Exxon Mobil Corp. has set the cost of its planned Canadian renewable-diesel facility at C$720 million ($540 million) and said much of the fuel will be shipped to British Columbia to support the province’s emissions-reduction plan.
The facility adjacent to the Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, is now expected to start production in 2025, later than the original 2024 target, according to a statement from Exxon’s Imperial Oil Ltd. Canadian unit on Thursday. The facility will produce about 20,000 barrels of fuel a day using mostly local feedstocks and hydrogen with carbon capture and storage.
Exxon’s renewable-diesel facility was first announced in August 2021 and came amid similar project proposals from refiners including Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp. as companies sought to boost biofuel production to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian facility will reduce emissions in the Canadian transportation sector by about 3 million metric tons a year, Imperial estimates.
“We are making strategic investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations and to help customers in vital sectors of the economy reduce their emissions,” Imperial Chief Executive Officer Brad Corson said in the statement.
For Imperial, the announcement has a “neutral impact for now given the capital outlay and the long-term adoption, appreciating that Imperial continues to make strategic investments to reduce emissions from its own operations,” Wood said. He rates the shares sector perform, the equivalent of a hold.
