CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc has suspended production at its Canadian oil sands mine after environmental activists blockaded a massive dump truck and mining shovel to protest the impact of oil sands development, the company said on Tuesday.
Greenpeace said 25 of its activists locked down the oil sands mining equipment at the Albian Sands Muskeg River mine in northern Alberta on Tuesday morning, a day before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.
The protest continued into the late afternoon, but the oil major said it was resuming operations after production was shot down most of the day.
Shell, which owns 60 percent of the 155,000 barrel a day operation, said it temporarily shut down mining to ensure the safety of the activists and its staff.
'While we're concerned about some lost production today, resolving this as safely and as quickly as possible is our top priority,' Shell spokesman Paul Hagel said.
He said the suspension of mining 'wasn't a significant development' and the company was concentrating more on negotiations with the activists, whom he described as courteous and respectful.
The company said it invited the protesters to talk with its managers in the mine's administration building, but had not received a response by late Tuesday.
Greenpeace said it staged the protest to highlight what it said were 'the climate crimes of tar sands development -- rising energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and boreal forest destruction'.
The mine's other owners are Chevron Corp and Marathon Oil Corp, with 20 percent each. It is one of four major oil sands mining operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Elsewhere, activists hung a 70-foot (21-metre) banner above Niagara Falls on the Canada-U.S. border showing arrows that pointed forward to a 'clean energy future' and backward to 'tar sands oil'.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Peter Galloway and Rob Wilson) Keywords: SHELL CANADA/PROTEST (jeff.jones@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters Messaging: jeff.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Greenpeace said 25 of its activists locked down the oil sands mining equipment at the Albian Sands Muskeg River mine in northern Alberta on Tuesday morning, a day before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.
The protest continued into the late afternoon, but the oil major said it was resuming operations after production was shot down most of the day.
Shell, which owns 60 percent of the 155,000 barrel a day operation, said it temporarily shut down mining to ensure the safety of the activists and its staff.
'While we're concerned about some lost production today, resolving this as safely and as quickly as possible is our top priority,' Shell spokesman Paul Hagel said.
He said the suspension of mining 'wasn't a significant development' and the company was concentrating more on negotiations with the activists, whom he described as courteous and respectful.
The company said it invited the protesters to talk with its managers in the mine's administration building, but had not received a response by late Tuesday.
Greenpeace said it staged the protest to highlight what it said were 'the climate crimes of tar sands development -- rising energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and boreal forest destruction'.
The mine's other owners are Chevron Corp and Marathon Oil Corp, with 20 percent each. It is one of four major oil sands mining operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Elsewhere, activists hung a 70-foot (21-metre) banner above Niagara Falls on the Canada-U.S. border showing arrows that pointed forward to a 'clean energy future' and backward to 'tar sands oil'.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Peter Galloway and Rob Wilson) Keywords: SHELL CANADA/PROTEST (jeff.jones@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters Messaging: jeff.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.