Some facts about Syncrude and its Mildred Lake site

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Syncrude Canada was responding to an explosion and fire Tuesday at its upgrader at Mildred Lake near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. Here are some facts about Syncrude:

— Incorporated in 1964. Started operations in 1978.

— Current production capacity 350,000 barrels a day of high-quality light crude oil. Cumulative production exceeds 2.4 billion barrels.

— Employs about 5,000 people directly as well as another 2,400 contract employees on average.

— Corporate headquarters in Fort McMurray. Mildred Lake facility is 40 kilometres north of the city. Aurora project located an additional 35 kilometres north of Mildred Lake.

— Syncrude is not publicly traded, but is a joint venture by five partners. As of June 2016, Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil owned a majority share. Other owners included Sinopec, Nexen and Mocal Energy, a subsidiary of Nippon Oil Exploration.

Source: Syncrude Canada, The Canadian Press