Message from the Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources
HON. BRONWYN EYRE
O
n behalf of the Ministry of Energy and
Helium is also taking off in the province, with im-
Resources, I am pleased to join with
portant projects in the works from North American
Premier Moe in offering welcoming re-
Helium Inc. and Royal Helium. In fact, Saskatchewan
marks for the 2021 edition of the Sas-
will soon be home to the largest helium purifica-
katchewan Oil Report.
tion operation in Canada. It is being constructed by
Certainly over the course of the last year, the oil
North American Helium near Battle Creek, SK, and is
and gas sector has experienced significant challeng-
expected to be operational by July. Royal Helium is
es. In response, the Government of Saskatchewan
currently drilling of three wells near Climax.
implemented several, key relief measures, including
As we begin to emerge and recover from the CO-
extending mineral rights exploration timelines and
VID-19 pandemic, our oil and gas sector will play a
reducing the industry portion of the oil and gas ad-
substantial role in strengthening and building Sas-
ministration levy.
katchewan’s economy. In 2019, the oil and gas sec-
In May 2020, our government also launched the
tor produced over 490,000 barrels of oil per day, the
Accelerated Site Closure Program (ASCP), with the
value of provincial oil and gas production was over
important goal of getting Saskatchewan service
$10 billion, and the sector supported over 30,000
companies re-engaged and workers back on the job.
Saskatchewan jobs.
Now in the sixth month of a 30-month program, the
In November of 2019, we released Saskatchewan’s
ASCP has allocated $300 million and issued more
Growth Plan: The Next Decade of Growth, which in-
than $98 million in contracts to licensees, which
cludes ambitious targets that include increasing oil
hire service companies to complete abandonment
production by 25 per cent, to 600,000 barrels per
and reclamation activities. The ASCP has engaged
day, and increasing the value of Saskatchewan ex-
307 Saskatchewan-based service companies to date
ports by 50 per cent over the next decade.
across every oil and gas region of the province. Com-
Despite signs of growth, challenges to the oil and
pleted so far have been 724 well abandonments, 175
gas sector remain, including the impact of the fed-
flowline abandonments, 39 facility decommissions,
eral Carbon Tax, the federal Clean Fuel Standard and
and 1,434 site remediation and reclamation activities.
the federal Environmental Impact Assessment Act
Saskatchewan has also welcomed a number of
(Bill C-69). As a government, we continue to strongly
new, innovative projects over the past year. These in-
advocate for, and promote, the sector and its work-
clude the Prairie-LiEP Critical Mineral Joint Venture,
ers, as we call for more cautious, common-sense
a two-stage pilot project that will produce lithium
federal regulation and policies.
hydroxide from Saskatchewan oilfield brines, and
Saskatchewan remains committed to being a
Proton Technologies’ hydrogen production project,
strong environmental steward, while growing our
a first-of-its-kind project in the world that extracts
economy. v
hydrogen from existing oil reservoirs and leaves carbon dioxide in the ground.
10 Saskatchewan Oil Report 2021
