North American Petroleum Refining Industry Expected to See Jump in Project Construction Kick-Offs

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Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) is tracking 371 projects scheduled to kick off in 2008 in the North American Petroleum Refining Industry. Of the top 10 projects for 2008 in terms of total investment value (TIV), Petro-Canada Incorporated (Calgary, Alberta) leads the pack with $6.6 billion in two projects: the Edmonton grassroot Phase I sturgeon bitumen upgrader ($6 billion) and upgrades to the Edmonton sturgeon upgrader's offsite facilities ($600 million).

Click on the image to see the list of top 10 projects in terms of TIV.

Synenco Energy Incorporated (Calgary) is the only other company with more than one project scheduled to kick off in the top 10 list. The company has three projects with a combined TIV of $2.6 billion scheduled to kick off. Of the 10 projects, seven of them are owned by Canadian companies.

Grassroot projects are also beginning to take shape, making up six of the 10 projects scheduled to kick off in 2008. This trend is expected to continue in the next few years. Preliminary forecasts show five grassroot projects already in the top 10 list for 2009, with all 10 of the projects being owned by Canadian companies.

The number of projects forecast for 2008 so far already overshadows the number forecast for 2007. So far, 251 projects are scheduled to kick off by the end of 2007. This year, the highest TIV for a project kickoff is $3.3 billion for Suncor Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:SU) (Calgary) Fort McMurray Voyageur upgrader project.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. For more than 24 years, IIR has provided accurate and timely intelligence through products such as plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.