Oilsands production drops 25 per cent in May on fallout from Alberta wildfires

CALGARY — The wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alta., helped lead to a 25 per cent drop in oilsands production in May, according to the latest data from the Alberta Energy Regulator.

The numbers released Thursday show upgraded and non-upgraded oilsands production for May totalled 48.7-million barrels, down from just under 65-million barrels in April.

The massive wildfires forced producers to shut down crude operations as a precaution, with the full effects on production not yet known since many companies had operations halted well into June and even into July.

Non-oilsands production in Alberta, which escaped the effects of the fire, saw a slight increase in production to 15.2-million barrels of oil.  

The impact of the wildfires is showing in quarter results, with Suncor Energy saying late Wednesday it had a net loss of $735 million after failing to produce about 20-million barrels of upgraded and raw bitumen because of the fires.

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The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates the Fort McMurray wildfire to be the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history with about $3.58-billion in damages expected, though oil producers are largely excluded from insurance claims because most facilities weren’t damaged.

The Canadian Press