Why Did K.C. Irving Turn Down British Petroleum's Refinery Deal?

Shane Parrish says K.C. Irving walked away from British Petroleum because it wanted the right to buy Irving Oil when he retired or died.

He had wanted a refinery since 1932, when the government railway gave Imperial Oil better freight rates for having one and he did not. British Petroleum offered to build a refinery with him, then added two conditions to the final papers. BP wanted the plant somewhere other than St. John, and when Irving retired or died, BP wanted the right to buy Irving Oil. He had three sons and meant to leave them the business. He said there was no way, and he walked away.

Halifax was closer to the big markets, so BP asked why the refinery had to be in St. John. Because he lived there, Irving said. Standard Oil of California then arrived with more Middle Eastern crude than it could easily sell on the East Coast, and Irving had the customers but nowhere of his own to refine their gasoline. Weeks before they signed, the Suez crisis blocked the canal. The big tankers could sail around Africa, and they needed deep water that stayed open in winter. St. John had it. Irving signed. Standard would own the larger share of the refinery, and he would keep control of Irving Oil. He called it about the best deal he could have made. Construction began in 1958, and the refinery opened in July 1960.