Singapore’s oil refining trade started when the Shell Refining Firm (Singapore) Restricted opened the island first oil refinery at Pulau Bukom on 26 July 1961.[1] The refinery earned Shell the ioneer Certificate No. 1 which was awarded by the Singapore authorities.[2]

Shell long historical past with Singapore will be traced again to 1891. At the time, the offshore island of Pulau Bukom was used to store kerosene for M. Samuel & Co. of London, which was importing kerosene in bulk from Russia for distribution in Asia. Enlisting the assistance of native company house Syme & Co., Samuel set up and ran a petroleum tank depot the primary of its type within the East on Pulau Bukom. In 1897, the company expanded into Borneo under a brand new company, the Shell Transport and Trading Co., and included the Bukom depot on this enterprise.[3] In 1907, Shell merged with its Dutch competitor, the Royal Dutch Petroleum Firm, to type Royal Dutch Shell, which went on to develop into a petroleum giant in the Far East through the inter-conflict years.[4] Shell’s Far Japanese tankers, which were used to load oil from oil centres in Singapore, British Borneo and Indonesia, were administered by means of Shell in Singapore, which additionally managed the reception, storage, blending and reshipment of oil from Pulau Bukom. A neighborhood fleet of tankers was additionally based mostly in and operated from Singapore to cowl oil supplies for Malaya, British Borneo, Indonesia, Thailand and Indo-China.[5]

In November 1959, Shell announced plans to start out a refinery within the Federation of Malaya.[6] Singapore was eventually chosen as the site for the brand new refinery because the island was then already the biggest oil storage, mixing, packing and bunkering base in Southeast Asia, and amongst the largest on the planet.[7] In addition, Singapore provided generous tax incentives to draw new enterprises and encourage present ones to develop in Singapore.[8] The $30-million refinery located in Bukom was officially opened by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee on 26 July 1961.[9] Shell strengthened its presence in Pulau Bukom when it constructed a $20-million comprehensive residential complex at Timor Pulau Bukom.[10] Shell drew most of its labour from the menfolk who have been dwelling on nearby Pulau Seking before the redevelopment of the island.[11]

The Bukom refinery is currently Shell largest refinery globally in terms of crude distillation capacity, producing 500,000 barrels per day.[12] A major fire, which broke out at the refinery on 28 September 2011, resulted in Shell shutting down its whole refinery. The refinery restarted partial operations in October and returned to full production by December.[13]

References
1. Another new industry involves Singapore. (1961, July 26). The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG
2. Web page 20 Commercials Column 2 (2000, November 3). The Straits Instances, p. 20; Web page 6 Advertisements Column 1. (1961, July 26). The Straits Times, p. 6; Shell-ing out the history. (1983, October 14). Singapore Monitor – Afternoon Version, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
Three. Huff, W. G. (1994).The financial development of Singapore: Commerce and growth within the twentieth century (p. 239). Cambridge: Cambridge College Press. Name no.: RSING 338.959570094 HUF.
Four. Huff, 1994, p. 239; Radius, W. A. (1938, September 7). The play of petroleum forces in the Far East. Far Japanese Survey, 7(18), 20511. Retrieved from JSTOR.
5. Oil afloat. (1956, January).The Malayan Shell, 5. Name no.: RCLOS 052 MAL.
6. $60m. Shell oil plan. (1959, November 25). The Straits Occasions, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. Huff, 1994, pp. 27879.
8. Huff, 1994, p. 290.
9. Refinery opens: Proud day for Sorend Sarmanis. (1961, July 27). The Straits Occasions, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
10. Shell Eastern Petroleum builds $20 million complete residential advanced at Timor Pulau Bukom. (1977, Janeb).Building Times, 2(1), 17, 216. Name no.: RSING 690.05 CT; Gamboa, E. (1982, April 18). It pays to look after your employees. The Straits Occasions, p. 19. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
Eleven. Selamat Omar. (1980, February). Penghulu tunggal.Mekar: Majalah untuk ibu-bapa, guru-guru dan yang berminat, 195. Call no.: RSING 370.5 M.
12. Shell. (n.d.). Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site. Retrieved September sixteen, 2013, from Shell Singapore web site: http://www.shell.com.sg/aboutshell/shell-companies/pulau-bukom-manufacturing/about-bukom.html
13. Cai, H. (2011, October 21). Parliament; Shell Bukom fire had inimal impact The Straits Occasions; Full manufacturing at Bukom by year-finish. (2011, December 29). The Enterprise Instances. Retrieved from Factiva.

The knowledge in this text is legitimate as at 2013 and proper as far as we are in a position to ascertain from our sources. It isn’t supposed to be an exhaustive or complete history of the topic. Please contact the Library for additional studying supplies on the subject.