The head of Nexen Energy ULC, which is owned by Chinese state-controlled energy company Cnooc, apologized for the accident at its Long Lake facility in northern Alberta and said Cnooc had failed to meet its own standards for safety. “All of our employees and contractors across our global operations are reeling from this news,” Nexen Chief Executive Fang Zhi said at a news conference in Calgary, calling it “one of the darkest days in Nexen’s history.” Nexen began to shut down its synthetic oil-processing facility immediately after the explosion on Friday afternoon. The company said it is looking into the cause. Nexen officials said they didn’t know when output will resume at the company’s flagship operation. “I couldn’t even speculate today on how long that would be,” Ron Bailey, Nexen’s senior vice president of Canadian Operations, told reporters. “The priority right now is to shut down safely, suspend operations […]