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But it recovered to traditional norms in the mid-teens or better after Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced Dec. 2 that the province would impose curtailments of 325,000 barrels per day as of Jan. 1 to relieve a glut of oil in Western Canada and free up export pipeline space.

The program, designed to remove about 8.7 per cent of total Alberta production from the market, was to remain in place for about three months and then be lowered to about 95,000 bpd through the rest of 2019.

A total of 25 companies that each produce more than 10,000 barrels of oil per day in Alberta have been asked to cut production, confirmed government spokesman Matt Dykstra in an email on Wednesday.

Photo by Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

“Government will be watching the way the industry responds, including the amount of storage being drawn down and the amount of oil nominated and apportioned on Enbridge (export pipelines) to help understand when and if the curtailment levels should be adjusted,” Dykstra said.

The province said last month it would make “temporary adjustments” to January curtailment orders following criticism from some companies — including major producers Suncor Energy Inc. and Husky Energy Inc. — that said their levels had been set unfairly high or that they had concerns about employee safety and the long-term stability of their resources due to curtailing.

Dykstra said those reductions have not significantly impacted the overall reduction target.

Oilsands producer Pengrowth Energy Corp. used unspecified “options” provided by the government to reduce the cuts it was ordered to make, said spokesman Tom McMillan on Wednesday.