Suncor Energy confirms steam leak at Firebag oil sands site, says incident is resolved

The Suncor Firebag oil sands facility seen near Fort McMurray, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Canada’s Suncor Energy confirmed on Wednesday that an uncontrolled steam leak occurred from a well at its Firebag oil sands site in northern Alberta last week.

A Suncor spokesperson said the well issue is now resolved and production at the site is unaffected. Firebag produces up to 215,000 barrels per day, according to Suncor’s website.

Suncor said the release of steam resulted in “mist” falling onto the associated well pad and migrating onto property outside of the Firebag site.

The company did not say what caused the incident or how long clean-up efforts will take.

The Alberta Energy Regulator said on Wednesday it is on site at Firebag working to ensure compliance with regulations.

Firebag is an in situ oil sands operation, meaning steam is used to loosen the heavy bitumen so that it can be pumped to the surface via wells.

Last year, Suncor rival Cenovus also reported an uncontrolled steam release. In Cenovus’ case, the incident forced the company to temporarily shut in production at its Rush Lake 2 facility in Saskatchewan.

(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams)