Production curtailed as wildfire burns out of control near Suncor's Firebag oilsands site
CBC
Suncor Energy has curtailed production at its Firebag oilsands project in northern Alberta as a precaution due to an out-of-control wildfire burning nearby.
The company said it is monitoring the situation.
"In response to wildfires north of Firebag, we initiated our wildfire response plan. This included the temporary curtailment of some production and a move to essential personnel only at site," a Suncor spokesperson said in a statement Thursday night.
"The facility will be kept in a state that maintains readiness to resume full operations as soon as possible once it is safe to do so."
Suncor said there is currently no risk to its other operations or the Firebag airport.
Several wildfires near the Firebag River are being managed together as the Firebag Complex, Alberta Wildfire said in an update Thursday.
All are classified as being held, except for one, which is classified as out of control.
The wildfire, estimated at 2,119 hectares in size, is about 70 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray.
But it is significantly closer to several oilpatch facilities: it's about eight kilometres northeast of Suncor's Firebag site, 14 km northeast of Suncor's Firebag airport and 16 km east of Imperial Oil's Kearl oilsands site.
Imperial Oil said Thursday its operations were not affected, though it continues to monitor the situation closely.
"We are currently working with industry organizations that have infrastructure near these wildfires," Alberta Wildfire said.
Suncor's Firebag oilsands site is the company's largest in situ operation. In oilsands terminology, in situ means using steam to heat up and loosen underground bitumen that is too deep underground to be accessed through surface mining.
The facility produces up to 215,000 barrels of oil per day, and employs a fly-in, fly-out workforce from across the country.
The company's website says there are typically about 400 people at the site each day.
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