Alberta Wildfires Disrupt 7% Of Canada’s Oil Production

Wildfires in Alberta, Canada — the country’s energy hub — have shuttered 344k barrels per day of oil sands production, or about 7% of national output. 

Cenovus Energy, MEG Energy, and Canadian Natural Resources have halted output because of a 61,500-hectare blaze near the Saskatchewan border. 

One of the 26 active wildfires is about 6 miles from 470k barrels bpd of oil sands production. 

What’s critical to know:

• Affected companies include Cenovus Energy, MEG Energy, and Canadian Natural Resources.

• Roughly 470k bpd of production is within 6 miles of active fires.

• Cenovus halted its Christina Lake site (238k bpd) last Thursday, expecting to restart soon

• MEG Energy delayed restarting part of its 70k bpd site due to power outages.

• Canadian Natural shut 36k bpd at its Jackfish 1 site after evacuations.

Important context: Canada produces 4.9 million bpd. It’s the largest foreign oil supplier to the U.S., accounting for approximately 60% of total crude imports, with the vast majority of that coming from Alberta’s oil sands.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Monday that some 400,000 hectares have burned across the province, up from about 9,000 as of last week. 

Any major disruption to Alberta’s oil production will tighten North American supply, push prices higher, and may force U.S. refiners to source costlier supplies elsewhere. It’s a risk worth monitoring—something Goldman analyst Adam Wijaya flagged late last week.