Factbox: Alberta wildfire shuts in at least 2% of Canadian energy production

Alberta Declares State of Emergency as Wildfires Impact Energy Companies

On May 8, Canada's main oil-producing province of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency due to wildfires, leading to the shutting in of at least 185,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or about 2% of the country's production. The wildfires have also impacted several energy companies' operations, including Paramount Resources, Crescent Point Energy, NuVista Energy, Vermilion Energy, Pipestone Energy, Baytex Energy, Kiwetinohk Energy, Tourmaline Oil, Cenovus Energy, Whitecap Resources, and TC Energy.

Reductions in Canadian natural gas exports to the United States were recorded on Sunday, with exports falling to 6.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), the lowest level since April 2021, according to Refinitiv data. Most of the reductions were on pipes from Canada to the U.S. Midwest, including Enbridge Inc, Pembina Pipeline Corp's Alliance pipe, TC Energy Corp's Great Lakes pipe, Northern Border pipe, and its Gas Transmission Northwest pipe.

Following are the energy companies whose operations have been impacted due to wildfires:

Paramount Resources Ltd:

Paramount Resources said its operations in the Grande Prairie and Kaybob regions were impacted by the wildfires, with about 50,000 boepd of production temporarily curtailed since May 5.

Crescent Point Energy Corp:

Crescent Point said about 45,000 boepd of production in the Kaybob Duvernay region has been temporarily shut in, with a plan to restart production once safe and permitted to do so. The company added that no damage has been reported to its assets.

NuVista Energy Ltd:

NuVista Energy said it has temporarily shut in and depressurized all operations proximal to the ongoing fires in the Grande Prairie region, with a temporary production impact of about 40,000 boepd.

 

Vermilion Energy Inc:

Vermilion Energy said it had temporarily shut in about 30,000 boepd of production and was assessing the risk to its operations. The company said its assessment to date indicates minimal damage to its key infrastructure.

Pipestone Energy Corp:

Pipestone Energy said its operations in the Grande Prairie area are being impacted by the ongoing wildfires, with about 20,000 boepd of production temporarily curtailed since May 5. The company said it is not aware of any significant damage or loss to its owned or third-party infrastructure.

Baytex Energy Corp:

Baytex Energy said that due to the shut-in of third-party infrastructure in west-central and northwest Alberta, about 10,000 boepd of sales volumes have been curtailed since May 5. Currently, about 60% of the curtailed volumes remain online and are producing into inventory.

Pembina Pipeline Corp:

Pembina Pipeline Corp said that its Saturn I and II gas plants at the Saturn Complex north of Hinton and the Duvernay Complex, west of Fox Creek, have been shut down. The plants have a combined processing capacity of 443 million cubic feet per day and they would be restarted once it is safe to do so.

Kiwetinohk Energy Corp:

Kiwetinohk Energy said it had safely shut in the majority of its Placid operations in response to downstream third-party interruptions that are in proximity to the Alberta wildfires.

Tourmaline Oil Corp:

Tourmaline Oil said it has evacuated and shut down nine South and West Deep Basin gas processing facilities. The company said it was not aware of any damage to those facilities to date, and access to the sites is currently prohibited.