The original refinery outside Quebec City was brought on line in October 1971 with a rated capacity 100,000 barrels per day (BPD). It was designed as a topping refinery with heavy oil and middle distillates as the largest volume products. Several major upgrades were implemented in 1980 through 1983. The refinery was further expanded beyond the year 2000 with the construction of a new crude unit, catalytic reformer unit, gasoline desulfurization unit (GDU) and distillate desulfurization unit, increasing the refinery’s total throughput capacity to 235,000 BPD. In order to reduce crude costs, acid crude processing capabilities were also added. Additionally, many projects were developed to meet new government fuel standards including the reduction of the benzene content in gasoline, the addition of a GDU to reduce sulfur in gasoline blend, and an ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) unit to meet new targets on diesel sulfur content. The refinery relies on foreign crude oil for feedstock, which is received by ship at its deep-water dock on the St. Lawrence River and has significant storage capacity for crude oil, and intermediate and refined products. The plant can also accommodate liquefied petroleum gas in its pressurized storage vessels or tanks.