Alberta oil operators demobilise to protect assets, assist devastated communities

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Alberta oil sands operators on Thursday further scaled back operations to only critical staff levels as gigantic walls of fire engulfed and devoured entire neighbourhoods in the regional hub of oil sands operations in Fort McMurray.

The Alberta government stated that public safety remained the key priority as the wildfire in Fort McMurray continued to burn. Provincial fire crews continued their efforts to reduce the threat to property and infrastructure.

The Alberta government had declared a provincial state of emergency, which saw the largest fire evacuation in Canada’s history. The mandatory evacuation order remained in effect Thursday morning and about 80 000 residents had been displaced. Residents, some of whom had to evacuate twice already as the fires spread south, were advised not to try return home.

PLANT SHUT DOWNS
Oil and gas major Suncor Energy advised on Thursday that it had conducted an orderly shutdown of its base plant operations as a result of the fires in the Wood Buffalo regional municipality (RMWB) and in consideration of the safety of people and the community.

"First and foremost, we're doing what we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees, their families and members of the broader community," stated Suncor president and CEO Steve Williams. He added that, with the reduced availability of diluent in the region, Suncor's in situ facility operations were running at reduced rates.

Syncrude facilities were also operating at reduced rates and all of Suncor's operations in the RMWB region remained in safe condition.

Shell Canada had also shut down production at its 255 000 bl/d Albion Sands mining operations. "While our operations are currently far from the fires (our site is about 95 km north of Fort McMurray), we have shut down production at our Shell Albian Sands mining operations so we can focus on getting families out of the region. Efforts to maintain necessary operations at site are ongoing and staff are actively monitoring the fires," a Shell Canada spokesperson told Mining Weekly Online.

TSX-listed Athabasca Oil also reported no impact on the company's operations at Hangingstone, despite the fires passing within 15 km north of the project. It said it was monitoring the situation closely, and confirmed that a response plan was under way. The company said it was in communication with the appropriate government agencies and was taking proactive measures to truck diluent to site as Inter Pipelines' Polaris diluent line had also been temporarily shut in.

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
Federal party leaders made statements of support in the House of Commons on Thursday, which saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing that the federal government would match individual donations to the Canadian Red Cross to help those affected by the wildfire in Fort McMurray. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley had also stated that government would match donations.

Suncor’s Williams stated that it had demobilised its noncritical staff to ensure that enough space was available for employees, their families and other Fort McMurray residents at its camps.

“We've activated our humanitarian grant programme and, through the Suncor Energy Foundation, we have made a preliminary grant to the Red Cross of $150 000, in addition to matching employee donations. We will continue to support the relief effort and work closely with the regional emergency response to help coordinate the evacuation efforts,” he stated.

Shell’s work camp, the Albian Village, was now open to any evacuated Fort McMurray residents who needed a safe place to stay.  Shell said the evacuees continued to arrive throughout Wednesday evening and into Thursday. Capacity at the Village was 2 000 but beds and food remained available as families left by plane. According to Shell, 25 flights had departed from the Albian airstrip on Thursday and flights would continue to be open to all evacuees. New aircraft were constantly arriving with critical medications and supplies.

“Our hearts go out to those affected by the wildfire in Fort McMurray. Our people live in this community and we are doing everything we can to support our employees, contractors, friends and neighbours during this difficult time,” said Shell Canada president and country chair Michael Crothers.

Shell emergency response teams were on the ground in Fort McMurray supporting local and provincial fire crews and the company was providing fuel for first responders in the region. It said it would continue to support relief efforts in various ways.

Athabasca Oil would continue to assist the community “in any way possible”, and had also offered all available beds at the Hangingstone site to emergency workers or anyone else who might need shelter during this “tragic time”.

Analysts believed Alberta would need significant federal aid as a direct result of this wildfire, as the province was out of money owing to the downturn in crude oil prices.