First Petroleum Site of Antwerp

Petroleum South

Petroleum South is a large site south of the inner city of Antwerp, between the Antwerp neighbourhood South and the district of Hoboken. The site was established in the early 20th century as a site for the then very flourishing petroleum industry. Petroleum South had an industrial character, linked to the port, and contained a number of architectural and industrial-archaeological relics with a very unique character. Petroleum South is the oldest petroleum port in Belgium and in the first half of the 20th century played a leading role in the European Petroleum industry. The structures that have been preserved on the site provide a picture of the process of transhipment and storage of petroleum and related products on which Petroleum South concentrated.

1860-1900: Early petroleum facilities in Antwerp

In 1861 the first 40 barrels of petroleum were shipped to Antwerp by the American A.W. Crawford, who was consul of the United States in Antwerp. Two years later, Antwerp was the largest petroleum importer in Europe.The first petroleum stores were scattered around the city. Since the storage of petroleum carries a high fire risk, these activities were regulated and concentrated outside the city limits, at the “America” dock. However, a major fire in 1889 made the city decide to locate the petroleum facilities even further away from the city. Furthermore, a number of technological changes in petroleum imports also necessitated a new location with modern infrastructure such as a pier.

In 1896, City Councillor Van Nest launched the idea of expropriating the Hoboken polder for the new petroleum facilities. The idea was implemented in 1898. An agreement between the city and the state divided the investment burden in such a way that, if the state would provide access by rail, the city would make land available for this free of charge. The construction of all other facilities and the collection of the proceeds from the concessions was the responsibility of the city.

Early 20th Century: The birth of Petroleum South

In 1900 a tongue-shaped site of 54 hectares of polder land on the Antwerp-Kiel was expropriated. The site had to be raised one and a half meters and several canals and streams were straightened. To enable the exploitation of this area as a port, the quays of the river Scheld were extended by two kilometres in a southerly direction, a project that ran from 1897 to 1903. This new d'Herbouvillequay became the main road to and through the new port area. In 1902 the jetty pier was finished, enabling the transfer of petroleum from the tankers to the companies, as the petroleum was piped from this pier to the storage sites of the various companies. 

The further transport of products inland was organized by the nearby freight station, built in 1901 on the Ledeganckquay, northeast of Petroleum South. Behind this station was a large area of railways, with an impressive track bundle for freight traffic which connected to the Boom-Antwerp line. In 1904 a tram line was built that connected the city centre with the petroleum harbour. From 1900 on, the area began to be redeveloped into large, rectangular lots. Each lot was given in concession to petroleum companies, who were responsible for furnishing their lots themselves. The first lots to be marked out and operated are lot A at the petroleum pier and lots I to VI, south of Lakweg. They are very long, narrow lots that are separated from each other by paved roads along which the railway lines also run. These lots were soon equipped with complete petroleum installations.

A major fire on the 6th of August 1904 destroyed most of the infrastructure. A few buildings from 1902-1904 on lots I and A survived the fire, which gives them a special historical value in addition to their structural value. After the fire, the sites were redesigned at a rapid pace; by 1910 the existing lots are built up and people are looking forward to new sites. Preparations for the new sites started in 1914, but this project that was halted by the First World War. The planned new lots, which still had to be raised, were situated between the existing lots I to VI and the Scheldt and will be numbered from VII to XI.

 The interbellum: further development

Immediately after the end of the First World War, the new lots were completed and given in concession. Lots IX and XI, with installations from the interwar period, preserve an interesting industrial heritage that attests to this phase in the history of development. In the 1920s, lots XII to XVI were constructed, south of and in line with lots I to VI. All buildings on these lots were cleared by 2020.

The success of the petroleum industry continued to increase during the interwar period: in 1934 a wooden jetty was built to relieve the existing petroleum pier and in the same year, new grounds from the Hoboken polder were added to the business park to set up a refinery, an activity that was new for the port of Antwerp at the time. The new lot D was completely set up for a refinery, an activity of which by 2011 no architectural relic is left. When the streets in Petroleum South were given names in 1939, those names referred to the products of this new process, for example Lysolweg, Mazoetweg and Naftaweg.

Initially, the oil was pumped to the companies trough underground pipes. However, leaks soon developed, causing oil to enter the soil and the site became heavily polluted. After long discussions, the leaking underground pipes were largely replaced by their above-ground counterparts in the period 1937-1939.

 From the Second World War to the end of the century: decline

The Second World War brought a negative turn for Petroleum South. The site would never fully recover from the heavy destruction. The Marshall dock was constructed in the late 1940s and the Kruisschans dock two years later. From then on, the petroleum industry moved to the northern harbour, around the new Marshall dock. As noted earlier, all but four companies moved had away from Petroleum South by 2010, with the four remaining concessions due to expire by 2035. 

Early 21st Century: Rebirth and redevelopment

The first ideas for a redevelopment of Petroleum South arose in 2001 with the support of the European Urban II program and the Flemish government. In 2006, the project was given a new boost through an intervention agreement between the City of Antwerp and Flanders. In 2009, a political agreement followed between the City of Antwerp and the Flemish government. In the same year, the Flemish government approved the brownfield covenant "Investment Zone Petroleum South". This was followed by an order to draw up a Petroleum South Master Plan in mid-2010. On March 23, 2011, the South Petroleum Investment Zone changed name to Blue Gate Antwerp. This new name was chosen to emphasize the eco-effective, international, and future-oriented character of the site.