Business of Energy - August 2023

OF ENERGY

FLINT CORP. CEO BARRY CARD REFLECTS ON HIS COMPANY’S SUCCESS

OF ENERGY

By Cody Battershill

By Melanie Darbyshire

By Rennay Craats

By Angela Lovell

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EDITOR

Melanie Darbyshire

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THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Melanie Darbyshire

Cody Battershill

Angela Lovell

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LET’S TURN THE PAGE ON ENERGY CONFLICTS AND AGREE TO PULL TOGETHER

BY CODY BATTERSHILL

After any election, there’s always a need to get back to work in order to perform the hard tasks that will improve the lives of Albertans.

This kind of positive change requires all of us to get together around a handful of key issues. Here’s what I think some of those key issues are, and what I think every Albertan needs to work toward in the coming days and months.

Alberta needs:

• The infrastructure that allows our energy products to find a reasonable path to world markets

• The leadership to allow our province’s energy workers, their families and their communities to enjoy some growing prosperity

• A strong commitment to our Indigenous populations that they have the option to strengthen their own families, be effective stewards of their communities and defeat, once and for all, the generational poverty that’s held them back because of a lack access to prosperity through the natural resources economy, and

• A laser focus on Alberta – and all of Canada – to achieve greater prosperity through support for our world-leading energy and natural resources sector that’s already benefited Canadians across the country.

Sure, some of this may sound like a cliché. However, anyone who’s watched the energy and natural resources discussions in Canada over the last several years knows a solution will take cooperation and resolve.

But it’s not impossible. From Canada Action’s recent public opinion polling results, it’s clear

the majority of Canadians are motivated to see the market access situation dealt with. With the existence of a new provincial mandate, it’s useful to review Canadian sentiment.

Polling by Research Co for Canada Action in mid-March suggests 68 per cent of respondents thought Canada should make a greater effort to export our energy, given the high standards associated with our product, the growing interest in secure sources of supply and the fact that demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is projected to grow 76 per cent by 2040.

You read that right – LNG demand is projected to grow by 76 per cent by 2040.

Fully 81 per cent agreed countries ought to source the food, energy and minerals they need from responsible, democratically-aligned jurisdictions, and 80 per cent felt we should strike a balance between investing in renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and continuing to develop Canada’s oil and natural gas resources.

In short, as recently as a couple of months ago, we found Albertans and Canadians largely united in the belief that the world wants our product, and that our product needs to be more widely available globally.

Let’s all participate in the discussion moving forward, and let’s pull together and work at fixing these key issues! The timing is right. BOE

Cody Battershill is a Calgary realtor and founder / spokesperson for CanadaAction.ca, a volunteerinitiated group that supports Canadian natural resources sector and the environmental, social and economic benefits that come with it.

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A CENTURY OF SERVICE

by Melanie Darbyshire

With a 100-plus year history of providing solutions to its clients, FLINT Corp. is a leading service company in Canada’s energy and industrial markets. Providing construction and maintenance services and asset integrity products to the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, power, agriculture, forestry, infrastructure and water treatment industries, its purpose is to help its customers bring their resources to the world.

“We’re very proud to be a service company and provide solutions for our clients,” says Barry Card, CEO. Appointed as Interim CEO last March, Card formally took over the CEO position last August after serving six years in an executive role with the company. “We strive to be a Tier 1 service provider in everything we do. That is structured around our full lifecycle strategy for our clients.”

This lifecycle, he explains, starts with FLINT’s environmental division, which provides environmental assessments and services. The next stage is the fabrication division, where various types of pipes and other products are fabricated. From there, the cycle moves to construction, where FLINT constructs its clients’ assets and facilities. Then is day-to-day maintenance (steady-state services) of those assets and facilities, whether it be the full complement of trades including pipefitting, welding, electrical and instrumentation or other specialty services.

“Another key part of maintenance is planning for outages and turnarounds which occur on a typical cycle for our customers,” Card elaborates. “We help plan, schedule and ultimately execute those turnarounds. This seasonality to the business creates some large spikes in our hiring and revenue.”

FLINT CORP. CEO BARRY CARD REFLECTS ON HIS COMPANY’S SUCCESS

Barry Card, CEO, FLINT Corp. Photo by BOOKSTRUCKER.

FLINT also manufactures and supplies its branded product AssetArmorTM – a weld overlay product –for use at facilities and plants.

“It’s a full cycle offering,” Card explains, “ultimately rounded out again on the environmental side, since we have the ability to decommission the asset, reclaim and remediate the land back to its original state.”

The company’s maintenance and construction services comprise approximately 95 per cent of the business, while the weld overlay services make up the other five per cent.

Today, FLINT has over 4,000 employees, 3,800 of which are in maintenance and construction services. Two-thousand employees joined the company just last year, as it came out of the pandemic. “The last two years have been really quite positive for us,” Card reflects. “Last year, we fulfilled all our contractual commitments safely, and we successful onboarded 2,000 people. Our total employee count of over 4,000 people is a new high for our organization.” This year, FLINT has already hired another 650 employees.

andconstructionservices compriseapproximately95 percentofthebusiness, whiletheweldoverlay servicesmakeuptheother fivepercent.

“We’ve also continued to grow our clientele base,” Card continues. “We’ve diversified our service offering and grown into new markets with new clients. We’re quite pleased with that. Our typical clients are mid-cap, blue chip type clients, with whom we share similar values. That’s what allows us to grow with them.”

These clients are located across Canada. FLINT services them from a combination of 20 offices,

Thecompany’smaintenance

FLINT personnel performing work to reface a flange in the Fort McMurray machine shop. FLINT’s long-term workforce in the Fort McMurray machine shop has been providing quality machining service to clients across Western Canada for decades.

operating centres and fabrication shops located across Western Canada. It provides the AssetArmorTM products throughout North America.

Their shared values are typically around safety, quality, community sustainability and overall continuous improvement. “Safety is paramount in everything we do,” Card states. “We have an industry best safety performance: our 2022 Q4 total recordable incident frequency (TRIF) was 0.28, which was a significant improvement year-over-year and a 33 per cent decrease from Q4 of 2021. We are best in class.”

“Both safety and quality are core values of our business,” he continues. “They are cornerstones of our operating methodology. We believe that any service or product we offer starts with safety and quality. And if you effectively build a plan that integrates both, we’ll deliver a service or product that meets or exceeds our client’s expectations. And at the end of the day, we’ll have a happy client.”

This result is reflected in FLINT’s financials. In 2022, for example, its revenues were $605 million, an increase of $215 million (or 55 per cent) from 2021. For the first quarter of 2023, revenues are again up by $41 million (or 37 per cent) from Q1 2022.

“The growth trajectory is very positive and pretty exciting within our organization,” Card admits. “We have arrived at this point as a result the hard work of our employees and through working very closely with our clients. We have been successful in winning new work, whether it be with our existing clients or new clients, in new and diverse end markets. Our client relations are absolutely critical for our ongoing growth.”

A successful rebranding in December 2022 (to FLINT from the previous ClearStream) unified all legacy companies under one brand, an exciting finish to last year.

And this March, FLINT released its inaugural sustainability report, the culmination of several years’ progress. The report

FLINT environmental services professionals surveying a site in southern Alberta. FLINT is an industry leader in provision of environmental professional services asset retirement programs including pipeline and well abandonment, facility decommissioning, environmental assessments, remediation activities and final reclamation.

FLINT is recognized for its industry leading safety program fostering HSE excellence in the workplace. FLINT’s safety program is implemented using digital tools, audited procedures and processes, comprehensive training and management systems, regular communications and company-wide recognition programs.

FLINT heavy equipment operators pictured on site in Fort McMurray, AB. FLINT has been providing qualified heavy equipment operators to clients in the Wood Buffalo region of Alberta for several decades.

highlighted the intention to increase women in senior leadership roles and in the overall workforce, to increase underrepresented groups in the workforce, to continue to invest in and support local and Indigenous communities and to reduce its carbon footprint.

“We’ve also increased access to equity, diversity and inclusion training company-wide,” Card notes. “The training piece is critical to help bring awareness to why these things are important to our organization and how our ESG roadmap ties into our long-term plans.”

Partnerships, particularly with First Nations and Indigenous groups, are key to FLINT’s strategy. “They are part of our core values, part of our strategy,” offers Card. “We continue to expand our presence and formalize relationships in the communities in which we work. We believe in being excellent community stewards and building trust with local stakeholders.”

FLINT is currently in joint ventures with the Fort McMurray First Nation Group of Companies, the Blueberry River First Nations, and is a partner in Bison, a joint venture between FLINT and Nesokmahtan Enterprises, a Metis Region 6 company.

The company supports local communities it operates in by participating in community events, either through charitable giving or attending charity events, and through sponsorships and scholarships. “We’ve been really

well received,” Card says. “We want people to hold our brand in a positive light.”

Looking to the future, Card sees FLINT’s core services as poised for growth: “We will continue to grow and enhance our construction, maintenance, turnaround, environmental services and AssetArmorTM asset integrity products including weld overlay. Those services supporting the energy market are easily transferable into all other industrial-type end markets. So we see growth across the board in those core services.”

“We’vealsoincreasedaccesstoequity,diversityand inclusiontrainingcompany-wide,”Cardnotes.“The trainingpieceiscriticaltohelpbringawarenesstowhy thesethingsareimportanttoourorganizationandhow ourESGroadmaptiesintoourlong-termplans.

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This is predicated on continued strength and growth in their clients’ businesses. “The Canadian energy industry is truly first class,” he says. “We should be proud to provide and operate services for the energy industry here in Alberta and throughout Canada. Our industry is one of the most ethically responsible producers.”

“We have a long history in Alberta of innovation, philanthropy and entrepreneurship,” he continues. “We have a can-do type attitude. I believe that has positively shaped our province. And with that as the backdrop, Alberta is great place for the energy industry or any other industry that wants to call Alberta home. You can really thrive in this environment.”

With a new name, a commitment to quality and safety, dedicated leadership and strong industries to service, FLINT has a bright future ahead. BOE

FLINT is the onsite maintenance service provider of choice on industrial sites across Canada supporting various industries. Pictured above: Barry Card, CEO is accompanied by Herb Thomas, VP Operations for FLINT’s Maintenance and Construction division; Neil Wotton, Chief Operating Officer, and two long term personnel from the maintenance crew on a site in Burnaby, B.C..

COLTER ENERGY DELIVERS INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

written by Rennay Craats | published by Brittany Fouquette

Clay Bradley, President and CEO of Colter Energy.

Photo by Riverwood Photography

The foundation for Colter Energy was built long before Clay Bradley founded the company in 2003. While his first exposure to the energy industry was in the field, his professional career began in a sales capacity. He honed his craft for the first six years as he learned more about the energy industry and, specifically, the importance of follow-through. He naturally built great relationships with his clients as he closed deals, but for Bradley, signing a contract for work was only the beginning.

“Once we successfully won a project, I would spend a lot of time in the field meeting the crews that would be running the project. They were the ones responsible for delivering what I promised to the customer. This approach was uncommon among my peers but incredibly impactful to our success. I got to know a lot of our field personnel really well that way, and when I decided to move on and start Colter, many of those field operators came to work for us because of the relationship that developed over the years,” says Clay Bradley, President and CEO of Colter Energy.

He continued to meaningfully connect with his employees once he started his own business, and the culture this created helped attract and retain great people to propel the company’s growth. In 2009, Colter began to expand its scope and service area, offering the gamut of production testing services not only in Canada but also in several basins in the United States. Colter Energy counts most of the major oil and gas industry players as clients, and by putting a focus on acting with integrity, the company has established a solid reputation that has made it a go-to provider in the industry.

A great deal of credit for this reputation goes to Colter’s focus on fostering great relationships. Not only does the team build incredible relationships with its clients, but it has also built a great rapport with suppliers in the industry. The company’s reputation for efficiency, quality work and staying on schedule and budget, along with its hands-on, collaborative way of doing business, has turned employees, customers and suppliers into partners and friends.

Bradley is grateful for the support the company has received from everyone over the past 20 years.

Colter has developed a robust 10-year relationship with a key financial partner as well. In 2013, Colter Energy partnered with Calgary private equity company TriWest Capital Partners and their involvement and support helped Bradley situate Colter at the forefront of the industry.

“TriWest has been an integral support system for us. They provided capital for us in the early years so we could grow and be in the position we are in today, and certainly, through the pandemic and other difficult times, they provided help for us when we might not have otherwise made it. TriWest has been instrumental in the background for us,” Bradley says.

With hard work and some help from industry friends, Colter has grown significantly in reach and scope. Today, the company services clients in Canada through its head office in Okotoks, sales office in Calgary, and bases in Red Deer and Grande Prairie. These teams support the work Colter’s clients are doing in oil and gas across Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, as well as on the helium production side in Saskatchewan. In addition, Colter operates a fully staffed shop in Washington, Pennsylvania, working for clients producing in the Marcellus natural gas field along with operation bases in Casper, Wyoming and Minot, North Dakota. Over the past 20 years of providing quality service to its clients across diverse markets, Colter Energy has earned its position as one of North America’s leading flowback and production testing equipment and service providers.

Colter Energy specializes in a variety of well completion activities, offering clients customizable services from stimulation support and drill-outs to well optimization, production and inline testing. After their clients have

Photo by Riverwood Photography

and the Colter professionals are equipped to handle virtually any situation or scenario. The collaborative team custom designs and implements cost-effective, fit-for-purpose, detailed flowback and production testing programs, delivering innovative solutions to its vast client base. Colter can accommodate large and small jobs alike, and whether there is a handful of people with a few pieces of

tailored service that ensures the job is done right and clients are completely satisfied.

“The main application for our service is to provide specific data to the producers about their oil and/or gas wells,” says Bradley. “How

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“It is truly remarkable having a lender supporting our business that we consider a true partner. Not just when industry is good but in those uncertain times, Essex understood our business and believed in our character as a company to provide solutions like asset-based lending. They got to know us in order to provide us with quality advice.”

-Clay Bradley

we tailor our equipment and personnel to a project depends on the dynamics we face with each client

RB

Oilfield Hauling congratulates Colter Energy Services on their 20th milestone!

No matter the scenario, Colter Energy is sure to have both state-of-the-art equipment and the right people for the job. In a service business like production testing, where the equipment, real-time monitoring technology and processes are quite similar across competing companies, it’s the people that really act as the main differentiator. And since the beginning, Bradley and the Colter team have been all about their people and treating them like family. The company has a bottom-up approach that puts the emphasis on the staff so they can better serve clients rather than a top-down management focus. Colter does all it can to create an environment that makes employees safe, healthy and happy at work.

procedures to ensure employees stay safe for their entire tenure at Colter Energy.

Colter does not push new employees into the field quickly. Instead, they invest in developing them by providing training coupled with mentorship and job-shadowing. This helps new hires acclimate to their position and allows them to really understand the process and gain confidence in the field. By training staff about the finer points of what their job entails and what they need to know about what’s happening around them, Colter’s recruits don’t become overwhelmed or intimidated by the job. Bradley has found that people who are supported and have positive experiences early on in their employment tend to stick around in that position for longer, and by ensuring staff are comfortable and well-trained, Colter is enhancing its already excellent retention rate.

The evidence of this effective strategy can be found in the large number of long-time employees working at Colter Energy, including several people on both the administrative and field sides who have been with the company since its inception. From early on in their careers with Colter, employees know they are valued and appreciated, both personally and professionally, and they are given the opportunity to move up in the company.

Congratulations Colter Energy on 20 years!

We at Fusion are sincerely thankful to have conducted business together over the last 18 years, and we look forward to further building upon our relationship in the future.

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Congrats on your 20th anniversary, we are pleased to be your #1 Mechanical Repair facility in the Grande Prairie Region.

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The React Fabrication Team wishes all the best to the Team at Colter Energy on their 20th anniversary, we have enjoyed our relationship over the past 10 years and look forward to many more.

Congratulations to a very deserving group of people!

“Our industry is traditionally somewhat transient, and the fact that we have the long-term retention that we have with many of our people, in my mind, is remarkable. Everyone is involved and engaged, from our entry-level people to our field supervisors to the senior management team. The culture we’ve created is all-inclusive, and we believe that when you get involved, it makes it more personal, and you get a true sense of commitment from your people,” says Bradley. “They are proud to wear the Colter coveralls.”

Employees, especially the great ones, are hard to come by in this labour-strained market, and Colter Energy takes the approach of being a supportive training place that encourages people to learn, develop their skills, and grow to become future supervisors, sales associates and management personnel. In fact, nearly all of the management team in place were promoted from the field and developed into their current positions. This is a source of pride for the company and a practice the team strives to implement at all levels.

After all, advancing great employees is far easier than trying to recruit new staff from a pool of available candidates. The key is to find people who are not only service-oriented and eager to learn but also individuals who possess the positive traits that mesh with the company’s collaborative culture. Clay Bradley and his team have been

successful in this pursuit, as the staff of about 350 people across the organization is dedicated to the growth of Colter Energy and is invested in the company’s continued success. The company was built on its core values of having a customer focus that puts clients first, delivering great value for clients, achieving operational excellence for stakeholders, practicing loyalty to clients as the team goes the extra mile, and fostering teamwork and respect for everyone connected to a job, both within the company and outside of it.

As much as Colter invests in its staff from within, the team also invests in the outside communities in which it operates. The company sponsors various sports teams and supports local causes that are important to the staff and its community neighbours. Colter has a long history of involvement with community organizations in both Okotoks and Calgary, including the Foothills Hospice, the Okotoks Food Bank, the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Kids Cancer Care. Additionally, the company supports local oilmen charities and helps out with causes and charities in the Red Deer and Grande Prairie communities. Colter Energy is active south of the border, too, and the company proudly promotes hockey by being a major sponsor of the Junior A hockey team, the Minot Minotauros in North Dakota while donating to and supporting a variety of charitable causes where they have American bases.

“As a company and as individual employees, we support many local charities, not-forprofit organizations, and sports and recreation programs through both donations and employee involvement. Being a good community citizen is a crucial part of our guiding principles and beliefs, and this ultimately brings about positive change in the communities in which we work and operate,” he says.

Colter Energy has experienced its share of extremely difficult times during the past two decades. They have ridden out the cyclical ups and downs in the industry to survive recessions and energy sector downturns and then had to regroup when crashing oil prices and a global pandemic led to complete operation shutdowns and temporary layoffs at the company. Through it all, Colter Energy managed to come out the other side stronger. Having experienced adversity and hardship of their own over the years makes it even more important to Bradley and his team to support communities that need help. The team feels privileged to be in a position to assist others, and they are happy to pay it forward.

“Making it this far has been an incredible journey, and the fact that we’re still kicking around 20 years

later is impressive, especially in our space. Many companies have come and gone over those years, and we have worked extremely hard and been very fortunate,” Clay Bradley says. “We are grateful to our employees, clients and suppliers for the dedication and commitment they bring to Colter Energy every single day.”

With the company’s dedication to providing quality custom solutions to clients, the wealth of experience and knowledge on the team and its complete lineup of flowback and production testing services, it seems that Colter Energy’s clients, suppliers and employees are pretty fortunate, too.

Northern Alberta pad completion

COLTER ENERGY WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL SUPPORTING

PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUR CLIENTS, VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS FOR THEIR CONTINUED PATRONAGE OVER THE YEARS.

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT CARBON CAPTURE

by Angela Lovell

Until a few years ago, not too many people were excited about carbon capture and storage (CCS) because the costs to implement were high and a ton of carbon wasn’t worth much on global carbon markets. That’s changed thanks to a number of factors that are driving investment and innovation in the sector.

James Millar, president and CEO of the International CCS Knowledge Centre (Knowledge Centre) says that companies across all sectors now recognize that they have a responsibility to help keep carbon in the ground and CCS is the way to do it.

An example is the Pathways Alliance, a partnership of six companies representing 95 per cent of Canadian oilsands production that plans to spend $16.5 billion by 2030 on CCS projects.

“If we are going to leave a good future for our children, we have to tackle climate change,” Millar says. “We are putting 36 billion tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year, so we need a large-scale solution and that is CCS.”

GOVERNMENTS GIVING A PUSH

But there is also a push coming from governments around the world who are committed to emissions targets, introducing policies, legislation, carbon taxes and carbon credit systems that mean, especially if the capture process can be made more cost effective, there is room to make money in CCS.

“We have to move into new energy, but we can’t stop flying or trucking across Canada tomorrow, so we

have to transition,” says Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul, co-founder of the University of Regina’s Clean Energy Technologies Research Institute (CETRI), a recognised global leader in CCS research. “We can’t have any transition in a meaningful way if we don’t have carbon capture. If we can capture CO₂ at a cost of around $50 [a ton] or lower we are in business with the carbon taxes you see in Canada, USA, EU and other countries.”

Another game changer, Millar adds, was the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that President Biden passed in the U.S. last year. “That made it simple and attractive for companies to incorporate CCS because the Biden Administration is going to pay them $85 a ton to keep carbon in the ground for 12 years,” he says.

In Canada, the federal government is looking to finalize a new Investment Tax Credit this fall towards the cost of future CCS projects.

WESTERN CANADA LEADS IN CCS

All of these things are driving innovation and investment into the CCS industry in Canada and, with 25 projects at various stages of development in Alberta alone, Western Canada is well positioned to be a global leader in CCS.

“The ability to process gas, compress it and store it into reservoirs are things that Western Canadians are uniquely qualified to do, in particular low-cost natural gas producers,” says Michael Belenkie, president and CEO of Alberta-based Entropy Inc. “Canada has the prosperity to be able to chase this type of

decarbonization, we have clean emission sources that are suitable for carbon capture, and we can store CO₂ subsurface over much of western Canada.”

Six of the 35 global large-scale CCS projects are in Canada. Two of them use captured CO₂ to boost the production of older oil fields via enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The Boundary Dam Saskatchewan CCS project at Estevan captures carbon emissions from a coal-fired power plant and delivers it to the Weyburn oil field (operated by Whitecap Resources) for EOR and some is permanently stored.

Shell Oil’s Quest project, located at the Scotford oil refinery near Edmonton, is an important component of the company’s plan to achieve netzero emissions by 2050. The facility captures CO₂ at the site and uses it for EOR, then transports it to an underground reservoir 65 kilometres away.

Three quarters of CO₂ emissions are from postcombustion sources such as the burning of fossil fuels, with most of the rest coming from precombustion industrial processes such as ethanol or fertilizer production.

Post-combustion carbon capture with firstgeneration technology is capital intensive, complex and expensive because the CO₂ must be purified, compressed, liquified and transported to sites for use or storage.

One of the key challenges is that post-combustion CCS is a low value, high volume game. “The volumes required to create value require a specific approach that is all about low cost, efficiency and the best technology to get there,” Belenkie says.

Entropy worked with researchers at the CETRI to commercialize a proprietary new CCS technology now operating at Glacier, Alberta since July 2022.

The Glacier project is an example of how new CCS technologies are helping to redefine the business case for CCS. Under Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System, carbon credits are currently worth $65 a ton and will rise by $15 a year to $170 per ton by 2030.

“You can resell carbon credits at about a five to 10 per cent discount to the carbon tax price,” says Belenkie. “Our cost on a per unit basis is low and the capital and operating cost is also low. We’re

The Pilot Plant at the Clean Energy Technologies Research Institute (CETRI) at the University of Regina: a recognized world leader in Carbon Capture research and technology development.

capturing and storing CO₂ at Glacier and collecting carbon credits in Alberta which we intend to resell as our revenue.”

OTHER PLAYERS COMING ON BOARD

Other Canadian companies are proposing to bring new CCS technologies online such as Svante in B.C. that uses a proprietary solid sorbent technology to capture carbon from industrial flue gas from the manufacture of products like cement, steel and fertilizer. It has two pilot plants at the Lafarge Canada cement facility in Richmond, B.C. and the Cenovus Energy plant near Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.

Carbon Engineering has developed Direct Air Capture technology to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and plans to build a large-scale commercial plant in Texas in partnership with 1PointFive.

Alberta’s Air Products will deploy its proprietary Auto-Thermal Reforming (ATR) technology in a new $1.6 billion Net Zero Hydrogen Energy Complex being built in Edmonton to capture and store 90 per cent of the carbon produced by its hydrogen-fuelled power plant and liquid hydrogen facility.

ROOM FOR EVERYONE

With Canada’s target to reduce emissions by 40 to 45 per cent compared to 2005 levels by 2030 now less than seven years away, and the six- or sevenyear timeframe required to deploy large-scale CCS projects, many small and medium sized projects will get underway in the years ahead and be vital to help Canada achieve its climate goals.

“We need the large-scale projects but the engineering minds that are driving the new and next stage technology are vital as well because everybody needs to be part of the solution, and that includes all levels of technology and all levels of scale,” Millar says.

But as important as it is to get steel in the ground, knowledge sharing and cooperation between companies and countries will also be vital to help solve the world’s climate issues. The Knowledge Centre is playing a key role in developing a CCS knowledge sharing hub thanks to $3 million in seed funding from the Alberta Government.

“By having engineers and people share knowledge you reduce risk, reduce cost and improve performance so they can put better project plans together,” Millar says. “That is something positive not just for Canada but for the world.” BOE

Entropy Inc.’s CCS facility at Glacier, Alberta uses new technology to capture and store CO₂.

WELDING ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE QUALIMET CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

Qualimet is a welding engineering consulting firm that also provides materials testing, inspection services and third-party auditing to the petroleum, oil and gas, light and heavy industrial sectors. The company boasts 50 years of experience across a wide variety of projects, providing proactive and collaborative client services and solutions.

Qualimet’s origin was Dacro Test, opened by the Oswald brothers in 1973 as a welder test centre to take care of the new Alberta B Pressure Program. The early years were ones of identity formation and the branding changed several times. Long-time Albertans may

remember it being Prestige, Coronet, Alberta, or QC Inspection Weld Test Centre.

In 1993, Jan and Don Keith took over and rolled out an exciting era of enhanced welding engineering consulting services and customer care. The brand became much more than just welder testing. The brand quickly grew under their leadership, with a name change to Qualimet in 2001, and a move to a larger facility in 2011 followed by ISO 17020 and ISO 17025 accreditation.

Daren Evans says, “Today Qualimet is best known as a full-service welding engineering consulting firm

committed to providing state-of-the-art cost-effective solutions to meet our client’s challenges.”

The team, Evans says, is a key factor in the company’s 50 years of success.

“Qualimet has a team of highly skilled and experienced welding engineers who possess deep knowledge and understanding of the industry. Our expertise allows us to provide comprehensive solutions and address complex welding challenges effectively.”

He continues, “We have established a reputation for delivering high-quality consulting engineering services and maintaining stringent quality control standards. Our commitment to precision and attention to detail ensure that the welding processes we recommend are reliable, durable and meet or exceed industry standards and client expectations.

“At Qualimet, we understand that each project is unique; we approach projects with a customized perspective. We collaborate closely with our clients to understand their specific requirements, goals and constraints. This enables us to tailor our welding engineering solutions to their individual needs, providing the most suitable and cost-effective strategies.

“Building and nurturing strong client relationships is a cornerstone of Qualimet’s success. We prioritize open communication, active listening and collaboration with our clients to ensure we fully understand their objectives and to deliver results that align with their expectations.

Our focus on customer satisfaction fosters long-term partnerships, repeat business and referrals.”

With experience, collaboration and a team that loves what they do, Qualimet projects are completed on time, on budget and often exceed client expectations.

Evans smiles, “We understand the importance of meeting project deadlines and providing reliable services. Qualimet strives to deliver our welding engineering solutions within agreed-upon timelines without compromising on quality. Our clients rely on us to be responsive, punctual and dependable throughout the duration of their projects. At Qualimet, we take care of people, we aspire to excellence and we act with integrity.

As with every organization, there are aspects to overcome. Qualimet meets challenges with a solutionoriented approach.

“While Qualimet has experienced significant success in the welding engineering consulting industry, like any organization, we do face challenges. One of our greatest challenges is keeping up with the advancements in welding technology and industry trends,” explains Evans. “The field of welding is constantly evolving with new materials, processes and techniques emerging regularly. Staying at the forefront of these developments requires continuous learning, investment in research and development and the ability to adapt quickly to changing market demands.

“To address this challenge, Qualimet is committed to ongoing professional development and knowledge

acquisition. Our team actively engages in industry conferences, seminars and workshops to stay updated on the latest trends and innovations.

“Our utmost commitment is to ensure client satisfaction, having served renowned companies such as Suncor, CNRL, Shell Scotford, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, Trans Mountain, Worley, Jacobs, as well as various other end user and ECM clients.”

He continues, “Managing the balance between innovation and practicality is crucial. It’s important to evaluate new technologies and determine their suitability for specific projects while considering factors such as costeffectiveness, feasibility and compatibility with existing infrastructure. By actively addressing these challenges and maintaining our commitment to staying ahead of industry advancements, Qualimet aims to leverage new technologies and industry trends to provide our clients with the best possible welding engineering solutions.”

Through it all, Qualimet is excited to have launched in Alberta and become one of Alberta’s local success stories.

“There are a number of things to love about Alberta as a business community!” Evans shares. “Businesses in Alberta often come together through networking events, industry associations and support organizations

to share knowledge, exchange ideas and foster mutually beneficial partnerships.

“The city nurtures and encourages innovation and provides a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. The presence of various industries, including energy, manufacturing, technology, healthcare and education, contribute to a robust business ecosystem. This pool of skilled professionals provides us with access to top-notch talent, enabling us to build a strong team and deliver exceptional services to our clients.

“Alberta offers an exceptional quality of life, which enhances the overall business community. The city of Edmonton is known for its beautiful natural surroundings, recreational opportunities, cultural events and for being a welcoming community. These lifestyle factors help in attracting and retaining talent, making it an ideal place to live, work and do business. We are proud to be a part of this dynamic community and benefit from the opportunities and support it offers to foster our growth and success.”

Qualimet is pleased to be able to support the community it loves by giving back annually to the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Alberta Association For The Dependent Handicapped, Heart & Stroke Foundation and Elves Special Needs Society.

“Working with and for great people and clients is truly special, as is being able to take a client’s need and coming up with a cost-effective solution that fits all their requirements. We are proud of the significant, positive impact our company has had on the construction and oil and gas industries,” Evans says.

He thanks Qualimet’s clients, saying, “Thank you for putting your trust in Qualimet to satisfy your welding engineering needs. By choosing Qualimet, you are choosing a partner who is invested in your success and dedicated to delivering exceptional welding engineering solutions. We are here to support you every step of the way and look forward to building a fruitful and enduring partnership with you.”

“To our team,” Evans continues, “Thank you for contributing to Qualimet’s success. Your dedication to providing our clients’ solutions for their welding engineering needs is why our clients trust Qualimet.”

He concludes, “At Qualimet, our constant aim is to provide assistance to our valued clients. Given the evolving nature of the welding industry, codes and standards, including ASME Section VIII or the recent CSA Z662, we are well-equipped to help our clients assess the impact of these changes on their existing

welding procedures. Our goal is to ensure their compliance and that our clients’ projects always comply with the latest regulations.

“With today’s challenges in finding competent welding engineering expertise, our clients have turned to Qualimet for help. Through our Engineering Service Agreement (ESA), Qualimet has proudly been able to be their reliable source of welding expertise, as their ‘de facto’ welding engineering department. We greatly value these relationships.

“These ESAs have provided substantial cost savings to our clients through the efficient solutions our skilled engineers deliver tailored to our clients’ needs, as well as the lower ESA fee rate.”

If you would like to find out more about saving money and get started with an ESA, please contact Daren Evans by phone at (780) 641-0758 or email daren@qualimet.ca.

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