China's Nexen Energy facing charges following 2016 explosion that killed 2 oilsands workers

The men had been doing maintenance work in a hydrogen compressor building at the company’s Long Lake upgrader near Anzac on Jan. 15, 2016, when there was an explosion.

A Nexen Energy oil sands facility is seen from a helicopter near Fort McMurray, Alberta in this 2012 file photo. Nexen, a Calgary-based subsidiary of Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd., has been charged with eight offences in a 2016 explosion that killed two workers.  (JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)  

By The Canadian Press

Wed., Dec. 27, 2017

EDMONTON—Nexen Energy is facing workplace charges following the deaths of two oilsandsworkers in northern Alberta.

The men had been doing maintenance work in a hydrogen compressor building at the company’s Long Lake upgrader near Anzac on Jan. 15, 2016, when there was an explosion.

Drew Foster, 52, of Niagara Falls, Ont., was pronounced dead at the scene and David Williams, 30, of Scotchtown, N.S., later died in hospital.

Nexen Energy, a Calgary-based subsidiary of Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd., has been charged with eight offences.

Some of the charges relate to ensuring a compressor was properly serviced and that staff in charge of the machine had read its operating manual and safety rules.

Nicole Appleton with Alberta Labour says the company is to appear in Fort McMurray provincial court Feb. 14.