Production Halted at Athabasca Oil Sands Project
The Athabasca Oil Sands Project started pumping bitumen extracted from the mine's oil-laden sands on December 29, 2002. The crude flows via pipeline to Shell's Scotford refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, for processing into synthetic oil.
"It's too early to tell at this time either the cause or the effect on the start-up process," Shell Canada spokeswoman Patty Richards said. All employees were accounted for and only one required minor first aid after the blasts, which occurred shortly after midnight in the froth treatment unit, which processes diluted bitumen. The fire was extinguished after slightly more than two hours.
The project is Alberta's third major oil sands mining and synthetic crude production project, following those operated nearby by Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. The Athabasca project has a capacity of 155,000 barrels a day, although output was not nearly at that level yet because it is still in start-up mode, Richards said.
Shell Canada has a 60 percent stake in the project. Its partners are ChevronTexaco Corp. and Western Oil Sands Ltd. with 20 percent each.
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Oil Demand Outpaces Expectations, Testing Calculus on Peak Crude
- House Passes Protecting American Energy Production Act
- TotalEnergies Restarts Production in Denmark's Biggest Gas Field
- USA Oil and Gas Job Figures Jump
- Republican Lawmakers Say IEA Has Abandoned Energy Security Mission
- Blockchain Demands Attention in Oil and Gas
- Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of Retaliation If It Backs USA Attacks
- Macquarie Sees USA Oil Production Exiting 2024 at 14MM Barrels Per Day
- Summer Pump Prices Set to Hit $4 a Gallon Just as Americans Hit the Road
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension