Damaged oil sands upgrader to resume production soon
January 11, 2011 | 08:21
Frank Landry | QMI Agency
EDMONTON - An oilsands upgrader damaged by fire last week could resume production at half-capacity sooner than expected, says Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL).
But that will depend on whether the province gives the go-ahead.
The company said it is working with Occupational Health and Safety to determine what went wrong at the site, about 75 km north of Fort McMurray.
“Although it is too early to conclusively determine at this stage, there is the possibility that two of the four coke drums”¦ could be started up in a shorter time frame allowing the Horizon plant to run at production rates roughly half of target capability," the company said Monday in a statement.
The province last week issued a stop-work order at the site to allow time for investigators to determine what caused the fire and explosion that injured several people.
The minister of employment and immigration at the time said the investigation will be given all the time it needs to make sure a similar incident does not happen again.
“We acknowledge that CNRL wants to be in production as soon as possible but at this point we're not committing to timelines,” Sorcha Thomas, spokeswoman for OHS, said Monday.
Five employees and contractors were injured when the massive fire broke out last Thursday.
One person remains in an Edmonton hospital, the company said in a statement.
CNRL says it plans to take photos this week of the cokers to determine the extent of the damage to the derrick.
http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/canada/archives/2011/01/20110111-08...
