Alberta Forest Fire Halts Shell Oil-Sands Operation
May 04 2016 - 1:00PM
Dow Jones News
CALGARY, Alberta—Raging forest fires in Canada's oil-rich
province of Alberta forced the closure of one major oil-sands
mining operation on Wednesday and reduced output at another, a day
after tens of thousands of people evacuated a remote community that
serves as a hub for the oil-sands industry.
The rapid spread of the blaze emptied the town of Fort McMurray
of some 80,000 residents and has started to affect operations at
major oil-sands productions sites. The oil-sands facilities aren't
directly threatened by the uncontrolled forest fires, but have been
affected by the mandatory evacuations of workers and their
families.
Many of the oil-sands sites opened their worker camps to
evacuees and operators have sent nonessential staff out of the
area. No injuries or casualties have been reported, but the fires
swept through areas in and around Fort McMurray. Local authorities
didn't have an estimate for the number of homes or other properties
damaged or destroyed.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Canadian unit halted its oil-sands
mining operations, which produce about 250,000 barrels a day, to
speed evacuations of people who fled to the site, which is about 95
kilometers (59 miles) north of the fires. A spokesman didn't
provide an estimate for how long the shutdown is expected to
last.
Suncor Energy Inc., Canada's largest oil producer by volume,
said late Tuesday that it reduced production at all of its
oil-sands operations due to the forced evacuations. It also said
that none of its operations are in the path of the forest fires.
Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Canadian unit, Imperial Oil Ltd., said it was
evacuating nonessential employees but that production hasn't been
affected "at this time," according to a spokeswoman.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he has pledged
support for the residents of Fort McMurray and the province of
Alberta.
"We will be there for them," Mr. Trudeau said Wednesday. "We all
have to work together to provide all possible assistance to the
people who are going through a terrible time, who have lost their
homes, lost their jobs and have lost all their property. They are
asking a lot of questions about their future."
The uncontrolled fires have razed parts of several residential
neighborhoods, entered the downtown district and threatened a key
bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of town,
officials said.
"The worst of the fire is not over," Bernie Schmitte, wildfire
manager for Alberta's agriculture and forestry ministry, said at a
news conference late Tuesday. The evacuation order remains in
effect.
Canada's total oil-sands production is around 2 million barrels
a day, much of which is exported to the U.S.
Oil-sands producers have opened worker camps north of Fort
McMurray to about 17,000 evacuees and flew out employees not based
in the area to make room for displaced residents, Mr. Schmitte told
reporters.
The fires, which started late Sunday, spread from a forested
area southwest of Fort McMurray and crossed the Athabasca River
bisecting the town Monday. They began to threaten residential
neighborhoods by midday Tuesday, prompting evacuations.
Firefighters were overwhelmed by the blaze and were unable to
stop it despite aerial and ground-based efforts.
"I don't believe there's anything [that] could have been done
with respect to firefighting that would have saved any more
property," said Darby Allen, Fort McMurray's regional fire
chief.
The town is located in a remote area of northern Alberta
surrounded by boreal forests consisting largely of jack pine and
other fir trees.
Southbound traffic on Highway 63, the city's main arterial road,
resumed late Tuesday after being shut down earlier in the day as a
precautionary measure due to the wildfires. An estimated 18,000
evacuees used the road to flee to Edmonton, about 430 kilometers
(267 miles) south of Fort McMurray.
Unseasonably warm temperatures and dry weather helped ignite 35
wildfires throughout Alberta by midday Tuesday, and a provincewide
fire ban is in place, according to the provincial government.
David George-Cosh and Paul Vieira contributed to this
article.
Write to Chester Dawson at chester.dawson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 04, 2016 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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