The first tanker containing 27,000 tonnes of crude oil from the Middle East arrived at the refinery in October 1952 . The initial phase of the refinery was commissioned in several stages : The East Coast floods of January 1953 inundated the refinery site , covering it in water and mud . The flood displaced some of the pipes on the pipe tracks . Nevertheless , the refinery went on-stream three weeks later in February 1953
East Coast floods of January 1953
North Sea flood of 1953
Kent Refinery