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Second tank collapse at Horizon



By Upstream staff 

A second storage tank has collapsed at Canadian Natural Resources' Horizon oilsands project, in Alberta.

No one was injured in the incident, which happened over the weekend. A stop-work order had been issued at the development after a first collapsed about three weeks ago, killing two Chinese workers and injuring four others.

Alberta's Occupational Health & Safety Department was investigating the first accident and workers were being kept away from the larger structures when the second tank collapsed Saturday evening.

"It was good that the stop-work order was in place," Peter Janson, vice president of engineering for Canadian Natural's Horizon oilsands project, told the CP news agency last night.

"And it's obvious to the rest of us that these stop orders that we get ... are put in place to avoid further injury in events like this where you just don't know what happened or what the causes are."

Janson said the investigation into the first collapse is continuing.

The Alberta Federation of Labour told CP the second accident raises further questions about the overall safety of the Horizon work site.

The stop-work order covers five tanks at the tank farm, which is still being built. The tanks have an internal support structure of columns and beams to support the roof.

However, the tank farm is not a critical part of the oilsands plant, and CNR does not expect the accidents to delay the overall time frame of the project.

Horizon, which is 65% complete, is due to come on stream late next year.

Earlier this month, the company warned investors that the development's C$6.8 billion (US$6.1 billion) price tag could jump by as much as 12% due to inflationary costs and production delays.

Work on the 110,000 barrel per day first phase of Horizon will come in overbudget due to cost challenges, including delayed equipment delivery, slow productivity, and increases in energy costs.

Overruns that could hit more than C$800 million would come on top of a built-in C$700 million contingency reserve established in 2005, and reflects soaring labour and supply costs plaguing the Alberta oilsands region.


Tuesday, 15 May, 2007, 05:17 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 15 May, 2007, 05:17 GMT

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