How Shell boosted production at Scotford Refinery by 20%

Shell Scotford refinery

Scotford Refinery processes 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil

In early Dec., Shell Canada’s super-efficient Scotford refinery “cracked” through a new production ceiling, according to a press release from the Canadian Fuels Association.

A major project to enhance Scotford’s hydrocracker production capacity by 20 percent was completed in just under a year and a half, creating 1,000 jobs. Located in Strathcona County, 45 kms northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Shell opened a refinery and chemical plant on the Scotford site in 1984. Scotford was the first refinery to exclusively process synthetic crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands. In 2000, a glycols plant was also opened at Scotford, according to the Shell website.

The job entailed the “debottlenecking” of the hydrocracker, which is a core refining unit for making transportation fuels including diesel and jet fuel.

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As Shell explains, the debottlenecking process replaces vessels, compressors and feed pumps to allow a greater volume of heavy crude oil to be processed.

“Scotford is Shell’s oil refining hub in western Canada,” said Achim Schempp, Shell Canada’s General Manager for the Scotford manufacturing site.

“The enhancement of our hydrocracker increases our ability to process crude oil from Fort McMurray and strengthens our refining capability in Alberta. It has been 17 months of hard work to complete this project. I’m proud of the collaboration that delivered this ambitious project safely, on time and on budget.”

The project increases the output by 14,000 barrels per day at Scotford, one of North America’s most efficient and modern refineries.

Scotford is an integrated refining site that includes a bitumen upgrader, oil refinery chemical plant and the new Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) unit. Quest, the world’s first CCS project in the oil sands, recently reached its own impressive milestone of capturing and storing over one million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).

“The completion of this upgrade will enhance the performance and competitiveness of Scotford’s integrated operations, which helps secure our position as an industry leader in this important region,” said Lori Ryerkerk, Executive Vice-President for Shell’s global manufacturing business.

6 fascinating facts about Scotford

Shell Scotford employs approximately 1,300 staff and 700 long-term contractors, plus another 10,000 short-term contractors each year.
Scotford produces a full range of transportation fuel products for the Western Canadian market.
Shell has been operating in Canada for over 100 years and employs over 8,000 people across the country.
The upgrader at Scotford is a Shell-operated joint venture with Chevron Canada Ltd. and Marathon Oil Canada Corp. It processes 255,000 barrels per day of bitumen.
The Scotford Refinery, 100 percent owned by Shell, processes 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
The debottlenecking process allows for an increase in production in the hydrocracker unit equivalent to 650,000 litres of jet fuel and three million litres of diesel per day.