Pumpherston+Oil+Company

=Pumpherston Oil Company Limited=

Company Number: SC001295 Date of Incorporation: 3 November 1883 Contact Details: Boness Road, Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, FK3 9XQ Operating Details: Dissolved 19 December 1997 Other names (if known): None known, but former subsidiary of Scottish Oils Ltd (itself a subsidiary of Anglo-Persian Oils, later BP) Function of Company*: Non Trading Company (7499), previously services to oil and gas extraction (1120) Headquarters/Base of Operations Location: Pumpherston Area of Operation: Pumpherston oil works


 * Taken from Standard Industrial Classification 2003, as used by Companies House in 2010

Records
Held By: Split between the BP archive and Almond Heritage Valley Trust. At this time (Jan 2011) most of the BP archive is to be transferred to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust, except those records that relate to BP/Anglo Persian Oil. No reference number for collection.

Scope/type: BP archive 1882-1960s includes : Company minutes, accounts, legal agreements and leases, prospectus’, financial reports and salary papers.

Almond Valley Heritage Trust: architectural drawings, photographs, financial records (invoices, cost statements, balance sheets), artifacts, miscellaneous operational paperwork

Conditions governing access/use: The BP archive is open to the public for any records up to 1979 by prior appointment. The Almond Valley Heritage Trust is in the middle of an ambitious project to digitise its records, but otherwise they remain open to the public by prior appointment.

Related records: See Almond Valley Heritage Trust for a comprehensive list. Some photographs and plans relating to the site held by RCAHMS, South Lanarkshire Council and West Lothian Council Archive and Records Centre. Articles and patents relating to the site and company held by West Lothian Council Local History Library. Various legal records and plans relating to the company are held in the NAS. Please see website for various holdings of single photos of Pumpherston works.

Company History
Pumpherston Oil Company Ltd was founded by William Fraser in 1883 and floated with a capital of £130,000 after the construction of the Pumpherston Oil works in 1882. The company was set up initially to work seams of shale which had been abandoned because of their low oil content. Fraser used new designs of retort to extract valuable ammonia from poor-quality shales at Pumpherston. In 1892 the company took over the operations of the Bathgate Oil Company, most notably the site at Seafield, and in 1894 took over the West Lothian Oil Company based at Livingston Station. This site was restructured as the Deans Works. These previous bankrupt shale oil enterprises (and the works at Tarbrax, bought in 1912) were turned into rich sources of crude oil which Pumpherston could refine into other products. By 1902 the company employed 1200 men, and in 1908 the Deans Works doubled in size. After the takeover of the Tarbrax oil companies Pumpherston became the largest shale oil company in the industry in Scotland.

“Fraser's company invested heavily in its workforce too, providing high-quality housing for miners and their families. The Works had a close relationship with the surrounding community and made many lasting contributions to the villagers' lives. After the first world war, most Scottish oil companies lost their independence but the best talents from Pumpherston went on to power the development of the multi-national oil company now known as British Petroleum (BP).” (Riches Below the Castle, Vicky Whyte, 1993)

__Scottish Oils Limited__
Scottish Oils Limited was formed by the merger of the 5 remaining Scottish shale oil companies (Pumpherston, Broxburn, Oakbank, Philpstoun and Youngs) in 1919. This company was a subsidiary of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which became British Petroleum in 1954), although all five companies continued to operate independently within the structure. Based at Middleton Hall, a 1707 mansion house in Uphall, Scottish Oils provided admin, marketing and technical support for the Scottish shale oil industry. Its first Managing Director was William Fraser of Pumpherston Oil. In 1924 Anglo Persian Oil supported the industry by opening the refinery in Grangemouth.

However following the removal of war time controls, soaring wage and price inflation made the oil produced in the Lothians more expensive and unprofitable. By 1932 the remaining shale oil companies were legally absorbed by Scottish Oils, which started to make dramatic cuts on staff and equpment. By 1938 there were five remaining crude oil works (Addiewell, Deans, Roman Camp, Hopetoun and Niddry Castle) and a dozen or so shale mines and pits, and a coal mine at Baads. The Second World War bought an increase in oil prices and wages (the first real terms increase since the early part of the century), and even the redevelopment of premises. However by 1954 shale oil had again become a loss-making industry in Scotland, and closures began from the 1950s onwards. Broxburn (closed in 1962) and Pumpherston (1964) were the last refineries to close.

The Pumpherston site continued to refine petroleum from Nottinghamshire until 1964. A synthetic detergent plant grew to fill the site form the mid 1960s until its closure in 1993, when an extensive land remediation project created a golf course in its place.

Acknowledgement and thanks to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust and the BP archive for the information and assistance