Blue Horizon Refinery Project
 
Project Growth
The Blue Horizon Project is poised to quadruple in size, increasing the capacity for the initial phase to 50,000 BPD, to 200,000 BPD. The increase is set to augment Alberta's demonstrated need for increased bitumen upgrading capacity. The change comes in response to continued momentum for the project, thus allowing the company to offer an enhanced slate of higher value refined products while lowering operating costs per barrel. The additional feedstock required will be met in part by Peace River Oil Resources, Blue Horizon's new Exploration and Development subsidiary.
The Plan
The Blue Horizon Project is a $3.7-billion refinery designed to meet the need for cost-effective upgrading in the Peace River area. Slated for completion in 2012, the Blue Horizon facility will be the first crude bitumen refinery in the region.
Current and planned technologies available to crude producers in the area make the cost of bitumen upgrading almost prohibitive. The Blue Horizon project will change that by upgrading an existing plant with an innovative configuration of commercially available technologies calculated to maximize yield of high quality value-added products for the local and northern markets.
The project is advantageously situated in the heart of the Peace River oil sands region, holding with an estimated initial volume in place of approximately 1.6 trillion barrels of crude bitumen. This, coupled with a surge of exploration and development growth in the area, ensures that there will be a continued supply of feedstock for decades to come. 
Location
The Blue Horizon Refinery is located in the south-central quadrant of the Peace River Arch. This is an ideal location given proximity to existing labour markets and infrastructure including key transportation routes and access to major pipelines.
The site is already equipped with disposal wells, rail, power, water, and natural gas, and is secluded from public view in a mostly agricultural area where industrial activity would have minimal impact.
Projections
The project will be built in distinct phases so as to ensure effective management of the capital costs and labour requirements. When phase one comes on stream in 2011, production output will be 50,000 bbl/d of high quality low-sulphur diesel and other products. Additional phases will be executed in increments, as dictated by market need, with a long range output goal of between 100,000 and 200,000 bbl/d.
It is believed there is great potential for the products due to the large customer base and access to major transportation for markets in Canada, the US and possibly Asia.
Process
The Blue Horizon Project’s innovative process was developed after a study of several upgrader configurations, and is made possible by technological advancements from around the world that provide PRO a competitive edge as a small producer.
The upgrading and refining process is based upon a new approach to residue reduction, offering the opportunity for maximum production of high quality products. The unconverted residue will be gasified for energy and hydrogen, allowing the site to become virtually independent of natural gas supply, while permitting the efficient capture of carbon dioxide emissions for local enhanced oil recovery projects or long term sequestration.