South Hampton Resources, an independent petrochemical manufacturer, has progressed through several stages over its history to emerge as a strongly competitive specialty petrochemical processor. Over fifty years ago, South Hampton was a small company whose original purpose was to upgrade natural gasoline into finished regular and premium gasoline for the local Silsbee, Texas market. During the first 10 to 15 years the company developed several industry firsts. One example was the commercial development of the molecular sieve process to remove normal paraffins from kerosene. Another was the development and operation of the world’s first hydro-dealkylation process.

From 1970 forward the company experienced growth along with the rest of the industry. South Hampton installed its first crude oil fractionating equipment and soon expanded the capacity to 20,000 barrels per day at the refinery on the 80 acres in Hardin County. In 1975 2,000 acres on the Neches River were purchased and the development of a deep water terminal began. Over 50 miles of pipeline were constructed between the Refinery and the future terminal. By 1980 this terminal had the capacity to store over 2,000,000 barrels of crude oil and products. The terminal was sold to Texas Eastern in 1984 when the company was forced by the adverse economic climate of the times to give it up.

The company at that time went through a complete reformation and found a niche in an industry dominated by the major oil companies. South Hampton’s versatility and reputation for innovative specialty processing were the strengths that were emphasized, and soon the Hardin County refinery was reconfigured to a high purity solvents operation doing business primarily with the plastics industry.

With over 40 years of experience the company is now the industry leader in product quality and service to the customer. Quality is the focal point of South Hampton. Since July of 1987 all our products have been produced under Statistical Process Control (SPC) to ensure the highest quality and consistency. Testing of the feedstock, intermediate, and final products is done meticulously in our own laboratories at each stage of the manufacturing and delivery process.

A smaller but historically steady segment of the business has been the toll processing and product development work that has been done for others in the industry. The wide variety of available equipment and the ready source of good quality hydrogen has enabled South Hampton Refining Company to assist others with their particular needs. Past and present customers include almost every major oil company and many chemical companies. South Hampton is known for its ability to act quickly and for its flexibility in meeting the customer’s needs.

Which brings us to the most important ingredient: the people who make up South Hampton Resources. We believe that as a group we have the highest quality, most reliable, and most concerned workforce in the industry. We are a specialized company made up of people who care. We are a service business dedicated to providing our customers true value for their money. South Hampton’s goal is two-fold:

1. To have our exceptionally high quality solvent products lead the industry; and
2. to continue to maintain our ability to provide the facilities and equipment to do specialty processing for our customers in a timely and efficient manner.