Workers at the oil refinery in Come by Chance are meeting today under a cloud of uncertainty.

Those heading into a meeting at the sprawling facility say they aren’t sure what to expect about their jobs or the future of the refinery.

The PCs say they were led to believe by government during questioning in the legislature that the sale to Irving Oil was proceeding smoothly.

Energy Minister Andrew Parsons says refinery owner Silverpeak, a US-based investment firm, is working on its options. He says the province has been in regular talks with Silverpeak and will support the company as it can.

With 500 to 1,000 jobs hanging in the balance, Energy Critic David Brazil says government has a lot of answering to do. He says they were all sideswiped by last night’s announcement that the refinery was closing permanently. He says somewhere along the way, somebody dropped the ball.

Brazil is calling on government to consider using some of the $320-million fund from Ottawa to help get the refinery back up and running. He says we’re already at a crisis level in the offshore oil industry and this would be yet another dagger.

Brazil says government cannot allow it to close permanently, and the PCs definitely would not allow it.