Occidental refinery Canvey Island Occidental refinery Canvey Island The Occidental oil refinery was on Canvey Island, Essex, England. Located in the Thames Estuary, it was a partly-built, non-operational, six million tonne/year oil refinery planned and constructed by Occidental Refineries Limited in 1970–5 and demolished in 1996–7. It was also known as the Occidental Thames refinery. In 1970 Occidental Refineries Limited, a subsidiary of the American Occidental Petroleum Corporation, applied to build an oil refinery on a 323 acre (130 ha) marshland site (51.5250°N 0.5333°E) on Canvey Island south of Furtherwick Road for the production of heavy fuel oils. Planning permission was refused by the
Canvey Island the present island, with a ditch being the current boundary, having the same far eastern points as the Canvey Point and Leighbeck Point marshes. Two Tree Island to the north is also recognisable, if halved in length. The third eastern island or mudflat could well be the Counus i.e. "council" Island where the Trinovantes, Cantiaci and the Catuvellauni counselled with the Iceni, shortly before staging Boudicca's rebellion against the Romans. If so Counus occupies an area from the Canvey Point Sand Bank until just before Shoeburyness, the eastern point of the relatively straight estuary so stretched the whole length of