Fort McMurray in flames
More than 1 million b/d of oil is offline and the recovery will take weeks
NORTHERN Alberta more resembles a war zone than an oil-production hub, after wildfires raged across an area the size of Tokyo. Water bombers and helicopters buzz overhead as the fire, now entering its second week of devastation, expands over 200,000 hectares and moves eastward into Saskatchewan. Convoys of equipment are at last moving north at military scale, while the final evacuations of some 25,000 oil sands employees – trapped work camps near Alberta’s production epicentre – were completed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and air force. Although the main danger has passed, the city of Fort McMurray is a desolate no-man’s land. Authorities have barricaded it and government officials s
Also in this section
19 January 2026
Newfound optimism is emerging that a dormant exploration frontier could become a strategic energy play and—whisper it quietly—Europe’s next offshore opportunity
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
