ExxonMobil Corp.’s majority owned affiliate Imperial Oil Ltd. has scheduled major planned maintenance events at two of its Canadian refineries in 2026 as part of the operator’s ongoing strategy to maximize performance and profitability of its existing assets.
Imperial will complete full turnarounds of both the 197,000-b/d Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alta., in western Canada, and the 124,000-b/d refinery at Sarnia, Ont., next year, in line with its corporate downstream strategy to improve operational performance via enhancements to logistics and processing flexibility at the sites, the company said in its 2026 corporate guidance outlook for investors on Dec. 15.
The Strathcona refinery is currently scheduled to enter maintenance during second-quarter 2026, with Sarnia’s turnaround planned for third-quarter/fourth-quarter 2026, according to the company.
Without revealing detailed project plans for the scheduled maintenance events, Imperial confirmed planned works at Strathcona would focus on the refinery’s main crude unit, which recently achieved its longest-ever run length of 10 years.
The company also suggested turnaround activities would presumably include works to further prepare the refineries for upcoming emissions-related regulations set to take effect in Canada.
The operator previously scheduled smaller-scale turnarounds at all three of its refineries this year, including Strathcona in second-quarter 2025, Sarnia in third-quarter/fourth-quarter 2025, and the 113,000-b/d refinery in Nanticoke, Ont., in second-half 2025.
Confirmation of the 2026 turnarounds at Strathcona and Sarnia follows the operator’s completion and commissioning earlier this year of the Strathcona refinery’s new renewable diesel production complex that combines a mix of locally sourced renewable feedstocks such as canola oil and blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage technology) to produce 20,000 b/d of renewable diesel to help decarbonize Canada’s hard-to-abate sectors in line with the transition to a reduced-carbon future.
In addition to announcing the two 2026 turnarounds, the company said it expects 2026 throughputs of 395,000-405,000 b/d across its three-refinery Canadian system, with an anticipated systemwide capacity utilization of 91-93%.
