Irving refinery turnaround delayed till 2014

Saint John project to begin in February

NEW YORK — Irving Oil Corp.’s Saint John refinery in New Brunswick delayed work scheduled for October until February, said two people familiar with the project.

The turnaround will begin in mid-February, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The work on a fluid catalytic cracker and other units will last approximately 12 weeks and will be larger in scope than originally planned, according to one of the people.

The Saint John refinery is Canada’s largest, with a capacity of 298,800 barrels a day. Carolyn Van Der Veen, an Irving spokeswoman based in Saint John, didn’t immedi- ately return email and phone messages.

Irving postponed the project because of unplanned work that arose in July, the people said.

The shutdown and repairs on a fluid catalytic cracker lasted for roughly six weeks and caused the company to exceed its maintenance budget for the year, according to one of the people.

The company performed unscheduled maintenance on several units in July, according to two letters sent to neighbours on July 8 and July 12.

The work included repairs to a fluid catalytic cracker and had been expected to take several months, according to a July 10 report by Sugar Land, Texas-based Industrial Info Resources Inc.

Van Der Veen said in an Aug. 12 email that the refinery was operating normally.

Irving also shut a fluid catalytic cracker on Aug. 23, according to Genscape Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based energy information company.