BP (" Back To Petroleum") To Expand Canadian Coal-Bed Methane Plans, Refinery Presence @ St. John NB

[hatrack]

CALGARY, Alberta - BP Plc will join Canada's Irving Oil in designing Irving's planned $7 billion Eider Rock refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, the closely held Irving said on Monday, as the British oil major looks to further expand in Canada. BP, one of the world's biggest refiners, will contribute $40 million toward the engineering, design and feasibility study for the 300,000 barrel per day project, which would be the first new refinery in North America in a generation.

The refinery project is the latest move by BP to expand its Canadian operations. After years of cutting back its presence in the country, BP has recently moved to gain a foothold in the massive oil sands region of northern Alberta with a production and refining joint venture with Husky Energy Inc.

BP has also moved forward on coal-bed methane projects in Western Canada to expand its natural gas production, but Eider Rock, should it go ahead, would be the company's only refining investment in the country.

Irving, Canada's largest privately held oil refining and marketing firm, said it and BP had signed a memorandum of understanding to advance the planning work on Eider Rock, which will process crude from Eastern Canada and international sources for markets in the US Northeast and elsewhere.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/47566/story.htm