{"id":605,"date":"2022-01-12T15:40:51","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T21:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/?page_id=605"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:50:12","slug":"1970s","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/1970s\/","title":{"rendered":"1970 – 1979"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/span>
\n

The Energy Crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Hydrocracker, a large new unit for converting heavier hydrocarbons into gasoline components, became operational, as did a large new steam boiler, Boiler 17. The Great Flood of 1973 partially submerged the refinery’s Mississippi River docks. The 1973 OPEC crude oil embargo and the 1979 Iranian Revolution resulted in the cost of crude oil purchased by WRR to increase by a factor of ten. But gasoline demand remained high and by 1979 refinery capacity had increased to 287,000 barrels per day. The addition of catalytic converters to automobiles beginning in 1975 required phasing out tetraethyl lead as an octane additive, which in turn required enhanced refining to make up the difference. Shell purchased the Anlin chemical facility in Hartford, annexed it to the refinery, and continued processing sulfur removal streams from the Shell, Amoco, and Clark refineries. The Wood River Woody safety mascot was introduced, drawn by a talented refinery draftsman. Employee families enjoyed elaborate Family Day celebrations in 1974 & 1979. The products research facilities were transferred to Houston and the buildings became vacant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[copies of a refinery coloring book distributed during Family Days are available at the museum.]<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\u25c4 1960s<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Home<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
1980s \u25ba<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1970s Wood River Refinery Newsletters:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
Oct 1971<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nov 1971<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dec 1971<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Jan 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Feb-Mar 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Apr 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
May 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jun 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jul 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Aug 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sep-Oct 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nov 1972<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dec 1972<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Jan 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mar 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Apr 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
May 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jun 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jul 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Aug 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sep 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Oct 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nov 1973<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dec 1973<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Jan 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Feb 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mar 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Apr 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
May 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jun 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jul 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Aug 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sep 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Oct 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nov 1974<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dec 1974<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Jan 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Feb 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mar 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Apr 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
May 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jun 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Aug 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sep 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Oct 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Nov 1975<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Dec 1975<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Jan 1976<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Feb 1976<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mar 1976<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1970s Wood River Refinery Newsletters:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-605","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1858,"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/605\/revisions\/1858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrrmuseum.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}