Imperial Oil's refit Dartmouth refinery producing low-sulfur gasoline

Sept. 8, 2003
Imperial Oil officially opened the low-sulfur gasoline production unit at its Dartmouth refinery in Nova Scotia Thursday, reducing sulfur in its gasoline content by more than 90%.

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Sept. 8 -- Imperial Oil Resources Ltd. officially opened the low-sulfur gasoline production unit at its Dartmouth refinery in Nova Scotia Thursday, reducing sulfur in its gasoline content by more than 90%.

Construction of the unit took 14 months. An $80 million investment, it has been the "most significant project at Dartmouth refinery in more than a decade," Imperial said. The refinery processes 88,000 b/d of crude oil and produces 30,000 b/d of gasoline, mainly to supply the Maritime Provinces and eastern Quebec.

ExxonMobil Corp.'s patented "Scanfining" clean-fuels technology, which is being used at the refinery to reduce sulfur, also preserves molecules needed to maintain octane levels, Imperial said.

The completion of the Dartmouth refinery refit is part of a $575 million investment Imperial Oil is making to produce low-sulfur gasoline across Canada. All of Imperial's operations, including its refineries at Nanticoke, Ont., Sarnia, Ont., and Strathcona, Alta., in Canada, will be producing fuel averaging less than 30 ppm sulfur by November, more than a year ahead of the Jan. 1, 2005 deadline set by Environment Canada.

"This investment represents not only a contribution to the economy of this province," said Premier John Hamm. "But more importantly, an investment in our environment and the air we all breathe."