The Buncefield oil storage depot
The Buncefield oil storage and transfer depot is a tank farm in Hemel
Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, close to Junction 8 of the M1 motorway. In
December 2005 there were three operating sites at the depot:
■ Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), a joint venture between Total UK Ltd and
Chevron Ltd and under the day-to-day management of Total UK Ltd. HOSL (the
site) was divided into East and West sites;
■ British Pipeline Agency Ltd (BPA), a joint venture between BP Oil and Shell Oil UK,
though assets were owned by UK Oil Pipelines Ltd (UKOP). This tank farm was
also in two parts, the north section and the main section which was located
between HOSL East and West; and
■ BP Oil UK Ltd, at the southern end of the depot.
Figure 1 Aerial view of the Buncefield depot before the incident © Chiltern Air Support
5 All three sites were ‘top-tier’ sites under the Control of Major Accident Hazards
Regulations 1999 (COMAH). In total the depot had hazardous planning consent to
store 194 000 tonnes of hydrocarbon fuels.
6 Fuel was transported to these sites through three pipelines:
■ the Finaline between Lindsey Oil Refinery, Humberside and the HOSL West site;
■ UKOP North line between Stanlow Oil Refinery, Merseyside and BPA; and
■ UKOP South line between Coryton Oil Refinery, Essex and BPA.