Alberta plans Canada's largest largest refinery and petrochem complex

23-Feb-06

Plans for Canada's largest refinery and petrochemical complex are underway in Canada. The project is a US$7-8.5 bln proposal being guided by Alberta's energy ministry and a group of the oilpatch's largest firms. The government and 19 firms underwriting the proposal are set to receive a final report on the economics of such the complex slated to pump up to 450,000 bpd of gasoline, kerosene and diesel, petrochemical feedstocks, hydrogen, ammonia and 500 megawatts of coal-fired electricity A conclusion has been reached that building a refinery in Alberta is by far more economical than building a refinery in the U.S. A report has concluded that returns could reach as high as 30%, instead of the 11% earlier studies have suggested. Higher returns are due in large part to the sharply lower cost of bitumen compared with light sweet crude, substantial high-grade diesel output from the proposed refinery, conversion of byproducts to petrochemical feedstocks and integrated, coal-fired power generation at the complex, which would be located near Edmonton.