[prometheus the supremo]

can anyone tell me how a CN railstrike can effect this situation? does CN rail even service the refinery? aren't petrol products piped over long distances and then trucked to local gas stations?

i know that CN rail dependant industry needs to truck their stuff because of the strike therefore using more fuel but they make it sound like the nanticoke refinery can't function without CN rail.

p.s, i think it's gonna be another 2 weeks before they repair the damage.

 

[spmarshall]

CN does not directly service the Nanticoke refinery. It used to. A short line operator, called the Ontario Southland Railway operates the line to Nanticoke (which also serves the coal power plant and a Stelco plant), and connects to CN in Brantford. I think the problem there is that the fire has reduced supplies, plus the Sarnia location (which is served directly by CN) is running at low capacity.

Not that I care that much - I particuarly loathe Esso, and when I drive, I avoid it. (If possible, I use Sunoco, with Petro-Canada or Shell as alternates.) The reasons are that Esso has (or had) the dirtiest gas. The ads with really loud audio are another great excuse not to use it.

 

[prometheus the supremo]

but does rail transported gasoline and diesel supply toronto?

i'm pretty sure we have a direct pipeline from sarnia to keele and finch.

 

[prometheus the supremo]

that sarnia refinery is huge....

maps.google.com/maps?f=q&...iwloc=addr

 

[unimaginative2]

We have two product pipelines in Ontario. One is the Sun pipeline which basically ships from Sarnia to the Southwestern Ontario and Toronto markets. The other is the Trans Northern Pipeline from Nanticoke to Montreal via Toronto and Hamilton with a branch up to Ottawa. It used to be used primarily to ship gas from the Oakville and Nanticoke refineries to markets in Toronto and Eastern Ontario. Since Oakville closed, it's mainly used for compensating imports from Quebec.

One of the big reasons for volatility in Ontario's gas prices is that we're a major importer of gasoline, particularly since Oakville shut down. The big spikes two summers ago came from when many of the refineries were closing for major new sulfur requirements. Much of it comes from Montreal area refineries, and the rest from overseas. This is made worse since we can't import from places like Upstate New York, since their pollution standards are lower. The closest place we can raid is New York City, so in an emergency we divert shipments bound for New York through the seaway. That's not possible in winter since the seaway's closed, making a shortage an even bigger problem now.

 

[cdl42]

Am I to understand that you're saying that the Oakville Petro-Can refinery closed? Why and when? I thought we had a shortage of refining capacity in this province, in this country, and all across NA?

 

[unimaginative2]

Oakville closed last year because the cost of upgrading it to the new sulfur standards for gasoline was deemed too high due to its small size and the impossibility of expansion. To serve the Ontario market, Petro Canada is expanding its much larger Montreal refinery instead. The Montreal site has big advantages since it has much more room for expansion, and you can import oil from overseas when it's cheaper