Alberta
Alberta Government looking for refinery partners
Premier Notley greets members of the Building Trades of Alberta while announcing a new Expression of Interest for refining in the province.
From the Province of Alberta
Premier seeking industry interest in oil refining
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KrzHECxTPU&feature=youtu.be
In response to strong industry encouragement, Alberta is taking action to explore interest from the private sector in building a new oil refinery in the province.
As part of a made-in-Alberta strategy to get more value for our energy resources, Premier Rachel Notley announced the government is issuing a Request for Expression of Interest to determine business cases for investing in a new refinery in Alberta or tied to Alberta production.
“For decades, Albertans have been talking about getting more value for our oil here at home. So let’s stop the talk, end the decades of dreaming and start making more of the products the world needs here at home. It’s time to grab the bull by the horns and to do more refining and upgrading that adds value and creates jobs here. The future is coming and it will be made in Alberta.”
Building a new refinery would create good-paying, long-term jobs for Albertans. New refining capacity would also help lower the oil price differential over the long term, protecting the province from a lack of capacity to export oil, and making sure we get full value for the energy resources owned by all Albertans.
“Large industrial value-add energy investments help provide economic resilience and diversification, and create highly skilled, well-paying jobs for decades. Alberta has abundant feedstock, skilled labour and the ability to refine our resources to high-value products the world needs. There is significant international competition for these projects and for Alberta to compete, government and industry must work together. We commend the government’s focus on ensuring that the value of Alberta’s resources stays with Albertans.”
“Building Trades of Alberta has always believed you should refine it where you mine it. By doing that, you maximize the value of our resources for the people of Alberta, while creating good jobs for skilled trades workers in our province. We thank the government for exploring new options for refining and upgrading here in Alberta.”
“The work of the Energy Diversification Advisory Committee was focused on securing Alberta’s future in a more diversified oil and gas sector. It’s good to see another action that builds on Alberta’s strengths, including a highly skilled workforce and world-class resources. This is another sign the government is focused on made-in-Alberta solutions to ensure Alberta’s energy economy is built to last.”
Projects must have a strong return on investment for Albertans. Any proposed facility will consume Alberta-produced oil feedstock and produce marketable refined products.
The government will consider interest in new greenfield investments or an expansion of facilities at an existing brownfield site. Submissions will be accepted until Feb. 8, 2019, with the results helping inform next steps that may include issuing a Request for Proposals to construct a new refinery.
Companies will be required to submit their engineering design and technical feasibility, project timing and execution plan, plans for sales points and transportation to market, participation of Indigenous communities, expected environmental performance, financing to complete the project, and identification and estimates of revenues to benefit Albertans.
Expressions of Interest have been used in the past to obtain industry and public suggestions on major projects and how the government can utilize existing interest to maximize the value for Albertans.
Alberta
Meet Marjorie Mallare, a young woman with a leading role at one of Canada’s largest refineries
Marjorie Mallare at Imperial Oil’s Strathcona refinery.
Fr0m the Canadian Energy Centre
By Cody Ciona
Mallare manages an all-female team of engineers helping keep operations smooth and safe
As the utilities and hydroprocessing technical lead for Imperial Oil’s Strathcona Refinery near Edmonton, 32-year-old Marjorie Mallare and her team help ensure operations run smoothly and safely at one of Canada’s largest industrial facilities.
The exciting part, she says, is that all four engineers she leads are female.
It’s part of the reason Mallare was named one of ten Young Women in Energy award winners for 2025.
“I hope they realize how important the work that they do is, inspiring and empowering women, connecting women and recognizing women in our industry,” she says.
“That can be very pivotal for young women, or really any young professional that is starting off their career.”
Born and raised in the Philippines, Mallare and her family moved to Edmonton near the end of junior high school.
Living in the industrial heartland of Alberta, it was hard not to see the opportunity present in the oil and gas industry.
When she started post-secondary studies at the University of Alberta in the early 2010s, the industry was booming.
“The amount of opportunities, at least when I started university, which was around 2011, was one of the high periods in our industry at the time. So, it was definitely very attractive,” Mallare says.
When choosing a discipline, engineering stood out.
“At the time, chemical engineering had the most number of females, so that was a contributing factor,” she says.
“Just looking at what’s available within the province, within the city, chemical engineering just seemed to offer a lot more opportunities, a lot more companies that I could potentially work for.”
Through work co-ops in oil and gas, her interest in a career in the industry continued to grow.
“It just kind of naturally happened. That drew my interest more and more, and it made it easier to find future opportunities,” Mallare says.
Following a work practicum with Imperial Oil and graduation, she started working with the company full time.
On the side, Mallare has also driven STEM outreach programs, encouraging young women to pursue careers in engineering.
In addition to supporting the Strathcona Refinery’s operations department, Mallare and her team work on sustainability-focused projects and reducing the refinery’s carbon footprint.
The 200,000 barrel per day facility represents about 30 per cent of Western Canada’s refining capacity.
“Eventually, our group will also be responsible for running the new renewable diesel unit that we’re planning to commission later this year,” says Mallare.
Once completed, the $720 million project will be the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada, producing more than one billion litres of biofuel annually.
Projects like these are why Mallare believes Canada will continue to be a global energy leader.
“We’re leading others already with regards to pursuing more sustainable alternatives and reducing our carbon footprints overall. That’s not something we should lose sight of.”
Below are my updated charts through April 2025 along with the cumulative data starting in October 2024. As you can see, central and southern Alberta are trending quite dry, while the north appears to be faring much better. However, even there, the devil is in the details. For instance, in Grande Prairie the overall precipitation level appears to be “normal”, yet in April it was bone dry and talking with someone who was recently there, they described it as a dust bowl. In short, some rainfall would be helpful. These next 3 months are fairly critical.
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