Canada’s first new refinery in decades breaks ground

[Azure]

A project eight years in the making, Canada’s newest refining facility will be marked with an official ceremony Friday celebrating the ground-breaking just north of Edmonton in Alberta’s industrial heartland.

North America has not seen the construction of a major new refinery for almost three decades, and the $5.7-billion Sturgeon project brought forward by North West Upgrading Inc. is a rare example of new refining capacity on the continent.

The diesel-producing refinery will be particularly significant for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) and the Alberta government. Under a special arrangement, they hold a stake in the operation, will supply oil sands crude to it, and participate in its profits. As a result, the Redwater, Alta. refinery will allow them to both avoid the difficulty of transporting bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands to market, and the price discount – referred to as the differential – on Western Canada’s heavy oil. Instead, both CNRL and the government hope to make their profits from the finished diesel product.

“It’s more viable now than it ever has been,” said North West Upgrading chairman Ian MacGregor. His dedication to the project extends to having a special caboose attached to the train that will carry the heavy building components from Duluth, Minn. to the refinery site this winter so he can ride along.

Mr. MacGregor said another benefit of refining in Alberta is that it doesn’t require another crude-oil pipeline, which could run into the same opposition currently affecting Keystone XL and other planned projects. “We’re kind of realizing it’s not going to be so easy to build pipelines to other places.”

At the refinery site, underground utilities are already being installed, and Mr. MacGregor said 3,000 people will be employed on site once construction fully ramps up. The first 50,000 barrels per day phase of the project is scheduled to be up and running by late 2016. Eventually, the facility will process 150,000 barrels of bitumen per day into low sulphur diesel. He is still working to finalize billions of dollars of financing.

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-...vice=mobile#!/

[Nufy]

Its keeping me gainfully employed for the next few years...

Yay !!!!!!

[Violator]

What construction company is building it?

[Nufy]

Not sure,

I'm on one of the many EPCM teams...

[Sylvanfan]

Rumours at my work place have the steel being done in China, and Chinese tmp workers put up in a work camp installing it.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Rumours at my work place have the steel being done in China, and Chinese tmp workers put up in a work camp installing it.

Kind of sad but is anyone really surprised given corporate greed.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Diesel only, seems kind of pointless.

[TorqueDog]

Came in to ask "So, lower fuel prices plz?" Then read this:

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Diesel only, seems kind of pointless.

... damn it!

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Diesel only, seems kind of pointless.

Yea, who the heck in Alberta needs diesel?

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Kind of sad but is anyone really surprised given corporate greed.

What's sad?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Yea, who the heck in Alberta needs diesel?

Less people combined then would need all of the other products a real refinery would produce?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Diesel only, seems kind of pointless.

Diesel use has been increasing faster than gasoline use in Alberta, and it's expected to continue:

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...ade37c-eng.htm

Diesel usage has increased 23% faster than gasoline usage from 2010-2012

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Kind of sad but is anyone really surprised given corporate greed.

You couldnt build it without foreign support. Not enough skilled workers in canada. Plus you need about 50 times more people to build it then to operate and maintain it so a temporary workforce over immigration is a good idea

[Violator]

Originally Posted by GGG

You couldnt build it without foreign support. Not enough skilled workers in canada. Plus you need about 50 times more people to build it then to operate and maintain it so a temporary workforce over immigration is a good idea

You can always find Skilled Trades and workers to employ.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by GGG

You couldnt build it without foreign support. Not enough skilled workers in canada. Plus you need about 50 times more people to build it then to operate and maintain it so a temporary workforce over immigration is a good idea

I'm sure they could find enough qualified construction workers from the States if we don't have enough in Canada. This looks like a way to get cheap labour while probably ignoring health and safety standards.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Less people combined then would need all of the other products a real refinery would produce?

They aren't just going to flare off the byproducts. Anything that doesn't get converted to diesel will be sold off to other plants in the area or North America I imagine.

It's not like every plant is running at 100%.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Diesel only, seems kind of pointless.

Yeah, I guess those guys deciding to spend $5.7B probably haven't thought it through or run economics or anything.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Yeah, I guess those guys deciding to spend $5.7B probably haven't thought it through or run economics or anything.

I never claimed it hadn't been thought through, nor that economic viability hadn't been considered. Thanks for being a #### though.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

I never claimed it hadn't been thought through, nor that economic viability hadn't been considered. Thanks for being a #### though.

Did you just accuse someone else of acting the way you do?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I'm sure they could find enough qualified construction workers from the States if we don't have enough in Canada. This looks like a way to get cheap labour while probably ignoring health and safety standards.

I would guess that the per diem demands to live in camp are more than what the total daily compensation would be for the temp workers.

I guess if this is the case, so long as the work is done to code, safety standards are followed and enforced, and the camp conditions pass all health and safety requirements its fair game.

Will be interesting to see what happens the first time an inspector fails something.