Montréal East Refinery

Location: 10351 Sherbrooke Street East, Montréal-East, Québec

Employees: 450 full-time

Capacity: 130,000 barrels of crude oil daily

Products: Liquified petroleum gasoline, distillates, heavy oils, lubricating oils, waxes, bitumen

Shell's Montréal East Refinery (MER) opened March 24, 1933. At that time, the refinery was processing 5,000 barrels per day of crude oil, with a topping unit and a thermal cracking unit.

Today, MER refines approximately 130,000 barrels per day of crude oil, and employs 450 full-time employees.

Shell continues to invest in its facilities to ensure it complies with all new federal regulations and environmental best practices.

Shell became the first nation-wide refiner capable of producing low sulphur gasoline when it started up its gasoline hydrotreater in late 2002, following a $150 million investment.

MER is certified according to the ISO-9002 international standard for its activities related to the production of bitumen, lubricating oils, wax and aviation fuels, for its laboratory. Since 2001, Shell Canada also has maintained ISO 14001 certification for all its key operating facilities. In 2003, MER was part of a number of Shell facilities that underwent an independent audit to ensure its environmental management policies and systems continue to meet the required ISO 14001 standard. MER, like all Shell facilities involved, successfully completed re-registration.

The Montreal East refinery endeavours to maintain results related to health, safety and the environment of which it can be proud; to earn the trust of clients, shareholders and the general public; and to be a good neighbour.

The Montréal East Refinery refines approximately 130,000 barrels per day of crude oil into a range of petroleum products.

Refining is a general term that refers to a range of manufacturing processes that transform crude oil into useful products such as propane, butane, gasoline, jet fuel, lubricating oils, waxes, heavy fuel oils and bitumen. The Refinery processes include distillation, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, thermal cracking, catalytic reforming, isomerisation and alkylation.

While refining oil into useful products is Shell’s focus, the majority of site operations are, in fact, the support functions that make the refinery work in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Montréal East’s support functions include product quality monitoring, water treatment facilities, emissions monitoring, process control, pipelines, utilities as well as various raw material and finished product storage facilities.

The Montreal East Refinery makes the following products: 

• Low Sulphur Gasoline
• Distillates (Diesel Fuels)
• Diesel
• Furnace Oils
• Aviation Turbine Fuel (Jet Fuel)
• Heavy Oils
• Liquified Petroleum Gas
• Propane
• Butane
• Lubricating Oils/Waxes
• Marine Oils
• Bitumen

Shell’s national social investment program is focused on three core areas that we refer to as the ‘Three Es’: Education, Environment and Employees.

While our national program benefits local communities, we also support grassroots not-for-profit organizations in communities neighbouring Shell’s major facilities and exploration and production interests. Support may extend beyond these three core areas to include funding for initiatives that benefit our Aboriginal neighbours.

For funding requests or more information, please visit Shell’s social investment section to review guidelines and access the online application.

Questions?

Please contact our local community representative at (514) 356-7036 with any questions.

Emergency response and safety are important parts of operations at each Shell facility. Our goals are no harm to people, to protect the environment and to prevent pollution. To achieve our goals, we have a systematic approach to emergency response and safety designed to protect the community and our employees.

Emergency Contacts

Please call the Montréal East Refinery's 24-hour emergency line at (514) 640-3266 or 9-1-1 to report a concern.

Emergency Response

Montréal East Refinery's Incident Command System provides an effective response to any emergency on our site. The system allows us to respond effectively using our own resources or our resources in conjunction with the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SSIM).

Shell is also an active member of the Association industrielle de l'est de Montréal (AIEM), the Comité mixe municipal-industriel de gestion des risques d'accidents industriels pour l'est de Montréal (CMMI) and works closely with Montréal's Emergency Preparedness Centre (EPC).

The EPC supports and coordinates initiatives within of the City of Montréal territory during each of the four phases associated with an emergency: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. It also closely collaborates with the Government of Québec's Securité Civile.

Through EPC, AIEM and CMMI, Shell works with municipalities and other companies to address issues and problems that arise from industry working in close proximity to the community. For example, Shell is working with EPC and CMMI members on a communication campaign to better inform communities surrounding the refinery about what to do in the event of a hazardous chemical release, industrial accident or other environmental emergency.

Communication

If you live in these communities and do not know what to do if a siren sounds, visit the AIEM website - opens in new window, the EPC website - opens in new window or contact us by e-mail.

Community Dialogue/Social Performance

In addition to our work with CMMI, we also conduct our own Social Performance Program to understand community concerns and promote emergency preparedness. MER is an active member of Comité de liaison de l'industrie et de la communauté (CLIC), a group comprised of local industry, government, social services and community representatives from eastern Montréal . This group meets six to eight times per year to discuss local issues and concerns as they relate to public health, safety and environmental impacts of local industry.

Safety

At Shell, safety is our first priority and we strive to achieve zero incidents. To help us achieve zero incidents and no harm to the community, MER is continuously adding new initiatives to our already established Safety Management System. These initiatives and programs better equip employees to identify, manage and minimize risks in the workplace in order to identify potential safety concerns before they emerge.

By incorporating safety initiatives on our site, we can help ensure the safety of our employees, the community and the environment.

We believe that the success of the Montréal East Refinery depends on our commitment to continuous improvement. We work in an environment where everyone has the common goal of having safe and healthy working conditions where teamwork is valued.

Many of Shell Montréal East Refinery employees live and work in the Montréal area. Both on and off the job, Shell employees benefit the broader community by volunteering with a variety of non-profit, recreational and sports organizations.

Employment Opportunities

Each year, Shell recruits from the Greater Montréal community and provides employment for summer and co-op students enrolled in local area post-secondary institutions. For information on Shell’s new graduate recruiting program, please visit our Campus Recruiting pages.

For more information on employment opportunities at Shell’s Montréal East Refinery please call (514) 356-7044, and with Shell across Canada, see our Jobs & Careers web page.