Production of bitumen at
The fire resulted from explosions in the froth treatment area, where the bitumen is cleaned before being piped to the upgrader and processed into synthetic crude oil.
No one was seriously injured.
The cause of the explosion is being investigated, and at presstime there was no word as to when operations might resume.
The mine is part of the Athabasca oil sands project, jointly owned by Shell Canada (60%),
At full steam, the project is expected to produce 155,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil daily — enough to cover up to 10% of Canada’s oil needs. Muskeg River hosts an estimated resource of 1.65 billion barrels of bitumen. The mine life is pegged at 30 years.
The fire is only the latest setback for the project, which has seen initial capital estimates nearly double to $5.7 billion. The increase is attributed to a shortage of labour.
Shell Canada’s shares dropped $1.20 to $48.48 in Toronto on Jan. 6.
The Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch/Shell Group owns 78% of Shell Canada.
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