New refinery pitched

Officials in Sarnia unveiled the next step last week in a campaign to convince industry and government to invest $10 billion in a new Sarnia-Lambton refinery to process oil sands bitumen.

Officials in Sarnia unveiled the next step last week in a campaign to convince industry and government to invest $10 billion in a new Sarnia-Lambton refinery to process oil sands bitumen.

Ex-industry executives and experts have formed a leadership team with the goal of diverting bitumen from U.S. and offshore refineries and bringing it here for processing.

A bitumen upgrader in Sarnia-Lambton would use a Canadian resource to create value-added domestic jobs and products.

This area already has the infrastructure and expertise needed to produce gasoline, diesel and other high-value products on the doorstep of the U.S. market, the team says.

The pre-feasibility study, with an estimated cost of $300,000, was unveiled at the Bowman Centre of the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.