加拿大官员说,扑救大规模山火的行动已经出现转机。加拿大西部阿尔伯塔省的大片地区灾情严重。
阿尔伯塔省消防官员莫里森说,火灾地区的气温降低和小雨天气对灭火非常有利,消防人员可以进入灾区,设法控制火势。
虽然山火还没有蔓延到主要炼油设施,但加拿大炼油设施继续处于停工状态,对加拿大山火的担忧让全球油价大幅上涨。
目前还不清楚这些炼油设施何时恢复运作。很多工人已经撤离,带着家人在外暂住。
专家估计,该地区的石油生产将停顿至少两到三个星期。
阿尔伯塔的石油储量位居世界第3,仅次于沙特阿拉伯和委内瑞拉。
Canadian officials say they have reached a turning point in combating the huge wildfire that has destroyed a large area of the province of Alberta in western Canada.
Cooler temperatures and light rain in the region have made for “great firefighting weather,” said Chad Morrison, an Alberta fire official. “We can really get in there and really get a handle on this fire and really get a death grip on it.”
While the flames so far have not reached any major oil processing facilities, they remain closed and global oil prices have soared over concerns about the Canadian fires.
It is not immediately clear when processing facilities will open. Many oil workers have been evacuated and are camped out with their families.
Experts estimate oil production will be shut down for at least two or three weeks.
Alberta is home to the world’s third-largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.