the new technology doesn’t substantially
increase the cost of building a refinery if it
is incorporated in the initial design. Where
the expense becomes prohibitive is in ret-
rofitting an existing refinery.
40,000 BARRELS PER DAY
Once up and running, phase one of the new
refinery is expected to produce 40,000
barrels of diesel fuel each day and 40,000
barrels of diluent and naphtha. About
4,000 tonnes of CO
2
per day (or 1.2 million
tonnes of CO
2
annually) will be sold to En-
hance Energy for use on the Alberta Car-
bon Trunk Line, a CO
2
distribution system
with the capacity to transport and store up
to 14.6 million tonnes per year — a capac-
ity that is equivalent to the emissions from
all of the passenger cars in the province,
MacGregor explained. As part of the en-
hanced oil recovery process, the captured
CO
2
will be pumped into old oil wells, al-
lowing more oil to be recovered from the
rock formations below. Any remaining CO
2
eventually turns into calcium carbonate.
“In Alberta, CO
2
is a feedstock for a new
downstream industry,” explained Mac-
Gregor. “It will revitalize old oil fields in the
centre of the province and create a gen-
eration of new jobs where we need them.”
Another benefit of the refinery project is
its impact on employment. Construction
28 business elite canada
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FEBRUARY 2017
