CCTV9英语新闻：Canada's fire hits economy hard due to cut in oil production（在线收听）

The wildfire raging in Canada is forcing a reduction in the country’s oil output. The energy sector accounts for 10 percent of GDP and has already been hit hard by low crude oil prices.

With authorities warning the blaze could continue to burn for months in the absence of major rainfall, economists predict that Canada’s economic growth will stagnate in the second quarter. 

A slew of oil companies in Alberta’s oil sands region have already suspended or considerably cut back their operations. Output has been slashed by between a million and 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, which represents a third of Canada’s overall production.

 Over the past two years, oil companies hit by a dip in crude have laid off workers in large numbers, plunging Alberta’s economy into recession.