Athabasca Oil restarts Hangingstone project as wildfire risk recedes

Athabasca Oil hasresumed operations at itsnorthern Alberta oilsands project as colder weather andaforecastofrainallows the industry to start sending staff back to workfollowing the devastating Fort McMurraywildfires.

The company, which produces bitumen from wells using steam to separate the sand from the heavy oil, saidits Hangingstone facility did not suffer anydamage from wildfires that crept to within a few kilometres, forcingstaff to scramble to safety three weeks ago.

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Prior to shutdown, the thermal project commissioned last year hadramped up to 9,000 barrels a day on the way to output capacity of12,000 barrels a day.

Athabasca said it expects its undergroundreservoir to recover to normal operating levels over the nextseveral weeks.

Meanwhile, Suncor Energy continued to bring workers backto its oilsands mining and thermal projects after emergencyofficials lifted evacuation orders on the weekend.

A CIBCreport suggests it will take three to fourweeks for Suncor to return its mining and upgrading operations tofull capacity. It estimates the cash flow impact of the lostproduction will be about $760 million.

When the wildfire started in early May,Suncor's upgrader was operating at a reduced level because of a maintenance turnaround. That must nowbe completed before normal operations resume.