Canada regulator suspends Imperial's application to extend Norman Wells oil permits
The Canada Energy Regulator announced on Tuesday that Imperial Oil has put its application to extend life of the remote Norman Wells oil-and-gas facility in Canada's Northwest Territories on hold until a report on environmental assessment is completed.
The Norman Wells site is located on nine islands, both natural and artificial in the Mackenzie River (Canada's longest river) and near the town of Norman Wells.
Imperial, owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., requested last year that its Norman Wells Operating Permit, due to expire Dec. 31, 2024, be extended by an additional 10 years.
The Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, the indigenous government of the region, decided in September to require an environmental assessment because Imperial proposed replacing the pipelines between their wells and its processing facility.
Imperial's permit will be extended in the interim by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.
The CER posted a social media statement saying that the facility in Norman Wells will be able to continue operations while the Review Board is completing its environmental assessment.
A spokeswoman for Imperial said that the Calgary-based firm was reviewing the most recent update and assessing the next steps.
In a letter sent to the CER in September, the SSI expressed concerns over the impact of climate changes on the Norman Wells oil operations and Enbridge's pipeline transporting the oil from Alberta to Alberta.
SSI chair Charles McNeely stated that melting permafrost raised concerns about the stability and safety of the oil-and-gas infrastructure in the far north, while the Mackenzie River has experienced unprecedented riverbed scouring which threatens the many pipelines at the Norman Wells operations.
Does it make sense, today, to take any risk in an environment that is becoming more sensitive, from an oilfield which, by 2021, will only produce less than 1% per day of Canada's Conventional Light Crude? McNeely wrote.
(source: Reuters)
