity of 3.3 million tons per annum[2] and was owned by ExxonMobil Australia (and previously Mobil). The refinery was mothballed in 2003, and in 2009 ExxonMobil announced its permanent closure and demolition.[4]

The 239 hectares (590 acres) site is being demolished and cleaned up through 2019.[5][4][needs update] The site has been slated for a housing development. This was announced in November 2024, for completion in late 2020’s.

The refinery's most prominent structure, the 90 metres (300 ft) chimney, was demolished on 31 January 2014. Mobil will face penalties if the site is not remediated by 2019.[4][needs update] The land will be sold in phases.[6]

Part of the site is now used for the Adelaide Desalination Plant.[4] Four gas turbines were installed by the Government of South Australia in 2017 for the Temporary Generation South power station. Operation was transferred to Infigen Energy in May 2020 under a 25 year lease, and will be moved to a different site at Bolivar.[7]


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  1. ^ "Search results for "Port Stanvac Oil Refinery, Ftry" with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Remco Van Santen. "Table 1". Chemlink.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Mobil history". ExxonMobil. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "Old Stanvac refinery set for demolition". ABC News. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  5. ^ Whiting, Jessica (25 June 2009). "Exxon Mobil to demolish, remediate Port Stanvac". Southern Times Messenger. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  6. ^ Clarke, Brett (11 January 2011). "Mobil site demolition may take years". Southern Times Messenger. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Firming Assets". Infigen Energy. Retrieved 13 March 2021.