Canadian Natural Resources Extends Unplanned Horizon Upgrader Shutdown

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On January 6, a fire broke out at the delayed coker unit at Canadian Natural Resources Limited's (NYSE:CNQ) (Calgary, Alberta) Horizon oil sands upgrader near Fort McKay, Alberta.

The fire, which occurred at the top of one of the unit's four coke drums, was allowed to burn itself out and resulted in an unplanned shutdown of the entire facility. Initially, the damage was thought to be minimal, and Canadian Natural hoped to resume operations of two of the coke drums, allowing the facility to operate at 50% of its production rates, which averaged 90,900 BBL/d of synthetic crude in 2010.

After the fire, production ceased and the company declared force majeure, freeing it from contractual delivery obligations due the unforeseen event.

Because of safety and environmental concerns, the unplanned shutdown has been extended until at least the end of February while repairs continue, essentially stopping all production at the facility.

The Horizon upgrader began production in early 2009. Canadian Natural considers the facility on ongoing project and has several expansion projects in the pipeline.

Industrial Info's PetroCast Live provides real-time alerts and notices of all major planned and unplanned turnarounds and events that disrupt the supply of crude and refined product.

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