Suncor Energy's Sarnia refinery completes project to improve environmental performance and strengthen integration with oil sands

abarrelfull wrote on 29 Mar 2013 10:13
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November 26, 2007

Suncor Energy Inc. announced today that the final phase of a three year project that resulted in nearly $1 billion being invested in its Sarnia refinery is nearing completion.

A shutdown of some units during the past three months to tie-in the new facilities is now complete and the refinery is ramping up to full production. During start-up, community members may observe increased flaring and noise; precautions have been taken to minimize potential disruptions.

The shutdown to complete the tie-ins is the last step in a multi-phased project that began in 2004 and is estimated to cost about $960 million. Suncor made the investments to increase the amount of oil sands crude oil the refinery can upgrade, improve the facility's environmental performance, and enable the production of ultra low sulphur diesel fuel. The upgrades to enable the production of ultra low sulphur diesel fuel were completed in 2006.

"Suncor made a substantial investment to strengthen the integration between our oil sands operation in Northern Alberta and our Ontario-based businesses," said Tom Ryley, Suncor's executive vice president. "In this era of tight supply and high costs we now have a stronger, more direct connection to the growing supply generated through oil sands development and more options for producing the quality energy products Ontario consumers demand."

The investment also generated additional benefits, said Ryley. "The project reduced sulphur dioxide emissions, which is good for the environment, while the economy also benefited from spinoffs created through job creation and the purchase of goods and services."

At peak construction, the project employed a temporary workforce of approximately 1,600 people. Suncor employees and contractors demonstrated excellent safety performance on the project by achieving a significant safety milestone: 5.8 million hours of work without a lost-time injury.

• Suncor Energy's Sarnia refinery completes project to improve environmental performance and strengthen integration with oil sands operation

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