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Released August 06, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Imperial Oil Limited (Calgary, Alberta), a publicly traded subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation (Spring, Texas), recently reported its highest second-quarter output in more than 30 years, with surprising results at its Kearl project fueling 427,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day. The company also now owns Canada's largest renewable diesel plant, following the opening of a new unit. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$1.9 billion worth of active and planned projects from Imperial, about 84% of which is in Alberta's oil sands region.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Imperial Oil's active and planned projects, by standard industrial classification.
Imperial's first milestone during the second quarter was initial production from a new, US$560 million unit at its renewable diesel plant in Edmonton, Alberta, part of its Strathcona Refinery. The 20,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) unit is designed to convert vegetable oil feedstocks to renewable diesel, using blue hydrogen produced at Air Products and Chemicals Incorporated's (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) US$970 million Net-Zero Energy Complex in Edmonton. Imperial hopes to raise production to 40,000 BBL/d through the opening of a future unit.
"The project provides a new lower-emissions offering to Canada's transportation sector and aligns with our long-term strategy of advancing responsible energy solutions while delivering strong returns," said John Whelan, the chief executive officer of Imperial, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. He said the growing demand for renewable diesel in Canada gives Imperial confidence "in robust margin uplift, as we ramp up in line with third-party hydrogen supplies."
"Blue hydrogen" is produced using natural gas and a steam-reforming process, which captures carbon normally emitted into the air during the traditional gas-burning process, called "gray hydrogen." Whelan acknowledged the pace of the renewable-diesel project's development will depend on the availability of hydrogen supplies: "We have sufficient gray hydrogen to start up and to operate facility, but the availability of further hydrogen supplies and blue hydrogen will impact the speed and the ramp up of the asset."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can read detailed reports on the renewable diesel plant and Net-Zero Energy Complex.
Imperial also reported record production levels achieved at its Kearl Oil Sands Mine near Fort McKay, Alberta, which averaged 275,000 BBL/d of crude. Executives credited a planned turnaround on the facility's K2 train with substantially improving Kearl's efficiency and output. The company aims to increase production at Kearl to 300,000 BBL/d through a series of additional improvements, including a US$750 million infrastructure project designed to transition the surface tailing pond to an in-pit tailings pond, and US$50 million of equipment installations to better process the facility's waste, commonly called "tailings."
"In the second quarter, the turnaround went a little better than planned," Whelan said of Kearl. "But also, we've had just generally better reliability and recovery." Subscribers can read detailed reports on the infrastructure and equipment-installation projects at Kearl.
Alberta has been projecting confidence in its oil and gas industry, despite trade disputes with the U.S., which is its top customer. For more information, see August 4, 2025, article - Alberta Leaders Point to Oil, Gas Growth Amid U.S. Trade Disputes and July 25, 2025, article - Canada Sends More Crude to U.S., but Seeks Other Customers.
Turnarounds also improved output at Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, Ontario, where the company is at work on an US$18 million revamp to improve performance on its 120,000-BBL/d crude unit, and is preparing to begin work on a US$15 million emissions-reduction project later this year. Imperial also is considering a series of proposed storage tank upgrades.
Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Nanticoke facility's crude unit revamp, emissions-reduction project and storage tank upgrades.
Imperial's upstream business averaged 427,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, its highest second-quarter production in more than 30 years. Its downstream business averaged 376,000 BBL/d, resulting in an overall refinery capacity utilization of 87%. Imperial expects its downstream throughput to grow to between 405,000 and 415,000 BBL/d in 2025, with capacity utilization between 94% and 96%.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for projects from Imperial Oil.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Imperial Oil's active and planned projects, by standard industrial classification.Imperial's first milestone during the second quarter was initial production from a new, US$560 million unit at its renewable diesel plant in Edmonton, Alberta, part of its Strathcona Refinery. The 20,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) unit is designed to convert vegetable oil feedstocks to renewable diesel, using blue hydrogen produced at Air Products and Chemicals Incorporated's (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) US$970 million Net-Zero Energy Complex in Edmonton. Imperial hopes to raise production to 40,000 BBL/d through the opening of a future unit.
"The project provides a new lower-emissions offering to Canada's transportation sector and aligns with our long-term strategy of advancing responsible energy solutions while delivering strong returns," said John Whelan, the chief executive officer of Imperial, in a quarterly earnings-related conference call. He said the growing demand for renewable diesel in Canada gives Imperial confidence "in robust margin uplift, as we ramp up in line with third-party hydrogen supplies."
"Blue hydrogen" is produced using natural gas and a steam-reforming process, which captures carbon normally emitted into the air during the traditional gas-burning process, called "gray hydrogen." Whelan acknowledged the pace of the renewable-diesel project's development will depend on the availability of hydrogen supplies: "We have sufficient gray hydrogen to start up and to operate facility, but the availability of further hydrogen supplies and blue hydrogen will impact the speed and the ramp up of the asset."
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can read detailed reports on the renewable diesel plant and Net-Zero Energy Complex.
Imperial also reported record production levels achieved at its Kearl Oil Sands Mine near Fort McKay, Alberta, which averaged 275,000 BBL/d of crude. Executives credited a planned turnaround on the facility's K2 train with substantially improving Kearl's efficiency and output. The company aims to increase production at Kearl to 300,000 BBL/d through a series of additional improvements, including a US$750 million infrastructure project designed to transition the surface tailing pond to an in-pit tailings pond, and US$50 million of equipment installations to better process the facility's waste, commonly called "tailings."
"In the second quarter, the turnaround went a little better than planned," Whelan said of Kearl. "But also, we've had just generally better reliability and recovery." Subscribers can read detailed reports on the infrastructure and equipment-installation projects at Kearl.
Alberta has been projecting confidence in its oil and gas industry, despite trade disputes with the U.S., which is its top customer. For more information, see August 4, 2025, article - Alberta Leaders Point to Oil, Gas Growth Amid U.S. Trade Disputes and July 25, 2025, article - Canada Sends More Crude to U.S., but Seeks Other Customers.
Turnarounds also improved output at Imperial's refinery in Nanticoke, Ontario, where the company is at work on an US$18 million revamp to improve performance on its 120,000-BBL/d crude unit, and is preparing to begin work on a US$15 million emissions-reduction project later this year. Imperial also is considering a series of proposed storage tank upgrades.
Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Nanticoke facility's crude unit revamp, emissions-reduction project and storage tank upgrades.
Imperial's upstream business averaged 427,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, its highest second-quarter production in more than 30 years. Its downstream business averaged 376,000 BBL/d, resulting in an overall refinery capacity utilization of 87%. Imperial expects its downstream throughput to grow to between 405,000 and 415,000 BBL/d in 2025, with capacity utilization between 94% and 96%.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for projects from Imperial Oil.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
