A consortium of Alberta First Nations inked a deal with Chinese investors to get a once shuttered bitumen refinery up and running. The Alberta First Nations Energy Centre, along with Teedrum as managing partner, plans to build a bitumen upgrading and petrochemical refining facility, which is expected to process 167,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day, near Edmonton. Early estimate puts the project at around $8.5 billion.
The project already has a 2,400-acre site in Lamont – so it is possible it will be located there.
Foreign investors including Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of giant Chinese energy company Sinopec hope to have construction started in 2021 with commissioning set for 2025.
Stantec has been brought on board to complete the environmental permitting and regulatory review processes.
The partnership between Sinopec, China Construction Installation Engineering Co. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of China Construction Group, and Middle East Gulf Huatong Jinggang Chemical Co. Ltd. to build the refinery is dubbed SinoCan Global.