1. My name is Claire Lillywhite, I am a Level 3 Chemical Engineering Student at Swansea University and, following my second year, (from 30th June 2014 until
20th August 2015) I worked at the Valero Oil Refinery, Pembroke as the Undergraduate Process Engineer for the Blending & Shipping Department.
Valero Energy Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of petrochemical products,
transportation fuels and power, based in San Antonio, Texas and is thirteenth on the Fortune 500 list this year.
Pembroke Refinery originally came on stream in 1964 under the Regent Oil Company – the site was acquired
from Chevron in August 2011. With the Pembroke plant being one of the largest and most complex refineries in
Western Europe, the Valero Corporation has secured its standing as the world’s largest independent refiner.
Claire Lillywhite - 741390 E-mail: claire@clillywhite.co.uk
Introduction
The Valero Oil Refinery, Pembroke
produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel,
kerosene, sulphur and other refined
products – all of which are processed
from the various crude oils imported
from all over the globe.
The crude oil is brought in on large
tanker ships which dock and discharge
at the 8-berth jetty the site boasts.
At the refinery the Blending & Shipping
department (where I was based for the
year) looks after:
- Tankage
- Import/Export over the Jetty
- Mainline Pipeline
- Road Tanker Wagons
- Waste Water Treatment Plant
- Refrigerated Butane Plant
What did I do at work?
 Cracking & Olefins entire unit Turnaround with night shift
experience
 Sole responsibility for Slop & Flare Daily, Weekly and Monthly
monitoring and reporting
 Creation of Propane Rundown System & Gasoline Blender online
INDX graphics
 Ship and Inshore Storage Tank Inspections – including smaller
white oils export ships and large crude import tankers
 Mainline Pipeline tapping calculations
 Learning about and reporting for WWTP
 New Jetty COMAH Report editing
 Alarm Management
 Laboratory testing
 Operations Shift Experience
My Personal Highlight
8th November 2014 - To mark the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of
Pembroke Refinery we were visited by the Duke & Duchess of
Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine. All the other Placement
Students, Apprentices, Graduate Process Engineers and I met both of
them and briefly discussed our placement and university courses.
 Gain practical experience to apply to and link with your
future academic and professional work
 Work with professionals and begin networking with
influential and skilled people in your field of interest
 Develop your teamwork skills
 Take a break from studying and get paid for it!
 Raise your self confidence and self awareness
 Practice giving presentations and writing professional
reports
 Increase your breadth and depth of technical engineering
confidence, knowledge and ability
 Acquire transferable, core skills that can be applied to many
jobs in the future
 Potentially come out of your year in the company with an
offer of a graduate job
Benefits of a Year in Industry
All work and no play?
Throughout my year on placement I was able
to take part in a number of social and
volunteering activities outside of work:
• July 2014 - I tried surfing for the first time
in my life
• February 2015 - Frank Morton Chemical
Engineering Sports Day and Careers Fair in
Birmingham.
• March 2015 - Volunteering as a marshal for
the Neyland Duathlon
• June 2015 - ‘Popcorn’ Dance Show by
Amethyst Dance School, Pembrokeshire.
• August 2015 - Volunteering at ‘Wings Over
Carew’
 Gasoline Blender (BOSS) Monitoring & Reporting (including
weekly meetings
 BOSS Training with Valero’s Blending SME
 Steam Trap calculations & specification for a Crude Tank
 PSV Calculations for Fire Fighting Foam Pumps on the Jetty