The hydrocracker building at the Long Lake facility that exploded on Friday. Photo courtesy of Nexen
-
One worker killed in explosion inside hydro cracker unit
-
Second worker in critical condition in Edmonton burn unit
-
Cause of the explosion not confirmed; internal and external investigations have been launched
-
Upgrader shut down, site stabilized in wake of explosion
The CEO and Senior Vice President of CNOOC Nexen held a press conference in Calgary Saturday to apologize to the families of the worker killed in Friday’s explosion at its Long Lake oilsands facility and the worker who remains in critical condition in a burn unit in hospital in Edmonton.
“Yesterday marked one of the toughest days in Nexen’s history, and standing here today to share this type of information is the worst thing a CEO ever wants to do. But no matter how badly we feel, it pales in comparison to the pain that two of our employees’ families are experiencing,” said Fang Zhi, CEO of Nexen.
“Our thoughts are with the families. On behalf of Nexen and CNOOC Ltd. I want to express my deepest sympathy to these families,” he said.
Fang went on to acknowledge that all of the employees and contractors across the company’s global operations were reeling from this news.
“Our motto at CNOOC is that there is nothing so important that it cannot be done safely. Yesterday we did not live up to that standard,” he said. “And I deeply regret it.”
The Senior Vice President of Canadian Operations, Ron Bailey, also spoke at the press conference saying he wanted to reiterate the fact that having a fatality or someone injured is the leadership’s worst nightmare.
“I cannot imagine the pain and devastation that this has caused for the families and for that we are sorry,” he said.
“Every day we strive to send our employees home safe to their families and yesterday we did not live up to that. Two individuals were very valued members of our team and this will leave a terrible mark on all of us at Nexen,” said Bailey.
He said that while he and the leadership team recognized they could do very little to alleviate the pain and sadness that they are suffering from and from this tragic event they and the company can provide the support that is needed for the impacted families and to the employees through this challenging time.
He explained the explosion happened at approximately 3:20 p.m. at the Long Lake oilsands site just south of town in the hydro-cracker unit, which is a compression building and which Bailey said breaks hydrocarbon molecules into smaller pieces to make a lighter oil product for shipping.
He said anywhere from 100 to 500 people could be on that site at a given time depending on what work was being done.
Bailey said the emergency response plan was immediately implemented and emergency response personnel, including first responders from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, arrived at site and responded to the incident.
The leadership team at Long Lake, in Calgary, and in Beijing, activated the emergency response they have practiced, Bailey said.
“We are devastated to report there has been one fatality and another employee seriously injured. The seriously injured employee was taken to the hospital and has since been transported to Edmonton to a burn unit,” said Bailey.
He explained the facility was immediately shut down following the incident and the site has been stabilized. The upgrader has also been shut down in the wake of the explosion and the site will be monitored to prevent freezing.
Bailey said employees, contractors and neighbouring communities are the primary concern at this point in time and he confirmed steps have been taken to ensure their wellbeing and safety.
He again confirmed the Alberta Energy Regulator has been called in, something the regulator confirmed to MyMcMurray Friday evening, saying staff were on their way to site. As well, the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety department has dispatched staff to the site.
“We haven’t had full access to get back into the site. We put it under a controlled situation” he said. “We just do not have details to share at this time. We have been focused on shutting down safely and securing the site so that will be part of the investigation.”
An internal investigation is also under way to explore the route cause of the explosion to prevent future occurrences.
