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 Wick habitats. The site has been described as "a brownfield rainforest" by Natural England officer Chris Gibson. The entrance to the reserve is on Northwick Road. Canvey Wick Canvey Wick is a 93.2 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest at the south-west corner of Canvey Island in Essex. It is owned by the Land Trust and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Buglife. The site was formerly an oil refinery, and has been transformed into an area of grazing marsh. It has a nationally important population of invertebrates, including 22 which are endangered Red Book species,