The wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alta., helped lead to a 25 per cent drop in oilsands production in May, according to the latest data from the Alberta Energy Regulator.
The numbers released Thursday show upgraded and non-upgraded oilsands production for May totalled 48.7-million barrels, down from just under 65-million barrels in April.
The massive wildfires forced producers to shut down crude operations as a precaution, with the full effects on production not yet known since many companies had operations halted well into June and even into July.
Non-oilsands production in Alberta, which escaped the effects of the fire, saw a slight increase in production to 15.2-million barrels of oil.
The impact of the wildfires is showing in quarter results, with Suncor Energy saying late Wednesday it had a net loss of $735 million after failing to produce about 20-million barrels of upgraded and raw bitumen because of the fires.
READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire contributes to $735M loss for Suncor
The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates the Fort McMurray wildfire to be the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history with about $3.58-billion in damages expected, though oil producers are largely excluded from insurance claims because most facilities weren’t damaged.
Watch below: This is a report from May 9, 2016 as the fires in Fort McMurray were already taking a toll on Canada’s resource economy. Eric Sorensen looked at the hit the industry was taking just days after a massive wildfire began burning through Fort McMurray.
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