Achi news desk-
Canadian energy producers say they are ready and prepared for what could be another spring and summer of drought and wildfires in Western Canada.
Much of this country’s largest conventional oil and gas drilling is operating in regions affected last year by severe hot and dry weather conditions.
As early as early last May, oil and gas companies in northwestern and central Alberta as well as northeastern BC found themselves temporarily halting production as wildfires raged across key fossil fuel producing regions.
Most of the cuts were made on a precautionary basis and there was no significant damage to energy production infrastructure.
Now, as this year’s snow melts and spring-like conditions return to Western Canada, oil and gas producers are bracing for what could be another fiery year. In late February, the Alberta government announced an early start to wildfire season, warning of unusually dry conditions and low snow cover.
“I think we are paid to worry about everything on behalf of the shareholders, and we do. But you know, we control these things,” Jonathan Wright, CEO of NuVista Energy Ltd., said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Toronto, where he was attending the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ annual conference.
NuVista, a Calgary-based company, temporarily closed all of its facilities in Grande Prairie, Alta. area last May when fires made it impossible to access the company’s sites on the road.
The precautionary shutdown resulted in a temporary production impact for NuVista of about 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for much of May, or about 43 percent of the company’s overall production.
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While no one knows what will happen this year, Wright said NuVista will “stay completely ahead” of the wildfire situation at all times – through regular emergency response drills on work sites, as well as using imagery Satellite to track the course and progression of any fires.
“We learned quickly (last year) when fires were coming into the area that we needed to track those fires,” Wright said.
“And so there’s a NASA fire tracking website that our field workers watch very closely whenever there’s a fire risk … That allows you to predict well in advance if and when you need to close any facilities.”
Many of the fires that burned last year in Western Canada continued to smolder as subsurface hot spots throughout the winter, and are now burning as the snow melts and temperatures warm.
A provincial government map shows 51 active wildfires in Alberta this week, although all are listed as either under control or sustained.
Drought is also expected to be a risk for energy producers this year, particularly in the Montney region of northeastern BC and northwestern Alberta, where natural gas operators use large amounts of water for hydraulic fracturing.
As of March 31, the federal government’s drought monitoring website classified the majority of the Montney oil and gas producing areas as either under “extreme” or “severe” drought conditions.
“It’s dry conditions and they didn’t get the snowpack they usually do,” said Chris Carlsen, CEO of Birchcliff Energy Ltd., which has operations in the Montney.
But Carlsen, speaking by phone Tuesday from the CAPP conference, said his company has built its own system of water storage reservoirs over the years and is confident it has enough water saved to carry out its program. drilling 2024.
“Specifically for Birchcliff, we have 30 wells this year, so we need 600,000 cubic meters (of water) give or take and we have that ourselves,” Carlsen said.
He added that once stored water is used, however, additional droughts in 2025 and beyond could become much more challenging.
“I think it’s a question of what will happen this spring? Are we going to have a wet spring where we are going to be able to collect some water for our 2025 program? I think that is more of a concern from our point of view,” said Carlsen.
Brad Wells, head of energy at BMO Capital Markets, said that while the weather is unpredictable, drought and wildfires are significant risks that Canada’s energy sector needs to be prepared for this year.
“I think there is potential for water restrictions to affect (well) completion activity, and water is being drawn from the Athabasca River for the oil sands. So (drought) is definitely something we’re watching,” Wells said from Toronto, where BMO is sponsoring the conference.
“And I think wildfires are a risk that energy producers may have to deal with. Ultimately these things are hard to predict … but it’s definitely a risk that needs to be considered.”
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
