Irving Oil Saint John refinery operations update

Publication date

21 January, 2021

The following is a statement from Irving Oil President Ian Whitcomb and Irving Oil Executive Vice-President and Chief Brand Officer Sarah Irving.

Today, we have shared with our employees that, in light of the continued challenges we face, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce at our Saint John refinery. Earlier this year, we regretfully made the decision to reduce our contractor workforce at the Saint John refinery to 225 from a typical 1,000-person workforce in Q1. In addition, today, approximately 60 Saint John refinery employees left our organization – representing seven per cent of our Saint John refinery team.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had extreme and serious impacts on our business and our industry. The collapse in demand for motor fuels, jet fuel and other refined products, together with extreme market volatility, serious negative impacts to refining margins and high levels of uncertainty about the depth and duration of the downturn in our economies, continue to create prolonged and significant challenges. These challenges have forced our company – like others in our industry – to make major changes to our operations and we are sorry for the impact that these actions have had on our team. 

We are committed to supporting our employees through this difficult transition and are very thankful for all they have contributed to our business.