Canadian oil producers halt operations after fire

Oil producers halted operations after wildfires in Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing region.

Cooler weather in Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing region, has helped firefighters try to put out widespread wildfires, but the government said it could take months to get all the blazes under control.

FIRE CAUSED PRODUCTION TO STOP

Alberta declared a state of emergency after the fires broke out over the weekend and displaced nearly 30,000 people. The fires have caused oil producers to halt production equivalent to at least 280,000 barrels per day.

This amount corresponds to more than 3 percent of the oil produced in Canada.

As the fourth largest producer of crude oil in the world, 80% of Canada’s oil is produced in Alberta. As the fires mainly affected light oil and natural gas producers, producers halted operations as a precaution.

Yesterday it was announced that 98 fires are still active in the country, and about 30 of them are at an “uncontrollable” level.

More than 700 firefighters have been deployed, while Alberta has requested 1,000 more firefighters from other regions. Officials said the requested firefighters are expected to arrive next week. (Reuters)