Canada wildfire disrupts operations in oil sands region

(Reuters) - The wildfire that raged unchecked on Wednesday in the city of Fort McMurray in the heart of the Canadian oil sands region has disrupted oil company operations nearby. While oil sands facilities are not in the fire's path, a number of companies have curbed activities to allow workers and others to get to safety. Some regional pipelines were also affected. It was unclear what percentage of production had been impacted by the fire. Following is a list of what oil producers and pipeline companies have said about nearby operations. - Suncor Energy Inc, whose oil sands operations are closest to the city, said its main plant 25 km (16 miles) to the north was safe, but it was reducing crude production in the region to allow employees and families to get to safety. - Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry told reporters on a conference call that one of the company's oil sands mines was closed, and another was in the process of closing down. - Husky Energy said it had cut production at its Sunrise oil sands project to 10,000 bpd from 30,000 bpd after a pipeline that supplies the project with diluent was shut down. - Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd said it has cut production at its Great Divide operation, which is 80 km south of the city, to about 4,000 barrels of bitumen per day. - The Syncrude oil sands project, owned by a consortium of companies including Suncor, said it was reducing operations to help support employees affected by the fire. Syncrude has 2,000 evacuees staying at its camp. - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd said it was working to ensure that any affected CNRL workers and their families could use its camps which can hold about 800 people. It has offered its aerodrome services to government officials for firefighting efforts and some of its firefighters and equipment are in the city helping to fight the fires. "Daily operations remain stable," it said. - CNOOC Ltd subsidiary Nexen Energy said its operations were unaffected. - Athabasca Oil Corp, which operates a thermal plant south of the city, where the fire was located, said it has not been affected by the wildfire. - A Cenovus spokesman said its oil sands operations are not affected by the fires, and output remained steady. - Imperial's Kearl operation, located about 70 km (43 miles) north of Fort McMurray, is not seeing any direct impact "at this time," said a spokeswoman for the company, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. "We continue to monitor the situation closely," she said. - Statoil ASA said it was "being vigilant" and the company has plans in place. Its Leismer facility is about 120 km south of Fort McMurray. - MEG Energy said its operations were not affected by the Fort McMurray fire. Its Christina Lake project is 150 km south of the city. PIPELINE COMPANIES: - TransCanada Corp said it does not expect the wildfire to affect deliveries of natural gas. The nearest pipeline is about 18-20 km west of the current wildfire. It played down the potential for damage to equipment as its pipelines are designed to withstand a number of natural scenarios and high-pressure natural gas pipelines are buried underground. Valves can also be closed manually or from its gas control center, if needed. - An Alberta government official said Enbridge Inc was starting shutdown procedures, without elaborating further. An Enbridge spokesman would not confirm, but said mainlines were not affected. They are 10 or more kilometers away from the fire and below ground, he said. - Inter Pipeline Ltd has shut down its Corridor pipeline system that serves Shell's oil sands facilities, and partially shut down its Polaris diluent pipeline. (Reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary; compiled by David Gaffen and Josephine Mason in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Mary Milliken)