Stoughton touted as site of proposed 40,000 barrel per day refinery project
Stoughton, a town of 700 located about 140 kilometres southeast of Regina in the heart of the Bakken light oil play, could someday be the site of a 40,000 barrel a day (bpd) oil refinery worth an estimated $600 million, according to representatives with Quantum Energy, an over-the-counter traded energy company based in Tempe, Ariz.
On Thursday, Quantum Energy Inc. announced the incorporation of a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Dominion Energy Processing Group Inc., “to conduct the development, construction and operation of a 40,000 bpd full slate refinery in Saskatchewan, Canada.
“This step is the result of the recent progress Quantum has made working with the local and provincial governments in Saskatchewan who have been very supportive of the project,” Quantum said in a news release.
Dominion is headed by Keith Stemler, who has 35 years of construction and senior project management experience in Western Canada’s natural resources sector, including multi-billion dollar capital projects for major bitumen producers, such as ExxonMobil, Husky Energy and Suncor, the release said.
Stemler, who was contacted in Nanaimo, B.C., said the company has been working with the Ministry of the Economy for about 18 months on the proposed refinery project. “It hasn’t been public knowledge to this point because we’re still in the planning stage.”
But Stemler confirmed that Quantum is looking at locations in Canada and the U.S. to build similar refinery projects. “We’ve working toward building a plant in Berthold, N.D. It’s in the permitting stage right now.”
Stemler said similar-sized plants are used in countries like Iraq, Iran and Turkey. “We may be able to build many of these plants as opposed to one major plant.”
Stemler said typically these plants cost from $500 million to $1 billion, although he estimated the cost of the Stoughton project at about $600 million.
Stemler said the company has been working with provincial and local government officials, which was confirmed Friday.
“For some time now, officials from the Ministry of the Economy have been working with Quantum to help facilitate the project,” said Ed Dancsok, senior strategic lead with the ministry.
“We have had discussions with them about this project, making sure they understand Saskatchewan’s regulatory requirements and know the regulators,” Dancsok said in a statement.
“We work with companies to help foster investment in our province, this is just part of the investment attraction process, and something we offer to all companies. To date, no incentives have been offered.”
Bill Knous, mayor of Stoughton, said the company met with him and the RM of Tecumseh in October, but he hasn’t heard from them since. “We have our fingers crossed … I’m just waiting for Keith’s call.”
