Royal Dutch Shell has shelved plans to increase capacity by 20 per cent at its 70,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Sarnia, Ontario, according to a person familiar with the plant’s operations.

The plan was to increase capacity by 15,000 bpd at the refinery, with the additional throughput coming from shale plays rather than Canadian bitumen, the company said in December. The refinery currently runs a mix of sweet and sour crudes.

The person was not sure why the company pulled the plug on the project, other than it did not pass the company’s internal approval process.

A company spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.