Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

SASKATCHEWAN

2020

Oil Report

The voice of the oil industry in Saskatchewan

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #40934510

saskatchewanoilreport.com

SIMSA uncovers local procurement’s impact Petroleum Technology Research Centre goes back to the future Carbon Engineering pioneers direct air capture of CO2

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According to the 2019 Scotiabank Playbook, Saskatchewan has the top conventional oil play in North America and two of the top 10.

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In this issuE

SASKATCHEWAN Oil Report is published by:

Message from the Premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe – 12

DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg, MB R3L 0G5 www.delcommunications.com

Message from the Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources, Hon. Bronwyn Eyre – 14

President & CEO: David Langstaff Managing Editor: cindy chan cindy@delcommunications.com

Message from Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan – 16

Advertising Sales Manager: DAYNA OULION dayna@delcommunications.com Advertising Sales Representatives: BRIAN GEROW | COLIN JAMES ROSS JAMES | ANTHONY ROMEO

FireRein: Prevent, protect, extinguish – 18 Back to the future – 22 Bluewave Energy – All the fuel supply you need – 24

Creative Director: kathy cable

The future of supply chain management – 26

Advertising Art: Dave bamburak

Carbon Engineering: Pioneering direct air capture of CO2 – 28

Cover Photo Courtesy of: FIREREIN

Wicehtowak Limnos Consulting Services: A Saskatchewan get-it-done company – 30

© 2020 DEL Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Aboriginal commitment – 31

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information­contained in and the reliability of the source, the publisher in no way guarantees nor warrants the information and is not responsible for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher, its directors, officers or employees.

The “TITAN” of environmental solutions – 32 Manitoba Scallion – Will a 12-barrel-per-day oil discovery lead to the next big Williston Play? – 34

Publications mail agreement #40934510 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg, MB R2L 0G5 Email: david@delcommunications.com

Doing their best at Brother’s Specialized Coating Systems Ltd. – 36 A Mark Twain moment for Canada’s energy industry – 38

index to advertisers

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Goodon Industries Ltd.................................................................................... 38

B & B Oilfield Hauling | Integrity Oilfield Hauling Ltd..................................4

Grimes Sales & Service Ltd............................................................................20

Bluewave Energy / Parkland......................................................................... 25

HD Engineering & Design..............................................................................30

Brandt Tractor Ltd.............................................................................................29

IFR Workwear Inc.........................................................................................OBC

Brother’s Specialized Coating Systems Ltd..................................................5

Level Best Technologies Ltd........................................................................... 39

Cando Rail Services Ltd...................................................................................27

Major Oil & Gas Ltd...........................................................................................34

CFR Chemicals...................................................................................................17

Petroleum Technology Research Centre....................................................9

Coast Swift Current Hotel............................................................................... 18

Pumps & Pressure Inc.......................................................................................15

Department of Economy..................................................................................6

Right Choice Energy Services.......................................................................23

Enbridge Pipelines Inc..................................................................................... 19

SaskTel...................................................................................................................21

Fast Trucking Service Ltd.................................................................................37

Southeast College.............................................................................................31

FireRein..............................................................................................................IFC

Titan Environmental Containment........................................................10 & 11

Fluor Canada Ltd..........................................................................................3, 35

University of Regina..........................................................................................37

Good To Go Trucking.......................................................................................33

Wicehtowak Limnos Consulting Services Ltd..............................................7

8 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

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Message from the Premier of Saskatchewan

Scott Moe

O

n behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan, it is my pleasure to welcome readers to the 2020 edition of the Saskatchewan Oil Report.

The past few months have been challenging for everyone as we work together to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus has caused a health-care emergency and affected the livelihoods of thousands of Saskatchewan citizens. Nowhere is the economic uncertainty felt more profoundly than in the oil and gas sector, which is dealing with a steep drop in demand arising from the pandemic and fallout from the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Our government is fully committed to ensuring the province’s energy sector can weather the storm and emerge even stronger in the months to come. Part of our support comes through advocacy. For years, we have advocated for an expansion of Canada’s pipeline capacity that would enable the industry to get world prices for the oil it produces.

We have also called for the federal government to assist the energy sector by supporting the cleanup of inactive oil and gas wells in Saskatchewan. We were pleased Ottawa recently came forward with a well cleanup program, but more must done at the federal level to address liquidity challenges in the industry.

Saskatchewan has responded directly to the current situation with measures intended to assist companies with cash flow and reduce the administrative burden on the industry. As we move forward, our government will maintain a stable royalty structure in the province, supported by clear, responsible policies and regulations. Industry incentives, such as the Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive, will remain in place. Last year, Gibson Energy in Moose Jaw was the first company in the province to take advantage of this incentive. The company was able to boost production without increasing emissions, an example of the sustainable production Saskatchewan can take pride in.

Today, energy companies face an unprecedented challenge. But the underlying fundamentals of the industry remain strong. Saskatchewan is the second largest oil-

12 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

producing province in the country and the sixth-largest onshore oil producer in North America. Oil and gas is our biggest economic engine. Last year, production alone was responsible for an estimated 15 per cent of our provincial GDP, supporting almost 33,000 direct and indirect jobs. In 2019, we produced 489,000 barrels of oil a day. Over the last decade, the energy sector has generated $4-6 billion in annual investment in Saskatchewan. This year, production, capital investment and employment will most certainly drop. But, our oil and gas sector is resilient and innovative and will be positioned to succeed when the recovery comes.

Our government believes energy will drive growth in the province for decades to come. Last November, we released a new Saskatchewan Growth Plan (https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/budget-planning-and-reporting/ plan-for-growth). One of the most ambitious targets in the new plan is our commitment to increase oil production to 600,000 barrels per day by 2030. Substantial growth in our oil sector is not only possible but also necessary. Prior to the current difficulties, global demand for oil was widely forecast to grow annually through 2040. While there is much uncertainty today, we know that the world will require a vast amount of oil to power economic growth. Saskatchewan companies deliver some of the most sustainably produced oil in the world. In the years ahead, we will play an important role in meeting world demand.

Saskatchewan is tough, resilient and innovative. We pull together in times of trouble. We are hopeful and optimistic by nature. These are the essential traits of our province, embodied by those who work in our oil and gas industry. I’m confident our energy sector will drive the economic recovery to come. Better days are ahead for Saskatchewan.

Scott Moe Premier

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Message from the Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources

hon. bronwyn eyre

O

n behalf of the Ministry of Energy and Resources, I am pleased to join Premier Scott Moe in offering welcoming remarks in the 2019 edition of the Saskatchewan Oil Report.

In light of the drastic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the Government of Saskatchewan implemented a number of relief measures for the oil and gas sector on April 14. These included extending mineral rights licences by one year, delaying filing deadlines to assist in stabilizing operations, and reducing the industry portion of the Oil and Gas Administrative Levy by 50 per cent this fiscal year.

We continue to examine other relief options. The plunge of oil prices into actual negative territory was not anticipated, and we continue to call on the federal government to provide further, substantial support for the Canadian energy sector.

Going forward, Saskatchewan will continue to be a highly competitive jurisdiction that offers a solid investment and royalty climate for the oil and gas sector. A pair of recently released, independent reports, which analyze oil and gas investment opportunities across North America, prove once again that Saskatchewan is a leading destination when it comes to capital investment in the oil and gas sector.

The 2019 Scotiabank Playbook ranked the Southeast Saskatchewan Mission Canyon Frobisher/Alida oil play as the most profitable on the continent, while the Southwest Saskatchewan Cantuar oil play was ranked seventh overall. With two of the top 10 plays, Saskatchewan has a total of seven plays ranked in the top 35. As well, in the Fraser Institute’s Canada-US Energy Sector Competitiveness Survey for 2019, Saskatchewan was ranked by industry respondents as the most attractive jurisdiction in Canada for upstream oil and gas investment. The report noted Saskatchewan’s horizontal drilling royalty structure as particularly attractive for investors.

In November, we announced Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan: The Next Decade of Growth, which includes ambitious 14 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

targets that will ensure we continue to attract oil and gas investment dollars from a sector that drives our economy and helps grow and sustain our communities. These targets include increasing oil production by 25 per cent, to 600,000 barrels per day and increasing the value of Saskatchewan exports by 50 per cent over the next decade.

Our commitment to fostering a leading operating environment includes targeted royalty programs that stimulate investment, such as the new Waterflood Development Program, which is now open to applications. This past year, we also introduced the Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive (OGPII), which is designed to increase value-added processing and infrastructure capacity, while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. OGPII will operate as part of our Methane Action Plan (MAP), which has been well-received by industry and recently achieved draft equivalency after months of engagement with the federal government. Our government also introduced an updated research and development incentive, the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII), which provides a tax credit to encourage and stimulate commercialization of gas processing.

Earlier this year, we also introduced the Oil Infrastructure Investment Program (OIIP), a transferrable royalty credit aimed at getting Saskatchewan resources to new markets.

The program provides a credit worth 20 per cent of approved capital expenditures for eligible pipeline development projects with a minimum investment of $10 million required, with the potential for each project to earn a maximum of $40 million of royalty credits.

Despite current, unprecedented economic challenges, the Government of Saskatchewan is proud to promote our vital oil and gas sector, to the country and the rest of the world, as the innovative, technologically top-in-class sector that it is.

Let’s always embrace positive Canadian energy. v

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Message from Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources

Seamus O’Regan

I

am grateful to the Saskatchewan Oil Report for this opportunity to discuss the unprecedented challenge facing Canada’s oil sector.

You represent one of the most important parts of the Canadian economy. An industry that has been among those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global economic downturn has caused demand for oil to fall dramatically – just as an international dispute has sent prices plunging to record lows.

This has had a profound impact on Canadian producers, suppliers and workers, as well as on the national economy. Saskatchewan, Alberta and my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador face a particularly tough uphill climb. These aren’t just headlines or statistics. This struggle is affecting real people, their families, their businesses.

That’s why we moved swiftly. We began by announcing historic private sector supports that include increased access to capital, deferral of tax payments and support for market liquidity. Several of these measures are helping energy companies and their workers, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which is helping businesses throughout the sector keep the lights on and people working.

And on April 17, our government delivered important new measures to assist the oil sector, which employs some 576,000 Canadians.

This announcement has three components. First, we are providing short-term liquidity so firms can stay afloat and workers can stay employed or have jobs to come back to. We’ll do that by expanding the Business Credit Availability Program. This will support medium-sized businesses with larger financing needs facing a cash crunch – starting with energy companies.

16 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

Second, the Government of Canada is providing up to $1.72 billion to help companies clean up the more than 5,600 orphaned wells in Western Canada.

This initiative, which includes up to $400 million to Saskatchewan, offers a terrific opportunity to put our highly skilled people to work. They’ll cap wells and remediate land and groundwater as they return sites to their original condition.

Third, my department is also providing $750 million to create a new Emissions Reduction Fund. This will help conventional and offshore petroleum firms innovate with a goal of reducing pollution, focusing on methane and investing in capital projects in the offshore, all while maintaining jobs.

Together, these measures will help the sector and its workers today, while positioning for the future.

This is the best of Team Canada. These efforts reflect an enormous level of collaboration between all orders of government and the private sector in every region. I felt the spirit of this collaboration when I represented Canada’s position at a recent G20 Energy Ministers meeting focused on bringing stability to the global oil market.

Canadians have faced challenges before – and we know we will prevail again.

Your industry is critical to this effort. With a global energy transformation underway, petroleum companies remain a leading source of innovation, as well as wealth generation and government revenues. We need to make sure that once this crisis clears, your sector can help kick-start our economy, provide good jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and contribute to our clean-growth future. v

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to reconcile. Early formulations of FireRein Eco-Gel™ had a tendency to settle, like organic peanut butter. This settling needed to be compensated for by the use of mixers, which violated the principle of compatibility with existing fire equipment. They knew that fire departments wouldn’t adopt a difficult-to-use product, but keeping the formulation 100-per cent bio-based without settling wasn’t a trivial matter.

According to Sells, “We could have resolved the settling issue by including synthetic chemical components, but that would have taken away from our mission and not differentiated us from the competition.”

Early adopters in Eastern Ontario included fire departments, a paper packaging plant and a plastic waste re-purposing plant. Product development efforts continued; in 2019, FireRein employed a science team headed by a PhD chemist to finalize product development, resulting in a stable hydrogel concentrate that is certified 100-per cent bio-based

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FireRein engaged two distributors, Municipal Equipment in Ontario and Wholesale Fire & Rescue (WFR) in Alberta, to represent Eco-Gel™ to fire departments. Industrial sales expanded, including a gold mine in northern Ontario. Discussions are continuing with several large industrial plants in eastern Ontario.

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TECT • EXTINGUISH”, plays on the ability of Eco-Gel™ to stick and stay in place, acting as a cooling medium while excluding oxygen. Eco-Gel™ can be used to coat a patch of ground or a row of structures in advance of a wildfire, preventing propagation of the flames; it can be applied to protect internal or external exposures at the scene of a structure fire; and, of course, it can be directly applied to extinguish burning Class A or Class B

materials. In 2019, FireRein began developing HotWorx™, a spray can filled with pre-mixed Eco-Gel™ intended to prevent fires caused by hot work such as welding, cutting, or grinding. HotWorx™ sales in retail stores, automotive distributors and light industry are growing quickly.

Products in development KitchenWorx™ is a spray can containing a modified version of EcoGel™ formulated specifically to suppress oil and grease fires in home

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undesirable agent. Commercial kitchens can avoid the activation of automatic systems which could lead to expensive cleanup and down time.”

KitchenWorx™ will be available in Q2 of 2020.

FireRein’s Fire Prevention Pump (FPP) is a compact system designed to deploy Eco-Gel™ through a standard pressure washer device. A homeowner could coat their house if threatened by wildfire, or it could be used in industry to create a layer of Hydrogel across a wide area for fire protection or dust mitigation.

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Weyburn field, with CO2 injection well on left and production well on right.

Back to the future

T

he old adage that history repeats is not the best place to start an article about innovation. After all, innovation by

its very definition implies newness, uniqueness and originality – not the repetition of things that came before.

But the fact that the rest of the world is coming around to the innovative research projects that the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) has been involved with since 1998 is a sign that the company was, and continues to be, well ahead of conventional approaches to enhanced oil recovery.

PTRC managed and directed research for 15 years related to the measurement and monitoring of injected CO2 at the Weyburn and Midale oil fields in southeastern Saskatchewan. That project – though the final research results were published five years ago – continues to reverberate globally. The United States Department of Energy, a major funder of the Weyburn research, is also in possession of a final PTRC report filed in 2016 that includes expanded results from wellbore and overburden testing at the two oil fields.

“We routinely get requests for copies of the best practices manual that came out in 2013,” notes Norm Sacuta,

Interest in PTRC’s expertise has also increased with passage of a law called 45Q in the United States in 2017, which provides tax credits of up to $US35 per ton for CO2 utilization in formations like oil fields, and up to $US50 per ton for permanent CO2 storage in deep saline and other disposal formations.

“45Q has had a dramatic effect on the ramping up of possible CO2 storage projects in places like North Dakota and Texas,” says PTRC’s CEO Dan MacLean. “In turn, that’s created more life in European and Asian projects, which have been accessing PTRC expertise for monitoring CO2 movements underground.”

Solvent research at PTRC Many of the new market drivers for sources of CO2 in the U.S. are based on a need for carbon dioxide as a solvent in different kinds of oil fields – everything from the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana to more conventional fields in Texas. In Canada, oil companies in both Saskatchewan and Alberta are also searching for CO2 to enhance their recovery operations.

Ongoing enhanced oil recovery research by the PTRC has played a role in companies seeing the benefits of CO2, along with other solvents – especially in the heavy oil fields of Saskatchewan.

PTRC has funded a number of studies into cyclic solvent injection in the last few years, along with field trials using solvent vapour extraction. The success of this research has led to some industrial-scale pilots by heavy oil operators along the border with Alberta.

“Weyburn and Aquistore are, of course, flagship projects for us,” says MacLean, “but we’ve not been resting on our laurels. We understand that there is still much we can offer in terms of research and consultation on the use of solvents in different kinds of oil reservoirs. And with Alberta’s Trunk Line possibly supplying CO2 in the next few years to oil fields in both provinces, we want to make sure different kinds of reservoirs, and different kinds of solvent technologies like CSI, are ready to go.”

Contact the PTRC to find out more about Aquistore and our solventbased EOR research, and visit the company’s website at ptrc.ca. v

the director of communications for the PTRC. “With our additional research in the past five years around the Aquistore deep saline CO2 storage project, requests for our researchers to speak in the U.S. and globally are increasing.”

22 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

Visitors inspect a fiberglass-covered CO2 injection well.

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The future of supply chain management

T

he advancement of technology in the world today is presenting opportunities for supply chain to collect data faster, more reliably, automatically and costeffectively. The fourth industrial revolution spanning technology innovation has created opportunities to track, measure, analyze and improve our operations at much lower costs than yesterday. The days of technology implementations that take several years to achieve are gone.

With new agile development, open source code and collaboration in the technology world, you can get data more quickly than ever before.

Technology-driven optimization is changing how we manage our supply chains, bringing down barriers and creating completely integrated ecosystems that are fully transparent with all the players involved. Those who move quickly to adopt advanced technology for their supply chain will gain efficiencies and develop new business models with corresponding revenue streams, all while creating new competitive advantages.

Collecting data in the field, tracking shipments, tracking people and tracking packages is being done with low-cost sensors that send data to the cloud real-time. Gone are the days of tracking shipments using paper, of high administration to manage that paper and long delays investigating, disputing and resolving issues within the supply chain. Now we’re collecting data real-time within minutes of the event.

The question is what to do with all that data?

As a provider of specialized rail services for more than 40 years, Cando Rail Services helps industrial customers move bulk materials across their supply chains and has recognized the need (and opportunity) for the industry to acquire accurate, timely data.

At Cando, we believe that real-time accurate data facilitates the elimination of waste. In supply chain, there are seven kinds of waste that include overproduction, overprocessing, waiting, unnecessary movement, inventory, er26 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

rors and poor space utilization. Eliminating non-value activity, movement or delays means that you can increase the number of shipments you complete annually, improve asset utilization and decrease your cost. Access to better data will highlight unknown or unforeseen issues and enable our partners and customers to improve their supply chain. Because of this, we have been working on a supply chain optimization platform called Quasar.

Quasar is a secure, cloud-based platform that allows users to track the location and movement of their railcar assets real-time, visualize their supply chain from origin to destination and optimize network health. The full Quasar platform includes yard management, shipment visibility, activity-based costing, alerts, metrics and prescriptive analytics. Quasar is designed to capture your operational data, calculate the costs of your supply chain real-time and then enable our customers to analyze their data (without a data science degree).

We see big opportunities to create an integrated, more networked supply chain in Canada. Quasar aims to make it easier to adopt technology that addresses our challenges.

The platform is implemented in real working environments in the Canadian supply chain. With Quasar, the future of supply chain management is here, and we’re excited to share it. v

Industrial Switching Terminal & Transload Services Logistics Material Handling Railcar Repair Railcar Storage Shortline Operations Engineering and Track Services

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Carbon Engineering: CE’s direct air capture pilot plant in Squamish, B.C. Shown are the air contactor (foreground) and calciner (upper left).

T

he transportation sector of 2050 will run on an energy mix unlike that of today. Operators are demanding increasing quantities of low-carbon energy sources and renewable fuels, and the sector is searching for next generation technologies that will enable compliance with emissions reduction targets. Carbon Engineering Ltd. (CE) is a Canadian-based clean energy company that has developed a technology that can help address these growing needs. CE’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology enables CO₂ to be pulled out of the atmosphere at large scale and then permanently stored underground or used to manufacture fuels and other products. This technology provides a market-based solution that can meet the demands of existing industries, while simultaneously decarbonizing the economy.

CE was founded in 2009 by Professor David Keith, who raised seed capital from a small group of investors, including Bill Gates. Since inception, CE’s mission has been to develop and engineer a system that could be brought to market affordably and at industrial scale, so it could play a mainstream role in cutting emissions and producing clean energy. In 2015, CE built a proof of concept pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., that is capable of

Pioneering direct air capture of CO2 capturing one ton of CO₂ per day. Today, CE is progressing the engineering for commercial-scale DAC facilities that can be built to capture one million tons of CO₂ per year at levelized costs of approximately US$100 per ton of CO₂.

At that scale, one facility is capturing a quantity of CO₂equivalent to the emissions from 250,000 cars.

DAC offers a range of opportunities to create environmental benefits and to manufacture products. To date, CE has developed technology for two main uses: permanently storing the captured atmospheric CO₂ underground, and utilizing the CO₂ to produce synthetic transportation fuels.

In the former case, DAC is used to permanently store atmospheric CO₂ in geologic reservoirs, creating what is known as negative emissions, or permanent carbon dioxide removal. As companies and nations tackle commitments to reduce emissions, the ability to remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere is a powerful new tool to include in sustainability toolkits. Additionally, DAC plants can be built adjacent to existing pipelines and oilfields to deliver CO₂ at point of demand for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). When atmospheric CO₂ is used and stored permanently underground during the process, it can partially or completely counteract the emissions from the oil produced.

CE’s Direct Air Capture process, showing the major unit operations - air contactor, pellet reactor, slaker, calciner - which collectively capture, purify and compress atmospheric CO2.

28 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

Atmospheric CO₂ can also be used in the production of clean transportation fuels using CE’s AIR TO FUELSTM technology. This process combines renewable hydrogen with atmospheric CO₂ to produce ultra-low carbon intensity synthetic crude. This ‘syncrude’ can then be processed into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel that is drop-in compatible with existing refineries and engines. Due to an unlimited feedstock – atmospheric CO₂ – CE’s AIR TO FUELS™ technology can provide global-scale quantities of clean fuels to meet growing market demand.

In partnership with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, CE is currently engineering the world’s largest DAC project – a facility that will capture one million tons of CO₂ directly from the atmosphere each year to be stored underground permanently in the Permian Basin, U.S. This project is running in parallel to the work CE is conducting in other markets, and the company continues to develop project opportunities in locations where CO₂ can be permanently and safely stored underground, and where markets are demanding increasing quantities of low-carbon fuels.

About Carbon Engineering (CE) Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadianbased clean energy company leading the commercialization of groundbreaking technology that captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere so it can be stored permanently underground, or synthesized into clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., CE has been removing CO₂ from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. Learn more at www.carbonengineering.com. v

MORE OF A GOOD THING. INTRODUCING THE NEW DEERE 850L DOZER.

The John Deere 850L crawler dozer is larger, more stable, and more powerful than its predecessors, making it even better for oil & gas operations. The robust PowerTech™ PSS 9.0L diesel delivers superior torque and engine power, so you can muscle through tasks like never before. And, the state-of-the-art controls allow this beast to dominate fine grading applications just as easily as handling heavy materials. With the expanded, more comfortable cab reducing operator fatigue, the 850L is sure to make a big impact on your productivity.

Best of all, these machines are backed by Brandt; the best-trained and most committed 24/7 after-sales support team in the business. That’s Powerful Value. Delivered.

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Wicehtowak Limnos Consulting Services:

A Saskatchewan get-it-done company

W

icehtowak Limnos Consulting Services (WLCS) is a wholly owned company of George Gordon Developments Ltd. (GGDL), which is the independent business development corporation of George Gordon First Nation (GGFN).

WLCS has been operating since 2015 and is 100-per cent Indigenous-owned. We are an Indigenous company that prides ourselves on creating economic sustainability for Indigenous people and opportunities for our nation. The Cree word “Wicehtowak” has no direct English translation, but means ‘partnership with a purpose’.

It is in this spirit that we engage all potential partners, clients, stakeholders and regulators. WLCS has over 30 years of senior management expertise in the environment and oil industry. Our senior staff has extensive experience in environmental services in a range of sectors, including mining and energy, construction, infrastructure, oil and gas and the MASH sectors.

We have extensive experience leading environmental projects, as well as working as a key team member. We of-

30 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

fer our services throughout Canada and have a network of experts to ensure that we can address your project specific needs. Some of our scopes of work are: • Phase I and II ESA; • Pre-disturbance assessments; • Hazardous building materials assessments; • Surface and groundwater studies; • Site monitoring; • Biological and ecological studies; • Waste management; • Site remediation and reclamation; • Wildlife/migratory bird nesting assessments; • Project management. WLCS is currently the only known First Nation project management company managing ISC (formally known as INAC) projects on reserve; • Advice to government; • Facilitating workshops.

WLCS has previous experience working on the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Project over the last three years; the Western Potash Milestone Project; multiple SaskPower projects; and Indigenous Service Canada projects, to name a few.

WLCS has proved its ability to contribute in a meaningful way during the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Project. WLCS is a fully functional consulting firm that has many meaningful connections throughout Canada. We put an emphasis on the environmental consulting aspect and have a great deal of experience in project management, facilitating, teaching and working in the oil and gas industry. WLCS will bring diversity to your project with a traditional lens while successfully completing projects safely, on budget and on time. We pride ourselves on being a Saskatchewan, get-itdone company that is accountable, reliable, hard-working and authentic. v

Aboriginal commitment

I

FR Workwear Inc. is an Aboriginal-owned company founded in 2005 in Red Deer, Alta. by Reg Radford and Erin Buckland. Our company has an unsurpassed professional team, which makes it easy to continually serve our customers with consistent quality service and products.

We own a manufacturing plant in Mexico and a distribution centre in Red Deer, which, combined, employ over 200 people throughout North America.

IFR Workwear Inc. is owned by Reg and Lyn Radford, who have a 40-year history of business ownership in Alberta, and Chris and Erin Buckland, who have been involved in business for over 10 years. Both Lyn and Erin are Metis of Cree descent. IFR Workwear also engages the services of other Aboriginal people, such as the building manager who is Metis of Cree descent, and one of IFR’s lawyers, who is a Mohawk Native.

We are a proud member of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. Our values have the inclusion of Aboriginal commitments. Some of these values are: • A commitment to high-quality products and workmanship.

• A commitment to a large community involvement: o Lyn was the chairman of the 2019 Canada Winter Games

in Red Deer. She also previously held the Ronald McDonald House Central Alberta Capital Campaign Chair position, and served on the Red Deer College Board of Governors for six years.

• A commitment to inclusion, particularly with the Aboriginal community.

• A commitment to education: o IFR Workwear has had a scholarship fund through Red Deer College for Aboriginal students since 2008.

IFR Workwear distributes workwear across Canada and the United States through over 250 distributors, and keeps a very large inventory consisting of many fabrics and a wide range of colours. Its 31,000-square-foot distribution centre has a large embroidery department and custom sewing centre for repairs and alterations, and allows us to provide same-day shipping.

For more information, call (403) 347-5480 or email us at info@ifrworkwear.ca. v

SAFETY TRAINING WHERE YOU NEED IT. WHEN YOU NEED IT.

H2S ALIVE | CONFINED SPACE | GROUND DISTURBANCE FALL ARREST | CPR AND 1ST AID | AND MUCH MORE! Visit southeastcollege.org for a full listing.

Don’t see what you need, give us a call at 1-866-999-7372!

Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020 31

Custom fabricated geomebrane panels ready to be packaged and shipped for base layer soil contamination protection.

The “titan” of environmental solutions

E

nvironmental protection continues to be a hot topic, and helping to manage and minimize potential environmental risks is at the heart of what Titan Environmental Containment does.

Founded in 2006 as a prairie-based business, Titan sup-

plies, fabricates and installs high-quality geosynthetics, containment systems and specialty civil engineering products. Employing over 100 staff members, the company has become one of the fastest-growing in its field and has locations across Canada, including a location in Regina, Saskatchewan. Today, Titan is proudly known as a leader in product innovation and selection with expertise that customers can rely on to help them save money, reduce risk

Titan trap spill containment berms protect against soil contamination during on-site heavy equipment servicing.

32 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

and minimize their environmental impact. With product lines featuring geomembrane liners, geotextiles, geogrids, containment systems, drainage solutions and erosion and sediment control products, Titan’s geotechnical, containment and civil engineering solutions are used in a wide range of sectors such as road construction, water and waste management, mining, hydro-electric production, agriculture and oil and gas.

For example, one of Titan’s leading solutions for oil sector construction projects is their proprietary TE-BXC30 composite geogrid featuring a bi-axial polypropylene geogrid, heat bonded to a non-woven geotextile. This product’s robust reinforcement properties make it ideal for combined soil stabilization/reinforcement applications while providing enhanced sub-base drainage, as well as soil separation and filtration performance. TE-BXC30 composite geogrid reduces excavation, backfilling and aggregate thickness providing significant construction cost savings. This geogrid is highly recommended in the design of lease construction, well pad and oil platform access roads projects.

Additionally, Titan’s Specialty Containment line, which includes state-of-the-art secondary containment systems and custom fabricated TITAN TRAP drive-on spill containment berms, provides the necessary protection against soil contamination in the event of harmful oil leaks and spills on job sites. As a surrounding barrier to oil storage tanks on processing sites, Titan’s secondary containment systems exceed environmental guidelines, offering maximum protection and are designed to withstand harsh conditions.

They have fewer parts than other systems for easier instal-

Site development project using TE-BXC Geogrid for soil reinforcement.

lation and are low-maintenance. Major benefits to the Titan secondary containment systems are that they are easy to expand and contract, or dismantle to move, and they are adaptable to existing systems.

The TITAN TRAP drive-on spill containment berms offer the ideal solution for soil contamination protection from hazardous oil and gas spills during heavy equipment servicing on construction job sites. Made of textured scrim-reinforced LLDPE geomembrane, the TITAN TRAP is designed for durability to withstand rugged job site terrain and hearty climates. Fabricated using the latest heat fusion technology, each TITAN TRAP meets ASTM D-443 industry standards and undergoes destructive seam testing in our quality assurance lab to ensure optimal performance. They are customfabricated to size with turn-around time ranging from one to three days depending on order quantity. Various underlay options are also available which can help extend the berm life.

Last but not least, another solution that Titan offers to the oil sector is its prefabricated geomembrane panels that act as soil contamination protection when incorporated in site base layers applications. These prefabricated geomembrane panels are also ideal for secondary containment system lining. All panels are fabricated in-house to required dimensions with the highest quality control standards in the industry. They are available in a range of highly durable, chemical resistant materials and come folded and packaged for easy installation.

Aside from a commitment to quality, engrained in Titan’s business philosophy is also unparalleled safety standards and stringent environmental awareness. Titan is an ISNetworld Registered Contractor, a COR™ safety certified company, and its team of welding technicians are all certified through the Association of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI).

With an understanding of industry needs that comes from extensive experience, a finger on the pulse of the latest technologies and the expertise to provide reliable and costeffective solutions, Titan prides itself on a high rate of repeat business earned by their in-depth knowledge and high service standards.

“As experts in our field we are routinely called upon for site-specific solutions,” says CEO Brett Burkard. “We get a lot

Geomembrane-lined secondary containment system for crude oil storage facility.

of phone calls asking for our advice on products for specific applications. We’re not engineers, but we are honest, practical, with a lot of experience and I attribute our successful track record to this.”

Having worked on projects across Canada and beyond, Titan Environmental Containment has the skills, experienced staff and industry awareness to tackle any challenge. Always remaining true to their guiding principles – trust, quality, value – Titan puts relationships and value for money at the forefront of all its business practices, which truly distinguishes the from the competition. Clients that do business with Titan get more than a supplier and installer – they get a solutions provider that puts customer needs first.

For more information, call (306) 585-1215 or visit www.titanenviro.com. v

ONE CALL FOR ALL YOUR OIL FIELD NEEDS

www.gOOdtOgOkiNdERsLEY.CA Celebrating 28 years in Kindersley!

Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020 33

Manitoba Scallion –

Will a 12-barrel-per-day oil discovery lead to the next big Williston Play?

T

ucked away in the far Northeast corner of the Williston Basin in Manitoba are the eroded subcrop edges of the Virden and Scallion Members of the Mississippian Lodgepole Formation.

Manitoba already hosts a few verti-

breaking open the Scallion in the area.

cal Scallion wells that have produced

As if the Scallion isn’t enough, Ma-

over a million barrels each in the Vird-

jor has 2D seismic data that shows the

en Field 40 miles away. The Scallion

oil-prone Virden Member is preserved

in the Souris area has characteristics

on top of the Scallion in the area. In

that could lead to million barrel wells

the adjacent Souris-Hartney Field the

as well. Features such as 20 metres of

Virden has produced over two million

20 to 30 per cent rock, medium gravity

barrels. Previously, industry believed

oil, only 600 metres deep in an area

that Souris-Hartney was the most up-

covery ever made in this region, pos-

with virtually no drilling make this en-

dip remnant of Virden porosity, but this

sibly even the whole basin. Updip of

ticing.

new data suggests an extension or

In the Souris area, Major Oil & Gas Ltd. has made a 12-barrel-per-day discovery at 4-31-6-21W1, in the Scallion zone. This is the most updip oil dis-

this discovery are hundreds of square

Obviously, much more work needs

outlier about the same size as Souris-

miles of undrilled territory. Talk about

to be done to unlock the potential of

Hartney may be found a couple miles

a red flag waving, with an invitation to

the Scallion. Major Oil & Gas Ltd. is

updip.

oil explorers with the message that

preparing to shoot a high-quality 3D

The Virden and Scallion plays over-

the oil is here – come and get it!

program, which could be the key for

lap so there is a chance to test two

Major Oil & Gas Ltd. Manitoba Dual Zone Drilling Prospect T15

R29

R27

R23

R25

R21

R19

R17W1

T13

T15

T13

MAJOR’S SOURIS PROSPECT T11

T11 EN VIRD ME M

VIRDEN

BER

RMATION E FO (SC OL AL

B SU C O R

VIRDEN FIELD

O D GE P

L

T9

L IO N

MB R)

T9 ER

OSIO

P

N A L EDG E

GE ED

SOURIS

T7

T7

DAILY FIELD SOURIS-HARVEY FIELD

T5

NEW SCALLION FAIRWAY?

SLOPE

SHELF

T3

T1

T5

T3

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA NORTH DAKOTA

T1

Sayer Energy Advisors has been engaged to assist Major Oil & Gas Ltd. (“Major” or the “Company”) with the farmout or sale of its shallow oil prospects in the Souris area of southwestern Manitoba (the “Property”).

● Major is open to any and all transactions relating to the Property,

including a seismic option, a farmout, a sale of the Property or the sale of the shares of the Company. ● At Souris, Major has various interests (mainly 100%) in six sections of land which have been proven to be prospective for shallow (600 metres deep) medium gravity oil (30° API) production from dual targets in the Upper Virden and Scallion porosity zones within the Lodgepole Formation. ● Offsetting the Company’s land at Souris is the Souris-Hartney Pool, which has produced in excess of two million bbl from the Upper Virden Zone to date. Aided by its proprietary 2D seismic, Major has mapped a significant Upper Virden oil prospect on its land at Souris, which sits at the most updip edge of the proven Upper Virden oil fairway approximately two miles updip of the Souris-Hartney Pool, setting up the potential to extend the fairway a significant distance to the northeast. ● In the Virden Field, which is located 40 miles northwest of Souris, a number of vertical oil wells have produced over a million barrels each from the Scallion Zone. The Scallion Zone in the Souris area has characteristics, including a potential reservoir with up to 20 metres of 20-30% porosity, that could lead to similar wells.

For more information please contact: Sayer Energy Advisors at 403.266.6133 or visit www.sayeradvisors.com.

34 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

plays with one shallow vertical test.

T15

R29

R27

R25

R23

R21

R19

R17W1

T15

Major’s proposed 3D seismic is key to optimize the location to test both

T13

T13

zones. If either zone comes in, it will

MAJOR’S SOURIS PROSPECT

lead to many years of development.

This is especially true for the Scallion

T11

T11

RMATION E FO (SC OL AL

SU BC

P O R

VIRDEN FIELD

L

T9

rare opportunity to find an area that

L IO N

MB R)

T9 ER

OSIO

N A L EDG E

GE ED

has so much potential that checks so many boxes. Shallow, conventional,

O D GE P

ER

In today’s competitive world, it is a

VIRDEN

B MEM

the oil has migrated.

EN VIRD

because nobody knows how far updip

SOURIS

T7

T7

medium gravity oil, friendly jurisdicDAILY FIELD

tion, minimal pipeline constraints, year-round access, unexplored up-

SOURIS-HARVEY FIELD

T5

NEW SCALLION FAIRWAY?

dip area covering hundreds of square

SLOPE

miles with no drilling, most land is open, leasable, freehold with no competition (for now). Parties interested in

T5

SHELF

T3

T3

joining with Major to explore this area can contact Sayer Energy Advisors in Calgary at (403) 266-6133 for additional information. v

T1

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

T1

NORTH DAKOTA

Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020 35

Doing their best at Brother’s Specialized Coating Systems Ltd. tent output each time, allowing the quality to stay the same with each job completed.

“The staff at Brother’s takes their jobs seriously, they take pride in the work they do and they genuinely care about the products we deliver to our customers. The end results matter and it shows,” says Payne.

Brother’s follows industry standard protocols set out by two main organizations: NACE and SSPC. Having their

F

or 33 years, Brother’s Specialized Coating Systems Ltd. has been serving the oil and gas, water and wastewater

own in-house quality program, NACE In the beginning, Brother’s got its

Level 3 Inspectors and SSPC Train the

start through the encouragement of

Trainer, this enables them to maintain

industry, who were seeking a proven,

a higher level of quality that custom-

trusted provider for protective coat-

ers have come to expect over the

treatment industries. Located in Ed-

ing systems. Although there were

years.

monton, Alta., Brother’s has gained

companies currently doing this work,

Brother’s dedication to safety is

a solid reputation from industry for

owners and end users were still look-

represented by maintaining COR sta-

being one of Western Canada’s most

ing for an alternative.

tus through the Alberta Construction

trusted provider of high-quality pro-

“Industry approached the broth-

Safety Association. “As a company

tective coating systems to ensure

ers, Dan and Bill Payne, who both had

that has strong values with safety,

their investment remains protected

well-known reputations for experi-

Brother’s makes it a priority to get all

from corrosion, erosion and harsh

ence, knowledge and quality in the

of their staff and clients home safe to

environmental conditions.

coating’s industry. Industry encour-

their families each and every day,”

Brother’s provides specialized, in-

aged the two of them to start a com-

says Payne.

ternal and external applications for

pany that could provide quality coat-

Brother’s work with an array of cli-

ings while providing exceptional ser-

ents ranging from engineers to fab-

vice. This led to the start of Brother’s

ricators to end-users and owners.

Specialized Coating Systems Ltd.,”

Their quality does not discriminate

says Brian Payne, Brother’s general

and they provide the same level of

manager.

quality and service to all of their cli-

equipment such as fabricated pipe spools, pipelines, pressure vessels and tanks. They also do below-grade pipeline coatings as per CSA Z245.30 specification.

Although the generations have changed, their values have remained the same.

36 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

ents.

“There is only one standard we work to here at Brother’s. I always

Brother’s has maintained the same

say that our job is to make our clients

positive reputation throughout the

look good to their clients. If we turn

industry for their high level of ser-

out a great product, we hope that it

vice, communication and quality.

will reflect on down the line,” says

These values are still driven through-

Payne.

out the company with well-trained,

Brother’s applies a complete range

long-term staff who provide consis-

of internal and external liquid spray

on coatings. When putting together a coating specification, each coating has a chemical, temperature, pressure and abrasion resistance that must be considered for the specified service. Brother’s is approved by all the major coating suppliers as an approved applicator for their materials.

This allows them access to a number of qualified technical individuals and laboratories that can assist in making

University of Regina research positively impacts the lives of people in Saskatchewan, across Canada, and around the world.

Read more at DISCOURSEMAGAZINE.CA

the best recommendations for the requested service environment no matter how challenging.

Payne says, “We take pride in telling our customers what they need to know and not what they want to hear.

This isn’t always an easy conversation; however, we are not doing our job if we don’t have that conversation.

What is important is that they have all the correct information and the best recommendation in order to make an informed buying decision when putting together a job.”

Their experienced staff can assist in design applications by providing input for lengths, configuration, pre-blast issues and access points to various pieces of equipment.

Providing the best possible solutions to your inquiry, discussing the design parameters or keeping you

Carnduff, SK S0C 0S0 p: (306) 482-3244 e. info@fasttruckingservice.com www.fasttruckingservice.com

updated along the way on the delivery schedule – these are all important aspects of a successful job being

Specializing in oilfield hauling and heavy hauling.

Celebrating over 60 years of service in the oil industry!

completed at Brother’s. v Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020 37

A Mark Twain moment for Canada’s energy industry Reports of its death are an exaggeration

By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan, Canadian Energy Centre

I

n 1897, while in London in the

tion about Twain now faces the oil and

midst of a worldwide speaking

natural gas industry worldwide and in

tour, the American author Mark

Canada: that oil and gas demand will

Twain became the subject of ru-

never resume from the steep decline

mours back home that he was dead.

now occurring as a result of corona-

To get at the truth, a reporter from the

virus and the near-worldwide lock-

New York Journal wrote to Twain to

down’s effect on the economy.

ask if he was indeed dead or gravely ill.

Some anti-oil and gas advocates

In response, Twain, with his usual

are sure of this and are demanding

wry wit, wrote back chronicling how

that Canada somehow “transition”

he’d also heard the rumours of his

away from oil and gas. But that’s not

illness: “I have even heard on good

possible, according to the informed

out that, “As in the past, the unfold-

authority that I was dead.” Twain ex-

opinion of University of Manitoba Pro-

ing global energy transitions will last

plained that the gossip resulted from

fessor of the Environment (Emeritus)

for decades, not years, and modern

his cousin’s illness and mistakenly

Vaclav Smil.

civilization’s dependence on fossil fu-

American author and humourist Mark Twain. Photograph courtesy the Canadian Press.

spread from there. “The report of my

The barriers to a transition ordered

illness grew out of his illness. The re-

via government policy were summar-

port of my death was an exaggera-

ily addressed by Smil in his 2017 book

It’s important to note that Smil wants

tion,” wrote Twain.

Energy Transition: Global and National

to see renewables succeed. He is also

Perspectives. In it, Prof. Smil pointed

concerned about carbon emissions

Something like that mistaken asser-

els will not be shed by a sequence of government-dictated goals.”

and their effect upon global temperatures. But the energy professor prefers to deal in hard facts and actual data that result from understanding the physical properties of various forms of energy, the energy density “punch,” as one journalist characterized the issue.

Back to oil and gas demand. The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted consumption of both in the short-term. However, in previous recessions, oil consumption declined (though natural gas did not always follow the same pattern) before demand resumed and increased.

For example, since the 1970s temporary declines in oil consumption were followed by a return to ever38 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2020

higher consumption. In the last recession, daily oil consumption fell from 87.1 million barrels in 2007 to 85.8 million in 2009, a 1.5 per cent decline.

After that, consumption then rose by 10 times that decline, or 15 per cent, to reach 98.8 million barrels of oil consumed daily in 2017 (the latest year for which comparable annual data is available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration).

On natural gas, until this recession world consumption declined only once since 2000: during the 2008/09 recession, by just over three per cent.

After that and by 2017, consumption rose by 25 per cent.

Past trends are not guaranteed to repeat in the future. However, the U.S. Energy

Information

Administration

forecasts that petroleum consumption worldwide will decline by 5.2 million barrels in 2020 from 2019, a 5.2 per cent reduction, before rising again in 2021 by 6.4 million barrels, a 6.7 per cent increase.

That forecast is an annual average, so it looks beyond just the massive double-digit drop in demand that has occurred in recent weeks. It assumes an end to the current economic shut-

American oil and gas producers cre-

gas is greatly exaggerated. The only

ated 95,000 new oil and gas extrac-

question is if Canada will play any part

tion jobs between 2009 and 2018.

in the world’s oil and gas future when

In Canada, just 1,610 oil and gas jobs

demand resumes.

This article was originally published

were created in the same period.

In crises, is it hard to think beyond

April 29, 2020 at www.canadianen-

the severe economic destruction im-

ergycentre.ca. The Canadian Energy

The U.S. agency does not provide

mediately underway? But unless the

Centre’s mandate is to promote Can-

a natural gas forecast but before the

coronavirus and associated lock-

ada as the supplier of choice for the

crisis, the International Energy Agen-

downs continue for decades — not a

world’s growing demand for responsi-

cy (IEA) forecast a 40 per cent rise in

position advocated by any govern-

bly produced energy. Please visit their

world natural gas consumption by

ment, anywhere — the death of oil and

website for more information. v

down and a partial economic recovery later this year and next.

2050.

Back to the “Twain” assertion — that oil and gas is dying. Canadians have heard this for a decade, with the same voices predicting and demanding the sector’s demise.

They were incorrect. But the result of the activism and blocked developments (among other factors) meant that while some Canadians were debating if Canadian oil and gas extraction should be “allowed” to survive,

Phone/Fax 306-634-6001 P.O. Box 1652 Estevan, SK S4A 1C8 Dave Gallaway Pay Young Nolan LaCoste

306-461-4322 306-861-9986 306-461-4323

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