Tamarack Valley shuts Alberta output after gas plant fire

Tamarack Valley Energy. (Source: http://www.tamarackvalley.ca/)

Canada's Tamarack Valley Energy TVE.TO has temporarily shut production of about 6,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) following a fire at a Canadian Natural Resources Ltd CNQ.TO gas plant in Alberta, the companies said on Monday.

The plant, which processes Tamarack's gas from various batteries in the Nipisi area, was shut down after the fire broke out on Saturday.

Canadian Natural, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, said it was alerted to the fire that had started inside its Mitsue Gas Plant at about 4.00 a.m. local time (1000 GMT).

"First responders and Canadian Natural's personnel extinguished the fire safely and there were no injuries," the company said in a statement.

Canadian Natural said it is investigating the incident to determine the cause and evaluating how long it will take to restore the facility to operation.

The company did not comment on whether its own production was also impacted.

Oil and gas producer Tamarack said it is considering several options to accelerate the resumption of its production while waiting for the plant to restart.

"I suspect from the fire and equipment it's not going to be a short time," Tamarack Valley CEO Brian Schmidt told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Tamarack's options include re-routing its gas to other processing plants and seeking relief from an Alberta Energy Regulator directive that limits gas flaring, Schmidt said.

The volumes temporarily shut-in amount to roughly 10% of Tamarack's total production, RBC Capital Markets analyst Luke Davis said in a research note.

"We expect the stock to lag peers until further clarity is provided," Davis wrote.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Roshia Sabu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Alan Barona and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)