January 16, 2016
MONTREAL (AFP) - One person was killed and another injured following an explosion at an oil sands plant in western Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of the Chinese company CNOOC said Friday.
Canada-based Nexen Energy ULC did not give a reason for the Friday explosion at its Long Lake facility south of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta province.
"Our emergency response plan has been activated and response personnel, including first responders ... are on site," Nexen said in a statement.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm one fatality and a second person is at hospital. All other personnel are accounted for."
The site was shut down "and we are stabilizing the scene."
Nexen said that there is "no immediate danger to neighboring communities or personnel still on site," and said that regulators "have been notified".
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) reported a pipeline rupture in July at the same Long Lake oil sands site.
In that incident five million liters (31,500 barrels) of oil mixed with waste water and sand poured out of the site, resulting in the second largest oil spill Alberta and one of the most serious oil spills in North America.
The publicly-traded China National Overseas Oil Corporation, or CNOOC group, bought Nexen in 2013 for $15 billion.
