Scaling Low-Carbon Fuels Through Existing Infrastructure: A Milestone in Co-Processing at Imperial 

For Imperial, advancing co-processing at the Strathcona refinery was an important new endeavor to demonstrate how existing refinery infrastructure can help lower the carbon intensity of Canada’s transportation fuels while working within complex operational and regulatory environments. 

The integrated team — Al MacGregor, Ekjote Bains, Jason MacDonald, Louise Knobel, Matt Davey, Taylor Rutt, and Victor Pouget — secured regulatory approval and began co-processing operations at Strathcona in July 2025, enabling the refinery to process canola-based biogenic feedstock alongside conventional crude. Imperial’s lower emission fuel investments like co-processing and renewable diesel are made possible by supportive government policy, including incentives from the Governments of Alberta and British Columbia and Strathcona County.

Co-processing integrates renewable feedstocks, such as vegetable oils, with existing refining processes rather than requiring new renewable fuel facilities to be constructed. By leveraging existing infrastructure, the approach is a practical way to scale up lower-carbon fuel production in Canada over the near to medium term. 

“It’s using existing equipment at the refinery but switching from traditional feedstocks to a renewable feedstock,” explained Louise Knobel, Biofuels Compliance and Optimization Manager at Imperial. “It significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the gasoline and diesel that we’re already making at the refinery.” 

Located near Western Canada’s canola supply, Strathcona was well positioned for implementation, but integrating renewable feedstocks into existing refinery operations introduced technical and logistical complexity. Teams had to evaluate how the new feedstocks would interact with refinery units and product quality specifications, while also developing new systems for managing feedstock handling and supply logistics. 

“We had to build new processes to bring renewable feedstocks into the refinery,” said Louise. “That included new supply chain considerations and modifications to support handling and integration.” 

A key challenge under Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations was demonstrating how much of the final fuel product could be classified as low-carbon intensity fuel to qualify for credits under the regulations. 

“Because it’s blended, you’re making it along with traditional fuel,” Louise explained. “To be able to quantify how much low carbon intensity fuel you’ve made, that is really the hardest part.” 

The Imperial team worked closely with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) through technical workshops and regular discussions to apply the regulatory requirements within a real-world refinery environment. 

“Every refinery is configured differently,” said Louise. “Taking a theoretical concept like co-processing and then applying it to an operational refinery in real time is extremely challenging.” 

While the regulatory framework continues to evolve, ongoing collaboration between industry and regulators is helping refine approaches for co-processing implementation.

“What we like about co-processing is that it allows us to leverage existing infrastructure,” Louise noted. “You’re using the facilities and utilities already in your refinery and repurposing them to produce a low carbon intensity fuel.” 

The Strathcona co-processing project demonstrates how existing refining systems can be adapted to support lower-carbon fuel production in a practical and scalable way. Imperial has also launched co-processing at its Nanticoke refinery in Ontario. While more Canadian refiners are now beginning to integrate co-processing into their operations, the approach itself is not new, Parkland’s Burnaby Refinery first introduced co-processing in Canada in 2017.

As refiners look to expand lower-carbon fuel production in the coming years, co-processing is increasingly viewed as one of the most promising pathways because it can be integrated into existing refinery operations without requiring the time and investment associated with building entirely new facilities.