One of the first questions David Black often gets asked about his Kitimat Clean refinery is why not build it closer to the oilsands.
A major export refinery in Alberta would avoid the need to ship diluted bitumen across British Columbia, but Black said large-scale refineries in landlocked areas simply aren't feasible.
Black said to build a refinery on the scale of Kitimat Clean in Prince George compared with the north coast would cost upwards of $3 billion more in capital costs and would be more expensive to operate.
It would cost more to build a refinery in the interior because many of the components are prefabricated in lower-wage countries and shipped to the refinery site. In Kitimat large parts could be brought to the refinery site and assembled, but if the refinery were to be built inland those prefabricated parts would have to be small enough to fit on rail cars which would increase the expense.
"There's a big advantage to building big components, but the only way to do that is if the refinery is located on the coast," he said.
"Therefore every big export refinery in the world is located on the coast, we're not unique in that."
It would also cost more to operate the plant in the interior because refined products like gasoline and diesel would need to be shipped in batches and sometimes those batches might mix and need to be re-refined.
"Refineries tend to be located where the product is going to be used," he said.
"So if you have a refinery in Prince George, which you do, you tend to use that product here. You can't have a big refinery here because you can't use it all up here."
