Canada Oil and Gas Cos React to Wildfires

In response to the forest fires in Alberta and British Columbia, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) has taken measures to protect the safety of its people and its assets, a company spokesperson told Rigzone late Monday.

“In areas where there have been mandatory evacuation orders issued by authorities, our priority is ensuring that all affected Canadian Natural workers, their families and community members are provided support during this challenging time,” the spokesperson said.

“As a result of multiple fires, Canadian Natural has completed the safe, temporary shut-in of all sites within proximity to wildfires. All workers are safe and accounted for, with no reported injuries,” the spokesperson added.

The CNRL representative informed Rigzone that the company has approximately 39,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production temporarily shut-in. CNRL’s oil sands mining operations have not been impacted and continue “with safe, steady operations”, the spokesperson revealed.

“Canadian Natural is closely monitoring the forest fires and changing conditions across Alberta and British Columbia with the health and safety of our teams being our first priority,” the CNRL spokesperson said.

“We thank the firefighters and first responders for their determination and efforts to protect people and infrastructure in the region,” the spokesperson added.

TC Energy

In a statement posted on its website on Monday, TC Energy said it is closely monitoring the wildfire situation in Western Canada and associated evacuation alerts/orders and said its priority is always the safety of its workers, their families, local and Indigenous communities and first responders.

“We continue to safely run under normal operations on our NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) System and other pipeline systems in Western Canada to serve our customers,” the company noted in the statement.

“As a result of the wildfires’ paths and proximity, this weekend we conducted the precautionary controlled shutdowns of two compressor stations on our NGTL System nearest to the active wildfires in western Alberta,” the company added.

“Late Sunday night, an additional compressor station on the system was shut down. We continue to monitor the situation closely. Our facilities are monitored 24/7 remotely and operations can be shutdown, as required,” the company continued.

In the statement, TC Energy said its regional operations team is supporting various activities in response to the wildfires “including plans for a safe return to service of these facilities as conditions in Alberta improve and evacuation alerts/orders are lifted”.

“With wildfire season upon us, we recognize the importance of supporting first responder organizations and community groups that are on the front lines of keeping communities safe,” the company said in the statement.

“Through our social impact program, TC Energy is working with organizations that will assist with long-term recovery needs in the affected communities,” the company added.

Cenovus

In a statement posted on its site on Monday, Cenovus Energy Inc. revealed that, on May 4, as a precaution, the company began shutting in a number of producing conventional fields and bringing down processing plants.

“Approximately 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production, primarily dry gas, has been impacted in the company’s Rainbow Lake, Kaybob-Edson, Elmworth-Wapiti and Clearwater operating areas,” Cenovus said in the statement.

“The overall wildfire situation is being closely monitored and the company’s other assets, including its oil sands assets and Lloydminster complex, have not been impacted. The company isn’t aware of any significant damage to date and will resume operations as soon as it’s safe and permitted to do so,” the company added.

In the statement, Cenovus highlighted that its annual guidance range for 2023 is between 790,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 810,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company said in the statement that it is maintaining that guidance range and added that it will continue to assess the duration of the production impact from the fires.

“Cenovus is grateful for the efforts of its teams who have worked tirelessly to keep the company’s people and assets safe, as well as the support of provincial emergency management teams and firefighters to keep our communities safe,” the company noted.

Crescent Point Energy

Crescent Point Energy Corp. revealed Monday that it has temporarily shut in its Kaybob Duvernay production in response to the wildfires.

“This precautionary measure is being taken by the company to protect the safety of its staff, the community, environment, and its assets,” the company said in a statement posted on its site.

“As a result, approximately 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production in the Kaybob Duvernay has been temporarily shut-in with a plan to restart production once safe and permitted to do so,” the company added.

“No damage has been reported to the company’s assets. Crescent Point staff are currently working with local officials, regulators, and industry partners during their response to the wildfires. The company is continually monitoring the situation and will provide an update when appropriate,” the company continued.

Vermilion Energy

Vermilion Energy Inc. said in a company statement yesterday that it is closely monitoring the wildfires surrounding its operations in West Central Alberta.

“We have accounted for all of our employees and contractors in the affected areas to ensure their safety, and have also taken the safe measure to temporarily shut-in approximately 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production while we assess the risk to our operations,” the company said in a statement posted on its site.

“Our assessment to date indicates minimal damage to our key infrastructure. Vermilion will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with the appropriate authorities,” Vermilion added.

“We would like to thank our staff and emergency responders for their tireless work in response to the wildfires,” the company went on to state.

Alberta, British Columbia Fires

In the latest update on its site at the time of writing, which was published on May 8, the Alberta government notes that there are currently 88 active wildfires in the forest protection area, 25 of which it says are classified as “out of control”. In an update posted on May 4, the site revealed that there were 72 active wildfires in Alberta.

More than 29,000 individuals have been evacuated from communities throughout north and central Alberta, the latest update highlighted.

A statement posted on the site on May 6 announced that Alberta had declared a provincial state of emergency “to ensure the safety, health and welfare of Albertans”.

According to the latest update posted on the British Columbia government website, which came on May 8, there are currently 62 active wildfires in the province, with two new fires over the past 24-hours. Of these 62 active incidents, 91 percent are under control or being held, the update noted, adding that only five active incidents remain out of control.

The statement highlighted that the BC Wildfire Service is also providing wildfire response support to Alberta and that it has deployed one Incident Management Team, structure protection crews and equipment.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com