By Eric M. Johnson
CALGARY, Alberta, June 14 (Reuters) - Suncor Energy Inc
SU.TO has told employees the massive wildfire that struck
northern Alberta in May will cost the company nearly C$1 billion
($777.91 million), two sources at Canada's largest crude
producer told Reuters.
The wildfire, which caused the evacuation of the Canadian
oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, forced Suncor and other major
crude producers in the area to halt operations for weeks, at one
point cutting Canada's crude output by more than a million
barrels a day.
One Suncor worker, who declined to be named because he was
not authorized to speak to reporters, said an executive told
employees on Monday that the company expects fire-related losses
of "just shy" of C$1 billion.
A second employee, also speaking on condition of anonymity,
said workers were told that direct costs related to the fire and
the loss of production would cost nearly C$1 billion.
A Suncor spokeswoman declined to comment on wildfire-related
losses.
Suncor has several oil sands facilities, including the main
mining site which has the capacity to produce up to 350,000
barrels per day.
Suncor last week said it expected to have its base plant
operations back to pre-fire production rates within a week and
all operations in the region producing at normal, pre-turnaround
rates by the end of June.
The sources said they were told that the company's thermal
operations were not coming back online as quickly as hoped
because of blockages, likely stemming from the shutdown of steam
injections that melt the tarry bitumen in reservoirs.
But they were also told Suncor had as much as six months'
worth of available inventory at its main mining site, more than
the typical amount of roughly two months.
Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal declined to comment on
specifics of operations but said the broader effort to bring
production online was on track.
"Our return to operations is going as planned," she said.
"We are bringing these operations back."
($1 = 1.2855 Canadian dollars)
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)