COST of a REFINERY Building a new oil refinery in Alberta or Ontario involves significant considerations in terms of time and cost, influenced by factors such as size, complexity, technology, and location specifics.

 Blogger's note  : AI Generated Asking the right question.

Building a new oil refinery in Alberta or Ontario involves significant considerations in terms of time and cost, influenced by factors such as size, complexity, technology, and location specifics.

Alberta:

• Time:
  • Construction timelines can vary significantly. For a modular refinery, the process might take from 15 to 18 months from the start of the project to the first barrel of oil processed. However, for a more complex, large-scale refinery, planning, designing, permitting, and building can take anywhere from 5 to 7 years. The Sturgeon Refinery, for instance, took over a decade to plan and build, though this includes a ramp-up period for heavy oil processing.

    
• Cost:
  • The cost to build a refinery in Alberta can range widely depending on its capacity and complexity. Estimates suggest that a medium-sized refinery could cost between $7 billion to $10 billion, not including land acquisition. The Sturgeon Refinery, with a capacity of 79,000 barrels per day, saw costs escalate to about $9.3 billion, significantly higher than initial projections. For comparison, smaller modular refineries might cost between $100 million to $200 million for capacities ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 barrels per day.

    

Ontario:

• Time:
  • Similar to Alberta, the timeline for building a refinery in Ontario would depend on the project's scope. Given regulatory processes, environmental assessments, and logistical considerations, a realistic timeframe could be around 5 to 7 years for a significant, conventional refinery project.
• Cost:
  • Costs in Ontario might be influenced by different factors, including potentially higher land costs, different regulatory environments, and possibly the need for more extensive infrastructure due to geographical location relative to oil sources. However, specific figures for Ontario refineries are less well-documented in the provided search results. Given the general cost estimates for refineries, a similar range of $7 billion to $15 billion for a medium to large refinery could be expected, considering the complexity and capacity similar to those in Alberta.

    

Additional Considerations:

• Complexity and Technology: The choice between a simple distillation unit versus a complex refinery with hydrocracking, hydro-skimming, or catalytic cracking can vastly alter both time and cost. More complex refineries involve higher costs due to advanced technology and environmental considerations.
• Environmental Regulations: Both provinces have stringent environmental regulations that could affect both the timeline and cost, especially with the integration of technologies like carbon capture and storage, as seen with the Sturgeon Refinery in Alberta.

  
• Economic Justification: The economic case for building refineries must consider market conditions, including crude oil prices, refined product demand, and existing refining capacity in North America, which could affect both the feasibility and the financial backing for such projects.

  

Thus, while the exact figures can vary, these estimates provide a broad framework for considering the time and financial investment required to build a new oil refinery in Alberta or Ontario.