04/03/2026
Canada’s largest oil refinery is turning to domestic crude for the first time in six years — a direct consequence of the Iran war cutting off its long-standing Saudi supply chain and forcing one of Atlantic Canada’s most important energy facilities to pivot to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Irving Oil, which operates a 320,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, applied to Transport Canada on March 13 for permission to use foreign tankers to transport Newfoundland crude to its facility — citing the Iran conflict as the trigger. “The 2026 Iran conflict has resulted in the most significant crude oil supply disruption in recent history, with far-reaching implications for global production, shipping, refining, and energy security,” Irving wrote in its application. “In this context, it is essential for our customers, for our business, and for the broader energy security of Atlantic Canada that we have the ability to use foreign crude oil tankers to access Canadian crude oil.” The Canadian Transportation Agency approved the application five days later, on March 18.
Under the permission, Irving will receive 650,000 to 680,000 barrels of crude from the Whiffen Head terminal in Newfoundland and Labrador, shipped to Saint John between April 25 and May 25. The last time Irving sourced Newfoundland crude was 2020. Saudi Arabia has been Irving’s most reliable crude supplier since the refinery opened in 1960 — a relationship that traces back to Standard Oil of California’s 1933 concession agreement with the Saudi government. As recently as 2018, nearly half of the refinery’s supply was Saudi crude. That relationship has now been disrupted for the first time in decades by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes.
Cenovus Energy, which delivered Western Canadian crude to Irving by tanker in 2020 and operates assets in the Newfoundland offshore sector, said it would leave comment to Irving. Irving did not respond to requests for comment. The switch to Newfoundland crude is a concrete, immediate example of the Iran war reshaping Canadian energy supply chains — not as a future risk, but as an operational reality now. —
Developing story.
