On July 4, Suncor Energy Inc., one of the largest oil sands producers in Canada, elected to curtail production at its Firebag production site due to the proximity of a nearby wildfire. Firebag is an in-situ bitumen facility (meaning that the bitumen is heated by steam that is pumped underground in order to heat the bitumen and allow for its extraction to the surface by wells) located 120 kilometers (~73 miles) to the northeast of the city of Fort McMurray. The curtailment is precautionary in nature and no personnel have been injured or production facilities damaged at this time. Based on data provided by the Alberta Energy Regulator, Firebag’s production in April 2024 was 236 Mb/d of bitumen (rightmost column in chart below), above its nameplate capacity of 215 Mb/d, most of which is sent to Suncor’s nearby upgrader where it is processed into synthetic crude oil.
Featured Articles
- Analyst Insight
Wildfire Prompts Suncor to Curtail Output at its Firebag Oil Sands Production Site
Suncor has shut down its Firebag oil sands production facility as July 4 due to a nearby wildfire, affecting about 6% of Alberta's total oil production. Time to restart is not known at this time.
- Analyst Insight
Alberta Oil Sands Output Quickly Recovers After Easing of Wildfire Threat
After a 200 Mb/d production curtailment resulting from a wildfire threat, Alberta's oil sands output appears to have fully recovered from its brief downturn.
- Blog
Turn Around, Look at Me - Maintenance to Curb Alberta's Synthetic Crude Oil Production This Spring
Production of synthetic crude oil that is processed from Alberta’s oil sands reached record highs at the end of 2020 after touching on two year lows just four months earlier. However, these highs could be undermined and sink to four-year lows for a short period of time this spring with what appears to be a heavier than usual slate of maintenance work on three of Alberta’s four upgraders, the immense processing units that produce synthetic crude oil from bitumen. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the upgraders, the timing of maintenance, and what this might mean for synthetic crude oil production and exports.
