Cenovus Demobilizes Some Sunrise Oil Sands Staff Due to Wildfire

The Sunrise site lies about 60 kilometres northeast of the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray and produced about 48,900 barrels per day (bpd) in 2023.

The oil and gas company said its operations remain unaffected, but staff who are not directly involved in operations at Sunrise are being demobilized.

“We are in close contact with provincial and municipal agencies and supporting their efforts in the area,” Cenovus said in a statement.

Imperial Oil, whose Kearl oil sands mine is about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, said its operations had been not affected at present.

Last week, Suncor Energy shut down its 215,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Firebag oil sands site in northern Alberta and curtailed some production due to the wildfires.

There are close to 60 active wildfires across Alberta.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)