Wildfires in Alberta this 12 months have decreased manufacturing from the oil sands — the world’s third-largest crude reserves — and compelled a partial evacuation of Fort McMurray in Might. A brand new bout of scorching climate has infected fireplace exercise in current weeks, with greater than 50 out-of-control blazes burning in Alberta at the moment and greater than 10% of the province’s oil output beneath risk.
One 3-hectare (7-acre) fireplace is inside about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of MEG Vitality Corp.’s Christina Lake web site, which produced virtually 100,000 barrels a day in Might, in response to Alberta Vitality Regulator information. One other blaze is inside 10 kilometers of a piece of Imperial Oil Ltd.’s Chilly Lake operation that produces 19,000 barrels per day, and a 3rd is near Canadian Pure Assets Ltd.’s Kirby oil sands. Canadian Pure’s operations are secure, and Imperial Oil has skilled no influence from the fires, the businesses mentioned in emails. MEG didn’t reply to an e mail searching for remark.
The fires helped increase Canadian heavy crude costs. Western Canadian Choose’s low cost to benchmark West Texas Intermediate narrowed to $13.10 a barrel on Wednesday from $14 a barrel on Tuesday, in response to an individual conversant in costs.
Suncor Vitality Inc. curtailed manufacturing from its Firebag web site two weeks in the past, decreasing output from a facility that produced about 231,000 barrels a day in Might. The identical blaze prompted Cenovus Vitality Inc. to demobilize some employees from its Dawn oil-sands web site and Imperial Oil to start eradicating non-essential employees from its Kearl oil-sands mine.
Temperatures as excessive as 32C (90F) Wednesday, low relative humidity and winds gusting as much as 30 kilometers an hour in northeastern Alberta might contribute to “excessive fireplace behaviour” lasting for the subsequent few days, Alberta Wildfire mentioned in an replace.
The fireplace affecting Suncor, Cenovus and Imperial has moved nearer to the manufacturing websites in current days, as has an out-of-control wildfire about 9 kilometers to the south. Fires southwest of Fort McMurray have additionally affected manufacturing. Greenfire Assets Ltd. final weekend briefly curtailed output from its Hangingstone websites, which produces about 23,000 barrels a day.
(By Robert Tuttle)