Site

Opened in 1960 on a 780-acre site, originally as a partnership between Irving Oil and Standard Oil Co. of California (SOCAL, now Chevron), Saint John refinery is Canada’s largest and one of the most advanced in North America, with a daily crude processing capacity of approximately 320,000 barrels. 

Major expansions took place in 1971, 1974, and a $1.5 billion upgrade in 2000, including the addition of advanced FCC technology and environmental controls. In June 2025, Irving Oil announced a $100 million modernization project focused on upgrading the fluid catalytic cracking unit, a key asset for gasoline and diesel production.

The refinery is highly complex (Nelson Complexity Index: 8.24) and features:

• Two crude distillation units
• Vacuum distillation
• Fluid catalytic cracking (FCCU)
• Hydrocracking
• Catalytic reforming
• Alkylation
• Isomerization
• Aromatics extraction
• Multiple hydrotreating units
• Hydrogen production (including a 5 MW green hydrogen electrolyzer)
• Sulphur recovery and sulphuric acid regeneration

The refinery receives a diverse slate of crude oils from Canada, the North Sea, Africa, and the Middle East, primarily imported via the Canaport deep-water terminal—one of the first in the Western Hemisphere able to receive supertanker.

The facility produces a broad range of finished energy products, including:

• Gasoline
• Ultra-low sulphur diesel
• Jet fuel
• Heating oil
• Propane
• Kerosene
• Bunker C fuel oil
• Asphalt
• Butane and propane for specialized applications

Finished products are stored in a tank field with 135 tanks and are distributed by road, rail, and ship to wholesale and retail markets across Atlantic Canada and the U.S. Northeast