NWR Sturgeon Refinery’s first major turnaround began August 8

A lot can happen in 55 days.

For NWR Sturgeon Refinery, “a lot” translates into over 600,000 hours of planned work as our first major turnaround started August 8.

This means production in all 10 units at the refinery will be at a standstill. Over 2,000 workers in over 30 different skilled trades will work around the clock on the planned preventative maintenance, renovations, inspections and upgrades over the next 55 days.

A turnaround is a necessary part of life at a refinery—it not only ensures safe, reliable operations, it also ensures we continue to meet government regulations. Jeff Trevors, NWR’s Turnaround Superintendent explains.

“We’re committed to delivering our first full turnaround focused on safety, quality and schedule compliance. We employ a Goal Zero approach and plan to balance the risks of the turnaround by taking care of our team, environment and neighbours. We know these factors are equally important as the products we produce. To that end, we have focused on creating a high-performance safety culture with our internal and external contractors, all of whom strive to conduct their job tasks safely,” explains Jeff.

We’re creating a safer work environment with the help of effective leading indicators and key safety metrics. This can help pinpoint trends and patterns, helping our management team make data-driven decisions to protect the workforce and restart the refinery without incident.

What you can expect to see on-site during turnaround

If you’re driving by the refinery, you can expect to see more traffic and equipment like cranes around the site. We’ll be updating our social media feeds and nwrsturgeonrefinery.com regularly throughout turnaround to keep the community up-to-date on where we’re at in our turnaround process.

The NWR Sturgeon Refinery is the world’s only refinery designed from the ground up to minimize its environmental footprint through carbon capture and storage while producing the high-value, low-carbon products needed to meet North America’s demand for energy. More information about the refinery can be found on our website.