* Canada’s Suncor Energy confirmed on Wednesday that an uncontrolled steam leak occurred from a well at its Firebag oil sands site in northern Alberta last week.
* A Suncor spokesperson said the well issue is now resolved and production at the site is unaffected. Firebag produces up to 215,000 barrels per day, according to Suncor’s website.
* Suncor said the release of steam resulted in “mist” falling onto the associated well pad and migrating onto property outside of the Firebag site.
* The company did not say what caused the incident or how long clean-up efforts will take.
* The Alberta Energy Regulator said on Wednesday it is on site at Firebag working to ensure compliance with regulations.
* Firebag is an in situ oil sands operation, meaning steam is used to loosen the heavy bitumen so that it can be pumped to the surface via wells.
* Last year, Suncor rival Cenovus also reported an uncontrolled steam release. In Cenovus’ case, the incident forced the company to temporarily shut in production at its Rush Lake 2 facility in Saskatchewan.
(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams)