(Adds quotes from wildfire officials, status of wildfires, TC
Energy restarting operations)
By Nia Williams
May 10 (Reuters) - A number of oil and gas companies in
Canada's main crude-producing province Alberta restarted
shuttered production on Wednesday as wildfires that sparked
widespread evacuations eased, although officials warned
conditions could deteriorate.
Producers shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day (boepd), or 3.7% of the country's production, earlier
this week as more than 100 fires ignited across Alberta, forcing
nearly 30,000 people to flee their homes.
By Wednesday there were 78 active wildfires across the
province, of which 24 were classed as out-of-control, and nearly
18,000 people remained under evacuation orders.
Producers Crescent Point Energy and Tourmaline Oil
Corp , and pipeline company TransCanada Corp restarted facilities that had been shut down as a precaution.
Christie Tucker, information unit manager with Alberta
Wildfire, said cooler weather in southern and central Alberta
had allowed firefighters to make progress but high temperatures,
especially in the north of the province, were expected to
return.
So far this year there have been 421 wildfires in Alberta
and 410,000 hectares (1 million acres) burned.
"For context that's about double average area burned for the
entire wildfire season, and it's only May 10," Tucker told a
press conference.
Crescent Point shut in 45,000 boepd in the Kaybob Duvernay
region in response to the wildfires but said it has since
restored approximately 75% of that production with no damage to
its assets.
The company "plans to fully restore the remaining production
once it is safe to do so", Crescent Point said in a news
release.
Tourmaline said seven of its nine facilities that were shut
in because of wildfires have resumed operations and are back to
previous production rates.
Its two remaining facilities, representing about 16,000
boepd of production, are undamaged. The company said it is
waiting for clearance from the Alberta government before
restarting those facilities, likely in the next several days.
TC Energy said it has restarted all compressor units that
were shut down due to wildfire precautions. On Monday the
company shut down two compressor stations on its NGTL gas
pipeline system, which connects most of the natural gas produced
in western Canada to domestic and export markets.
(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia, Sourasis Bose
in Bengaluru and Scott DiSavino in New York; editing by Diane
Craft and Stephen Coates)
Messaging: nia.williams.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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