Progress Energy Canada Ltd., the most active gas driller in British Columbia, evacuated workers from its operations in the North Montney in Northern British Columbia due to wildfires in the area April 18.
Workers were safely evacuated from the company’s Altares and Farrell Creek gas plants as well as nearby camps.
Both facilities have been shut-in and secured. Crews were to inspect these facilities and assets April 19 to determine when operations will resume.
“We are working closely with authorities in the area and will only resume operations once it is safe to do so,” wrote spokesperson Stacie Dley in an email. “These facility closures will not materially impact our operations at this time and plans have been activated to ensure business continuity.”
As a result of wildfires in northeast B.C., the BC Oil and Gas Commission on April 19 said it activated its Emergency Operations Centre and continues to work with other emergency centres within the Peace River Regional District (PRRD), City of Fort St. John and the District of Taylor.
Companies operating within 10 kilometres of a fire point are being contacted by the commission and advised of the situation.
The PRRD has declared a state of emergency due to several forest fires in the area.
Because of the forest fires, the PRRD issued an evacuation order for parts of northeastern B.C. including the areas of Baldonnel, Charlie Lake and the First Nations’ Blueberry Reserve.
The reserve’s residents are being evacuated to the nearby town of Taylor.
“It really got out of hand,” Brian Vermeulen, president of BV Land Consulting Ltd in Fort St. John told the Daily Oil Bulletin April 19. “We got hit hard yesterday with some hugely high winds, like 80-kilometre-an-hour-plus winds and it just devastated everything. There are a lot of tired people and people are still fighting here this morning in some of the areas, trying to keep everything under control. The Fort St. John, Charlie Lake and Taylor fire departments have been very, very busy.”
In response to the forest fires, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) confirmed that all workers are safe and the company has no reported damage to its assets.
CNRL is working with local officials during their ongoing management of the fires, said Julie Woo, the company’s public affairs advisor.
Encana Corporation and Spectra Energy Corp. said their operations are not affected at this point but they are monitoring the situation.
Royal Dutch Shell plc, another area operator, reported that its sites are outside the fire zone.
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