Saint John Refinery
Entity
Irving Oil
Refining and Chemicals Operations
New Brunswick
Loch Lomond Road
https://www.irvingoil.com/en-US/discover-irving/operations

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

 


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