The refinery, which employs 400 people and processes 88,000 barrels per day of crude, produces a range of products from gasoline and diesel, to home heating fuel, but is facing tough competition from foreign refineries serving eastern North America.
The Dartmouth plant operates in the highly-competitive Atlantic basin market, where a number of refineries in the eastern U.S., Caribbean and Europe have been shuttered or sold.
“Demand for refined products in the basin has declined in recent years, and despite tremendous efforts by our workforce, the refinery has not met expected financial returns,” the company said in a release.
Chief executive Bruce March said Imperial faces a “difficult decision,” acknowledging that the jobs are important to the Halifax area community.
He said the company, which is majority-owned by ExxonMobil Corp., of Irving, Tx., hopes to make a decision by early 2013, and in the meantime, will continue to serve its customers in Atlantic Canada.
In addition to being a major oil producer Imperial is Canada’s largest refiner, with operations in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta. It is currently supporting a reversal of a pipeline in Ontario to replace high-cost imported oil at its Nanticoke, Ont., plant with crude from western Canada, which is selling at a discount.
Original Article
Source: Globe
Author: Shawn McCarthy
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