The Kearl oil sands project operates near Fort McMurray, Alta. on June 13, 2017.Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press
The partial shutdown of a diluent supply pipeline following a spill near Fort McMurray has halted production at the Kearl oil sands mining operation in northern Alberta, operator Imperial Oil Ltd. said Wednesday.
Analysts say the anticipated withdrawal of thousands of barrels of bitumen a day from the market is already affecting crude prices.
The facilities are to be kept ready to be restarted as soon as the pipeline is back in service and diluent supply is restored, Calgary-based Imperial said in a news release, adding it is looking at other unspecified options.
An Imperial spokesman declined to say how much production is being sidelined or offer other details.
“While this new development will be negative towards our short-term estimates, timing is uncertain, and we will adjust volumes accordingly once we have more information,” said National Bank analyst Travis Wood in a report.
Kearl is 29-per-cent owned by Imperial’s American parent, Exxon Mobil Corp., and has the capacity to produce about 240,000 barrels per day of bitumen, about 170,000 bpd net to Imperial.
Operator Inter Pipeline Ltd. shut down a segment of its two-legged Polaris system on Saturday following a leak detected on Crown recreational land just east of the Fort McMurray airport in northern Alberta.
The pipeline system is used to move light petroleum such as condensate from Edmonton to the region, where it is used by oilsands companies to dilute heavy bitumen, enabling it to flow in a pipeline to market.
In a report on Wednesday, RBC analyst Greg Pardy said the outage is only affecting the west leg of the pipeline system, which supplies Kearl and the Sunrise thermal oilsands facility, co-owned by Husky Energy Inc. and partner BP.
In a brief e-mail, Husky spokeswoman Kim Guttormson confirmed the company is affected but offered few details.
“Re: Polaris, we are being impacted by the shutdown, however we have other options to help mitigate the effects,” she said.
The east leg supplies Cenovus Energy Inc.’s Foster Creek and Christina Lake thermal oil sands operations, Mr. Pardy said. A Cenovus spokesman confirmed they are not affected.
A spokesman for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said its operations are also not affected by the outage.
Sunrise requires about 21,000 bpd of diluent to transport daily output of about 45,000 barrels of bitumen, said Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick in a note to investors early Wednesday.
He added Kearl requires about 50,000 bpd of diluent when it is producing near its capacity.
The anticipated loss of production has already caused the price discount for bitumen-blend Western Canadian Select crude to narrow compared with U.S. benchmark crude, Mr. Skolnick said.
In 2019, the Polaris system transported an average of about 238,000 bpd of diluent, Inter Pipeline says on its website.
A spokeswoman said Tuesday she couldn’t say how much diluent is still being delivered or when the line is expected to be back in service.
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