Four new upgraders in Alberta have unimaginable impacts as new by-products and co-products prove to be valuable commodities for new products within the petrochemical industry.

Couple that with the significant synergies and spin-offs into the manufacturing and research and development sectors and you’ll start to wonder why the upgraders weren’t built earlier?

Adding Value

In fact, the benefits go well beyond, the upgrading alone will result in investments that could add an additional 25 to 40% to the GDP value of our resources.

By moving these products up the value chain, the Alberta economy will become less and less dependent on the base commodity prices for oil and gas.

This diversification of our economy will act as a buffer for potential future “boom and bust” cycles that Alberta has experienced in the past.

Research and Development

By partnering with our local experts at the Alberta’s Research Council and the University of Alberta, the development of Alberta’s upgrading facilities will naturally create an international research center within a chemical cluster of industrial developments with virtually hundreds of research and innovations to discover and produce.

The output from upgraders in Alberta (SCO) can be utilized in refineries anywhere in the world. This will expand Alberta’s potential export markets for its oilsands products from a few specialized operations in the United States to operations in Asia, India and the other rapidly expanding economics of the world.

As Alberta develops this value added chain, we also increase our knowledge assets and act as the catalyst to enhance out reputation as world leaders for research and development in the petrochemical industries.