After nearly 40 years of operating in the United Kingdom, the 221M barrel-per-day Humber Refinery opened its gates to the general public during the first-ever Refinery Open Day, which proved a huge success. The reception team welcomed some 300 people within the first hour of opening and hundreds more followed throughout the day.

Families were able to take guided bus tours around the refinery, watch displays by the company's emergency response team, and tour the Central Control Room. “The CCR tours were popular beyond our belief,” Paul Robinson, Operations Training Leader, said. Robinson and his team organized the tours.

Guests at the open day also got to meet with the in-house occupational health team and browse a huge display of interactive exhibits, facts and photographs about how the plant works, the history of ConocoPhillips, and how the product gets from the sea bed to the refinery and ultimately into many of their household products. The visitors also learned about ConocoPhillips’ core values, including safety and care for the environment.

The open day was an extension of the fantastic relationship the refinery has built with its neighbours, while it also enabled visitors from much further away to get an up close view of the refinery. Visitors came from as far away as Birmingham, York and Macclesfield, traveling more than 3 hours.

The event’s success was due in large part to the hard work of the more than 150 employees and contractors who volunteered their time both prior to the event and the day of, helping by sharing their knowledge of the refinery with hundreds of visitors.