Imperial Oil will discontinue lubricant blending and packaging operations at its Sarnia, Ontario, facility by 2015, the company told plant employees last week.

Blending and packing operations will transition to Imperials Edmonton, Ontario, location as well as ExxonMobil facilities in the United States over the next year and a half, Imperial Oil spokesman Jon Harding told Lube Report.

The decision will not affect other Imperial enterprises at the Sarnia site, including its crude refinery, chemical operations and research facility, Harding continued. The southwestern Ontario site previously had a base oil refinery, which the company closed in 2011.

Imperial plans to make reasonable efforts to reassign the 58 affected workers to other company locations, Harding added. In total, around 1,000 employees work at the companys Sarnia location.

Headquartered in Calgary, in Canadas Alberta province, Imperial Oil is majority owned by ExxonMobil and is the second largest integrated oil company in Canada.