North West Upgrading is a Calgary-based, privately-owned company building an independent, heavy oil upgrader approximately 45km north-east of Edmonton, Alberta in the Industrial Heartland Area of Sturgeon County.

The Upgrader will enhance the economic value of Alberta’s bitumen and heavy oil production by producing light, low sulphur products and diluent. The Upgrader will have a total processing capacity of 231,240 barrels per day of blended feedstock over three phases.

In August 2007, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) issued a decision report which granted North West regulatory approval for the three-phase Project. The September 2007 capital cost estimate for Phase 1 is $4.2 billion in 2007 dollars. The company has commenced site preparation for Phase 1.  Start-up of Phase 1 is planned for 2011 with Phases 2 and 3 to follow by 2015.