Canada’s Cenovus Plans Turnaround at Lima, Ohio, Refinery, Sees Record Oil Sands Production
Cenovus Energy will go ahead with comprehensive planned maintenance at its 185,000 b/d Lima, Ohio, refinery scheduled for this September or October despite the current high crack spread environment, Eric Zimpfer, head of downstream at the Canadian integrated energy company, said Wednesday.
In an earnings conference call with analysts, Zimpfer said maintenance work will include the refinery’s crude unit, vacuum unit, hydrocracker, reformer and a couple of other units.
“It’s a big chunk of work,” he said. Zimpfer also said that the company is planning to turn around and clean up a back tower at the refinery to maximize heavy crude processing in a “very strong crack environment.”
In October 2025, Cenovus performed a turnaround that included the plant’s fluid catalytic cracking unit, coking units and isomerization units.
The Calgary-based company — which also owns the 160,000 b/d Toledo, Ohio, and 50,000 b/d Superior, Wis., refineries — reported 96% utilization of its U.S. refining business for a throughput of around 350,000 b/d for the second quarter, up from 343,200 b/d in Q1.
Chief Executive Jon McKenzie during the call attributed highly favorable Q2 U.S. market conditions to low Midwest inventories, robust crack spreads and wider heavy oil differentials.
McKenzie also said Cenovus is looking at opportunities to improve operations at its two Ohio refineries, including expanding product supply outside of the Midwest, using better crude blends at its refineries and maximizing jet production.
Products produced at Cenovus’ Lima refinery include gasoline, ULSD and jet fuel, and it supplies markets in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and southern Michigan. Located near the west end of Lake Erie, the Toledo refinery manufactures gasoline, jet fuel and diesel, among other products.
Cenovus, which is also one of the biggest producers of Canadian oil sands, said it is on track to produce a record 1 million bbl of oil equivalent per day in July on the back of strong output from its Christina Lake oil sand asset in Alberta, McKenzie said.
The company also lifted its full-year upstream production to a range of 970,000 boe/d to 1.01 million boe/d, an increase of 25,000 boe/d from its previous forecast.
In mid-July, five Canadian oil sands companies including Cenovus, Ottawa and Alberta signed a memorandum of understanding to substantially increase oil production to fill a proposed West Coast oil pipeline with an aim to export Canadian crude oil and reduce the country’s dependence on the U.S.
In response to a question about the oil pipeline proposal, McKenzie said the plan would create a competitive regulatory and policy environment to attract capital to grow Canada’s oil production.
Canadian heavy oil has always been priced at a steep discount to West Texas Intermediate, partly because of fully utilized pipelines and limited additional structural egress opportunities to bring more volumes to U.S. refineries and overseas markets.
“It is pretty exciting for this industry,” McKenzie said.
–Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com