at Fawley are shipped to other chemical plants in Europe for further processing. They are used in the manufacture of plasticizers – the component in plastics which makes them flexible – and also in the manufacture of performance fluids. The two key chemical products produced at Fawley are halobutyl rubber and methyl ethyl ketone: Halobutyl rubber is the one polymer product made at Fawley. It is used to line tyres. The isobutylene feedstock for the polymers plant comes from the isobutylene plant. The solid halobutyl rubber is formed into bales and packed into crates in which it is shipped to customers around the world. The majority of tyres manufactured in Europe contain some Fawley halobutyl rubber. MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) is a solvent used in paints and adhesives. Residue from the isobutylene plant is used in the manufacture of MEK. Oil terminal The refinery can handle VLCCs up to 244,000 tonnes displacement, with a length overall up to It has nine berths, 5 oceangoing berths with depths from to , and 4 for coastal vessels with depths in the range. A fleet of three tugs, Tenax, Phenix and Atlas operated by Solent Towage, is based at the terminal. They are designed specifically for oil terminal duties with fire fighting capabilities, rescue equipment and oil spill boom equipment. Other facilities In addition to the Esso refinery and chemicals plant, several associated industrial facilities were built in the Fawley area. These were attracted to the Esso facility either as a provider of feedstock or to provide services to other plants. The facilities built in the post-war period were as follows. Marchwood and Fawley power stations were both supplied with heavy fuel oil from the refinery. Marchwood power station was fed by an 11.3 km pipeline which delivered oil to four storage tanks holding 26,000 tonnes. Fawley power station was supplied via two 10-inch (25 cm) diameter, 3.2 km long, pipelines which discharged into storage tanks with a capacity of 24,000 tonnes. Hythe gas works comprised six continuous catalytic reforming plants. These delivered up to 3.5 million m3 per day of town gas. The works were fed with refinery gas and naphtha feedstock via pipelines from the refinery. Air Products supplied nitrogen by pipeline for purging and start-up. Output from the works was fed to the gas grid by a 17 km, 20-inch (50 cm) diameter pipeline to Ower; and a 24 km,