Latest news with #AspenleafEnergy
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Etihad
Manitoba urges thousands to evacuate as Canada wildfires spread
29 May 2025 10:54 WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters)Manitoba declared a state of emergency and urged thousands of people in northern and eastern parts of the province to evacuate on Wednesday, as wildfires spread in Central and Western Premier Wab Kinew said at a news conference that 17,000 people needed to move quickly, including from the city of Flin Flon. Many will be put up at soccer fields and community centres in Winnipeg and other cities, and federal armed forces were arriving to help transport evacuees, he said."This is the largest evacuation in many Manitobans' living memory and this will require significant resources and cooperation from all levels of government, Kinew said in a wildfires in Alberta province have prompted a temporary shutdown of some oil and gas production and forced residents of at least one small town to producer Cenovus Energy ( said it was scaling back nonessential workers at its Foster Creek facility in response to the wildfires in northern Foster Creek operation is among several oil sands facilities operated by companies with assets in the Bonnyville-Cold Lake region was affected on Wednesday by wildfires spanning 2,900 hectares near Chipewyan Lake, a small community in the northern part of the province approximately 130 km west of the oil sands hub of Fort said it was closely monitoring the evolving wildfire situation and the staffing measure was a government officials said on Wednesday there was no current threat to Chipewyan Lake, but residents have been placed on a one-hour evacuation notice as winds could blaze, nearly 1,600 hectares in size, is burning out of control about 7 km north of Swan Hills, also in the province's north. The approximately 1,200 residents of Swan Hills were ordered to evacuate on Monday evening. One oil and gas producer in that area, Aspenleaf Energy, said on Monday it had temporarily halted operations as a precaution and shut in approximately 4,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent production.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Climate
- Indian Express
Canada wildfires: Manitoba declares emergency, seeks military help amid mass evacuations
The Canadian province of Manitoba has declared a state of emergency as wildfires swept across the region, prompting the evacuation of over 17,000 residents and the deployment of federal military assistance. Premier Wab Kinew called the situation 'the largest evacuation in most Manitobans' living memory.' 'The military is being called for help here because of the sheer scale of the 17,000 folks that we move relatively quickly,' Kinew said. 'I'm happy to say that Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed with the request.' Among the hardest-hit communities is Flin Flon, where roughly 5,000 residents were ordered to leave by midnight on Tuesday due to an advancing wildfire from neighbouring Saskatchewan. 'Everybody has to be out by midnight and that includes me,' said Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine. 'I'm busy packing a couple of things and everybody is getting as organised as we can.' Firefighting efforts were temporarily hampered when water bombers were grounded due to a drone sighting in the area. There are currently 22 active wildfires in Manitoba, with reinforcements arriving from across Canada. So far in 2025, Manitoba has recorded 102 wildfires — significantly higher than the seasonal average of 77 by this time, officials noted. The province is bracing for an intense wildfire season that typically runs from May through September. While Manitoba fights to contain fires, neighbouring Alberta is also facing escalating wildfire threats. Several oil and gas operations have been affected. Separately, a 1,600-hectare blaze burning near Swan Hills prompted the evacuation of approximately 1,200 residents on Monday. Aspenleaf Energy, an oil and gas producer in the area, has halted operations and shut in about 4,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent production. (With inputs from AP, BBC)
Reuters
27-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Wildfire in Alberta disrupts oil operations and prompts evacuations
CALGARY, May 27 (Reuters) - A wildfire in the Canadian province of Alberta prompted the temporary shutdown of some oil and gas production and forced residents of a small town to evacuate. The blaze, which Alberta Wildfire said is approximately 1,600 hectares in size, is burning out of control about 7 km north of the town of Swan Hills in the northern part of the province. Oil-and-gas producer Aspenleaf Energy, which has wells in the area, evacuated its local field staff and temporarily halted operations, shutting in approximately 4,000 barrels-of-oil-equivalent per day of production. CEO Bryan Gould said in an interview the fire was about 10 km from Aspenleaf's facilities Monday evening, adding the company's decision to shut in production was made out of an abundance of caution. Canadian Natural Resources ( opens new tab, Canada's largest oil-and-gas producer, also has operations in the Swan Hills area. The company has not responded to a request for comment. The approximately 1,200 residents of the town of Swan Hills were ordered to evacuate on Monday evening. Evacuees were directed to a reception centre in the nearby town of Whitecourt, approximately a 50-minute drive to the south. Another smaller wildfire, approximately 390 hectares in size, is burning out of control in Yellowhead County, in western Alberta. The blazes are Alberta's first significant fires this spring, following a that was one of the most destructive on record, largely due to the devastation caused by a blaze that ripped through Jasper, a tourist town in the Canadian Rockies. Wildfires have hit oil and gas production in Canada several times in the past decade. Last year, Suncor Energy ( opens new tab, Canada's second-largest oil sands producer, temporarily curtailed production at its Firebag complex due to a nearby blaze. In May of 2023, companies shut in at least 319,000 boepd, or 3.7% of Canada's total production, as more than 100 wildfires burned in Alberta. In 2016, thousands of oil sands workers were evacuated as a monster wildfire destroyed part of the community of Fort McMurray, forcing companies to reduce their oil output by a million barrels per day.
