By Nia Williams
CALGARY, Alberta, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Alberta regulators said
on Monday there was no timeline for Nexen Energy's NEUI.UL
Long Lake oil sands facility to resume production after it was
shut down on Friday following an explosion on site that killed
one worker and seriously injured another.
The Alberta Energy Regulator and provincial government's
Occupational Health and Safety arm are running simultaneous
investigations into the blast at the 50,000 barrel-per-day site
south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The discount on light synthetic crude from the oil sands for
February delivery narrowed in thin trade as a result of reduced
supply. Synthetic crude last traded at 25 cents per barrel below
U.S. crude, according to Shorcan Energy brokers, tightening from
a discount of 75 cents per barrel on Friday.
OHS issued a stop work order following the explosion and
Nexen, a subsidiary of China's CNOOC Ltd 0883.HK , shut down
its upgrader and suspended thermal steaming operations,
resulting in a complete halt to production.
"Every time we put a stop work order in place the
investigators will want to ensure that area is safe to return to
and will take as long as necessary," said OHS spokeswoman
Christine Wronko.
The blast occurred in Long Lake's hydrocracker unit but it
is still too early to speculate on the cause, said Alberta
Energy Regulator spokeswoman Carrie Rosa.
A spokeswoman for Nexen Energy said there were no further
updates at this time.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)