Woodward's moves in

Standing in front of a Woodward Group of Companies tanker, the Tuvaq, on April 1 were Economic Development committee chair Les Watton, Lewisporte Mayor Brian Peckford and town manager Perry Pond. this was the first time the Tuvaq was in Lewisporte Harbour

Published on April 14, 2010

Published on June 28, 2010

Pam Snow

Lewisporte becomes supplier for Canadian Arctic

The Woodward Group of Companies announced on April 1 the completion of their acquisition of the Imperial Oil fuel storage facilities in Lewisporte.

In addition to the Imperial Oil properties, Woodward's also ob-tained the aviation refuelling operations at the St. John's, Deer Lake and Gander airports.

The company's founder and CEO, Melvin Woodward Sr. said Lewisporte will play a key role in supplying jet fuel to Gander and Deer Lake and fuel to the Canadian Arctic, Labrador coast and the north shore of Quebec.

"We have a contract with the Government of Nunavut and we supply all the fuel to Nunavut," said Mr. Woodward. "We have had that contract for five years. Now that we have had the opportunity to acquire this facility we are going to bring product in here and ship it from here on our ships to Nunavut and to other places."

Woodward Group, a Labrador-based company, owns Labrador Marine and has been operating in the province for over 50 years. The company is involved in storage, sale and transportation of fuel and have a fleet of eight ships.

"We employ - during the peak season - about 1,000 people," said Mr. Woodward.

Lewisporte Mayor Brian Peck-ford believes there will be many spin-off benefits of having Woodward Group take over Imperial Oil in Lewisporte.

"Tanker traffic under Imperial Oil has seen a dramatic decline in recent years, but this is going to be greatly increased," said Mayor Peck-ford. "This will increase economic activity as these vessels purchase local supplies, etcetera. Also, Woodward's spent approximately $1 million on vessel maintenance last year and we are confident Lewisporte will see a lot of that activity."

Mayor Peckford said Imperial Oil were reviewing its operations, especially it's bulk storage and the possibility was real that if Woodward's didn't purchase the facility, it could have closed.

"Woodward's in our opinion rescued that facility and now the economic benefits and substantial municipal taxes are now guaranteed for a long time to come," he said. "It also guarantees the presence of harbour pilots and a Coast Guard presence."