Petro-Canada may look for U.S. refining space

Mon Nov 24, 7:56 PM
TORONTO (Reuters) - Petro-Canada said on Monday it could invest in U.S. refinery capacity to process some of the bitumen to be produced at its Fort Hills oil sands operation after it canceled plans to build an upgrader to shave part of the project's C$21 billion pricetag.
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(Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) - Petro-Canada said on Monday it could invest in U.S. refinery capacity to process some of the bitumen to be produced at its Fort Hills oil sands operation after it canceled plans to build an upgrader to shave part of the project's C$21 billion pricetag.

Chief Executive Ron Brenneman also said the company has no plans to increase its 60 percent stake in the project.

Petro-Canada, Canada's No. 4 integrated oil producer and refiner, has also seen production at its Montreal refinery, where workers have been locked out for a year, running 15,000 to 20,000 barrels per day below its 130,000 bpd capacity.

Brenneman also said the company expects its Ebla natural gas project in Syria to start up in 2010, but the Sirte Basin project in Libya will move slower than planned.

(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis, writing by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)