Raging Western Canadian wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes are now also prompting evacuations from oilsands projects in northern Alberta.
A fire near Cold Lake, Alberta is bearing down on oilsands operations and curtailing production in the region as employees are told to leave. Out-of-control fires in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are threatening towns and mining operations as crews fight to contain the blazes.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the largest oil and gas producer in the country, said Saturday it had evacuated workers from its Jackfish 1 oilsands project and halted 36,500 barrels per day of bitumen production.
“All workers are safe and accounted for with no reported injuries,” the Calgary-based company said in a statement.
Similarly, MEG Energy Corp. said late Saturday it had “proactively” evacuated all non-essential personnel from its Christina Lake project and that the wildfire had caused an outage to a third-party power line, disconnecting it from the grid.
The company said it is still producing oil from the project, though the startup of an additional 70,000 barrels per day of production will be delayed as a result of the power loss.
“We are working closely with authorities and coordinating with our industry peers to support each other and resume normal operations,” MEG President and CEO Darlene Gates said in a statement.
Earlier, Cenovus Energy Inc. put customers on notice that it may not make some oil deliveries from one asset and evacuated staff from another in the Cold Lake region.
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