Wildfires blazing across the Province of Alberta have once again disrupted Canada’s oil production.
Fires currently underway have impacted more than 344,000 barrels per day of oil production in Alberta, representing about 7% of Canada’s total crude output.
The disruption comes after the industry hub of Fort McMurray evacuated workers from their sites over the weekend and shutdown production as a precaution.
%CanadianNaturalResources (NYSE: $CNQ) said it evacuated workers from its main Alberta site, shutting down 36,500 barrels per day of bitumen production.
%CenovusEnergy (NYSE: $CVE) said it evacuated non-essential personnel from its oil sands site, and shutdown 238,000 barrels per day of crude oil production.
Wildfires have also impacted Alberta’s conventional (not oil sands) production. Canada currently produces 4.9 million barrels of oil each day.
Alberta is currently dealing with 49 active wildfires. Additionally, there are 24 wildfires in the Province of Manitoba and 16 fires in neighbouring Saskatchewan.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said that some 400,000 hectares (988,422 acres) have now burned in the province, up from only 9,000 a week ago.
In recent days, 5,000 people have been evacuated in Alberta as the fires intensify and spread.
Wildfires have disrupted oil and gas production in Canada several times over the past decade.
Last year, %SuncorEnergy (NYSE: $SU), Canada’s second-largest %Oil sands producer, had to curtail production due to a wildfire blaze.
In May of 2023, companies’ shutdown 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 3.7% of Canada’s total production, as more than 100 wildfires burned across Alberta.
