Canadian oil producer Cenovus Energy declared force majeure on its supply of Christina Lake Dil-bit heavy crude due to wildfires in the oil-producing province of Alberta, two trading sources said.
Companies declare force majeure when unexpected circumstances prevent them from meeting contractual obligations.
Cenovus said on Sunday it evacuated non-essential personnel from its Christina Lake oil sands site, and has shut in about 238,000 barrels per day of production since Thursday. The company said it expects a full restart of operations in the near term.
It was unclear when Cenovus declared force majeure and the company declined to comment further.
The wildfires have affected more than 344,000 bpd of oil sands production, or about 7% of the country’s overall crude oil output, according to Reuters calculations.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney in Houston; Amanda Stephenson in Calgary Editing by Rod Nickel)