SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Refinery’s annual fall maintenance work will start this week, bringing about 1,200 additional workers to Saint John for the 45-day project.

 

Known in the refining industry as a “turnaround,” the project represents a $38.5 million investment, which will involve maintenance and upgrading work on several units in the refinery’s North Process Area, including work to enhance the refinery’s environmental performance.

 

The turnaround is the latest in a series of investments for the 47-year-old refinery since a foundational $1-billion upgrade was completed in 2000. Another recent investment currently under construction is a new $70-million tail gas unit, which is expected to reduce the refinery’s sulphur dioxide emissions by an additional 25 per cent once the unit is operational next year.

 

The additional 1,200 people will join the refinery’s 1,500-person workforce and will be primarily tradespeople in positions ranging from pipefitters to carpenters to operating engineers. About 70 per cent of these tradespeople will be from the Maritimes, while others will come from as far away as British Columbia. The increased number of workers will mean spin-off opportunities for local businesses, including hotels and restaurants. It is estimated that 2,250 additional meals will be ordered from local restaurants throughout the turnaround. 

 

“Every turnaround is critical to maintaining the reliability of our refinery’s units, but also important to the broader community through the jobs and spin-offs it brings,” said Gary Bischof, Refinery General Manager. “Since the upgrade in 2000, these turnarounds have routinely contributed between 500 and 2,000 additional temporary jobs to the 1,500 people who work at the refinery.”

 

To ensure the turnaround crew maintains the same high standard of safety that the refinery practices everyday, workers will participate in rigorous safety training orientation sessions and receive education around the refinery’s peer-driven safety observation process, known internally as the “A.C.E. Process” – meaning to Anticipate, Communicate and Eliminate work-related risks.

 

“Safety is a key focus of each turnaround,” said Dave Ebbett, who has planned and managed the refinery’s turnarounds for over 20 years. “We’ll have extensive safety training for the workers coming in, and additional safety inspectors onsite. We know we have the right people in place to get the job done well.”

The following outlines the units that will be involved in the maintenance work during the turnaround:

 

The FCCU will receive an inspection, cleaning and have other repair work done. In addition, the FCCU will get a new separator unit, which will enhance the refinery’s environmental performance by significantly reducing particulate matter emissions from the North Process Area. The FCCU uses a combination of heat, pressure and a catalyst to convert heavy oil into components for light fuels, such as ultra low-sulphur gasoline and diesel as well as propane.

 

The refinery’s alkylation units will receive an inspection and cleaning. The alkylation units refine less useable oil products into high octane blending material, called Alkylate, which is the key ingredient in premium gasoline.

 

The Butamer converts butane to alkylation plant feedstock. This unit will receive an inspection, cleaning, upgrading and repair work.

 

The #1 Rheniformer converts low octane naphtha material to high octane gasoline blend components. This unit will receive an inspection, cleaning, upgrading and repair work.

 

The #1 Cooling Tower will also receive an inspection and cleaning. The unit cools water so that it can be recycled back into the heat exchangers used during the refining process – similar to the function of a car engine’s radiator.

 

 

Founded in 1924, Irving Oil is a privately owned regional refining and marketing company with a history of long-term partnerships and relationships. Irving Oil operates Canada's largest refinery, in Saint John, N.B., which is located 65 miles north of the U.S border and has reached production rates in excess of 300,000 barrels per day. The refinery exports over 80 per cent of its production to the U.S., and accounts for 75 per cent of Canada's gasoline exports to the U.S. and 19 per cent of all US gasoline imports. In 2003, Irving Oil became the first oil company to receive a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Excellence Award, for its clean gasoline. Approximately 7,000 people currently work with the company.

 

For more information about Irving Oil, visit www.irvingoil.com.

 

Media contact:

Jennifer Parker

Irving Oil

(506) 202-2992