Irving Oil has detailed its plans for a full turnaround of its Saint John refinery in New Brunswick in 2026, according to Oil & Gas Journal — a scheduled event at Canada's largest refinery that will shape Atlantic Basin light product supply planning for the year.

The company operates the 320,000-b/d-class Saint John complex, the country's largest refining asset by capacity and a key supplier to the US Northeast. A turnaround at that scale removes significant volumes of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from the market for the duration of the work, and marketers typically build inventories ahead of the outage.

What do the plans cover?

Oil & Gas Journal reports that Irving Oil has now laid out the scope and timing of the 2026 program. Turnarounds at refineries of this size generally run several weeks and involve inspections, catalyst work and maintenance of major units. The publication of firm plans allows suppliers, contractors and product buyers to schedule around the outage window.

Irving Oil completed its previous major turnaround cycle in recent years, and the company has continued to invest in the Saint John site amid broader consolidation of Atlantic Basin refining capacity.

Why does Saint John matter to the Atlantic Basin?

The refinery sits at the head of a deep-water port and moves product by pipeline and marine routes into the US Northeast, a region that has lost refining capacity over the past decade. Outages at Saint John ripple into New York Harbor pricing for refined products.

A planned 2026 turnaround therefore carries weight beyond Canada:

• It tightens distillate supply on the US East Coast during the work.
• It supports refining margins in the region through the outage window.
• It tests Irving Oil's execution after recent ownership and strategic reviews.

What is the watch item?

The exact outage window and unit scope within the 2026 program. Market participants will track confirmation of dates, contractor mobilization and any pre-build in East Coast product inventories as the turnaround approaches.