Canada’s oil sands industry prepares for annual maintenance

Categories: Canada


Every year Canada’s oil sands projects and refineries undergo essential maintenance known as turnarounds, which often involve temporarily shutting down production and can squeeze Canadian crude prices higher.

This year the maintenance season is average, union representatives said, and will peak in the second quarter with around 238,000 barrels per day of oil sands production being taken offline.

Oil Sands Projects:

Timing Company Project Start Date and Duration Quarterly Production Impact
Q2 Suncor Energy Base plant Starting week of May 13, undisclosed 60,000 bpd
Q2 Suncor Fort Hills Undisclosed 20,000 bpd
Q2 Suncor Syncrude Started end of Q1, to last until end of May 60,000 bpd
Q2 Canadian Natural Resources Ltd Horizon 30 days 89,000 bpd
Q2 Canadian Natural Resources Ltd Kirby North Starting in May, duration undisclosed Undisclosed
Q2 Imperial Oil Kearl Started first week of May, will last all month 6,000 bpd
Q2 Cenovus Energy Christina Lake Undisclosed 11,000-14,000 bpd
Q3 Cenovus Christina Lake Undisclosed 42,000-47,000 bpd
Q3 Imperial Oil Cold Lake Undisclosed 3,000 bpd
Q3 Suncor Base plant Undisclosed 25,000 bpd
Q3 Suncor Mackay River Undisclosed 10,000 bpd
Q4 Suncor Base plant Undisclosed 20,000 bpd

Refineries:

Timing Company Refinery Start Date and Duration Quarterly Production Impact
Q2 Suncor Montreal, Quebec Undisclosed 40,000 bpd
Q2 Suncor Sarnia, Ontario Undisclosed 25,000 bpd
Q2 Imperial Oil Strathcona, Alberta Started mid-April, to last until mid-May 5,000 bpd
Q2 Imperial Oil Sarnia, Ontario Started in early April, completed near end of April 5,000 bpd
Q2 Cenovus Energy Lloydminster, Alberta Undisclosed 42,000-46,000 bpd
Q3 Imperial Oil Nanticoke, Ontario Undisclosed 12,000 bpd
Q3 Imperial Oil Strathcona, Alberta Undisclosed 2,000 bpd
Q4 CNRL Scotford 49 days 1,400 bpd on an annual basis when combined with a Q1 turnaround

 

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia Editing by Marguerita Choy and Chizu Nomiyama)

View the full article from the original source

Leave a Reply