Alberta wildfire disrupts oil production and forces evacuations

Wildfires in Alberta, Canada forced the temporary shut-down of oil and gas production. Residents of a small community were also forced to evacuate.

Alberta Wildfire estimates that the blaze is 1,600 hectares and is burning uncontrollably about 7 km north-northeast of Swan Hills, in the northern part.

Oil-and-gas producer Aspenleaf Energy, which has wells in the area, evacuated its local field staff and temporarily halted operations, shutting in approximately 4,000 barrels-of-oil-equivalent per day of production.

In an interview, CEO Bryan Gould stated that the fire occurred about 10 kilometers from Aspenleaf facilities on Monday evening. He added that the decision by the company to stop production was taken out of a sense of caution.

Canadian Natural Resources is Canada's biggest oil and gas producer. They also have operations in Swan Hills. The company did not respond to a comment request.

On Monday evening, the approximately 1,200 residents in Swan Hills were told to evacuate. The evacuees have been directed to the reception centre located in Whitecourt, a nearby town about 50 minutes to the south.

In western Alberta, a smaller wildfire of approximately 390 ha in size is out-of-control in Yellowhead County.

These are Alberta's most significant wildfires of this spring. The 2024 fire season was one that had been among the most destructive in history, due largely to the destruction caused by the blaze that destroyed Jasper, an important tourist town located in the Canadian Rockies.

In the last decade, wildfires have affected oil and gas production several times. Suncor Energy, Canada’s second largest oil sands company, temporarily curtailed its Firebag Complex due to an adjacent fire.

Alberta's wildfires will burn more than 100 times in May 2023. This means that companies will have to shut down at least 319,000 boepd or 3.7% of Canada’s total production.

In 2016, oil sands employees were forced to evacuate as a massive wildfire destroyed a part of Fort McMurray. This caused companies to cut their oil production by one million barrels a day. (Reporting and editing by David Gregorio in Calgary)

(source: Reuters)