ExxonMobil Corp.’s majority owned affiliate Imperial Oil Ltd. has formally commissioned its long-planned grassroots renewable diesel production complex at the operator’s 196,000-b/d Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alta., in western Canada.
The Imperial said that the Strathcona refinery’s new plant is producing renewable diesel that following the recent completion and initial start of operations in July 2025.
The operator said that the Strathcona renewable diesel production complex will become the largest of its kind in Canada upon reaching full-nameplate production capacity of 20,000 b/d, which was first announced in 2021 and approved for final investment decision in January 2023.
Although Imperial did not disclose details about the complex’s current production rates, the company did confirm it is already supplying renewable diesel produced by the plant to western Canada customers and to Imperial’s operations in northern Alberta.
One aspect of Imperial’s commitment to bringing lower-emission fuels to market and making them accessible to Canada’s hard-to-decarbonize industries, the renewable diesel facility utilizes an unidentified proprietary technology that combines a mix of locally sourced renewable feedstocks like canola oil and blue hydrogen (hydrogen made from natural gas using carbon capture and storage technology) received by Air Products Inc. in the manufacturing process.
Upon revealing the project in 2021, Imperial stated production from the renewable diesel complex at full operation would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector in Canada by about 3 million tonnes/year, which is equivalent to removing more than 650,000 passenger vehicles/year from the road.
Imperial reiterated the new complex was only possible due to advantageous government policy and assistance, in the form of incentives from Strathcona County and governments of Alberta and British Columbia, the latter of which assisted with the venture in the form of credits under its provincial low carbon fuel standard (BC LCFS).
