A project that will help the oil refinery in Come by Chance meet emissions targets will also help extend the life of the facility and create new jobs.

North Atlantic Refining Limited Partnership has filed an undertaking through the environmental assessment process for the construction of a delayed coker.

CEO Thomas Jenke say the coker will allow North Atlantic to increase its capacity while meeting a global .5 percent sulfur cap on fuel oil used by ocean-going vessels.

The coker will eat up fuel oil, and create green coke which is used to create electrodes used in aluminium smelters. They’ll be targeting the East Coast Canadian market which normally gets the electrodes from China.

Jenke says the project will extend the life of the refinery, reduce emissions, create 80 new permanent jobs, and create new economic opportunities.

The only downside says Jenke, is that the project is costly. The last coker project undertaken in the US cost $1.5 billion dollars. They’re hoping to do it for $400 million dollars, and for that reason they will be building it elsewhere.

They’re hoping to have it commercially operational by mid-2022.