New deal set for Atlantic refinery

Workers at North Atlantic Refining Ltd. site at Come By Chance, N.L. may see their luck change. The refinery had been set to sell to Irving Oil when the deal collapsed this October. Now U.S.-based Origin International, a Maryland company involved in oil recycling, has made a formal offer to purchase the assets of the company that include the refinery.

The deal, between Silverpeak, owner of North Atlantic Refining, and Origin International, was announced last week. Terms are still undefined as the two sides hammer out details. Expectations are that once the ink dries, Origin International will ramp refinery production back to full capacity with a full complement of workers.

As little as two weeks ago, Origin International CEO Nicholas Myerson asked that the facility be kept on ‘warm idle’ to make the transition to new ownership an easier task. “Origin is finalizing a plan that would have all employees back to work immediately after a transaction, with a restart for the plant in the second quarter of next year,” the company said at the time.

The North Atlantic Refining facility at Come By Chance employs 500 workers. The plant refines 135,000 bbl. per day of crude and contributes as much as 5% of the GDP of Newfoundland and Labrador.