Lytton oil refinery

The Lytton Oil Refinery is located near the port of Brisbane, on the banks of the Brisbane River, in Queensland. It is now owned by Caltex Australia Limited but was built by Ampol (Australian Motorists Petrol Company) in 1965. Pioneer International Limited obtained a 20 percent share in Ampol in 1979 and by 1980 held a 65 percent controlling share. In 1988 it acquired full ownership. In 1989 Pioneer acquired Solo Oil Limited which, at that time, was Australia's largest independent distributor and retailer of petroleum products.

Caltex and Ampol Merge to Become Caltex Australia Limited in 1997
Ampol, an oil company operating a chain of service stations throughout Australia was incorporated in New South Wales in 1936. It merged with Caltex to form Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd, which became known as Caltex Australia Limited, in 1997. The Ampol brand is still in use in some country areas where customer loyalty is exceptionally strong.

Lytton Oil Refinery Produces 60 Percent of Queensland's Fuel Requirements
The Lytton Oil Refinery produces 60 percent of Queensland's fuel requirements by refining 109,000 barrels of crude oil that makes 18 million litres of fuel each day of the year. The refinery employs 340 personnel directly and up to 350 contractors, a workforce that doubles during major maintenance periods.

Lytton Oil Refinery Linked by Pipeline to Caltex Fuel Terminal
Brisbane is the second most profitable area for Caltex to conduct business in, as it has solid economic links to Queenslands resource rich regions. The company also has strong infrastructure that is supported by its terminal facilities at the Lytton oil refinery. Caltex has a multi-product pipeline leading from the refinery to Eagle Farm that connects to the joint venture pipeline that goes to the Brisbane airport.

Lytton Oil Refinery Stands up to Asian Competition
Despite many of Australia's major oil refineries closing, to become fuel terminals for fuel refined in Asia's giant crude oil refineries, because of economics of scale, Caltex have decided to keep the Lytton oil refinery open, although it has decided to close its Sydney (Kurnell) operation. It became obvious the Kurnell plant could no longer compete against the mega-sized, more complex and state of art Asian oil refineries.
Closure of the Kurnell Refinery Will Mean Development of the Lytton Oil Refinery
The closure of the Kurnell oil refinery gives Caltex an opportunity to benefit from improving the performance of its Lytton oil refinery. The Lytton refinery already had superior hardware in comparison to that of the Kurnell refinery and further development plans are already being developed.

The ongoing operation of the Lytton oil refinery will be improved as the closure of the Kurnell oil refinery, in the second half of 2014, draws closer, however, the converting of the Kurnell refinery to an import fuel terminal will enable Caltex to continue providing a reliable supply of transport fuel to its customers.

The Lytton oil refinery is to remain an important part of Caltex's fuel supply chain and it is expected to improve its profitability going forward so it can become cost effective against its Asian competitors. Caltex represents one third of all Australia's crude oil refining capacity and it holds a 35 percent share of Queensland's total petroleum sales.
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