The worst of the flooding in Western Canada has subsided and field operations for the energy sector are getting back to normal, but access to downtown Calgary’s offices was still blocked Wednesday as power restoration and building inspections were taking longer than expected, according to officials.

“We still don’t know when we’ll be back in the office,” said an Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) spokesperson.

An Encana Corp. spokesperson said the company’s corporate headquarters in the Bow and Telus Tower was waiting for power to be restored and the buildings to be inspected. “We are not able to return to the office [Wednesday], more likely at the end of this week,” he told NGI.

Encana’s field operations in Canada, where it is the largest natural producer, “are pretty much normal.”

Oil and natural gas operations in southern Alberta have remained relatively free of problems from the flooding, except for a flood debris-driven sour gas leak last Friday on a wellhead pipeline in the Turner Valley south of Calgary (see Daily GPI, June 24).

“We do not know of any impacts at this time,” said the AER spokesperson. “Operators are required to notify us if there are any issues with their facilities, but generally speaking, they are not required to notify us if they shut facilities in. There are reporting requirements [longer term] on production that would reflect any shut-in facilities. We have not had any other reports of impacts to facilities that have caused spills or other emergency situations.”

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