The Nanticoke Refinery is an oil refinery in Nanticoke,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is owned and operated by

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited () is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-largest integrated oil company. It is majority-owned by American oil company ExxonMobil, with a 69.6% ownership stake in the company. It is a producer of crude oil, ...

, which is majority owned by

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

. The refuels primarily go to ''

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

''-branded

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

s in Canada and to other oil companies' distribution networks in Canada and the United States.

History

Nanticoke refinery was originally built by Texaco Canada on the site of the former

RCAF Station Jarvis Royal Canadian Air Force Station Jarvis was a Second World War British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) station located near Jarvis, Ontario. The station was home to No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School and is usually known by that name.the s ...

. It started production on November 17, 1978. In 1987, the refinery went through modifications to improve efficiency. Imperial Oil became an owner of the refinery when it purchased Texaco's Canadian assets in 1989. In 2004, a new gasoline hydrofining unit was built to treat gasoline ingredients from the Nanticoke and

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

refineries, followed by the second unit in 2006. A new desulphurization unit was commissioned in 2006. In February 2007, a combination of a fire at the Nanticoke refinery and a strike at CN resulted in a shortage of gasoline at Esso stations in

, which also drove up prices to more than a dollar a litre. Strangely, the fire had been discovered quickly but the fire suppression systems were not operating, and the handheld fire extinguishers had a faulty charge. Damage to the facility was made inevitable when the on-site fire brigade ran out of gas while en route to the location.

Operating units

According to the

Oil & Gas Journal The ''Oil & Gas Journal'' is a leading petroleum industry weekly publication with a worldwide coverage. It is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States and the journal has a major presence in Houston, Texas, United States. The journal is p ...

, Sarnia has the following units in operation: The Nanticoke Refinery is geared towards gasoline production with a large fluid cat cracking and an alkylation unit for producing high octane gasoline components. The Refinery has a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.82, making it moderately to highly complex.

Emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions

The refinery's performance can be tracked on th
Government of Canada's website for emissions
The chart below provides the GhG performance in 2022:

Facility emissions for 2022

Labor relations

The Imperial Nanticoke Refinery's workforce is represented by Unifor Local 900.

Operating history and accidents

The refinery experienced a fire in February 2007 in its crude unit. This caused major concerns for the region due to the dearth of supply in late winter to the Toronto metro area. Gasoline prices increased considerably as a result in late February (to more than $1 CAD per liter). The quick return of the refinery to production was handicapped by the CN Rail strike. By mid-March, the refinery was back into full production.

References

External links

Nanticoke refinery (Imperial Oil website)
{{ExxonMobil Imperial Oil Oil refineries in Ontario 1978 establishments in Ontario Oil refineries in Canada ExxonMobil buildings and structures Buildings and structures in Haldimand County Energy infrastructure completed in 1978