Investing in the
future
We have confirmed our final route for the replacement underground pipeline
We (Esso Petroleum Company, Limited) launched our Southampton to London Pipeline Project late in 2017. The project proposes to replace 90km of our 105km underground aviation fuel pipeline that runs from our Fawley Refinery near Southampton, to our West London Terminal storage facility in Hounslow.
- This is a replacement for the existing aviation fuel pipeline, which has been in place since 1972.
- Pipelines are a safe, secure and low impact method of transporting fuel to some of the UK’s busiest airports.
- Once installed, the replacement pipeline will be buried and will be a quiet neighbour.
We have now concluded our third consultation for the project. Feedback from the 1,400+ people who have taken
part in the consultations, plus our ongoing meetings and conversations with local organisations and landowners,
has helped us to confirm our final route for the replacement pipeline (subject to our continued compliance with the
Planning Act 2008).
We would like to thank everyone who took part in our most recent design refinements consultation, and to those who
participated in our first two consultations in spring and autumn 2018. Having listened to feedback and considered
technical information we are confident that we have, on balance, selected the most appropriate route for the
replacement pipeline in accordance with the project’s guiding principles.
We applied a set of guiding principles throughout each stage of the project. Our guiding principles favour a
route that:
- if possible, benefits from existing equipment (infrastructure) and relationships with landowners;
- is likely to have better environmental outcomes versus the other alternative options, especially relating to internationally and nationally important areas along the final route;
- will provide social and economic outcomes of greater benefit;
- if possible, passes through less complex areas and avoids built-up areas;
- achieves compliance with National Policy Statements; and
- can be installed in a timely and realistic manner at reasonable cost
Our interactive map shows the final route we will include within our application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate in late spring 2019.
- The final route includes the sub-options selected after the autumn 2018 consultation, alongside the design refinements and logistics hubs that we recently consulted upon.
- This route also includes some minor modifications (such as amending an access route), made following the preferred route and design refinements consultations.
