Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to present to you today. I have a number of opening remarks and a power point presentation that accompanies the remarks. I will reference particular slides as I move along. My name is Jeff Labonté and I

Industry committee  I'm not sure where I would start with the question, but perhaps by saying that I think we've provided a summary of the current utilization and capacity issues. Given that the Shell Montreal East refinery currently processes almost exclusively foreign crude oil, the conversion of

Industry committee  I'd like to report that I think, as the committee has probably heard from other members and other witnesses, Montreal does have a competitive import marketplace for petroleum products, gasoline and diesel, imported from other parts of the global market. Our understanding is that

Industry committee  Sure. First off, I think the report you're referring to is dated 2007, which relies on data that had been averaged for years prior to that point in time. It references the market conditions at that point in time, in which they were quite significantly different from now, and al

Industry committee  Was that for the Competition Bureau?

Industry committee  No, we do not.

Industry committee  Thank you for your question. I will answer you in English. It's difficult to speculate as to whether or not any additional refineries in Montreal or the Quebec region or Atlantic Canada, or anywhere for that matter, will open or close. However, the refineries in the Quebec regi

Industry committee  There are costs shared by the different producers that source their product by the agencies and deliver them via pipeline. However, the degree to which that cost is a one-to-one cost or an equally shared ratio depends on a number of factors, some of which have less to do with the

Industry committee  Again, I can't comment as to whether or not Suncor or any other related refineries will be more or less profitable given what happens with respect to the Shell conversion that's being proposed.

Industry committee  We have not met with any members of Shell. I imagine that if they said so, it was with ministry officials from the Province of Quebec.

Industry committee  We were not involved in any meetings with Shell and Quebec ministry of natural resources officials. I would imagine that the minister of natural resources in Quebec has review of this particular closure and has an evaluation under way that is looking at this particular case, and

Industry committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Petit. I'd have to say, at this point in time, I do not believe or I'm not aware of whether or not the minister in Quebec has granted authority to Shell to proceed with the conversion. I understand there's an injunction until September. I would i

Industry committee  We're not aware of any decisions that have been made as to proceeding with the conversion, or any dismantling or any of the steps.

Industry committee  Thank you for your question. The answer to the question is yes, it is the Province of Quebec that has the authority and the regulations to permit that particular terminal conversion to proceed. The federal government does not have authority and the Department of Natural Resource

Industry committee  Thank you for your question. It is a hypothetical question. With respect to proceeding to the closure or the conversion, or anything related to that, it is a provincial jurisdiction. In this particular case, should there be a delay or should there be any uncertainty, given the