The United Kingdom Oil Pipeline (UKOP) is an oil products pipeline opened in 1969 and connecting the two (then) Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

 refineries of Stanlow

Stanlow Refinery

Stanlow Refinery is an oil refinery owned by Essar Energy in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. It was previously owned by Royal Dutch Shell and is part of the Shell Stanlow Manufacturing Complex.-History:...

 (Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

) and Shell Haven

Shell Haven

Shell Haven was a port on the north bank of the Thames Estuary at the eastern end of Thurrock, Essex, England and then an oil refinery. The refinery closed in 1999 and the site was purchased by DP World who received planning consent in May 2007 for the new London Gateway deep water container port...

 (Thames Estuary

Thames Estuary

The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...

). It is administered and operated by the British Pipeline Agency

British Pipeline Agency

British Pipeline Agency Ltd is a joint venture between BP Oil UK and Shell UK. The company owns and operates the UK oil pipeline network of oil and gas pipelines which transport petroleum products and natural gas around the UK. Storage facilities operated by BPA include the Hertfordshire Oil...

 (BPA), which is jointly owned by Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

 and BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

.

UKOP transports 7.5 million tonnes of mixed products each year distributed to major oil terminals

Oil depot

An oil depot is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities...

 at Buncefield

Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal

Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal is operated by Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd and commonly known as the Buncefield oil depot. It is an oil depot located on the edge of Hemel Hempstead to the north of London in the United Kingdom...

 and Kingsbury

Kingsbury Oil Terminal

Kingsbury Oil Terminal is an oil storage depot located to the northeast of the village of Kingsbury, Warwickshire, England. It was opened in the late 1960s and serves the Midlands region. It is the largest inland oil storage depot in the United Kingdom. The main operators at the site are BP,...

 with spurs to Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

 and Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

.
UKOP now draws its products from Shell Stanlow in the north and Petroplus

Petroplus

Petroplus Holdings AG is Europe's largest independent oil refiner.-History:When the company first formed in 1993 it was known as Petroplus International N.V. being based in the Netherlands. In 1997, it acquired the Antwerp N.V. Refinery from the Daewoo Group. In August 1998, it was listed on the...

 Coryton

Coryton Refinery

Coryton Refinery is an oil refinery in Essex, England, situated on the estuary of the River Thames some from the centre of London.The refinery is located between Shell Haven Creek and Hole Haven Creek, which separates Canvey Island from the mainland....

  in the south, with smaller volumes from tankage at Shell Haven. UKOP carries two grades of petrol, two grades of kerosene

Kerosene

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

 (including Jet A-1) and two grades of gas oil-diesel.

To ensure safety and integrity, the pipeline is patrolled by helicopter every two weeks.

See also

• Government Pipelines and Storage System
  Government Pipelines and Storage System
  The Government Pipelines and Storage System is a United Kingdom pipeline system run by the Oil and Pipelines Agency for the MOD. The network consists of some 2,500 kilometres of pipeline and 46 other facilities. The network is interconnected with several private networks...