Refinery plan kills Nova Scotia dream

Nova Scotia's efforts to attract a second oil refinery have been scuttled now that Irving Oil is taking steps toward building another refinery in Saint John, N.B.

The companyannounced Thursday it'slooking at buildinga second refinery in the city. Thecurrent oneprocesses 300,000 barrels of oil per day and is the largest in Canada.

For Nova Scotia, this means the dreamof a second oil refinery is likely dead.

Paul Boutilier, director of energy projectsforNova Scotia Business Inc., saidformerpremier JohnHamm hadtalks with companies in Alberta and the United States, but thesekinds of discussions have a "limited success ratio.

"I guess with this news [from Irving] we went from very limited success to 'you lose,'" he told reporters in Halifax on Thursday.

Boutilier said the same weather and bottlenecks that led to higher fuel prices also provided a strong business case for Nova Scotia to add more refining capacity.

There hasn't been a new refinery built in North America in 25 years.

Irvingsays itsproposed project would cost about $7 billion and create 1,000 full-time jobs.

Executives say they'll make a final decision in the new year, but the companyhas already bought hundreds of hectares of land near Red Head, east of Saint John.

Industry analysts say Irving's timing is perfect, as the demand for gasoline in the United States is now more than the country's refineries can handle.