Integrated Management Planning

Industries in Placentia Bay include an oil refinery, shipyard, ferry terminal and an offshore oil transshipment facility. There was also a United States of America Naval Station and an elemental phosphorus plant in the area in the past, but both have been decommissioned. Proposed future developments include a second oil refinery, a Liquified Natural Gas handling facility and a wind generated electricity project.

Marystown Shipyard and Cow Head Fabrication Facility

Kiewit Offshore Services (KOS) currently operates a shipyard facility in Marystown and a fabrication facility in Cow Head. The KOS shipyard is the largest shipbuilding and repair facility in the province. Work at the shipyard ranges from the construction and repair of fishing vessels to the commissioning, maintenance and decommissioning of offshore oil rigs. Both the shipyard and fabrication facilities have built/produced major components of the Hibernia production platform and related systems.^{Footnote 9} The shipyard, which has constructed specialized tugs used by the Newfoundland Transshipment Limited, has also undertaken fabrication tasks related to the Terra Nova development, and has done work related to the exploration activity at White Rose.^{Footnote 10}

Argentia Ferry Terminal

The Argentia Ferry terminal provides docking and offloading facilities for the passenger ferry that operates between Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador and North Sydney, Nova Scotia during the summer period. The terminal is operated by Marine Atlantic Inc., a Canadian Federal Crown Corporation.

North Atlantic Refining Limited

North Atlantic Refining Limited is the province's only oil refinery and has the largest refinery dock in North America.^{Footnote 13} The site features a deep water, ice-free port that is closer to international sources of crude in the North Sea, West Africa, and the Arabian Gulf, than any other refinery in North America. The refinery was constructed in 1971 and today, the company's products are exported to more than 25 countries worldwide. At present, the refinery has the capacity to process 105,000 barrels of oil per day. It also has a 300,000 barrel butane storage facility.

Newfoundland Transshipment Limited

Newfoundland Transshipment Limited owns and operates an oil handling facility located at Whiffen Head along the northeastern edge of Placentia Bay. The facility commenced operations in October 1998 and currently serves as a year-round storage and transshipment facility for crude from the Hibernia and Terra Nova oil fields. Oil is currently shipped to the terminal on shuttle tankers, where it is temporarily held in storage tanks on land, and then taken from the terminal to market on second-leg tankers. The tank farm consists of six tanks, each with a working capacity of 500,000 barrels.^{Footnote 12} Future opportunities also exist for other offshore developments such as White Rose and Hebron.

Vale Inco Newfoundland & Labrador Limited (Vale Inco NL)

Vale Inco NL plans to construct a commercial plant to process nickel concentrate in Long Harbour, Placentia Bay. If Hydromet technology is technically and economically feasible, the company will proceed with the construction of a commercial processing plant with a design capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year of finished nickel product, together with associated cobalt and copper products. As an alternative, a Matte Plant facility of the same design capacity will be constructed using a proven, state of the art technology. Both processing technolgies under consideration have completed environmental assessment and construction is pending with a requirement for completion by the end of 2011.