Hopes build for BC refinery

There is a ready-made market in Asia for products, especially diesel, from a refinery planned for the British Columbia coast, says a consultant for the proponent Pacific Future Energy.

The facility could be profitable if it can produce “highly sought after” diesel, Ron Loborec, Canadian energy leader for Deloitte & Touche, told the Globe and Mail on his return from a trip to Asia with two leading company officials.

He said prices for Western Canadian Select heavy crude would be below those for West Texas Intermediate light crude, thus ensuring cheaper costs for refinery feedstock.

Loborec said the cost of the raw bitumen from the Alberta oil sands is estimated to be sharply lower than the revenue from exporting refined petroleum products.

Preliminary designs for the planned US$11.4 billion operation are incorporating the latest technology, notably carbon capture and storage that would lower greenhouse gas emissions from the production of 216,000 barrels per day of diesel, gasoline, propane and jet fuel.

Loborec was accompanied on his Asian visit by Pacific Future Chief Executive Officer Robert Delamar and senior adviser Stockwell Day, a former cabinet minister in Canadian and Alberta governments.

The company is also pressing ahead with an evaluation of the costs of transporting the crude bitumen by rail to Prince Rupert, although it is not ruling out a pipeline option by Enbridge or TransCanada.

Day said Enbridge, after a difficult start, is making some headway in dealing with the concerns of First Nations and environmentalists over its proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat.

A Northern Gateway spokesman said his company’s top current priority is to building lasting partnerships with aboriginal communities and incorporating their views and traditional lifestyle concerns into the project.

Assuming it secures financial backing and sales contracts, Pacific Future hopes to start operations in 2023, one year behind the targeted startup of the Kitimat Clean refinery being led by newspaper owner David Black.

- Gary Park