Oct 15 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil's ( IMO ) application

to extend the life of its remote Norman Wells oil and gas

facility in Canada's Northwest Territories has been put on hold

pending an environmental assessment report, the Canada Energy

Regulator said on Tuesday.

The Norman Wells site produces around 6,500 barrels of oil

equivalent per day (boepd) and is spread across nine natural and

artificial islands in the Mackenzie River - Canada's longest

river - and the town of Norman Wells on the riverbank.

Imperial, majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM ),

applied last year to extend its Norman Wells operating permit,

which is due to expire on Dec. 31 2024, by another 10 years.

However, the regional Indigenous government, the Sahtu

Secretariat Incorporated (SSI), decided in September that the

application required an environmental assessment, because

Imperial also proposed replacing pipelines between its wells and

processing facility.

The environmental assessment will be conducted by the

Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, and the

regulator said it will extend Imperial's permit in the interim.

"This will allow the Norman Wells facility to continue

operating while the Review Board's environmental assessment

process unfolds," the CER said in a statement on social media.

An Imperial spokeswoman said the Calgary-based company was

reviewing the latest update and assessing its next steps.

The SSI outlined concerns about the impact of climate change

on the Norman Wells operations and the Enbridge ( ENB )

pipeline that transports the oil to Alberta in a September

letter to the CER.

SSI Chair Charles McNeely said melting permafrost in the far

northern region raised questions about the stability of the oil

and gas infrastructure, while the Mackenzie River is

experiencing unprecedented riverbed scouring, threatening the

numerous pipelines within the Norman Wells operation.

"Today, in an area of increasing environmental sensitivity,

does it make sense to accept any degree of risk from an aging

oilfield that in 2021 provided less than 1% of Canada's daily

Conventional Light Crude production?" McNeely wrote.