Irving Oil Refinery

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Irving Oil Refinery

The refinery at sunset.
Location of Irving Oil Refinery in New Brunswick
Country Canada
Province New Brunswick
City Saint John, NB
Coordinates 45°16′44″N 66°0′45″W / 45.27889°N 66.01250°W / 45.27889; -66.01250Coordinates: 45°16′44″N 66°0′45″W / 45.27889°N 66.01250°W / 45.27889; -66.01250
Refinery details
Owner(s) Irving Oil
Commissioned 1960
Capacity 300,000 bbl/d (48,000 m3/d)

The Irving oil refinery, located in Saint John, New Brunswick is the largest oil refinery in Canada, producing more than 300,000 barrels (48,000 m3) of energy products per day.[1] It is part of the Irving Group of Companies.

History

The Irving oil refinery was built in 1960 on a 780-acre (320 ha) site. It was built in such a way that would allow for expansions in the future on the site. Expansions of the refinery occurred in 1971, 1974 and a $1.5 billion upgrade in 2000.[1]

The refinery is supplied with crude oil primarily delivered by supertankers to the company's Canaport deep-water terminal which was commissioned in 1970. In 2011 the refinery built a rail terminal for receiving crude oil; the refinery is served by tracks owned by CN but which are operated by New Brunswick Southern Railway.

In July 2010 Irving Oil cancelled plans for an $8-billion project, known as Eider Rock,[2] to build a second refinery in Saint John with its partner BP Plc. They claimed "the demand for refined fuel had dropped and the capital costs of a new refinery were higher than expected." Construction was supposed to start in 2011. At its peak, the refinery project was to create 5,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs. In February 2011, Fort Reliance Co. Ltd., Irving Oil Ltd.'s parent company, also cancelled its $30-million project to build its headquarters at Long Wharf in the Port of Saint John.[3]

Rail Accidents

On July 6 2013, a train carrying crude oil from the Bakken Formation in North Dakota destined for the Irving Refinery derailed in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, causing an explosion in the town center of Lac-Mégantic and killing 47 people.[4]

On January 7 2014, another train carrying crude from Manitoba to the Irving Refinery derailed in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. This derailment caused explosions and fireballs and forced 150 people to evacuate their homes but did not cause any injuries.[5]

Proposed pipeline

In July 2013, TransCanada Pipelines announced a proposal to build the Energy East pipeline following up a February 2013 announcement by New Brunswick Premier David Alward that the Province supported Premier Alison Redford's call for Alberta's landlocked oil sands crude oil bitumen to reach tidewater. Getting to tidewater would mean accessing markets overseas by tanker where they would presumably command a better price than they currently do in the United States. Redford described the Irving Oil refinery as an "anchor ... with the possibility of also exporting some of that crude by tanker."[6][6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.irvingoil.com/company/refinery.asp
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Reid Southwick; Paola Loriggio (3 February 2011). "Port to reassess its plans". Saint John, New Brunswick: Telegraph-Journal. 
  4. ↑ Haggett, Scott (7 July 2013). "Canadian oil train was headed for Irving's Saint John refinery". Reuters. Retrieved 26 January 2014. 
  5. ↑ "Train derailment and fire involving crude oil tankers likely caused by brake malfunction". The Globe and Mail. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Krugel, Lauren (5 February 2013). "New Brunswick an ally in getting landlocked Alberta crude to tidewater". Edmonton Journal (The Canadian Press). 

Further reading

External links

Subsidiaries
Key people
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