Distiller's Company Ltd were investigating synthetic processes for the production of alcohol, to replace the traditional fermentation process using molasses and so resolve issues with unreliability of supply and the associated cost fluctuations. This business need combined with BP's interest in petrochemical development resulted in 1947 in the formation of a joint company, British Hydrocarbon Chemicals Ltd. The new company located its site adjacent the existing BP Grangemouth Refinery, utilising available feedstock from the refinery byproduct streams. This petrochemical plant was commissioned in 1951, the first in Europe. In the 1950s the refinery was connected to the Finnart Oil Terminal at Loch Long on the west coast of Scotland by a pipeline, to allow the import of crudes via deep-water jetty, which supported the use of larger oil tankers. The first crude oil import from Finnart was in 1952. Later on, in the 1990s, a second line was also installed, to allow the direct supply of finished refinery products to the Finnart terminal, primarily for export to markets in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. In the 1960s, a pilot "proteins-from-oil" production facility was built at the refinery. It used British Petroleum's technology for feeding n-paraffins to yeast, in order to produce single cell protein for poultry and cattle feed. BP's operations at Grangemouth grew over the next twenty years to meet the growing demands for both petrochemicals and fuels. North Sea Oil: 1975-2004 In 1975 the discovery of North Sea Oil brought the commissioning of the Kinneil Crude Oil Stabilisation terminal, which connected directly into the INEOS Forties pipeline system; this plant serves to stabilise Forties Crude oil for either export to third parties or feeding into the refinery, and allowed the processing of North Sea oil as part of the refinery crude 'slate' of feedstocks. Post-BP Period: 2004-present In 2004 BP decided to divest its worldwide olefins and derivatives business: the sale included the Refinery and connected petrochemicals complex (excluding the Kinneil terminal and Forties Pipeline System, which BP retained until FPS was sold to Ineos in 2017). In 2005 the new company created to run this business was named Innovene, which later that same year was purchased by Ineos, the largest privately owned chemicals company based in the UK. Ineos Refining, which included both the Grangemouth and Lavera (outside Marseilles, France) Refineries, in 2011 entered into a 50%/50% joint venture with the Chinese state oil company Petrochina,