Court reprieve granted for refinery proponent

A company planning to build an oil refinery in southern Newfoundland won a reprieve Tuesday in a St. John's courtroom.

Newfoundland Supreme Court granted Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corp. a 30-day period of protection from its creditors as it attempts to shore up financing for a multi-billion-dollar project that had been expected to start construction this summer.

Justice Robert Hall said that possible extensions for the multi-billion-dollar project, which would put a second refinery in Placentia Bay, could be granted for as many as six months.

"This is exactly the decision we were seeking," said Brian Dalton, NLRC'smanaging director.

"What this really means, simply, is that we can get right back to the business now of getting this deal done."

Montreal-based SNC Lavalin had last week asked the court to force Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corp. to declare bankruptcy. SNC Lavalin claimed that it was owed more than $20 million for environmental and engineering work.

In court documents, SNC Lavalin claimed that NLRC had stopped making monthly payments in January, around the same time that potential American investors had lost interest in the refinery project.

Dalton said he hopes that the threat of bankruptcy has not ruined the project's chances of securing funding.

Lawyers for BAE Newplan Group Ltd., the St. John's division of SNC Lavalin, did not have any comment Tuesday.

The refinery proposal had been moving on a fairly fast track before it hit financing troubles earlier this year. The company had already negotiated a long-term labour agreement with trades unions, and had obtained environmental approval from the Newfoundland and Labrador government.

Dalton has had meetings with potential investors in several countries, including in the Middle East and Asia.

He would not comment onreports that Premier Danny Williams was going to raise the proposed refinery as an issue during business meetings in Qatar this week.

"We've had our own pretty extensive discussions throughout the Middle East, including that part of the Middle East," Dalton said.