The companies shut their Pelican Lake projects and evacuated workers as a blaze that has swelled to 75 hectares (185 acres) encroached on facilities over the past two days, marking the second time in five weeks that wildfires have cut western Canadian oil output.

Canadian Natural said on Thursday it had returned to normal operations, including the restart of 800 barrels per day of shut-in production, company spokeswoman Julie Woo said, as firefighters and weather patterns held fires back from its facilities.

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