By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 26 -- Irving Oil Ltd., St. John, NB, started the permitting process with provincial and federal authorities to build a second refinery at St. John.
A filing was made to initiate the necessary environmental impact assessments, Irving said Jan. 25.
The proposed $5-7 billion facility, to be built near the Irving Canaport deepwater crude receiving terminal, would have a designed capacity of as much as 300,000 b/d.
It would be the first major refinery built in North America in nearly a quarter century (OGJ, Oct. 23, 2006, Newsletter).
A review by authorities under the New Brunswick Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act could take as long as 24 months.
Irving continues to invest in its existing, 250,000 b/d refinery at St. John. That refinery, Canada's largest, supplies more than 75% of Canada's gasoline exports to the US and 19% of all US gasoline imports.
