Refinery plans reeling

Battered by weak margins and surplus capacity, North America's refining sector is in more than just another periodic swoon

Owners are selling assets and proposals for new or expanded refineries are being cancelled; Atlantic Canada and Quebec have been hit hard. A joint venture by Irving Oil and BP has abandoned plans for the continent's first greenfield refinery in more than 25 years; Harvest Energy Trust has deferred indefinitely a C$2bn expansion of its Newfoundland facility; and Shell says a strategic review of its Montreal refinery may result in closure or sale. In July, Irving and BP decided to halt a C$8bn ($7.3bn) refinery at Saint John, New Brunswick; the plant was to supply 300,000 barrels a day (b/d) of refined products to the US northeast and would have created 5,000 construction jobs and 1,000 perman