https://www.miningweekly.com
Bitumen|Energy|Environment|Financial|Gas|generation|Petroleum|Pipelines|Power|PROJECT|Safety|SECURITY|Power Generation|Environmental|Operations
Bitumen|Energy|Environment|Financial|Gas|generation|Petroleum|Pipelines|Power|PROJECT|Safety|SECURITY|Power Generation|Environmental|Operations
bitumen|energy|environment|financial|gas|generation|petroleum|pipelines|power|project|safety|security|power-generation|environmental|operations

Canadian regulator orders halt to Sunshine Oilsands operations

20th November 2024

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

A Canadian regulator has ordered Sunshine Oilsands to suspend its operations, including wells, facilities and pipelines,in northern Alberta's oil sands regiondue to continuous non-compliance with environmental and public safety rules.

The Nov. 14 order from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) also demanded that Sunshine Oilsands post a security deposit of C$6 091 318 ($4.36 million) to offset the estimated cost of abandoning or reclaiming a well or facility.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

"This order is to ensure that the sites licensed to Sunshine Oilsands do not pose a risk to public safety or the environment," the AER said on Monday, warning that non-compliance could lead to further enforcement actions, including an abandonment order.

Sunshine Oilsands is headquartered in Calgary but listed in Hong Kong, and holds approximately 1 million acres of oil sands, petroleum and natural gas leases, according to documents on its website.

The company started producing bitumen from the West Ells thermal oils sands project in 2017, but suspended operations in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic before resuming output in April 2022.

Production at West Ells, which has capacity of 5 000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), has averaged only 907 boepd in 2024, according to the AER.

The AER highlighted a string of non-compliance issues, including Sunshine Oilsands' power generation units at West Ells being in disrepair, concerns about pipeline integrity and the company falling behind on paying municipal taxes.

In March the AER conducted an assessment of the company, and found it was "highly financially distressed," according to the regulatory order.

Sunshine Oilsands recorded a net loss of C$22-million in the first quarter of 2024, the most recent financial report available on its website.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Showroom

Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
John Deere (Pty) Ltd
John Deere (Pty) Ltd

In 1958 John Deere Construction made its first introduction to the industry with their model 64 bulldozer.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Magazine round up | 06 December 2024
Magazine round up | 06 December 2024
6th December 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.054 0.083s - 130pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now