Canadian firm renews oil production after fire

A Canadian oil firm said Saturday it would relaunch production at oil sands mines after widespread forest fires forced them to shut down.

Some 1,800 workers were sent home in late May from Cenovus's Foster Creek operation -- which is jointly owned with American firm ConocoPhillips -- after the wildfire burned in the Cold Lake city region in western Alberta province.

"Our startup activities are progressing as planned and our camps are expected to be fully operational by Monday," Cenovus said on its website.

The Forest Creek installation produces about 135,000 barrels of oil per day.

Also affected by the fires, Canadian Natural Resources Limited announced Wednesday it was relaunching operations at its Kirby South site and would soon do the same at Primrose, where it produces 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

The production activities that Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus halted on May 25 corresponded to 10 percent of the 2.3 million barrels of oil produced each day in Alberta.

The forest fires are still burning in 31,000 hectares (76,600 acres), according to the provincial government. The province has counted 790 fires since April 1.

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