B.C. entrepreneur refloats Kitimat oil refinery proposal

Victoria businessman David Black is pondering whether political winds might be blowing back in favour of his independent proposal to build an oil refinery near Kitimat, as opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion to Burnaby.

Federally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been cold to the idea, Black said, and Premier John Horgan hasn’t been able to extend support.

However, with Alberta premierelect Jason Kenney preparing to take office and odds wavering over the possibility of a turnover in government at Ottawa after October’s election, Black is reflecting on the supportive comments he has heard from conservative camps.

“There’s no question they’ll be supportive,” Black said Thursday.

Black, whose regular job is owner of Black Press, first proposed his plan in 2012.

Last summer, Black met with Kenney, as Alberta United Conservative Party leader, and federal Conservative party Leader Andrew Scheer, to lobby for his proposal after sensing a cooling of interest from the federal Liberal government. Black said both leaders expressed interest.

“I got the impression they were very keen,” Black said of his meetings with Scheer.

Kenney, whom he last met last August over dinner in Calgary, told Black that it “seems like it’s a really good idea (if we can) move our oil safely and cheaply out to the coast.”

And with sky-high Metro Vancouver gasoline prices sharing space at the top of the political agenda, Black has reconnected with B.C. and Alberta political leaders urging them to focus more on co-operation than their divisions over the Trans Mountain project.

Horgan, while discussing provincial concerns about skyrocketing gas prices, has repeatedly lamented that a lack of domestic refining capacity has contributed to the industry’s problems.

Black’s Kitimat Clean proposal would be a $22-billion project to turn bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands into solid pellets for shipment by train to a refinery north of Kitimat. Refined gas, diesel and other petroleum products – not diluted bitumen – would be loaded onto tankers for shipment to markets around the world.

Black is betting First Nations and other traditional oilsands opponents will be more supportive if it eliminates the risk of a pipeline rupture and trades the risk of a catastrophic tanker spill of diluted bitumen with less-damaging gas or diesel.

Officials from Kenney and Scheer’s offices didn’t respond to Postmedia requests for comment.

Horgan, speaking at a transportation-related announcement in Langley on Thursday, said he has asked his deputy minister to look for ways that B.C., as a subnational jurisdiction, might be able to encourage gas-price reductions in the short-term or an increase in refining capacity in the longerterm.

Horgan acknowledged Black’s proposal as one option and said, “I look forward to him entering the regulatory process to see if he has the wherewithal, in terms of capital, in terms of expertise, to pull that off.”

– with files from Jennifer Saltman, Vancouver Sun

Black’s Kitimat Clean proposal would be a $22-billion project to turn bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands into solid pellets for shipment...