Firefighters Gain Control of One Blaze Threatening Oil Sands in Alberta

Firefighters gained control of one wildfire near the main oil-sands region of Alberta on Wednesday, but continued to battle a much larger blaze to the south that’s threatening the area’s biggest city.

The fire just north of Fort McMurray, located close to where massive oil-sands mines produce hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of crude, was downgraded to “being held” at less than a hectare (2.5 acres) in size overnight, leaving just one out-of-control conflagration in the province.

Meanwhile, southwest of the city, a much bigger blaze that prompted the evacuation of about 6,000 residents was downgraded to less than 20,000 hectares on Thursday after more accurate measurements, Christie Tucker, an Alberta Wildfire spokeswoman, said in a press conference.

Winds blowing from the east combined with rain are expected to help firefighters and reduce the threat to the city of about 70,000 people, Tucker said. Workers based in Fort McMurray help staff the surrounding oil-sands operations that produce the bulk of Canada’s 4.9 million barrels of daily crude output.

The larger blaze is a threat to almost 3% of the world’s crude and condensate supplies, Rystad Energy said in a report. “More than 2.1 million barrels per day of marketable oil sands output could be at risk should conditions materially worsen.”

So far, no oil-sands producer has reported operational disruptions. A devastating fire eight years ago leveled parts of Fort McMurray and forced the entire population to evacuate. That blaze shut more than 1 million barrels of daily oil output for weeks and caused about C$3.7 billion ($2.7 billion) in insured losses, making it Canada’s costliest natural disaster.

Operations at the oil-sands site closest to the out-of-control fire, Athabasca Oil Corp.’s Hangingstone well site, haven’t been affected by the blaze, the company said in an email late Wednesday. Bigger oil producers including Suncor Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Imperial Oil Ltd. said in emails that their operations continue.

More than 65% of Canada was abnormally parched or in drought at the end of March, threatening another smoke-filled summer after last year’s fire season, which was the nation’s worst on record.

Photograph: A helicopter carrying water flies during sunset to fight fires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, in 2016. Photo credit: Darryl Dyck/Bloomberg

Related:

• Oil-Sands Capital of Canada Now Grappling With Second Wildfire
• Update: Wildfire Threat to Oil-Sands Capital Expected to Ease as Winds Shift
• Canadian Crews Battle Wildfire Threatening Remote Western Town
• Western Canada Wildfires Prompt Evacuations, Air Quality Warnings
• ‘Zombie Fires’ Smoldering Near Oil and Gas Wells Threaten Canada’s Drillers