Wildfires in Alberta this year have reduced production from the oil sands — the world’s third-largest crude reserves — and forced a partial evacuation of Fort McMurray in May. A new bout of hot weather has inflamed fire activity in recent weeks, with more than 50 out-of-control blazes burning in the Alberta currently and more than 10% of the province’s oil output under threat.
One 3-hectare (7-acre) fire is within about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of MEG Energy Corp.’s Christina Lake site, which produced almost 100,000 barrels a day in May, according to Alberta Energy Regulator data. Another blaze is within 10 kilometers of a section of Imperial Oil Ltd.’s Cold Lake operation that produces 19,000 barrels per day, and a third is close to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s Kirby oil sands. Emails to all three companies weren’t immediately returned.
The fires helped boost Canadian heavy crude prices. Western Canadian…
