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By Tyler Kula, from www.theobserver.ca   The Observer

The case for upgrading oil sands bitumen in Sarnia just got a bump from Canada's cities.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities — at its annual general meeting in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday — voted 80% in favour of urging the federal government to commit to upgrading more oil sands bitumen in Canada.

Sarnia-Lambton was trumpeted as an ideal site for a new oil sands upgrading plant at a national bitumen conference in Sarnia last month.

Conference organizers said processing more of Alberta's oil into fuels and chemicals in Canada will generate more domestic jobs and wealth, currently exported elsewhere.

It's estimated $125 billion could be generated for the Canadian economy by 2025 with more domestic upgrading.

“This is a good day, this is a good start,” said Lambton County Warden Todd Case from the federation meeting Saturday.

Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association brought forward the motion and it was seconded by Lambton County at the meeting.

The two groups represent Canada's major hydrocarbon processing and petrochemical centres — vital contributors to the country's economy, officials said.

The resolution means potential business opportunities across the country, Case said, noting next steps are up to the federal government.

“We want to see that support from the feds,” he said. “Coming from FCM, it should be something they look favourably at.”

How oil sands upgrading in Canada will be expanded exactly still needs to be worked out, he said.

“There will be some discussion about maybe involving First Nations peoples,” he said. “That's something that is very important that wasn't in the resolution that was brought forward by our friends in Alberta.'

But a major obstacle in the way of Sarnia-Lambton's industrial expansion is the high price of electricity in Ontario.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said recently he expects it will be three or four years before lower provincial rates take hold — which would make Sarnia-Lambton more attractive for industrial development.

Nova Chemicals is currently looking at Chemical Valley and the U.S. Gulf Coast — where energy is less expensive — for a $1-billion polyethylene plant it is planning to build. Initially it was just eyeing Chemical Valley.

Still, Case said he's excited about the potential of the federation's resolution.

“At the end of the day this benefits all of Canada, from the west to Ontario to the far east; there's opportunity for everyone in this type of situation,” he said. “It's a good day for Lambton County, it's a good day for Canada and we'll see what the federal government does with it from now on in.”
 

From www.theobserver.ca   The Observer

A local economic group is calling on Ontario’s premier to give Hiawatha Horse Park more time to create a business model for horse racing this year.

George Mallay, general manager with the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP), wrote Premier Kathleen Wynne this week, asking that Hiawatha be considered a “unique situation” and given time to develop a sustainable business model to ensure its future success.

The local racing venue used to rely on revenue from Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG) slots on site, but those were shut down last year — resulting in more than 100 lost jobs.

Several other racing venues still rely on slots revenue, Mallay said.

“We look forward to receiving a positive and timely response to advance towards a solution to realize this year’s season,” he wrote, noting a cancelled race season would cause a ripple effect that would affect business at motels, restaurants, gas stations, entertainment venues, retailers, and agricultural service providers.

Fourteen other Ontario tracks have already struck deals for the 2013 race season, Mallay said, noting Hiawatha “has not been provided with the financial capacity to produce a schedule for the upcoming season.”
 

From www.theobserver.ca   The Observer

Lambton College will finally start offering a Bachelor of Commerce program locally.

An agreement has been struck with Nipissing University to offer the program in Sarnia starting September 2013.

The program will be offered on both a full and part-time basis for business administration graduates.

Lambton College students will be granted advanced standing in the program if they have a three-year business administration diploma with at least a 72% grade point average.

“Being able to offer this program in Sarnia is very important,” said Donna Church, dean of business and information technology, and creative design, in a release. “It allows us to give our students and graduates a flexible, cost effective option to enhance their career pathways, while giving businesses in Sarnia the opportunity to hire qualified local individuals.”

Lambton College has been trying for years to line up a university partner to offer the program. A university degree is now required for business certifications, like accountants and human resources professionals.

Applicants are invited to apply at ouac.ca for the program.
 

By Paul Morden   From www.theobserver.ca   The Observer

A Toronto-based bio-tech company is moving its pilot plant to Sarnia’s Western Research Park, with an eye on expanding in the community.

GreenCore Composites has been manufacturing natural fibre reinforced thermoplastic materials at a Mississauga pilot plant that is relocating to the research park off Modeland Road.

“It’s actually getting installed as we speak,” said research park director Paul Paolatto.

GreenCore will use about 3,500 square feet in the research park and boost the current total use of the site’s pilot plant area to about 75% of capacity, Paolatto said.

“We’re really pleased, considering that about a year ago the pilot plant affectively sat empty.”

GreenCore is the third pilot plant tenant at the park and “the fourth marquee prospect to come to Sarnia,” Paolatto said.

He includes Bio-Amber, a company with offices at the research park, in that group.

A $300,000 loan arranged by the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation is helping GreenCore with the move.

GreenCore president Geoff Clarke said the pilot plant, set up in shared space in Mississauga several years ago, was the company’s first step in commercializing technology licensed from the University of Toronto.

But it was time to move, he said.

“We needed to get into a different environment, a facility with more space because we are looking at adding another line in the later part of this year.”

Clarke said they settled on the Western Research Park in Sarnia after looking at locations the Toronto area, as well as south and southwestern Ontario.

“We felt the best opportunity for us was in Sarnia,” he said.

“Sarnia has got a bit of a reputation for the bio-materials side of the technology.”

It’s also close to the automotive industry, one of the markets the company is targeting.

Clarke said the expanded pilot plant is expected to be operating by mid-May in Sarnia and will initially employ three people.

The additional line planned for later in the year is expected to increase that by up to 15.

Eventually, the company is expected to develop to the point where it will move to a stand-alone facility, he said.

“I’m sure it will be somewhere else in the Sarnia area.”

The company is in the early stages of development but it plans to have a strong sales base in Canada and the U.S., as well as arranging to serve customers overseas, he said.

“We’re looking forward to the next year or two to make all this happen.”

Paolatto said GreenCore decision to come to the research park “reflects well on the promising opportunities that are starting to unfold as a result of the work that has gone on in that investment.”

GreenCore is an example of the focus the research park puts on recruiting tenants with the potential to expand in the community, he said.

“We get them for the short-term and we hope to keep them for the long-term.”
 

By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca   The Observer
March 26, 2013

When the two pieces of the fractionation tower being built at Kel-Gor Limited’s Plank Road shop come together, it will be 270 feet tall, 13 feet around and weigh 1.1 million pounds.

“It’s the biggest tower we’ve ever assembled,” said Kel-Gor vice-president Tom Parkes.

It’s also a key part of Nova Chemical’s $250-million project that includes pipeline work and the revamping of its Corunna plant so it can be fed by 100% natural gas liquids.

When Nova’s eight-kilometre Genesis pipeline project is completed later this year, it will connect the company’s Corunna plant to a supply of ethane from the Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Nova officials have said accessing that lower-priced feedstock is “a game-changer” for its Chemical Valley sites.

Nova looked at several sources for the new tower, but the job went to Kel-Gor, a long-standing industrial contractor based in Sarnia.

“It was a very good one to get,” Parkes said.

“It’s very good for the local economy, and kept a lot of guys busy.”

Parkes said they saw a downturn in 2008, “but we’re seeing a revival and things are starting to pick up, and Nova’s a big contributing factor.”

Work on the tower began in the fall and is scheduled to be completed by July 1.

About 20 people are working on the project in double shifts, six days a week, Parkes said.

The assembly will be completed at Kel-Gor and then transported in one piece to Nova Corunna.

“It’s going to be a big, big, big move,” Parkes said.

“It will be a landmark there for years to come.”

The project is part of Nova’s 2020 capital strategy to take advantage of new feedstock supplies for its polyethylene business.

Nova Corunna’s main product is ethylene — used at its nearby Moore and St. Clair River plants to make polyethylene resins for shrink wrap, food packages, gas containers and other projects.

Earlier this month, Nova CEO Randy Woelfel said the Corunna site was on track to begin consuming Marcellus shale ethane in the third quarter of this year, with final completion of the revamp expected in early 2014.

The company has said 200 construction workers are expected at its Corunna plant when work on the revamp peaks later this year.

Imperial Oil is also expecting to begin taking advantage of Marcellus shale ethane in Sarnia.

It signed a long-term supply agreement in 2011 that is expected to take effect in the second half of this year.

“The intent is to use this as a cost-advantage feedstock for the Sarnia chemical plant,” said Imperial Oil spokesperson Jon Harding.

“No material capital investment is required by Imperial to use this ethane supply.”

Officials in Sarnia-Lambton are also watching closely for Nova’s decision, expected this year, on a proposal to spend $1-billion building a new polyethylene facility.

Nova has said it could be located in Chemical Valley and lead to an expansion of its Corunna facility.
 

From www.theobserv.ca   The Observer
By Tara Jeffrey

Local energy experts want Sarnia to be at the forefront of a move that would see Canada refining its oil sands crude on home soil.

“This is a first step in trying to get Canada back on the path of adding value to our natural resources,” said retired oil industry heavyweight Clem Bowman, who's helping to organize a national conference in Sarnia in May.

The conference, Bitumen: Adding Value: Canada's National Opportunity, will be held May 21, 22 and 23 and will feature keynote speaker Frank McKenna, deputy chair of the TD Bank Groups, and former premier of New Brunswick.

Bowman, a pioneer in Canada's oil sands development who spent part of his long career heading Imperial Oil's research centre in Sarnia, has been pushing to expand refining capacity in Chemical Valley instead of exporting oil sands crude, along with the jobs and investment that flows with it.

“When the oil sands industry started back in the 1970s, 100% of the bitumen was upgraded in Canada into a synthetic crude oil and other value added products,” he said.

“Now, most of the new bitumen that's being produced is being shipped outside the country. And we're just losing jobs and wealth.”

By the end of the coming decade, the value of converting Canada's oil sands production to gasoline and other fuels alone will be about $60 billion a year, Bowman said.

One of the key goals of the conference, he said, is to identify what Sarnia’s capacity is to support oil sands development.

“We have assets in Sarnia where we can bring to bear to add value to this bitumen,” he said. “We've got service land, pipelines, access to the seaway, the know-how to safely operate big plants and protect the environment.”

“It's an opportunity for a big project in Sarnia-Lambton,” he added. “It gives us a chance to get back in building a vibrant petrochemical industry.”
 

By Paul Morden, from www.theobserver.ca   The Observer
 

A senior official with the company planning a $360-million natural gas-fired electricity generating project in St. Clair Township says construction could begin in late spring or summer.

Hubert Vogt, vice-president of Eastern Power Ltd., said it is working on the approvals needed for the plant. “The environmental screening is basically done and now we’re waiting for the Ministry of the Environment to OK it.”

The 300-MW plant will replace one that was being built in Mississauga when it was cancelled by the Ontario government during the 2011 provincial election campaign.

Eastern Power is considering two possible sites on Oil Springs Line for the new plant. One is near the Lambton Generating Station and the other is a short distance east of there.

“We’re still got a few answers that we need to have and then we’ll make a choice,” Vogt said. “We’re not quite at the point where we can do that yet.” He said Eastern Power had originally hoped to have all of the details in place to begin construction this spring. “That’s starting to look like it might be late spring or summer.”

Vogt said the company will push to get all of the approvals the project needs, as quickly as it can. The federal government has said it won’t require an environmental assessment of the project, he said. “We’re starting to deal with the detailed approvals with the local municipality.”

The project is expected to create 350 short-term construction jobs, along with 35 permanent jobs at the plant itself.

Construction is expected to take about two years.

St. Clair Township is already home to two natural gas-fired electricity plants.

The 577-MW St. Clair Energy Centre opened there in 2009 and the 1005-MW Greenfield Energy Centre began operating a year before that.