Repairs following a March 14 incident at the Syncrude Mildred Lake oil sands facility, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, are progressing as planned, according to Suncor Energy. Maintenance work scheduled for the fall has been added to the plan, extending the timing of full ramp up to mid-July. Shipments have been reduced to approximately 130,000 barrels per day (gross) in order to complete the accelerated maintenance and are expected to ramp up as additional units complete turnaround activities.
The cause of the incident was a split in a 6-inch carbon steel line on a naphtha hydrotreater recycle circuit. Damage was largely isolated to a piperack adjacent to the hydrotreater, containing piping, cables and electrical circuits.
