Imperial Oil Ltd, one of Canada’s biggest oil producers and refiners, on Wednesday outlined a plan to process vegetable oil into renewable diesel at its 191,000-barrel-per-day Strathcona refinery. The project, which still requires final approval, is part of majority-owner Exxon Mobil’s goal of producing more than 40,000 barrels per day of low-emissions fuels by 2025. Calgary-based Imperial aims by 2024 to construct a hydrotreater and use fossil-fuel derived blue hydrogen to process feedstocks such as canola and soybean oils into 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of renewable diesel, it said. A decision to proceed will require government support and approvals, favorable market conditions and a determination of the project’s economic competitiveness, an official said. Imperial’s potential investment in the project was not disclosed.
