Spreading Canadian wildfires prompt more evacuation warnings, oil production worries
Recasts throughout
By Nia Williams and Mrinalika Roy
July 24 (Reuters) -Hundreds of uncontrolled wildfires burned across western Canada on Wednesday, putting more communities under evacuation alert and raising concerns about the blazes impacting Canadian crude production.
There are 430 active wildfires in British Columbia and 177 active wildfires in Alberta, including more than a dozen in the Fort McMurray region, Canada's key oil sands hub.
This week British Columbia was hit by more than 58,000 lightning strikes, according to the provincial wildfire agency, sparking scores of new blazes in forests that are tinder-dry after a three-week heat wave.
Around 25,000 people, including residents and visitors, were forced to evacuate the popular tourist town of Jasper, Alberta, and its surroundings early Tuesday as a wildfire neared.
The Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline, which can carry 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Edmonton to Vancouver and runs through Jasper National Park, said on Wednesday it was still operating safely and using sprinklers to protect its infrastructure.
Alberta officials said 17,500 residents had been forced to leave their homes because of wildfires, while British Columbia has issued 19 evacuation orders and 28 evacuation alerts.
Many communities in western Canada are blanketed by thick smoke, including Alberta's largest city Calgary where residents were advised to limit time outdoors.
Imperial Oil IMO.TO said it has reduced non-essential staff at its 275,000-bpd Kearl oil sands site, approximately 70 km north of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta as a precaution.
Imperial said there was no direct impact on operations at the moment and it continues to monitor the situation closely.
Earlier this month Suncor SU.TO, Canada's second-largest oil company, temporarily curtailed some production and evacuated non-essential workers from its 215,000-bpd Firebag site because of a nearby fire.
About two-thirds of Canada's five million barrels per day of production comes from the oil sands region and the worsening wildfire situation is fuelling concerns among some analysts that production could be cut significantly.
"While wildfires have already forced some producers to curtail production, these fires still threaten a large amount of supply," ING Group analysts said in a research note.
The small curtailments so far have been offset by a drop in demand after storms in Illinois forced Exxon Mobil's XOM.N Joliet refinery, a major consumer of Canadian heavy crude, offline for a week, one Calgary-based trader said.
The wildfire danger level is designated as "extreme" across the Fort McMurray forest area and a fire ban is in effect for the entire area, the Alberta government said on Tuesday, adding that one major blaze is less than 7 km away from industrial facilities, but containment lines were mostly holding.
Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sandra Maler
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
