Former Site of the Tanggu Oil Depot of the Asiatic Petroleum Company

Former Site of the Tanggu Oil Depot of the Asiatic Petroleum Company

The former site of the Tanggu Oil Depot of the Asiatic Petroleum Company is a protected cultural heritage site of Tianjin.

The former site of the Tanggu Oil Depot of the Asiatic Petroleum Company is located at No. 86 Sanhuai Road, Tanggu, Binhai New Area, Tianjin, dating back to 1915.

Constructed in 1915, the Tanggu Oil Depot of the Asiatic Petroleum Company was a specialized transshipment and operational institution for British and Dutch petroleum product trade in China. With nearly a hundred years of history, it stands as a product of Tianjin’s forced opening in modern times and serves as historical evidence of Western powers’ economic infiltration and exploitation of China. It is an important historical relic from Tanggu’s modern era.

Historical records indicate that on June 29, 1903, the Royal Dutch Company and the British Shell Group jointly funded the establishment of the Asiatic Petroleum Company in London. The Tanggu Oil Depot was built in 1915. In 1949, after the liberation of Tanggu, the depot was taken over by the People's Liberation Army Military Control Commission and renamed Oil Depot 901. Currently, the depot is operated and used by a storage and transportation company from another region.

The former site of the oil depot currently preserves one office building constructed in 1915 and two oil tanks. The office building is a two-story British-style structure, facing south and situated along the Haihe River. It features a brick-concrete structure with red walls and a gray roof. The main entrance has a covered porch. All rooms are floored with wood. The corridor ceiling is vaulted, and the wooden doors and windows are of European style. The office building covers an area of 252 square meters and remains well-preserved, still being used as office space. The two oil tanks were riveted from metal plates, standing approximately 15 meters high with base diameters of 29 meters. The exterior of the tanks is wrapped in a protective layer of thin metal sheeting, with insulating material filled between the tank body and the protective layer. The tanks are surrounded by approximately 3-meter-high brick walls for protection and have been in use to this day.

On January 5, 2013, the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government designated it as part of the fourth batch of Tianjin Cultural Heritage Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Heritage Protection Units