ExxonMobil Corp. (Houston) announced its majority-owned affiliate, Imperial Oil Ltd, will invest about $560 million to move forward with construction of the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada. The project at Imperial’s Strathcona refinery is expected to produce 20,000 barrels of renewable diesel per day primarily from locally sourced feedstocks and could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Canadian transportation sector by about 3 million metric tons per year, as determined in accordance with Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation. The facility is a part of the corporation’s plans through 2027 to invest approximately $17 billion in lower-emission initiatives.
“The Strathcona project is another example of how we are investing in advantaged facilities and applying our leading technology and decades of experience to develop lower-emission solutions for customers,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions. “We continue to focus investments on markets like Canada, where well-designed policies support technologies that reduce life-cycle emissions.”
Imperial’s renewable diesel facility will use low-carbon hydrogen produced with carbon capture and storage technology to help Canada meet low emission fuel standards. Imperial has entered into an agreement with Air Products for low-carbon hydrogen supply and is developing agreements with other third parties for biofeedstock supply. The low-carbon hydrogen and biofeedstock will be combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce premium lower-emission diesel fuel and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, relative to conventional fuels.
Site preparation and initial construction are underway. Renewable diesel production is expected to start in 2025. The project is expected to create about 600 direct construction jobs, along with hundreds more through investments by business partners.