Alberta wildfires ease, and Canada natgas exports recover (updated)

Rocky Shore Gold.

25/05/2023 24:34

(Recasts paragraphs 1-7 with progress in fighting the fires,
oil and gas companies restarting production, quotes from Alberta
wildfire official and CEO of Explorers and Producers Association
of Canada; adds background)
    By Nia Williams and Scott DiSavino
       May 24 (Reuters) - Firefighters have made "significant
progress" in tackling wildfires in Alberta thanks to rain and
cooler temperatures, provincial government officials said on
Wednesday, as Canadian natural gas exports to the U.S. rebounded
after nearly three weeks of lower flows.
        Many oil and gas companies that shut in production as a
precaution have restarted operations or are preparing to do so.
At their height the fires shuttered at least 319,000 barrels of
oil equivalent per day, or 3.7% of national production, and
forced around 30,000 Albertans to evacuate their homes.
  
        Around 7,000 people remain under evacuation orders and
65 wildfires are still burning, but the cooler weather
conditions are helping firefighting efforts, said Christie
Tucker, information unit manager with Alberta Wildfire.
  
        "The extreme rate of growth we saw in these wildfires
earlier this month has now slowed," Tucker said.
  
        Canada's main oil- and gas-producing province is
experiencing what officials called an "unprecedented" start to
wildfire season, which runs until October. So far this year
there have been 521 wildfires and more than 1 million hectares
burned, roughly five times the average burned in a typical
season.
  
        The easing wildfires mean producers are preparing to
restart any oil and gas facilities that are still shuttered,
said Tristan Goodman, CEO of the Explorers and Producers
Association of Canada.
  
        "It's not yet back to normal, but now people are getting
ready because the fires are under control," Goodman said.
  
    Canadian natural gas exports to the U.S. this week returned
to levels seen before the wildfires, causing U.S. gas futures
 NGc1  to plunge about 10%. Canada supplies about 8% of the gas
consumed in, or exported from, the U.S.  NGA/ 
    Last week, U.S. gas prices jumped about 14% due in part to
the reduction in supplies from Canada.
    Data provider Refinitiv said the amount of gas exported from
Canada to the United States was on track to hold near a
three-week high of 8.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) for a
second day in a row on Wednesday.
    On May 17, the wildfires forced Canadian producers to cut
exports to a 25-month low of just 6.4 bcfd.
    Over the past few weeks, gas flows from Canada to the U.S.
averaged just 7.2 bcfd, well below the 8.3-bcfd average amount
of gas Canada exported to the U.S. since the start of the year.

 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Nia Williams in
British Columbia; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Leslie Adler)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))