[5] In 2000, New Brunswick New Democratic Party leader Elizabeth Weir released documents accessed under the Right to Information Act surrounding the refinery upgrades being put in motion by the government without being completely assessed for its environmental impact, suggesting that the government "ignored the public interest and pandered to big business.

"[6] The refinery is supplied with crude oil primarily delivered by supertankers to the company's Canaport deep-water terminal which was commissioned in 1970; prior to 1970, crude oil was delivered to the refinery through a much smaller terminal located on Courtney Bay immediately north of the Saint John Shipbuilding property.

[citation needed] In July 2010, Irving Oil cancelled plans for an $8-billion project, known as Eider Rock,[8] which would have seen a second refinery built south of Saint John adjacent to the Canaport property with its partner BP.

Irving and BP claimed "the demand for refined fuel had dropped and the capital costs of a new refinery were higher than expected."

In February 2011, Fort Reliance Co. Ltd., Irving Oil Ltd.'s parent company, also cancelled its $30-million project to build a new headquarters at Long Wharf on property owned by the Port of Saint John.

[10] Conservative politician Andrew Scheer stated in November 2017 that Canada should ban the import of oil from Saudi Arabia due to human rights and environmental concerns.

[11] In December 2018 Scheer demanded that the gender-based analysis requirement imposed on Canadian pipeline projects by the Liberal government be instead applied to oil imported from Saudi Arabia.

[13] In 2024, Irving's long-standing CEO stepped down as the company was undergoing a strategic review that would impact the future of the refinery.

Premier Redford described the Irving Oil refinery as an "anchor ... with the possibility of also exporting some of that crude by tanker.