Pipeline News September 2009 by Pipeline News

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

September 2009

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Volume 2 Issue 4

Focus Edition:

Rentals & Leasing

INSIDE Thorpe Recovery Centre Project Page A13

46 Years of Service New Car For NAL Retiree 10 Years of Service Page B2 Page C1

Rentals can be a good way to reduce capital costs, according to Waschuk Pipeline, who has made extensive use of rentals for their heavy equipment Áeet working on the Enbridge Alberta Clipper. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

News

Notes

Petrobank/Baytex drill Kerrobert THAI wells Drilling has taken place for a two-well project using Toe-Heel Air Injection (THAI) in a conventional heavy oil reservoir at Kerrobert in southern Saskatchewan. It is a 50/50 joint venture with Baytex Energy Trust, which purchased True Energy Trust's Saskatchewan assets. With the approval of the Kerrobert project, Petrobank earned a 50% interest in an initial four sections of land. Kerrobert drilling began on July 18 and the ﬁrst production well -- KP1 -- ﬁnished drilling on Aug. 5. KP2 began drilling on Aug. 7. The air injection wells are to be completed Aug. 31 and the pre-ignition heating cycle will begin immediately. First production is expected soon after air injection begins in early October. The goal is to reach full production capacity at Kerrobert in December or January. Kerrobert is described as a "much more friendly environment" than the northern Alberta oilsands, where Petrobank is also using THAI -for example, the oil is lighter and the reservoir is more homogeneous, according to Petrobank. Also costs in southern Saskatchewan are lower than at remote Conklin in the Alberta oilsands fairway. The company thinks even on a two-well basis, the project is commercial.

North American awarded TransCanada contract The Pipeline division of North American Energy Partners Inc. was recently awarded a threeyear contract to complete pipeline integrity excavations and hydrostatic retests on TransCanada PipeLine Limited's mainline system in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The contract is significant because it gives the segment a steady workload between larger projects and provides stability for the company's core group of pipeline project managers and key field personnel, said management. It also expands North America’s historic geographic construction area further across Canada and provides entry into the pipeline integrity field, an area the company has been targeting.

News bombshell from North Dakota rallies provincial geology troops By Geoﬀ Lee Pipeline News Regina – Exceptional oil recovery from wells in the Three Forks-Sanish formation in North Dakota beneath Bakken shale is rallying geologists from the Energy and Resources ministry to study the zone they call Torquay. “It’s premature for the ministry to speculate on the potential of the Torquay but there is cautious optimism to follow through with a bit of research of our own,” said Paul Mahnic, acting director of the Petroleum Tenure Branch. “Anything associated with the Bakken is going to cause optimism and that’s the approach we are taking.” The call to start a provincial study follows the news that some the 103 wells drilled into the Sanish in North Dakota are recovering more 800 barrels of oil barrels a day with two wells yielding more than 1,000 barrels a day. By comparison, there is only one producing well in the Torquay in Saskatchewan. A horizontal well was drilled into the zone in 2007 by Nuloch Resources Inc. on a lease held by Second Wave Petroleum Ltd. in the Tableland area south of Estevan. The well had an initial production of approximately 88 barrels a day and is currently producing 15 barrels a day, a number that Mahnic says, “isn’t too bad for a new kind of zone. “They have another licence to target the Torquay in Section 18 of Township 1, Range 10. They are going to be poking around pretty good.” To the west, Pebble Petroleum Inc. also has a well licence and they are targeting the Torquay in Section 3 Township 1 Range 13. “When these companies go in there, there are multiple plays that they can go after such as the Mi-

“

dale, Frobisher, Mississippian, Bakken Red River,” said Mahnic. “That may encourage them to go a little deeper with these potential zones. “They will drill a vertical to test the extent of the reservoir and go back in with a horizontal. It’s really at the infancy stage – the Torquay. “It’s exciting to keep an eye on it. Everyone has their ﬁngers crossed that it may play out like North Dakota is hoping.” Geologists on both sides of the border are keen to determine if the sandy and porous rock formation below Bakken shale is a separate oil-producing zone or an extension of the Bakken. “I guess with anything being sourced from the Bakken shale it has got peoples’ eyebrows raised,” said Mahnic. “We are kind of waiting to see what shakes out of North Dakota.” The Americans reportedly plan to compare results from closely spaced wells - one targeting the Sanish, and the other the Bakken. Pressure changes in the formations will indicate if they are connected and the results could released later this year. “North Dakota shale is much more fractured and they have pathways to sort of leak the oil from the Bakken down into the Sanish,” said Mahnic. The Bakken formation covers 64,750 sq km within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana and stretches into Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan. “To the east of Saskatchewan within 18 to 24 miles of the Manitoba border, we have the lower Bakken shale eroded away, so there we have wells that are designated as Bakken/Torquay wells,” said Mahnic. “There is no longer a shale barrier in between. We’ve got the saturation going through the Bakken into the Torquay. “It’s not surprising that the Torquay is a potential reservoir. It’s got the characteristics. It’s a question of determining if the oil has migrated there.” ɸ Page A6

I guess with anything being sourced from the Bakken shale it has got peoples’ eyebrows raised,” “We are kind of waiting to see what shakes out of North Dakota.

”

- Paul Mahnic, acting director of the Petroleum Tenure Branch

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

PetroBakken: the name says it all

Gregg Smith, Saskatchewan Oilman of the Year for 2009, will be acting as president of the new PetroBakken Energy Ltd. Here he is addressing the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Weyburn.

Story and photo by Brian Zinchuk Pipeline News Calgary – In a way, the name says it all. Petrobank and TriStar Oil and Gas will be forming a Bakken oil play powerhouse. On Aug. 4, Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. and TriStar Oil and Gas announced a “strategic combination,” between the two companies. The result would be a new, publicly traded company known as PetroBakken Energy Ltd, which they describe as “a premier, Bakkenfocused light oil exploration and production company.” In a joint media release, the two companies explained, “Petrobank will capitalize PetroBakken with its Canadian Business Unit assets and $400 million of cash. PetroBakken will then acquire all the outstanding shares of TriStar. In return, Petrobank will receive 109.8 million common shares of PetroBakken which will represent approximately 64 per cent of PetroBakken’s anticipated shares outstanding.” TriStar shareholders will get a combination of PetroBakken common shares and cash. They can choose between $14.75 cash a share, 0.5350 of a PetroBakken share, or a combination thereof, being approximately $3.75 per share in cash and 0.3989 of a PetroBakken share, for each share held. John Wright, President and CEO of Petrobank, said, “This is a unique opportunity to bring together two like-minded organizations to create a premier southeast Saskatchewan light-oil producer oﬀering exceptional growth potential, focused on applying leading-edge technology to major resource plays, with our primary attention directed initially at the Bakken formation. At Petrobank, our Canadian Business Unit has consistently

delivered exceptional per-share production and reserves growth and we have positioned PetroBakken to continue this legacy of growth, while also providing an attractive dividend yield.” Brett Herman, President and CEO of TriStar stated, “TriStar has achieved significant growth over the past three years, assembling a high quality, long life asset base with tremendous upside. We believe the consolidation of the southeast Saskatchewan and Bakken assets of Petrobank and TriStar, and the combination of each company’s strong technical staff is the next step in the evolution of our company. “With recent technological innovations, together, we have just begun to unlock the true potential of the Bakken and I am excited to be a part of the PetroBakken story going forward.” The transaction will be subject to TriStar shareholder approval. Based on $14.75 per share, TriStar shareholders would see a 29 per cent premium to TriStar’s based on a 10-day weighted average trading price leading up to the deal. In all, TriStar shareholders will receive approximately $580 million in cash and 61,762,500 shares of PetroBakken, representing 36 per cent of PetroBakken’s anticipated shares. In an effort to focus on the Bakken, the company is selling off “a package of Alberta-based assets consisting of approximately 9,500 boepd (44 per cent light oil, 56 per cent natural gas), and 40.1 mmboe of proved plus probable reserves to further enhance the focus of PetroBakken on southeast Saskatchewan light oil resource plays.” “Following the divestitures, PetroBakken will primarily be a pure-play, southeast Saskatchewan, light oil-focused company with 2009 exit production of more than 37,000 boepd, more than 95 per cent light oil, more than 70 per cent of which will be from the Bakken,” the joint press release notes. PetroBakken intends to adopt a dividend policy initially targeting payments of $0.96 per share per annum, payable monthly. We like Sask “In case you haven’t figured it out, we like doing business in Saskatchewan,” Gregg Smith, the president of the new company, told Pipeline News. “The purpose is to create a very growth-oriented Saskatchewan light oil company.” He explained that Petrobank will eventually become three companies – Petrominerales Ltd., Petrobakken Energy Ltd., and a third heavy oil company, yet to be created. “Eventually Petrobank will cease to exist.” “We already operate like three separate companies internally,” he said, noting that they grew up, and “It’s time for them to leave home.” ɸ Page A7

News

Notes

Zargon active Zargon Energy Trust is drilling in Saskatchewan’s southeast. During the second quarter, Zargon drilled three gross wells (three net) that resulted in three net oil wells. This oil exploitation focused drilling program included one Taber horizontal well in the Alberta Plains and two Steelman horizontal wells in the Williston Basin. For the second half of 2009, Zargon is planning on an oil exploitation focused drilling program that will be primarily targeted on opportunities in the Williston Basin, which will include ﬁve Steelman Frobisher oil exploitation horizontal wells along with three additional horizontal wells at Fertile (Torquay/Bakken), Elswick and Manor. Since spring break up, the trust said it has had good results with its Williston Basin oil exploitation program where it has drilled three Steelman Frobisher horizontal wells and one Elswick horizontal well. Initial results are encouraging and Zargon is anticipating average initial production rates in excess of 100 bbls per day per well.

Packers reports successful 20-stage frac Packers Plus has successfully run a full 20-stage StackFRAC HD “High Density” Multi-Stage Fracturing System for Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. in the Bakken light oil reservoir in southeast Saskatchewan. The StackFRAC HD system was recently launched to meet the demand from oil and gas operators for more stimulation stages in open hole horizontal wells. “This successful run of a 20-stage StackFRAC HD system in the Bakken demonstrates how technology can improve recovery in unconventional reservoirs,” said President Dan Themig. “Petrobank is leading the way in the Bakken, which has become a major play in the Canadian oil and gas industry.” StackFRAC HD continues to make signiﬁcant inroads in the industry, both in Canada and the U.S., where several systems have been installed, according to Packers Plus. “We’ve proven that our proprietary technology can improve production values in various unconventional reservoirs,” said Canadian Business Unit Director Doug Bobrosky. “It’s a simple extension that more stimulation stages means greater access to reserves, which will further improve production results.”

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EDITORIAL

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Pipeline News Publisher: Brant Kersey - Estevan Ph: 1.306.634.1015 Fax: 1.306.634.0141

Mission Statement: Pipeline News’ mission is to illuminate importance of Saskatchewan oil as an integral part of the province’s sense of community and to show the general public the strength and character of the industry’s people.

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Editorial

PetroBakken combination creates SE powerhouse The big news in the Saskatchewan oilpatch this month is the “strategic combination” between Petrobank Energy and Resources and TriStar Oil and Gas, forming the new entity of PetroBakken. When you read the lengthy joint press release, however, it reads more like an acquisition than a merger. TriStar shareholders are will get cash or shares, and the CEO of TriStar is noticeably absent in the listing of new senior management, although he will be a director. Looking back to July, when Petrobank raised $400 million, that money seems is obviously tied to the merger with TriStar. There’s $400 million available to capitalize the new entity. Whether it’s a merger or acquisition, the result is the same. Where once there were two, there is now one. The consolidation of the Bakken oil play is continuing. This deal comes just a few months after Talisman sold its southeast Saskatchewan assets to TriStar and Crescent Point. Since the spring, Petrobank, Crescent Point, Talisman, and TriStar have become Petrobakken and Crescent Point (Petrobank will still exist, in a parent company manner for a while). These are the heavy hitters in the Bakken, and now there are two less coming up to the plate. Mergers and acquisitions are part of everyday life in the oilpatch. A recent retiree Pipeline News interviewed had seen several during his career. It’s just a fact of life. Part and parcel with that is the uneasiness that comes with the change. While on a road trip visiting oilﬁeld service companies in Arcola, Kisbey and Forget a few days after the merger announcement, the question on everyone’s lips is how will this merger aﬀect them? One company owner noted that with the Talisman

sale, they picked up some business in one area, and lost some in another. It comes down to each producing company’s preferences, and who they are familiar with. Another noted they used to work for literally dozens of companies. Now, it’s a much, much smaller number. Lots of options means lots of when one company is slow, you can pick up work from others. But when the industry consolidates, it means there are a lot few options to go to when one cuts its budget. It also means it’s a good idea not to burn bridges with one company, because a merger down the road can come back to bite you. When the price of oil is high, there’s enough work for everyone. But when things get tight, that’s when it hurts. That’s when having a higher number of operators will be missed. In one manner, it’s happening already. One thing that is really noticeable in the southeast is the strong involvement of the oil producers in supporting community initiatives and charities. But with fewer companies, there are fewer to support these worthy ventures. Talisman was a strong supporter of such initiative, and its absence this year after the divestiture of its southeast Saskatchewan properties was noticed. A stronger player may result in more drilling, and more activity. PetroBakken is slated to have a $550 million capital budget in 2010, based on a $75/bbl. WTI oil price. That’s a lot of money. Will it be more than TriStar, Petrobank and Talisman combined would have spent? It will be close, we’re told. Having a focused company, with intentions of pulling all they can out of the Bakken, may be a boon to the business. Time will tell, at least until the next merger or acquisition.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Opinion

Potash leaves a big hole oil partially re¿lls From the top of the pile Brian Zinchuk

The headline of the Aug. 14 LeaderPost was of a size and nature that usually would indicate a country is going to war. “Potash revenues take a huge hit,” it read. In other words, it could have said, “We have all become poorer.” Or worse, “Um, we have a problem. A big one.” When the provincial budget came out in the spring, things were looking pretty dicey. When budget preparations were taking place, oil was bottoming out after a stupendous year. The big question I asked the Minister of Energy and Resources was what number would they give the ﬁnance people when they want to know what they should budget oil at? Thankfully, they took a lowball number for oil -

$45 a barrel. Potash, it turns out, was way out of the ballpark, at $1079.52/tonne. Indeed, potash was estimated to bring in $1.9 billion this year, about a fifth of the provincial budget. Where windfall oil revenues and over a billion in land sales made us flush with cash last year, this year, potash was to be the golden boy. As of mid-August, it was looking like they would be bringing in about a third of the originally expected potash windfall. That’s going to leave a huge hole in the province’s finances. Thankfully, and additional $668 million in oil royalties, taxes, and other areas has come in to bail us out somewhat. Call oil the black night in shining armor, as it were. The finance department had forecast a surplus – one which is evaporating like the water from a solution potash mine. That will cushion the blow as well. Relying too much on potash to bring in the big bucks is, up until now, the biggest blunder the Saskatchewan Party government has made since it has come into office. All told, they’ve been doing pretty well – it’s hard not to when your province is doing better than pretty much anyone else during a sharp global recession. Perhaps the biggest lesson here is that no matter how rosy revenue projections are for any one line

item, be it oil, land sales, potash, agriculture, the finance department needs to be extremely conservative in its revenue outlook. It’s much better to have an embarrassment of riches and a large surplus then ramp up spending and have an “oops” moment later. The oops moment in this case is delaying a longpromised children’s hospital for the province – one of those feel good things that everyone wants, but we just can’t afford right now. That domed stadium for the Riders? You can bet it’s toast for the foreseeable future. Maybe if there is a windfall of riches again, they could drop a pile of cash on it, kind of like what had been planned for the children’s hospital. But be prepared for it to blow away in the wind if the money continues to dry up. So far, the word ‘cutback’ hasn’t re-entered the daily conversation. We’re not broke, unlike California, which spent the summer issuing IOUs, because they ran out of money. It’s unlikely the Saskatchewan Party is going to suffer too much from this setback. All they have to say is, “Look, it wasn’t as good as we hoped, but we’re in a heck of a recession, and we’re still doing better than pretty much everyone else.” They would be right. Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.

Who wants to be a millionaire? Encana has offered $1 million for information leading to the arrest of the persons or persons responsible for six bombings of their pipeline facilities in the Dawson Creek and Tomslake, B.C. area since October, 2008. The reward could do more harm than good. Why? First of all, the reward money comes with numerous conditions attached to it. It is left largely to Encana to decide whether someone’s information deserves the entire amount. There is already a perceived lack of trust toward Encana, at least in the mind of the party responsible for attacking Encana’s property. The reward may set Encana up as a further target for criticism if the money is not fairly dispensed. Assuming the person or group responsible for the blasts is caught by a citizen’s tip, what makes that tip more important than other valuable leads? Encana may find itself in the unenviable role of a judge and jury of tips whose rulings may please no one. Encana might be better served by unconditionally offering to donate the reward toward a community project in the area after the case is solved. This way, the company would gain badly need public relations support and absolve themselves of further criticism and potential legal actions should

Lee Side of Lloyd Geoff Lee

the reward money be argued. Another reason why Encana might want to unconditionally commit the reward money toward a worthwhile project would be to leave the primary job of law enforcement to the police. Encana is an oil and gas company. The police can’t do their job properly without public support and the reward money is being reported by the media as being another factor that’s dividing the community for and against Encana and the bombings. The police should also be the ones who decide whose tips crack the case that they are paid to solve with our help and Encana’s own investigators. In reality, no reward should be needed at all, as it is clear everyone in the area wants the bombings

to stop before someone is injured or killed. The bomb blasts have pitted neighbor against neighbor as everyone become a suspect or a potential snitch. There is a lot of positive motivation to catch the person or persons responsible. If Encana suspects the bombings are the work of an employee, internal morale could suffer if the work environment turns paranoid or accusatory. Any reward should be offered collectively by the oil and gas industry and the government on behalf of all citizens who have a vested interest to ensure this type of criminal action will not be tolerated in our society. This is not just Encana’s battle. This issue goes beyond one company’s problem. This is about law and order and the need to protect society from acts of violence. There are peaceful and more democratic ways for people to argue their forceful opinions or positions in our society. No one is going to surrender to terrorists or take their demands seriously no matter what their rationale is. That’s why our troops are in Afghanistan. A reward from a well meaning gas company is not going to safeguard our valued rights and freedoms. We need to take collective action.

PIPELINE NEWS INVITES OPPOSING VIEW POINTS. EDITORIALS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WELCOME. Email to: brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Will Three Forks - Sanish affect SK? ɺ Page A2 Research geologist Dan Kohlruss says that kind of momentum near Manitoba is encouraging research to look at the Torquay and help industry understand what is going on and what other potential reservoirs or targets are being overlooked. The provincial study will be led by senior research geologist Eric Nickel and will get under way as soon as he and Kohlruss finish publishing their latest report on Bakken resources. “That is going to be his next move,” said Kohlruss. “I think what we want to do is have a close look at it ourselves and help the companies better understand it and use our manpower and knowledge to understand what the areas of production there are and why they are getting oil out of it. “If it’s being found in one location on the U.S. side, how do you extrapolate that, delineate that and find that on the Saskatchewan side?” The strategy in the past has been to build on other’s successes whether it’s groups in the U.S. building off our successes or vice-versa. “The Sanish is a sand bed. There is some uncertainty where the sand fits in. Is it a part of the Three forks or Torquay or part of the Bakken deposition package? “It may take a joint discussion with the Americans about how they are defining it and if it does extend into Saskatchewan. “There is always excitement when you hear there is a new discovery or a new zone where people are producing. “Torquay is an extensive formation that lies three kilometres below the surface. You’ll see it in the western and southern portion of the province where we have the lower Bakken shale – we’re running into the Torquay directly beneath it. It’s not isolated to the Williston Basin.

“The one drawback we are seeing is that companies are drilling horizontal wells so we are not seeing any penetration through into the Torquay. The Americans have the data. They have over 100 wells drilled. Only 11 wells have been drilled into the Torquay since 2007 within a 650 sq. km strip south of Estevan along the U.S. border with Nuloch having the only producing well to date. If the Torquay is a unique productive zone, it could incite a new drilling rush in the southeast and spur a land sales frenzy to purchase deeper rights from the Crown. “In the Bakken, if a company hasn’t gone deeper during their ﬁve-year lease, we will take back the deeper zone and now all of a sudden, we’ve kept alive the Torquay play,” explained Mahnic. “The intention of the reversion of rights was not to smother a deeper play with a shallower one. Now, everyone has a chance to keep producing deeper zones. “With reversion rights we would sell you from the base of the Bakken to the Precambrian zone. That’s why it nice in the southeast to go after multiple targets. It could be your third target. You could look at the Red River or the Winnipegosis on the way down.” “There is a possibility Torquay could be real. We need the wells drilled and we need the guys testing the zone. Being adjacent to the source rock, the lower Bakken shale, it’s got possibilities. “It also depends on the magnitude. Are 15 cubes a day enough to pay for the well? “The technology is the big driver here. You can go through a zone and you may have a show but today’s technology – it might not be economic. With new completion techniques everything is being looked at second time.”

Correction There are a few corrections that need to be made regarding two stories in the August, 2009 edition featuring Newco Tank Corp. The first story, “All systems are go for launch of patented Newco tank,” page C11, spoke about Newco’s new production tank design that features the engine package inside the tank, and using its heat to heat the oil in the tank. The price as quoted was $110,000. That was incorrect. It should have read, “The Newco tank comes with a lease site set up cost of $165,000. That is considerably more than a conventional tank but with virtually no propane costs or harmful emissions overall operating costs are much lower.” The payback is six to 12 months, not less than six months, as stated. When compared to a worst case scenario, with a tank operating inefficiently at high temperatures, the Newco tank in comparison would result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent of taking 200 to 300 vehicles off the road. That was the number we stated. However, for a tank operating at 70 C, the GHG reduction is closer to 38 to 158 vehicles. The first prototype was initially worked on in 2002, not 2004. The company is seeking to design a two-1000 barrel tank setup, consisting of a production tank and sales tank on a single site, not a 2000-bbl. tank. In the second story, “Nordic cuts operating costs with the leased ‘green’ Newco tank,” pages c12-c13, it stated, “Newco plans to drill one or two more wells in the area before the fourth quarter but [Matthew] Barnard cautions Nordic is, ‘anxiously waiting for the price of oil to go up.’” That should have read, “Nordic Oil and Gas plans to drill one or two more wells in the area before the fourth quarter but [Matthew] Barnard cautions Nordic is, ‘anxiously waiting for the price of oil to go up.’” Pipeline News regrets the errors and any confusion it may have caused.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

PetroBakken plans on long, bilateral, dense multistage frac wells, and lots of them ɺ Page A3 Asked if they were keeping all the staff between Petrobank and TriStar, Smith said they don’t know the answers to that themselves yet. Noting there is always some attrition, he explained, “We’re a growing company. There’s a lot of work to be done.” Complimentary The combination of the Petrobank and TriStar assets are “highly complementary as it creates a pure play investment opportunity for exposure to high-netback light oil and the Bakken resource play. In the Bakken resource play alone, the combined asset base creates a dominant, operationally complementary land position providing significant visible development growth through the drilling of 1,300+ identified locations,” the company explained. Some of the syngergies include gathering systems, oil processing facilities, marketing arrangements and gas plants. TriStar has more batteries to the north, where Petrobank has more land. Petrobank as gas processing capability that will be a benefit to TriStar assets. “We will still need to build new facilities – fewer, but bigger,” Smith explained. The combined land interests of both parties represents 70,000 net acres of developed land and over 210,000 net acres of undeveloped land for a total of 280,000 net acres or 440 net sections on the Bakken resource play. The synergies of combined facilities and infrastructure will minimize total future investment capital required to fully develop lands as well as improve gas conservation and continue to reduce operating costs. Drilling plan The company plans on squeezing all it can out its assets, with a plan to use multi-leg horizontal drilling and increased frac intensity. The release notes, “The drilling and completion plan for the undeveloped lands will predominantly be executed using multi-leg horizontal

drilling technology that reduces inter-well distance between horizontal legs from 400 metres to 200 metres, and completion techniques that utilize new fracture stimulation technologies providing much higher fracture intensity along each horizontal leg. Existing developed lands can also benefit from the same technological advances by re-entering existing wells and adding a second horizontal leg adjacent to the existing horizontal well, which is then fracture stimulated with increased fracture intensity. Combining bi-lateral horizontal wells with increased frac intensity allows access to considerably more reservoir in an extremely cost-effective manner. The result is a significant increase in rates of return with much higher productivity and expected ultimate oil recoveries.” Short wells were based on the limitation of how many fracs could be done, Smith explained. With the latest in Packers Plus technology, they can go up to 20, allowing for long wells. The second leg on each well will be 200 m offset, parallel to the first. On older wells, they can drill the second leg and do a high intensity frac. “The whole objective is to get as many fracs in the ground as possible,” Smith said. Using such methods, they hope to increase recovery rates from 12.5 per cent to as high as 22.5 per cent, based on a typical Bakken section containing approximately 4.0 mmbbls of original-oil-in-place with proved plus probable reserves. PetroBakken will control 440 net sections of land, with an estimated ultimate recovery factor of 22.5 per cent, the potential recoverable resource could approach 400 mmbbls. Asked if the drilling pace of the combined entity will be close to what the two separate companies were working on, Smith said yes. They are looking at between 108 and 130 bilateral horizontal wells a year.

The company will be monitoring new developments in the Three Forks-Sanish formation. Smith noted, “We will be pursing everything we can in the area.” Southeast Saskatchewan conventional PetroBakken will also have complementary conventional oil plays in the Midale, Frobisher, Alida and Tilston formations of southeast Saskatchewan. Production of approximately 10,000 boepd from these Mississippian aged reservoirs provides a stable platform of low decline production and strong cash flows while offering future growth through infill drilling. The current inventory is represented by 144 net proved undeveloped locations and a further 235 net unbooked development locations identified internally. PetroBakken identifies these as relatively low-risk, high netback, light oil wells offering attractive investment opportunities at approximately $1.0 million to drill, complete and tie-in. A typical conventional southeast Saskatchewan well has initial production rates in the range of 75 to 200 bopd and reserves in the range of 50 to 150 mbbls per well. In addition to these low risk development opportunities, the company will have 510,000 net undeveloped acres of land providing the opportunity for seismically driven step-out and exploration drilling. BC gas plays Additional long term growth will come from PetroBakken’s large land position in the Montney and Horn River natural gas resource plays located in northeast British Columbia. Smith explained “At today’s gas prices, they don’t make sense,” in regards to drilling at this time. But he said it is a brilliant add-on for future development. The company points to its experience successfully drilling over 400 horizontal wells with multistage fracture stimulations, more than any other operator in the Western Canadian Sedimentary basin.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Tank and trailer sales and leasing options inspire venture ¿nancing

Fred North, GM at TNT Tank and Trailer, will sell or lease any of these aluminum crude haulers.

Story and photos by Geoﬀ Lee Lloydminster – Business and venture ﬁnancing go together at TNT Tank and Trailers in

Lloydminster thanks to the company’s partnership with Ventures North Financial Group Inc. in Edmonton. Ventures North has

helped TNT customers buyout rental tanks and trailers for oilfield farm, industrial and recreational use for the past two years and is also a venture capital lender. “With Ventures, we finance everything from soup to nuts,” said TNT general manager Fred North. “We finance a lot of equipment. We started with oilfield equipment and trailers and have added everything from bobcats to backhoes and gravel trailers. “We also finance small manufacturing businesses and guys buying out trucking companies. Lately, we have financed land development.”

Ventures’ pet project is the ﬁnancial backing of Regal Ridge retirement and vacation acreages overlooking the town of Osoyoos in the sunny Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. The partnership with Venture was well-timed with the steady growth and demand for TNT’s rent-to-own options. TNT also oﬀers its own in-house open ended leasing on new and used inventory. “It’s good for this economy,” said North of the rental options. “We have a lease with a buyout option. It’s great for individuals buying one truck and one trailer. They don’t have to

put the money out front. You can accumulate a down payment that way with 70 per cent going toward the purchase price. It works very well. “Everything we sell, we rent. We were in business for a year or two before we starting doing that. We thought that would be a good sideline but it’s become a bigger part of the business.” TNT’s main line of equipment for sale and rent are highway crude trailers made by Heil, Tremcar and Hutchinson tri-axles for inﬁeld hauling. The company has introduced its own enddump and side-dump gravel haulers under the

North Country brand made in Manitoba, and will add a cross-dump to the mix in coming months. “We starting making North Country about two and half years ago,” said North. “We wanted a few diﬀerent features on them. We added an aluminum front. That protects the front from rock damage you get from the trucks. “Every unit that doesn’t have an aluminum front looks rusty and beat up after a year and these ones look great. We have added aluminum outriggers. It works really well.” “We rent them all over from individual operators to big companies or to the little guy starting out who has enough money for the truck but not for the trailer. He rents them for a year and usually ends up buying them out.” TNT also has a wide selection of utility trailers from 5 by 8 to 36-ft tri-axles made by Rainbow and enclosed trailers by Agassiz and Rainbow. For the farm market, TNT has a good supply of stock trailers and grain haulers. Vac trucks are the latest product oﬀering and are part of TNT’s ongoing strategy to diversify in a tougher economy and tap into new markets. “We get calls from all over western Canada and into the territories and into the U.S., “said North. ɸ Page A9

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

New partnership ɺ Page A8 “Southern Saskatchewan has been really good for us and northern BC in the Fort St. John area. It’s been quiet in Grand Prairie but we sell into Fort McMurray and into southern Manitoba. “Like everyone else, things have slowed down. This summer has been a little bit slower for us but we expect it to pick up in September when everyone gets back from holidays. “Our rentals have done very well in the downturn. We are very well established. Sales are off but we are still doing reasonably well. “Rentals have been really good. There is a lot of demand for that kind of stuff. We are pretty versatile and we work with everybody – the little guys and the big guys.” TNT also has a large parts department and repair shop where mechanics specialize in the repair and rebuild of tankers damaged from rollovers or are written off. “We bring them back as workable trailers,” said North. “We also do a lot of tank inspections and safety inspections and anything to do with trailers.” North knows a lot about oilpatch trailers and tanks, dating back to his first job driving truck for Kodiak Petroleum in 1968 before working for Temor Oil Services Ltd. in 1974. In 1990, he bought the company from locals Charlie and Betty Rohla and sold part of the new business to Dennis Snider who is the service manager. The rest is history other than North’s growing business relationship with Aaron Davison from Ventures North. “We just formed a good relationship and partnered up and do it through our own umbrella,” said Davison from his Edmonton office. We have leased for service rigs, dozers or cats used for lease building. “It’s worked out so well that we looked at every opportunity individually. We have invested a lot into land and commercial developments. We have partnered with the developer of Regal Ridge in Osoysoos. “We like to deal with the business owner face to face and investigate projects ourselves. If we believe in it, we put our money where our mouth is. “It’s a great investment. Fred and I both have a lot out there because we believe in the project. It has a lot to do with conservation and it’s a beautiful location. A lot of people are buying lots as an investment or to retire. It’s the warmest place in Canada.”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

D&D Oil¿eld takes a proactive approach to growing its rental business By Geoff Lee Lloydminster – Why buy when you can rent? That is the business idea behind the success of D&D Oilfield Rentals in Lloydminster that rents just about every conceivable product required for a drilling rig or service rig. “You would be hard pressed to find a company in the oilfield that is as diversified as D&D Oilfield,” said Wayne Poole, operations manager. “Everything that is needed to put a hole in the ground, we can supply it.” The company’s rental complex, located about 12 minutes west of the city, is stocked with stock rental equipment ranging from accommodation trailers, trash pumps and generators to products fabricated in-house

in Lloydminster and at a shop in Redcliff, Alberta. The rental supply of floc tanks, flare tanks, 400 barrel tanks and pipe racks are just some of the products fabricated by D& D that has a knack for innovation. “In the industry you have to be reactive and proactive,” said Poole. “If you are not proactive you will find yourself sooner or later at the end of the line.” Poole is following the footsteps of former owner and oilfield worker Ken Goldade who bought into the company about 10 years ago in Medicine Hat and put it on the map designing rental products geared to the user. That, combined with excellent customer service proved to be a win-

D&D OilÀeld Rentals fabricates their own rental tanks such as this 400 barrel tank behind operations manager Wayne Poole.

ning business model that led to the opening of the initial Lloydminster shop purchased from Mudshark Oilﬁeld Rentals eight or nine years ago. “Goldade was the pioneer of the rental industry. He came up with most of the product designs,” said Poole who recently helped to design and build a better rental garbage bin. “Disposing of oil with existing bins was a dirty job so we redesigned it and put in a four foot by four ft. tote with a funnel system on the outside for workers to dump a ﬁve gallon pail of oil without spilling any on the ground,” explained Poole. “There are plenty of bins out there. Most of them have a lid on top and you throw the garbage in and if it’s rain-

ing or blowing or you get birds in there, garbage spills out. “With this one, you keep the lid closed, and you open up the side door like you do for recycle bins for city use. It’s a lot cleaner for the lease.” D&D is manufacturing up to 10 new bins for rent. Other innovative products designed and manufactured by D&D for rent include a twinpowered generator system, a well shack with a built-in sewage tank and a self-powered boiler that needs no external power to operate. Conceivably, the company could run out of available yard space one day as the product line keeps growing. “In seven years, we have gone from a 1,200 square ft. facility to what we have here today with five bays and eight acres of property and we are still too small,” said Poole who has been the local manager for five years. “We can’t expand our shop but in the future we plan on acquiring more land to east for future expansion.” D&D was purchased last September which will help to broaden the company’s market opportunities for rentals in locations in Weyburn, Redcliff and Lloydminster. Corporately, D&D is looking at expanding into Swift Current, Red Deer, the Grande Prairie/Spirit river area and into Williston, North Dakota. ɸ Page A11

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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D&D Oil¿eld is branching out and expanding its rental business

Operations manager Wayne Poole designed a rental garbage bin to be operator and environmentally friendly.

ɺ Page A10 Poole says the biggest growth in the oilfield rental sector came three to five years ago when it was one of busiest sectors in the industry. “Now it’s leveled off to where it should be,” he said. “There is a ton of excess iron whether it is drilling rigs or rental equipment. “We’ve stayed steady. We’ve grown with industry. We do have some excess equipment and that’s why we are branching out. We are sending stuff out to locations throughout North American as well as Mexico.” D&D has also expanded its rental business to potash and uranium mining and exploration in Saskatchewan. Poole says despite changing times, D&D still operates the way it always has with a diversity of products and attentive service for the customer. “We have good

equipment. It’s well kept up. I class it as reasonably priced,” he said. “It’s not the cheapest and it’s not the most expensive. “We also have superior service 24/7. When a customer calls, we are ready to go no matter what. If you call us at 2 a.m., someone is on the road within an hour.”

Poole says equipment rentals are a no-brainer for oil companies that don’t have the staﬀ or the resources or the desire to purchase, repair and maintain equipment. “It comes down to being able to service the equipment. Rental equipment is no fuss to oil companies,” said Poole. “With

rentals, they just phone and if they have an issue with a piece of equipment they can switch it.” D&D has a staﬀ of eight including a full time mechanic, a welder, a pump tech, two hotshot drivers and a couple of part-timers along with a contract driver to deliver and set up equipment.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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Thorpe Recovery Centre project has many bene¿ts Lloydminster – Construction has begun on the new $16 million Thorpe Recovery Centre that will help to treat oilpatch workers addicted to alcohol, drugs and gambling along with youth and adults from all walks of life. The new 72-bed detoxification and treatment facility will be located two kilometres west of Blackfoot, Alberta near Lloydminster on Highway 16 and will replace the existing downtown centre built in 1975. Beretta Pipeline Construction Ltd. completed the initial site preparation of the 34-acre property in August and further construction is underway with an anticipated completion by the spring of 2011. “We have outgrown the facility and we have some time ago,” said Thorpe’s chairman of the board, Stan Parke. “The need for addictions treatment has just continued to grow and grow. We turn away 100 people a month.” The current centre treated 420 detox patients in 2007 including 275 people in a 28-day chemical dependency program and 79 people in the gambling recovery program. The centre also had 1,500 outpatient clients that year. “This is a huge project for the town and for Alberta and Saskatchewan,” noted CEO Craig Featherstone centre CEO, who can’t wait for the new centre to be ready. “They are screaming for residential beds everywhere. This will provide additional beds and better quality service,” he said. The new Thorpe facility will continue to operate as a non-profit society and offer individualized treatment and a number of services such as detoxification programs and long-term residential treatments. The new centre will continue to offer outpatient, prevention services, post treatment follow up and family programs with improved levels of service.

diction temptation you can think of from gambling and hotels to the mall and the drug trafficking.” Parke says another reason for choosing to locate the new centre out of town is to provide patients with access to more recreation which he says is an important part of recovery. “For people to become whole they need a bit of space to burn off a bit of the energy that gets stored up when we are in class all the time,” he said. “We will have a gym, walking paths and hopefully, ball diamonds.” Oil and gas companies will be among those who Brian Hantke president of Beretta Pipeline Con- will be approached in coming months by a Leadership struction Ltd. says his company supports the and Major Gifts Committee to help the centre raise new Thorpe Recovery Centre development and $3 million in additional funding. The Alberta governwas pleased to site prep the property. ment has contributed $10 million and funding grants “We have very dedicated staff,” noted Featherstone. are pending from Saskatchewan and the federal gov“Our goal is to look at clients on an individual basis and ernment. Some of the beds may be government-funded not treat them all the same. We try to work with each while others will be fee for service. It can take between client individually to do the best we can for them.” Featherstone reports the addiction problem in the 90 to 120 days to secure a government funded bed tooilpatch “is pretty huge” and as a result, many of the day, so the centre likes to challenge individuals to raise inpatients who come to the centre are oil and gas work- money on their own. “The result tends to be better if the person invests ers. Typically, they are referred for treatment by their in their own recovery – or if a family member or their employers or by their own admission. “One of the things we can offer, especially smaller employer invests in someone’s recovery – it generally companies that wouldn’t have formal programs is for has a better hope of success,” said Parke. “I just got a call from a friend in Fort McMurray us to help them develop an alcohol and drug policy,” who said an employee came to them and said, ‘I need he said. “We haven’t done a lot of consulting with compa- help with my drinking.’ There is a situation where that employee is seeking help and we can facilitate that. nies but we are prepared to do it.” “In many cases, the oil companies pay for the treatThe new 54,000 square foot building with have separate wings for youth and adults and treatment ment. We have done a lot of work with Syncrude and amenities such as craft rooms, a gymnasium and out- we have had a lot of oil companies that refer their people for treatment. door walking paths. “When an employer and an employee recognize The decision to locate the new facility out of the there is a problem there is a good thing that generally urban centre was a no-brainer according to Parke. “We are in the business of treating addiction,” he happens. It’s good when an employer says ‘I will help said. “Within a block or two we have every form of ad- you with that.’”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Will remote-controlled aerial photo Lloydminster – Conway Vidal is working on turning his remote-controlled aerial photography hobby business into a second job. “I’d rather be ﬂying” states a sign over his work bench. Vidal is the owner of Darker Image, a commercial residential and vehicle tinting business in Lloydminster and the operator of Scene From Above photography that has unlimited potential in the oilpatch. “I haven’t done a lot yet with oil and gas industry,” said Vidal. “There has been some demand and I am expecting it to grow. “I have done a number of shots where employees get together to

order an aerial photo of the business for their boss and I have taken aerial shots of farms and acreages. “The applications are limitless. Most people don’t realize what the potential is with these smaller machines.” Newco Tank Corp. was one of the ﬁrst local oil companies to call on Scene From Above for aerial photographs of one of its tanks at a lease site to use for marketing. “The biggest advantage is the price point,” said Vidal. “It’s quite a bit cheaper than a full size aircraft. I can take a lot better quality pictures because there is virtually no vibration and I can ﬂy a lot closer to the subject.”

Rates begin at $200 plus mileage for aerial photography in rural locations and $500 and up in urban locations where more planning and approvals are required. Vidal is required to notify Transport Canada of shoot locations ahead of time and provide them with a ﬂight plan. He is also required to keep the aircraft under a 500 feet ceiling since he is using it for commercial purposes. “Generally most shots are taken at 100 to 200 feet,” said Vidal. “You get a pretty good angle at that height. As a rule, I keep going until I get what the customer wants.” Vidal can mount either a high deﬁnition

video camera or his 12 megapixel SLR camera to the helicopter and fly it into position remotely to get the best images. Vidal has been flying remote controlled aircraft for about six years and helicopters for more than three years as a member of the Border Aces Radio Control Club. “I’ve got a fair bit of experience with the models, which is necessary before getting into aerial photography,” he said. “If something goes wrong and it ends upside down, you have to be able to handle that and pull out of that. “It’s the same as a full size aircraft. The controls are identical as well, the way the pitch of the blades is changed, and the way the tail rotors work. “In ways, it takes longer to learn how to fly the models because you can end up with them facing you and being in different attitudes, whereas, in a full size helicopter you are in a seat facing the same way all the time.”

Vidal spent more than a year learning the basic controls on a computer ﬂight simulator before buying his ﬁrst helicopter. His choice was the four-foot long Logo-600

made by Mikado from Germany with an electric brushless AC motor than runs at 3.5 to 4.5 hp. The $5,000 model is equipped with a 53-inch diameter rotor. ɸ Page A15

Conway Vidal demonstrates the agility of his remote-controlled helicopter for aerial photography. Photo by Geoff Lee

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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business Ày high with the oilpatch? ɺ Page A14 “It is powered by two lithium-polymer batteries which is the latest in battery technology in the world,” said Vidal. “The batteries give about eight minutes of run time. Generally, my ﬂights are one minute to a minute and a half and then I review the pictures, and if I have to, I will go up again. “With electric technology introduced in the past couple of years, you end up with a better quality image because the helicopter has no vibration. “This machine has been around for about two years. Prior to this, you had to use gas machines and some of them were running six to seven feet long. Gas engines are subject to lot of vibration so you need a bigger camera, a bigger camera mount and better dampening systems to isolate vibrations.” Vidal also sells a variety of remote-controlled

land, air and water models at his tint shop that has been his main business for the past eight years. “I never messed with photography at a professional level before,” he said. “I got interested in it as a toy. When I started flying models putting a camera on it was something I had to try. “I would like to get into it more and more. The potential for it is big. It’s just a matter of getting the word out and seeing where it’s going to end up. At this point, it is a sideline but if it grows beyond that I am okay with that.” “I can photograph or film anything that’s requested whether it’s a tank yard for layout, or for lease reclamation with before during and after shots – basically anything you want a picture of that’s above the ground.” Vidal designed his own camera mounts that feature oil-filled dampeners to keep the equip-

This clear aerial shot was taken from a remote controlled model helicopter for Newco Tank Corp. Photo submitted

ment as stable as possible while the helicopter is moving. With the camera onboard, the helicopter weighs only 11.5 lb with a total flying weight of 14 to 16 lb. Vidal envisions being able to use one of his remote control helicopters for infrared photography. “You can use infrared for inspections of buildings to see where heat loss is or you can use it for crop surveillance,” he said. “When you get into the infrared stuff it’s expensive but the possibilities keep going up. “The main business from it will be oilfield sites and farm acreages. I have done a few shots in the industrial park too.” Vidal adds the Border Aces club has found a new practice field about 16 miles south of the city.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Biofuel plant proposal could re-energize Prince Albert paper mill By Geoﬀ Lee Prince Albert –Approximately 640 farmers in the Prince Albert region have signed on to supply 750 tonnes a day of cereal wheat straw for a proposed cellulosic-based ethanol plant at the site of the idled Domtar pulp and paper mill in Prince Albert. The wheat straw purchase has an estimated value of $12 million to $15 million a year and will generate an extra source of income for farmers who sell a portion of their wheat straw to the proposed biofuel plant. The project is the brainchild of the Iogen Corporation, an Ottawa-based biotechnology ﬁrm that signed a letter of intent with the Saskatchewan government and Domtar in June that paves the way for Iogen to take over the former paper section of the mill once the project is approved. The mill would produce 70 million

litres of cellulosic ethanol a year from straw residue in a 50 per cent partnership with Royal Dutch Shell with startup funding expected from Sustainable Development Technology Canada. “It’s still only a proposed project,” said Iogen’s director of communications Mandy Chepeka. “We do not have a ﬁnal investment decision by all of the parties.” Project approval is expected in six months to a year with construction taking another 12 to 18 months to complete. Iogen has now wrapped up three public information sessions held in the area this summer and will continue to work on its feasibility and environmental assessments. “We have been in the Prince Albert and Birch Hills area for seven years talking to farmers and determining the best place for the plant,” said Chepeka. “We have a fairly lengthy history in the

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The ofÀcial vehicle Áeet at the 2009 meeting of the Council of the Federation (premiers conference) in Regina, Aug. 5 to 7, was powered by a blend of low CO2 cellulosic ethanol made by Iogen Corporation. The fuel is produced from wheat straw at Iogen’s world leading cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Ottawa. A total of 40 Áexible fuel Dodge Caravans, including meeting host Premier Brad Wall’s ofÀcial vehicle, ran on cellulosic ethanol provided by Iogen. Iogen is working on a feasibility plan for cellulosic ethanol plant in Prince Alberta using wheat staw as a feedstock. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

community. “We were initially looking at Birch Hills (south east of Prince Albert) and constructing a plant from scratch. Then this opportunity to make use of an existing plant came along. A lot of the infrastructure is there already so it makes it more cost effective. “The government got involved through our dealings with Domtar and we lobbied them because we know there are certain requirements that will require their assistance. “Once the final investment decision has been made, we will be moving forward with converting Domtar pulp and mill into a commercial scale cellulosic-based ethanol facility,” said Chepeka. Under the letter of intent, Iogen will purchase the paper mill assets from Domtar and the Saskatchewan government would own and decommission the remaining pulp mill property. Domtar, in turn, would pay an environmental settlement fee to the province to compensate for its share of site cleanup. The government also plans to purchase green power produced from the plant and provide new growth tax incentives related to technology commercialization and transportation. “Redevelopment of this mill site has been a priority for us, for our forest industry and for the people of the area,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bill in a press release. “A final decision still needs to be made by the company, but this agreement is an important first step in our commitment to find new uses for the mill facilities, new markets for our forest and agricultural resources and new forestry jobs for Saskatchewan people.”

Iogen has been producing cellulosic ethanol biofuel from what’s called second generation crop waste and forest biomass at its demonstration plant in Ottawa since 2004. Their process combines innovations in pre-treatment, state-of-the-art enzyme technology, and advanced fermentation technology. Pre-treated fibre is converted to sugars using enzymes; sugars are subsequently fermented to ethanol; and ethanol is purified to fuel. “All second generation biofuels have greenhouse gas emission benefits superior to gasoline and traditional grain based ethanol,” said Chepeka. “Cellulosic ethanol is a fully renewable advanced biofuel.” The ethanol-blended gasoline that is commonly sold throughout Canada and the United States contains six to 10 per cent ethanol. “It just happens that one of the feedstocks that we will be using on this commercial plant is wheat straw. It’s the non-food residue portion of the crop,” said Chepeka. “There is lots of wheat in Saskatchewan and a very large straw base there. “There is an environmental benefit. There is also a benefit to farmers in that it’s a second revenue stream for them for what would have been a waste residue product.” In a 10 year study of cereal production from 1994 to 2003 by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the three Prairie Provinces produced an average of 37.3 million tonnes a year after the harvest. Of that total, 15 million tonnes a year could be used for ethanol production after deducting straw needed for soil erosion, nutrient enhancement and cattle feed and bedding.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

A17

Strapped for cash? Dominion lease brokerage Lloydminister – At Dominion Lending Centres in Lloydminster, you can have your cake and eat it too with lease-to-own financing on everything from computer software and skid steers to oil patch equipment. Dominion Lending is a mortgage and leasing brokerage franchise owned by realtor Maureen Tkachuk. She sees a lot of upside business potential on the leasing side. “There is a definite need for it in Lloydminster,” said Tkachuk, she launched the franchise six months ago to bring mortgage lending services to her employer, Town & Country Realty Ltd., and began leasing to provide another service for clients. “It’s going well. I think as soon as we advertise and step up to the plate and put it out there and people know this is going to be an option, it’s going to be very busy,” said Tkachuk. “It will grow because of the benefits. “There are a lot of people who leave the oil-

field as an employee to startup their own company, but they don’t have the cash flow to finance all of this equipment. This is an option for them. “Leasing is great for those first or second year business owners that don’t have enough established equity or money set aside. They need that money for their operating expenses. Their best option is to lease and know by the time they are done, they own the equipment. “When things get economically tight instead of a large operation having to use their cash capital, they can do a lease program as well, and not use their liquid assets.” Dominion will lease virtually anything imaginable from computers and security systems and heavy equipment such as backhoes and excavators to office furniture and machinery. “Mostly I am dealing with construction equipment like backhoes and skid steers, but I have leased a vac truck,” said

Tkachuk. Dominion Lending is Canada’s largest lease brokerage with 1,200 lease professionals in 140 locations and can arrange lease financing for vehicles used for commercial purposes. On most leasing products, clients can finance 100 per cent of the price. They don’t require the minimum 20 per cent down that most financial institutions demand for a commercial loan program. Another benefit to leasing is that lease payments for commercial purposes can be 100 per tax deductible and represent fixed monthly payments for easy and accurate bookkeeping.

Tkachuk says it’s advisable to speak with an accountant before making a decision. Dominion’s mortgage and leasing brokerage operates as a free service for clients looking for quotes and willing lease lenders. Tkachuk works with over 20 lease-ﬁnancing companies and gets paid a fee by the lending institution. “Generally, I will get three or ﬁve quotes on the case scenarios,” said Tkachuk. “Customers will issue a cheque to wherever they get the equipment from. Whatever lender they chose, that’s the company their lease payments go to.” One downside to leas-

ing is that the interest rate tends to be a little higher because the borrower is not making a 20 to 25 per cent down payment. “When you are using

this as the write oﬀ sometime the interest rate is not an issue,” said Tkachuk. “It’s a means you get the equipment you need to get operating as a business.”

Maureen Tkachuk doubles as a realtor and a mortgage and lease Ànancing broker.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Northwell moving lock, stock and barrel to high pro¿le location By Geoﬀ Lee Lloydminster – Here’s some rubbernecking news from Northwell Rentals in Lloydminster that is always striving to stay top of mind with their service rig customers needing rental equipment. After 12 years in

their current location, the specialized renter of blowout preventers, accumulators, power swivels and related equipment is moving into a new large building in the northwest area industrial park this month. “It’s a great location and it’s right oﬀ the ring road and we will be vis-

ible to a lot of our customers,” said Dave Heck, operations manager. “They will be more aware of our existence. We will add more stock as required and have a little more room to spread our wings.” With 15,000 square feet of available space Northwell will be able

to add to its inventory of rental drill collars, rod and tubing handling equipment, drill bits, annulars, ﬂowback tanks and catwalks and pipe racks. The new three-acre complex was constructed by Bexson Construction Ltd. and will be owned by Northwell. They have put their existing 4,800 sq. ft. facility up for sale.

“We are committed to long-term service and that is why we believe in owning our buildings,” said Heck. “It’s a corporate asset rather than leasing. We are committed to the industry and the community for the long term. “Part of our expansion is to meet our needs today. We have outgrown our existing facility and

we are working hard to maintain business here. At times that is diﬃcult with our current facility.” The upcoming move across town comes on the heels of announcing Owen Noble has been hired as the company’s ﬁrst full-time employee safety and compliance coordinator. ɸ Page A19

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

A19

Northwell’s new building ɺ Page A18 “I think we have a good safety record,” said Noble who has a wellrounded background in the oilpatch and an awareness of safety. Hopefully, I can get everyone aware of it and make it that much better. “The more people who know you and know your safety record and your company name, the more it benefits you down the road. I am hoping I can bring a lot to the company and make it progress. Most of the role is focused on ensuring staff have their safety tickets up to date.” Heck explained that the growing volume of safety and compliance regulations and a payroll of 13 employees made the safety hiring a no-brainer. “Oil companies look at your compliance and your safety records to see if you are a credible company prior to working with you,” he said. “There are a lot of regulations whether it’s with our safety or our compliance on equipment or our training programs or procedures – we want to be more of a leader in that stuff. “This adds credibility to us, in that an end user, such as an oil company or a service rig outfit will want to use us because they are confident we are doing everything the way it should be.” Along with meeting its safety compliance commitments, Northwell can toot its horn for being a company that provides quality, well maintained equipment along with good service and reasonable prices. Their rentals are available seven days a

week. “The bulk or our work is spur of the moment,” said Heck. “Sometimes, someone doesn’t know they need a piece of equipment until they need it. “The job changes or the scope of the job changes or a piece of equipment they have breaks down and they need something now. They will call whatever name comes up ﬁrst. We want them to have the name of Northwell on their brain.” Northwell works hard at promoting their message of customer and community commitment with comprehensive print, radio and television advertising and a generous sponsorship and donation program. The company also wants the marketplace to know they plan to stick with their specialty line of equipment rentals aimed at service rigs companies in their new location. “We want to specialize in one aspect of the industry and try and do a good job at it rather than spread ourselves thin,” said Heck. “We want to be great at what we do. “We’ve had a steady growth pattern. A couple of reasons why we have been able to grow are, we are trying our hardest to be a credible company, and we oﬀer a good service and good equipment.” Northwell has weathered the worst of the economic slowdown in good shape by expanding its market reach from Kindersley in the south to Fort McMurray in the north and from Edam, west to Vegreville. “We have perhaps picked up some market

share and we have also chased some of the work to expand our area such as Fort McMurray country,” said Heck. “Right now it’s the project work – the steam projects are staying the busiest. That area of the business has been fairly steady from Cold Lake to Fort McMurray and we have a lot of local projects This is the site of Northwell Rentals new building as it looked in mid-August. Staff and equipment will move in this month. in the Lloydminster area too.” As for the future Heck says they want to continue to expand but at a controlled pace. “We don’t want to expand at an uncontrolled pace and leverage ourselves so when there is down turn like this, we can ride it through.”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Future Now presents ‘big ticket’ gas rebates to Battleford customers By Geoﬀ Lee Battleford – Tim Cimmer, owner and president of Future Now Energy, an independent gas retailer operating in Saskatchewan and Ohio was the most popular man in Battleford in recent weeks. Cimmer turned up

in his home town in mid-July to begin presenting publicity-sized rebate cheques to some of his local commercial natural gas customers. The public relations move helped to generate new customers in time for the Sept. 1 deadline required by Saskatchewan’s commodity com-

petition rules in order for SaskEnergy to ﬂow gas to them on by Nov. 1. Future Now delivers gas to residential and commercial customers in the province using the Crown corporation’s distribution and billing network. Cimmer presented the Town of Battleford Tim Cimmer, left, president of Future Now Energy presented Battleford Mayor Chris Odishaw with a gas rebate cheque for the town of more than $18,035.29 on Aug. 7. Future Now is a local natural gas retailer and distributes gas to residential and commercial customers in Saskatchewan. The company lowered its rate to $5.89 per Gigajoule, the lowest in the province. Photo submitted

with a rebate cheque for $18,035.29 on Aug. 7 following a blanket rate reduction in March to $5.89 per Gigajoule, the lowest rate in the province. The rebate presents a saving of approximately 20 per cent for the town that initially anticipated a saving of 10 to 18 per cent when they signed up with the company in Battleford in October,

2008. Future Now will remain the natural gas supplier of choice according to Mayor Chris Odishaw while SaskEnergy’s gas delivery, billing and service remain the same. “The Town of Battleford is pleased to be able to support local entrepreneurs and businesses while at the same time maintaining accountability to ratepay-

ers,” stated Odishaw in a news release. Future Now is one of two independent companies that oﬀer an alternate supply of natural to SaskEnergy. Cimmer tapped into Saskatchewan’s deregulated marketplace in 2008 following his success marketing gas in the state of Ohio. He is also expanding into New Jersey this year.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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A22

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

First occupants lease space in Lloyd’s privately developed industrial park By Geoﬀ Lee Lloydminster –It’s been three years in the making, but Bourassa Light Industrial Park is about to start construction on the ﬁrst two building lots for tenants to be named soon. The 46-acre site is located behind the new CE Franklin Ltd./Full

Tilt Field Services building on the Saskatchewan side of Lloydminster and is the only industrial land available at that end of the city. The developer is Emile Bourassa. He is Full Tilt’s branch manager and owner of the building that he shares space with and

leases to CE Franklin. “The idea of the park is to construct buildings and lease them,” he said. “Any day now, we should start construction on the ﬁrst two buildings. I just have a bit of grading to on a couple of the back lots and I am pretty much done.

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That’s what Bourassa reported on July 9 and by now, the road to the 11-lot subdivision should been paved and building construction under way. All of the subdivision services were installed through Bourassa’s ET Bourassa Holdings Ltd. Bourassa couldn’t name the first tenants at the time he was interviewed since the leases weren’t finalized, but he did confirm both tenants are local companies looking to expand. The buildings will be 3,000 square feet and 12,000 sq. ft. on respective 3.6-acre and 5.6- acre lots. Bourassa will own the buildings and the land. “Now that the road is in we will have a couple of more buildings go up and we will see a lot more interest,” he said. “Before, it was just kind of

grass and dirt and rolling hills and didn’t look like a subdivision.”

Bourassa has been working on the project for the past three years and says he had no qualms about it being on the Sas-

katchewan side of town where fewer energy-related companies are located. “An opportunity came up and I got a good deal on the lot. I saw an opportunity,” he said. “A lot of people don’t see it on the Saskatchewan side, but I did. “Initially, I was going to leave the site open but I just kept rolling with it. I think it will be a neat looking subdivision.” Bourassa has also just leased his former Full Tilt Field Services building on 4003 52 St to a new tenant after relocating last winter to his new complex shared with CE Franklin at 3915 52 St. Private developer and branch manager of Full Tilt Field Services, Emile Bourassa stands on the road accessing his new 11-lot industrial park. The site is ready for the construction of the Àrst two buildings. Photo by Geoff Lee

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A23

Strike Energy sidesteps into Sask.

Strike is expanding its pipeline and facility construction business in Saskatchewan.

Â&#x201E; By GeoďŹ&#x20AC; Lee Battleford â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Strike Energy Services Inc. has struck the competition again with the oďŹ&#x192;cial opening of its Battleford Saskatchewan ďŹ eld ofďŹ ce in late July with the promise of further expansion in the province in the coming months. The Calgary-based company specializing in pipeline construction, facility construction and maintenance services has also opened an oďŹ&#x192;ce in Athabasca, Alberta, to service clients in that area and is setting up shop in Dawson Creek, B.C. for shale gas construction projects. On the day of the interview for this story, Stephen Smith, president and CEO, was headed to Saskatchewan to scout new locations to those already established in Saskatoon and Battleford where ďŹ eld operations actually began back on Feb. 1. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our base in and around Saskatchewan,â&#x20AC;? said Smith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do a lot of work in that general area and some work in southern Saskatchewan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do pipeline and facility construction and we are looking to grow our business in to Saskatchewan. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in Saskatoon and Battleford and we are going to be in a few more places in Saskatchewan in a few months,â&#x20AC;? vowed Smith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saskatchewan is going to be one of the brighter lights in the industry in the oil and gas conventional areas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bakken play is a pretty big play down there. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be there for some time. I think oil prices are going

to be moderate for while. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly economic in those areas. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we are moving into there.â&#x20AC;? Since Smith formed the company in 2004, it has used its business model of experienced management, relationship building and safety mindedness to grow rapidly into the conventional oil and gas market in western Canada. The company has well established locations in Bonnyville, Calgary, CrossďŹ eld,Edson,Grande Cache, High Level and Whitecourt, Alberta. Strike received an award for being recognized as one of Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 50 best managed companies in 2007 and continues to boast a zero lost time to incidents record since its inception. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our business is driven by client relationships and service,â&#x20AC;? said Smith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got opportunities with pretty well all the major and intermediate companies weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve approached. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our strength is service and quality. We have one of the best safety programs in the industry. They know what they are getting with us. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got an awful lot of experience. There are no short cuts with us.â&#x20AC;? The Battleford site is managed by area superintendent and Murray Lake resident, Corey Chmelnyk, who looks after a crew of 30 to 50 men working on pipeline and facilities projects all over Saskatchewan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a bunch of work in the Bakken thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to creep into Manitoba a little bit,â&#x20AC;? said Chmelnyk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once we get that going, we could be up to 60 to 80 men. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are actually

working on a project for EOG Resources tying in gas wells south of Battleford toward the Leader area. We are also doing some pipeline work in the southeast area by Weyburn for TransGas.â&#x20AC;? Chmelnyk was hired based on his project management skills and business relationships he established during his previous 18 years of experience with a local pipeline trenching company. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been working with EOG for a number of years now,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You get a relationship with these guys and they â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hold onâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to us for a long time, project after project. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the same with TransGas. We are doing some pipeline work for them in the southeast area by Weyburn. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are building a good relationship with them right now. They seem to like our work, our quality and our production. We follow a very good safety program and a lot of companies like that.â&#x20AC;? Strike has built a compressor plant for Husky Energy in Gull Lake and is talking with Enbridge to secure some maintenance work on their Alberta Clipper pipeline in the Kerrobert area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our main work is pipeline and facilities,â&#x20AC;?

said Chmelnyk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are very strong in the facilities part of it.â&#x20AC;? Having an oďŹ&#x192;ce in Battleford positions Strike to gain some business in the Edam, Lashburn and Turtleford, areas traditionally dominated by companies in Lloydminster Locally, Strike plans to submit bids on the installation of three gas turbines and a 30-km 12inch diameter connector pipeline as part of SaskPowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s $250 million 140 Megawatt power plant in Battleford. Initial construction of the project began in August in partnership with TransGas to supply the gas to the turbine with the 12-inch pipeline

along with the metering and pressure regulating systems. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are deďŹ nitely all over that,â&#x20AC;? said Chmelnyk. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are going to be bidding on building those facilities. The pipeline will be just outside of the town limits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we are concentrated on here is installing high density polyethylene, steel and ďŹ berglass pipeline â&#x20AC;&#x201C; every sort of pipeline that is out there, we are installing it.â&#x20AC;? Strike specializes in the high density poly pipe that Smith says is being used more often for tying in gas wells and for distribution systems for oil and gas companies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve brought the strength and reliability of

it up,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Corrosion is not a factor so more engineers are starting to spec it into their systems. It comes in sticks or continuous reel and they are fused together.â&#x20AC;? Strike also has an electrical and instrumentation division added last year and the company recently sold its Russian division. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was too far away to manage so we sold it to employees,â&#x20AC;? said Smith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In fact, the whole Strike group is owned by employees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are a private, employee-owned Canadian company. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the competitive advantages we have and we are an open shop (non union).â&#x20AC;?

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Wilkie's got heavy oil under it Story and photos by Geoﬀ Lee Wilkie – To a ﬁrst time visitor, the Town of Wilkie looks to be stereotypical Saskatchewan town with quaint buildings and quiet streets surrounded by pea and canola crops. Underneath the community and outlying areas however, lies an estimated 65 million bar-

rels of heavy oil. If the technology were available to able to pump it out of the ground economically that could drastically shakeup the fortunes and impressions of the town. Deloro Resources Ltd. is the latest in a long line of exploration companies to make an attempt –this time using direct current electricity stimulation. The high tech project is the very

early stages, but holds a lot of promise. Ray Herzog, who lives closest to the well site eight kilometers south of town, is one of many local people with an ear to the ground. “If it takes hold, it’s going to do something for the community,” said Herzog. “They are talking about putting another horizontal in and there are six wells there.

That’s what I’m hearing. If there’s truth to what’s coming here, it’s going to go big.” Deloro has recently applied for a well licence to drill a new horizontal well to better test their stimulation process on their 3,765 leased acres of petroleum and natural gas rights. The Deloro play has generated a buzz about town that Mayor Wally Lorenz hears in his daily conversations and in his other job as a sales associate for RE/MAX. Lorenz is a former Saskatchewan Party MLA for the area, after having won a byelection for Battleford-Cut Knife in March, 2003. The riding boundaries changed for the fall election, and he was not re-elected. “People talk about what may come out it,” said Lorenz. “There is all kind of speculation and you hear all kinds of different things. The comment keeps coming that it’s heavy crude. It’s like tar sands oil. It’s just a matter of ﬁnding a way to get it out.” If an oil boom does

finally come to Willkie, the town is poised for additional growth. A new 23 lot subdivision opened up in 2008 on the east end where the first condominium complex was built and nearly sold out. More residential property is ready for servicing in the southwest and new house construction and sales have picked up. “This summer we’ve gotten real busy,” said Lorenz wearing his real estate cap. “We have a number of houses back on the market that we didn’t have last year. “There seems to be a good interest in living in this community and raising a family as well. There are a lot of people who are coming here and finding work.” Until the oil and gas industry gains a foothold in the area, agriculture will continue to be the main economic driver. Leading the pack are Finora, a specialty crop processer, the Viterra grain elevator and West Central Pelleting, a community-owned

business that produces feed pellets from grain screenings. CP rail is another major employer along with the Town of Willkie and there is no shortage of available commercial and industrial sites. “We have the land to expand if we have to,” said Lorenz. “For a community of our size, for future growth, we are positioning ourselves quite well.” Priority one for the town is a $4.4 million project to replace its aging cast iron water mains with new plastic pipes over the next three to four years. Work began this summer to replace 1,100 metres of water main thanks to a $3.3 million grant the town was awarded in June from the federal Building Canada Fund. “If you don’t have water and sewer in town you don’t have a town,” said Julie Brooks, the town administrator. “Council has set that as a ﬁrst priority. That’s the driving force right now. ɸ Page A25

Mayor Wally Lorenz is a sales associate for RE/MAX, selling the town’s Àrst condo development.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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- but how to get it? ɺ Page A24 “We are fortunate in that our infrastructure facilities are in pretty good shape. We built a new sewage lagoon in 2004. “Our water treatment plant is not aging although it will need some upgrades soon. Our population is 1,400 and our water treatment plant can handle about 2,300 people so we have room for expansion.” The landﬁll site has been decommissioned and residents now make use of a state-of-theart regional transfer site where garbage is hauled to North Battleford on a weekly basis. Work has just begun on a new community plan that will include zoning bylaws and make it even easier for new commercial and industrial business to set up shop in Wilkie. There are no oil and gas service companies in the area despite intermittent oil and gas seismic and drilling activity during the past 20 years. “Indirectly, we have

some contractors who work in that field,” said Lorenz who thinks if the Deloro project pans out, it would create new jobs and keep young people in the area. The added tax base would make it easier for the town to raise the $900,000 it needs right now to replace the floor of the Community Centre arena. “It’s going to be a big challenge for a small community to find that kind of dollars,” said Lorenz. “The facility is a key area for the community in the winter months. Hockey has been the life and blood of this community for many years.” The rink is home to the Wilkie Outlaws of the North Saskatchewan River Hockey League. Lorenz who was born and raised in Wilkie, played for the senior team when they were in the Wild Goose league. His nickname was Boomer. Wilkie has also an outdoor swimming pool, a nine hole golf course

and several ball diamonds and playgrounds. Aside from recreation, Wilkie can market its three schools and its outstanding health care facilities to potential newcomers of all ages. When the regional hospital closed in the early 90s, it was converted into the Wilkie Health Centre with 24/7 patient service. Seniors are cared for in the adjacent Poplar Courts long-term care facility and assisted living housing and services are provided by Bethany Assisted Living. The jewel of Wikie health care system is the Wilkie and District Health Foundation that has paid out more than $363,000 for health-related expenditures in the community since 1997 and currently has more than $400,000 in the bank. “We have had a few bequeaths since then,” said Brooks. “We’ve been able to purchase items for the health centre and

Popular Courts and for Bethany that the health region wouldn’t fund. “It has just worked wonders. We replaced all the hand cranked beds in the long- term care facility with electrically operating beds. We are very proud of that.” Having a heavy oil and gas sector would also boost civic pride. Fingers are crossed.

Ray Herzog lives close to the Deloro Resources well site and is excited about the prospects for heavy oil industry in the area.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Beretta’s diversi¿cation under Onion

Beretta has one of the newest crusher units and access to a couple of aggregate pits owned by the Onion Lake First Nation.

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By Geoff Lee Lloydminster – Location, location, location. That real estate mantra is helping Beretta Pipeline Construction Ltd. market its diversified suite of services to the oilpatch including pipeline and facility construction, civic construction and aggregate production. Beretta has recently completed the job of site preparation, earth moving and drainage for the new $16 million Thorpe Recovery Centre. The site is a stone’s throw away from Beretta’s property located two kilometres west of Blackfoot, Alberta near Lloydminster on Highway 16. The nearby location of the 34-acre Thorpe development plus the interest and support for the project by Beretta president Brian Hantke helped the company land the job. “I became aware of what they do and what they stand for and wanted to support it,” said Hantke. “Also they will be a neighbour of ours in close proximity to our shop, so it was normal that we would also talk about the commercial side of doing the work.” Thorpe chairman Stan Parke offered that Beretta stepped up to do the work at a price that sealed the deal. Beretta used some of its earthmovers, excavators, bulldozers and graders to prepare the base for the foundation of the 54,000 square foot building along with grading the yard and parking lot areas. The company also created a retention pond to be used for fire suppression and aesthetics. The new Thorpe centre will become a 72-bed detoxification and treatment centre for youth and adults from Alberta and Saskatchewan who are addicted to alcohol, drugs and gambling. The facility is expected to open by the spring of 2011. “The site is good example of a civil development project,” said Hantke. “We are trying to grow that part of our business. That’s one of the reasons we want to be involved with the Thorpe centre. “It’s adjacent to Highway 16 and it’s a good visible project. We are happy to be associated with it because we’d like to do more of those projects. “We are going to expand our involvement in civil develop projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Hantke. “That’s certainly our focus and we will be a part of that market for years to come. It’s a long term growth strategy for us.” Beretta was established in 1977 by Hantke and a partner and sold to the Onion Lake First Nations in 2003 by way of Onion Lake Energy Ltd. Hantke could have walked away and retired but he chose to stay on and work with the new owners to further diversify the company and ensure its viability. “The company is pretty diversified now,” said Hantke. “Pipeline construction was our main business. That’s how the company started but it’s not our main business now. “Now we do lease and road construction as well as gravel crushing. We also do civil earthwork projects such as sewage lagoons. “Probably 50 per cent of our business is civic construction including building oil leases and access roads. Supplying aggregate is another 20 per cent.” Beretta has developed its expertise working in environmentally sensitive areas of Manito Lake and Neilburg and the sand hills of Leader, Saskatchewan and in muskeg basins near Slave Lake and Lac La Biche, Alberta. ɸ Page A27 Troy Illingworth Cell: (780) 808-3183

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

A27

Lake ownership opens new doors ɺ Page A26 “We have been diversifying for a while because we thought it was good for business,” said Hantke. “The changing financial conditions are proving it was necessary for us to do that. It appears to be a good idea. “The band’s long-term plans are a stabilizing effect. They are not building the company to sell it to somebody. They are building their company to keep it and grow it over a long period of time.” The land where Beretta’s shop is located is owned by the Onion Lake band along with a 60-acre parcel to the east and adjacent to Highway 16 that Beretta hopes to develop into an industrial park. “This is one of the properties that is very marketable because it will be beside Highway 16 and adjacent to the highway after the bypass is built,” said Hantke. “Their intention of the band is to develop that property into an industrial park. Our intention is to win the project and do the work. “We’ve done that type of work before where we build a site for a commercial development. We built a site for a new commercial development mall and a bingo hall at Onion Lake.” Beretta also benefits from the band’s ownership of a couple of aggregate pits, including one ideally located on Onion Lake’s reserve land north of Lloydminster. The company owns one of the newest gravel crushing units and has licensing agreements with owners of other aggregate resources to develop it for them and crush and sell their material. The ownership and location of the pits along with competitive pricing, give Beretta a market edge with customers in the Onion Lake area. “The shortest distance that you haul material, the cheaper it is,” said Hantke. “We have good quality material coming out of our pits. “Our equipment is very new and top quality so we are able to supply the product on time and in large volumes. We have teamed up with other crushing operations as well so we can work on large jobs by utilizing teamwork. “The demand for aggregates is increasing. The supply of aggregate is getting smaller over time so that’s a good long-term business. Our outlook for aggregates is 40-50 years which is what our business plan is based on,” said Hantke. Beretta can leverage its ownership by Onion Lake Energy to seek additional work with the oil and gas producers actively working on band property.

“It gives us the ability to be introduced as an option,” said Hantke. “We win quite a few of the jobs up there and we have to be commercially competitive to do the work as well. The work is based on economics.” Beretta’s grassroots pipeline experience keeps crews busy in both provinces building facilities such as compressor stations, heavy oil batteries and oil and condensate pump stations and installing gas transportation and gas gathering pipelines. Beretta uses specialized trenchers and pipe plows to install steel and spoolable pipe for oil and gas companies. As for the future, Hantke said, “I think the company will grow through partnerships we are developing and through the diversiﬁcation we are going through. We are expecting small steady growth for quite some time.”

Beretta crews used a variety of heavy equipment to grade the 34-acre site for the foundation of the new $16 million Thorpe Recovery Centre to treat people suffering from drug, alcohol and gambling addictions.

A28

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Chinook over prairie minnows Nootka Island, B.C. –Fishing has been decidedly different this year at Nootka Island Fishing Lodge on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The catch of the day has been monster size chinook or coho salmon, along with some adult size anglers from the oil patch hooked for the first time by a Prairie marketing campaign. “This has been a good year,” said Tim Cyr, who owns and operates the family-run business with his wife Sandy and children Matt and Katie. “We are seeing good chinook fishing and we are seeing excellent coho fishing. Last year was one of our better coho seasons and I’ve been here since 1979. This year’s numbers have already exceeded last year in sizes.” A posting on the company web site reveals guests had caught more than 50 chinooks weighing over 30 lbs with one 45 lb whopper by August. Cyr also explains this has been the best year on record for large coho during the 26-year history of the business in Nootka Sound. “The only thing that hasn’t been good is we are way down in customers,” said Cyr. “We’ve been dependent for years on the U.S. customer and they are non-existent this year. “This year and last year, our U.S. clientele started going down and it dropped off drastically. We started thinking where can we market to where people are still working and looking at doing vacations?” Before the season began, Cyr and his family decided to target new cus-

tomers in the oil and gas industry for their popular all-inclusive three-day to five-day fishing packages “It’s worked out,” said Cyr. “We’ve had people come down from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and we’ve had people from Fort McMurray. “We did some trade shows up there. We went to Saskatoon and Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie over the winter. We also began to advertise in the Pipeline News this year.” Cyr has some open bookings until the beginning of October when the lodge closes for the season and he says the fishing is good right through September. “We follow the migratory stocks of salmon,” said Cyr. “They start showing up in June and finish up in September. Chinook and Coho return every year to spawn. They have to go right by us.” Nootka Lodge is the only fishing lodge right on the Sound that is located in a wilderness setting but just a few hours away from the oilpatch by plane. “You can leave Edmonton in the morning and be here in the afternoon and be fishing,” said Cyr who notes it’s a 20 minute scenic ride by float plane from Comox to the lodge. “It’s not that far away and we are known for large amounts of Chinook salmon,” he said. “Our business is family run. Probably 90 per cent of our business is word of mouth from repeat customers. That’s our best advertising. That tells us we must be doing some-

thing right.” Prices range from $1,299 to $2,598 per person and includes two guests per boat with a guide, all fishing gear, care of your catch, a single or twin room and all meals provided. “You just show up and we supply everything,” said Cyr. “It’s an eat, sleep and fish routine at the lodge. You get settled in, eat dinner and go fishing until it’s dark.” “We just had a group of 10 people go home and they each took home an average of 70 lbs of fish. Most people take fish home or catch and release if they have their limit.” Halibut, ling cod and rockfish are also available in season and Coho which are the last salmon to spawn are aggressively feeding this month. “Last year, we caught six Coho over 20 lbs,” said Cyr. “The biggest was 25 lb. The world record is 31 lbs so those are big fish. “If it’s a 20 lb Chinook it will take you 20 minutes to bring it in.” A ban on commercial salmon fishing in 1996 along with two of the largest chinook hatcheries on the island, not far from the lodge, have been a boon for sport fishing in the area. “The fishing is better now than when we started,” said Cyr who noted the postcard beauty of the area adds to the appeal of sport fishing. “Last night, the killer whales were out and lots of humpback whales,” Cyr reported during a phone interview. “There are lot of things going on – eagles and bears and sea otters and sea lions.”

Ian and Kristin Shardlow from Fort McMurray posed with their photogenic 34 lb and 26 lb chinooks and other salmon caught during one morning of Àshing in Nootka Sound. Photo submitted

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A29

New Cat Rental store in Saskatoon establishing its market footing By Geoff Lee Saskatoon – The first Cat Rental Store in Saskatchewan, owned by provincial Caterpillar dealer Kramer Ltd., hopes its customers are as faithful as its address on Faithful Ave. in Saskatoon. The store opened in March under the Kramer Rents label and bills itself as a total equipment solutions company featuring Caterpillar products and equipment. “The potential is terrific,” said manager Bill Brooks. “Saskatchewan has a really strong economy. There is a tremendous natural resources base here. We think there is room for everybody.” The Cat Rental Store product line-up includes aerial work platforms, pumps, generators, air compressors, heaters, hand tools, electrical and instrumentation equipment. “We are a general rental centre,” said Brooks. “We work in the compact construction category along with building construction equipment. We have generators and welders, small excavators and skid steers.” More equipment specific to the oil patch such as hydronic ground heaters will be brought in but Brooks has had his hands full tweaking new company processes and building inventory since the spring opening. “We are still in the process of putting fleet into the store and working on our processes,” said Brooks. It takes awhile to get all that in place. “I would love to tap into the oil market. The oilpatch ‘are great people. They know equipment and they know what they are looking for. They are great customers.” The Cat Rental Store can help companies stay competitive and complete jobs more efficiently while eliminating the expense of buying, maintaining and storing equipment. “We realize the downturn has affected everyone,” said Brooks. “We are here to support the oil patch when they are ready to move. We look forward to an opportunity to quote them some numbers.” Kramer Ltd. has been Saskatchewan’s Caterpillar dealer since 1944 and currently operates complete parts, sales and service facilities in Regina, Saskatoon, Tisdale, Swift Current, Estevan, Kindersley and North Battleford.

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A30

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Oil and gas employers can tap into Grasslandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recruiting drills

Swift Current â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Challenging times are good times for headhunters such as the Grasslands Group of Companies in Swift Current that provides executive search and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services in western Canada. Grassland Recruitment Specialists and SmartHire.ca, the two companies in the group, have traditionally focused on executive recruiting for agriculture and manufacturing careers. With evolving economic conditions, more oil and gas employers are requesting Grasslandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; suite of services to help them ďŹ ll and retain leadership positions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more important today for them to hire the right people because most of the companies are now going through a large development cycle,â&#x20AC;? said Blair Clark, Grasslands president. â&#x20AC;&#x153;An increase in business and opportunities exist where they might not have existed before in a potential upswing in the market. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Companies will be repositioning themselves and ďŹ nding new markets and that will require a new level of candidate to help perform those functions.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a career site on SmartHire.ca that we sell career postings for. We will write the posting if the employer gives us a job description.â&#x20AC;? Grasslands also screens resumes to send only qualiďŹ ed applicants to an employer and also oďŹ&#x20AC;ers reference checking and preliminary screening interviews with candidates. Other services include assessment testing and so-called psychometric tests that can help employers determine benchmark qualiďŹ cations for the ideal candidate and use the benchmark to test candidates for compatibility. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the oil and gas industry just starting to pick up again there is a huge volume of oil and gas individuals who have experience with reputable companies,â&#x20AC;? said Halladay. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Employers can pick and choose who they want. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good opportunity for employers to ďŹ nd that Alevel employee. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot qualiďŹ cations and experience from the oil and gas industry are deďŹ nitely transferable to agriculture and manufacturing and the other industries we represent.â&#x20AC;? Grasslandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; services are free for career seekers, but workers who register online will be screened to ďŹ t the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s database proďŹ le of executive and professional level candidates such as geologists, technical sale representatives, accountants and upper management leaders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are a lot of work seekers in general and a lot of executives in general that are passively looking for new opportunities,â&#x20AC;? said Clark. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People know the market is about to change and inside that market will be a number of opportunities and select positions that ďŹ t not only their style but their approach to match their skills and experience.â&#x20AC;?

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Clark, president of Grasslands Group. Photo submitted

Grasslands Recruitment Specialists provides employers with a complete A to Z recruitment package from job postings to interviewing and salary negotiations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are a fee for service company,â&#x20AC;? said Clark who noted the Grasslands group is only one of three RPO companies in the west. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are not a consultative business but we are a provider. We provide a step-by-step hiring process and we will guide and coach our clients through that.â&#x20AC;? It may be comforting for clients to know that Grasslands faces some of the same employment challenges as they do. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have more remote staďŹ&#x20AC; than oďŹ&#x192;ce staďŹ&#x20AC;,â&#x20AC;? said Clark. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to develop communication platforms to be able to chat with people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got people on the ground from Chilliwack to Brandon and from Grande Prairie to Lethbridge.â&#x20AC;? One of the beneďŹ ts for small oil and gas companies using a third party employment service such as Grasslands is the reduced time it takes to hire and the increased prospect of hiring the right person for the job. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Generally speaking, an executive search activity for a senior-level person requires 50 to 100 hours,â&#x20AC;? said Clark. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Most independent or small to medium size enterprises donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the resources in place to eďŹ&#x20AC;ectively and eďŹ&#x192;ciently complete an outsource activity.â&#x20AC;? A SmartHire process was developed by Grasslands as an online outsource tool to provide clients with a step-by-step recruitment retention and succession strategy to replace retiring executives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our clients can purchase any chunk of the human resource process from us such as a simple reference check or a posting of a job,â&#x20AC;? said Carolynn Halladay, a search specialist.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

B-Section

PIPELINE NEWS

September 2009

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

SE Sask resilient: Baker Hughes Canada President Mike Davis says

Mike Davis, president of Baker Hughes Canada Company, checks out construction of a new facility at their Estevan location on Aug. 21.

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – The resilience of southeast Saskatchewan’s oilpatch is important to Baker Hughes Canada, according to its president, Mike Davis. He was in Estevan on Aug. 21. Asked about the importance of southeast Saskatchewan to Baker Hughes, he responds, “It’s extremely important. All out product lines have opportunities here.” Davis lists fraccing, wireline, electric submersible pumps, and drill bits as just a few of those lines. Davis came to Estevan to see clients, thanking them for their business and support, and to check out progress on the construction of new storage facility for their specialty chemical product line. “Southeast Saskatchewan is particularly im-

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portant because it is most resilient,” Davis says, noting how the decline in natural gas prices has affected Alberta. “Weyburn and Estevan have held up well, and they are very important for us,” he adds. “Saskatchewan is growing, not shrinking as much as the rest, and we’re increasing our participation.” He notes “It’s tough to get funding right now to drill gas or oil wells.” Overall, Saskatchewan accounts for about 20 per cent of Baker Hughes Canada’s revenues, and higher proportions when you look at their fraccing, electric submersible pump and progressing cavity pump divisions. Growth for Baker Hughes in Saskatchewan is

focused on the Bakken play and Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS) at Lloydminster. Beyond CHOPS, he says there is a lot in development, but won’t explain beyond that. What does he see for the next six months for Baker Hughes Canada? “We have organic growth opportunities with our existing product lines,” he replies. Davis cites a need to expand in directional drilling and wireline. “We can add value to client’s programs. We’re positioned for that growth.” “I’d like to thank all out Saskatchewan clients and our employees. We have incredible employees, very talented and hardworking.” “It’s a pleasure for Baker Hughes to be a part of the communities in which we operate.”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

46 years in the patch, mostly pulling wrenches Â&#x201E; By Brian Zinchuk Benson â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Don Mayerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got plenty to do around the yard, after hanging up his wrenches at the conclusion of a 46 year career. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ xing up the lattice around the deck, or getting to all the stuďŹ&#x20AC; heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got in his outbuildings, â&#x20AC;&#x153;An endless job, cleaning up my oilďŹ eld junk here,â&#x20AC;? he says, smiling. And then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the immaculately kept lawn, which takes eight hours to cut. He does it in shifts. Mayer retired from NAL Resources this summer. He came to the company several years ago when they bought out the Midale side of some properties for which he was the mechanic. Mayerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specialty is working as a mechanic, although heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a formal journeyman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of plants were gas driven,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These were great big humongous things with a 13 inch piston.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The lift them out, I would throw them on a garbage can. You couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

came a year after I left. The only time we had a break was road bans.â&#x20AC;? With Imperial, he went to work as an operator, which he did until 1980. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was technically a maintenance supervisor.â&#x20AC;? He was working for a time with Gib Selk. Gib took an operating job, but for some reason, Mayer seemed to stay where he was, as a mechanic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I wanted to go back to doing anything, the foreman said there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any openings,â&#x20AC;? he says with a knowing smile. Mayer became a battery operator in the Steelman ďŹ eld. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the reasons I was stuck Don Mayer didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to go far to look after his wells. His acreage near Benson is right in the heart out there: they gave me of his territory. these gas motors to keep running. More people lift them by yourself. Rick is now a head meBorn and raised at he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Technically, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a chanic with BP. Frobisher, he returned The couple married donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to crank mechanic, but I never While Don was still there to work at a rain April, 1966. A month and start gas motors.â&#x20AC;? Having lived in Frowent to school.â&#x20AC;? working at Nexen, the dio and TV shop for six later, he started working bisher, then Lampman His dad was a me- father and son worked months, but it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pan with Imperial Oil, ďŹ rst chanic, so it runs in the together. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The last bro- out. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t good at it,â&#x20AC;? as a roughneck, then a and Estevan, the Mayers family. ken crankshaft, he and I he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then I ended motorhand then der- bought the acreage near Don has been mar- changed,â&#x20AC;? he says. up on the drilling rigs.â&#x20AC;? rickhand by the time he Benson in 1986. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I moved out ried to his wife Shirley Mayer was a DeVry â&#x20AC;&#x153;To work in a shop, left. here, I operated a batfor 42 years. Together, tech student, getting a you worked at a dollar â&#x20AC;&#x153;That type of life tery at Midale and ran a they raised four chil- radio-TV diploma from and a quarter an hour. wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t for marriage,â&#x20AC;? maintenance truck.â&#x20AC;? dren â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Randy, Christina, the Toronto school in To work on drilling rigs, Shirley says. É¸ Page B3 Richard and Cheryl. the early 1960s. you got $3.75 an hour,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The shift crews

Oilfield Equipment Rentals Professionally supervised downhole drilling motors. Power swivels and drilling accessories plus a full complement of pipe handling, well control, and job specific equipment. Performance drilling motors for coiled tubing, service and drilling rigs, air and fluid driven. Mobile accumulators, bits, mills and wash shoes, BOPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, casing scrapers, drill collars, elevators, flanges, junk baskets, links, mobile pipe racks, slips and spiders, spools, substitutes and swages, swab equipment, sour sealed swab vessel c/w H2S scrubber, RS 100 snubbing unit, surface swivels, cleanout bailers, 7 1/16th flanged orbit valves, master valves from 2â&#x20AC;? to 5.5â&#x20AC;?, fluid meters, flow provers and chokes. Mobile consultants trailers, pipe trailers and delivery services.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

"The foreman said there wasn't any openings" Éş Page B2 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Location-wise, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m right in the centre. I covered pumps at Stoughton, Kisbey, up to Weyburn, Browning area, Steelman, Midale.â&#x20AC;? From his yard, he can point to a few NAL wells nearby. Bakken wells are just ďŹ ve miles north. He spent much of his career working in the Steelman area. A lot of water pump equipment has been running for 50

years, he notes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I looked after the water, rarely production,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Usually youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re changing valves in a pump or repacking it. That would be the bulk of the work,â&#x20AC;? he says when asked about a typical day. His employers changed over the years, as properties changed hands. There was Esso, then SaskOil and Nexen, before NAL.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;SaskOil, in their inďŹ nite wisdom, wanted everything at a central location. If you wanted organized confusion, do that.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was the longest with Esso,â&#x20AC;? he says, saying they were the best he worked for over the years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They had a very low turn around with people, not what you see today. Today, it seems people tend to change jobs.â&#x20AC;?

NAL Resources got their southeast Saskatchewan crew out on the links for a retirement golf tournament on July 22, held at Moose Creek Golf Club.

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NAL Resources honoured two retirees at a golf tournament on July 22, Don Mayer, left, and Doug Worden. The tourney took place at Moose Creek Golf Course. Photo submitted

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Tanks, shacks, we rent. Rigs, you hire Kim Greening of Precision Rentals shows the ofÀce end of an all inclusive/single ender wellsite shack.

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By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – Can a guy slap down his Visa and say I’d like to rent a service rig, in the same manner he picks up a car at the airport? Well, no. It turns out that while you can contract a rig and its crew, renting a rig going to out by itself the same way you’d rent a mid-sized sedan doesn’t happen. “I’ve never heard of it myself,” says Pat Sinclair, of Precision Well Servicing.

Precision Rentals handles all sorts of surface rentals, from floc tanks to well site trailers. Their service rig side of the company, Precision Well Servicing, operates service rigs. But if you want the service rig, you’re going to have to hire it on, crew and all. The rentals side handles 400 bbl. tanks with sloped or flat bottoms, flare tanks, blow backs, shale bins, floc tanks and numerous other items out of their Estevan location. Other items like rig mat-

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ting can be brought in, if need be. They’re also considering carrying manifold systems, according to Kim Greening, who works in sales for both Precision Rentals and Precision Well Servicing. “We’re thinking about bringing some to this division,” she says. “It might be a good idea to get into.” “We’re deﬁnitely holding our own,” Greening says of the rentals business. “We’re doing quite well with the 400 bbl. tanks.” They have close to 300 pieces of equipment based in Estevan, Greening says. She adds, “There’s been quite a lot of pricing wars going on.” On the wellsite ac-

comodations, she notes, “We’re trying to better our ﬂeet.” Older units are going up for sale, and they are looking to bring in newer ones. Their selection includes four bedroom sleepers, all-inclusive/ single-enders, and 50/50 splits, which are taking over from the 60/40s that used to be common. Precision has around 68-70 units based out of Estevan. The impetus for updating is to meet the challenge of competition coming into the area. For well site accommodations, the important time of the year is just after spring breakup, according to Greening, and to a lesser extent, after Christmas.

- OilÀeld Maintenance - Service Crews - Pressure Welding - Pipeline Construction - Battery Construction - Rent or Sell New & Used Equipment Randy: 634-5405 - Cellular 421-1293 Darcy: 634-5257 - Cellular 421-1425 • Fax: 634-4575

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

August land sales bring in $14.8 million Regina – The Aug. 10 sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas dispositions continued this year’s trend of lower sales, compared to last year’s stratospheric bonuses. The sale brought in $14.8 million provincewide, down from $18.1 million in the June sale. The average price per hectare was $313.16 ($126.73 per acre), compared to June’s $320 per hectare ($129.58 per acre). There were eight licenses posted, with five selling, for a total of $1.4 million. Of 230 leases posted, 211 sold, bringing in $13.4 million. “In a year of lower, but recovering oil prices, industry continues to show a steady, sustained interest in our oilpatch,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd. “While land sales activity is admittedly not at the exceptional, record-breaking level of 2008, this latest sale in fact provides a fine example of the strength and diversity of our oil and gas resources. "The Bakken play continues to contribute the lion's share of revenue in this sale, but parcels in each of the other three oil producing areas have generated excellent bonus bids, showing that Saskatchewan's business climate and resource reserves continue to attract significant capital expenditures to the province." Estevan-Weyburn As usual, the Estevan-Weyburn area led sales, with $8.2 million for 136 leases and one license. Prairie Land & Investment Services was the

top buyer in the region, spending $1,055,545 for four leases. The highest single price for a lease in the area was $829,401 paid by Prairie Land & Investment for a 808 hectare (2,000 acre) parcel situated between the Bromhead East Red River Pool and Elswick South Midale Pool, 33 km west of Estevan. One 64 hectare (158 acre) parcel sold to Canadian Costal Resources Ltd. for $8,144 per hectare ($3,296 per acre). It was located adjacent to the Benson Midale Beds Pool, 16 km south of Stoughton. Lloydminster The Lloydminster region came in next, at $3.8 million for 31 leases and one license. The Lloydminster region had the highest per hectare price for the province, at $8,721 per hectare ($3,535 per acre) for a 0.75 hectare (1.85) parcel located adjacent to the Freemont Manville Sands Oil Pool, 60 km southeast of Lloydminster. Lacadnea Land Company was the top purchaser in the area, spending $679,809 for one lease parcel. It was 227 hectares (560 acres) situated partially within the Silverdale Sparky Sand Oil Pool, 13 km southeast of Lloydminster. Kindersley-Kerrobert The west central region brought in $2 million for two licenses and 29 leases. Lane Land Services Ltd. was the top purchaser, spending $610,650 for six lease parcels. They also paid the

top price for a lease, at $111,028 for each of four 259 hectare (640 acre) parcel, situated 5 km east of Kerrobert. It was also the highest dollar amount paid per hectare, at $429 per hectare ($173 per acre). Swift Current One license and 15 leases in the southwest accounted for $724,791 in sales. Canadian Coastal Resources Ltd. was the top purchaser, dropping $163,775 on ﬁve lease parcles. Top prices for a single lease was $142,450 for a 259 hectare (640 acre) parcel adjacent to the Eastend Shaunavon Oil Pool, 20 km southwest of Shaunavon. Windfall Resources Ltd. paid top dollar per hectare in the region, at $1,028 per hectare ($415 per acre) for a 129.5 hectare (320 acre) parcels located within the Rapdan Upper Shaunavon Oil Pool, 36 km southwest of Shaunavon.

When hiring Scott Land, YOU hire the Advantage... • Surface Acquisitions, Freehold Mineral Leasing, Administration Projects • No project is too small or too large • Most active Land Company in Saskatchewan & Manitoba, with a proven 25 year track record • Experienced Field Agents • Competitive Rates, Including an Emerging Company Plan (ECP) package to all Junior Start-up Companies

Scott Land & Lease Ltd. 1460 - 2002 Victoria Avenue Regina, SK S4P 0R7 Toll Free: 1-888-939-0000 Fax# 306-359-9015 www.scottland.ca

Kurtis Greenman, Mineral Manager 306-790-4350 Chad Morris, Surface Manager 306-790-4363 Laurie Bielka, Assistant Branch Manager 306-790-4360 Crown Sale Inquiries 403-261-6580 Main Line 306-359-9000

Large Office, Shop and Outside Storage Available for Rent All 3 can be rented as a package or individually to suit your needs. • 40 x 52 heated and air conditioned office with showroom space, bathroom and access to 75 phone lines • 50 x 175 heated shop with cement floor • Graveled outside storage - several acres Conveniently located 5 miles from Weyburn, adjacent to Highway.

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Welcome to Industrial Electric Industrial Electric (Weyburn) Ltd is a major maintenance and installations contractor for manufacturing and processing industries in the oil and gas sector. For over 35 years, IEW has provided high quality maintenance and installation services for some of Canada's largest companies. From general electrical contracting to complex installations, IEW's committed group of electrical professionals is prepared for any project. Our growing team of electricians and instrument mechanics maintains exceptional standards of quality and customer service. Check us out on the web www.industrialelectric.ca

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Prairie Mud Service “Serving Western Canada With 24 Hour Drilling Mud Service” Head OfÀce:

Estevan, Sask. Tel: 634-3411 Fax: 634-6694 Ray Frehlick, Manager Cell: 421-1880 Ken Harder Warehouse Manager Cell: 421-0101

Calgary Sales OfÀce: Tel: 403-237-7323 Fax: 403-263-7355 Chuck Haines, Technical Sales Cell: 403-860-4660

Swift Current Warehouse: Derek Klassen - Cell: 306-741-2447

Environmental Division Darwin Frehlick - Cell: 421-0491

Lacombe Warehouse: Darcy Day Day - Cell: 403-597-6694

Kindersley Warehouse: Len Jupe - Cell: 306-463-7632

Mud Technicians JAMIE HANNA Cell: 421-2435

JIM MERKLEY Cell: 483-7633

WAYNE HEIN Estevan, Sask. Cell: 421-9555

IAN SCOTT Oxbow, Sask. Cell: 421-6662

JASON LING Carlyle, Sask. Cell: 421-2683

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Overspec it so that it

This vertical treater package by Eagle OilÀeld Services of Arcola is being prepped for service.

By Brian Zinchuk Arcola – When it comes to rental equipment, it’s best to make sure your equipment is built to a high standard with every option you can think of available, because you never know when it might be needed. That’s according to Paul and Cody Grimes, two members of the Grimes family that own and operate Arcola’s Eagle Oilﬁeld Services Ltd. The company handles above ground production rentals, like tanks, separators, ﬂare stacks, treaters and free water knockouts. “It depends a lot on how busy it is. If a company is aggressively drilling, they will continue to move it from location to location,” says Paul. “Some goes out from months, some never comes back,” says Cody. Companies will often

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use rentals for items like production tanks, separators and flare stacks until flowlines and treating infrastructure are built. These items will often go out as a production package. Maybe a year or so later, they’ll run a flow line to a battery. “We have a rentalto-purchase program as well,” says Paul, who says it is a useful sales tool. Eventually companies will buy their own equipment, so instead of shipping the rental gear back and putting in new equipment, they might as well just stick with what is already there. “It helps with one of the challenges of the rental business,” says Cody, explaining that the purchase of rental equipment improves their cash flow to buy more equipment and keep going. It’s a good way to recoup their investment. The rentals side compliments the trucking side of the Eagle Oilfield Services business. Usually companies would get them to haul their own rental equipment. That’s also important from a warrantee perspective. When items are released, they need to be brought back up to the same standard as when if first was rented. The next renter will expect everything to be in good working order. It’s the responsibility of the renter to ensure items come back refurbished. “This alone is enough to kick in a purchase,” Paul says. “It gets pricey to pull things out and truck it back.” “It’s like the lease on a vehicle. You put too

many miles on it, there’s going to be a mileage charge on it,” Paul says. “Most of our rental equipment has stayed out,” Cody adds. Paul notes that due to the various oil companies policies, sometimes it is actually easier to rent than to buy. The rental business really depends on supply and demand, according to Paul. When things are flat out, oil companies are busy, they need equipment quickly, he explains. However, a lot of time, they will be given lots of heads up, sometimes months in advance. “Good rental equipment is set up for easy install,” Cody says. A typical call would come into Cody and go like this: “We’ve got a well at Viewfield coming on. You got any test separators for rent?” “Yep.” “Do you have any flare stacks and tanks as well?” “Yes.” “What are your rates?” “When would they be available and can you haul them?” “Yes” Paul says it sounds easy, but, “It’s not that easy.” “You have to have a product that works for everybody and in all sorts of situations,” Cody says. “You’re not just satisfying one customer, but 20. Each has several different operators and they all have certain ways they like things done. So is flexibility the key? ɸ Page B7

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

works for everyone ɺ Page B6 “Big time,” he replies. “We put a lot of thought into our design. We talked to a lot in the field, and got feedback from our customers.” And example is a test separator. A lot are good for 250 psi, which is great for single well batteries, according to Cody. “The next guy wants to tie it into a header. To get into the flow line, he as to have 500 psi. So basically, all of our separators have to be 500 psi. We chose to do that.” Included in the over specification is the ability to run a dump valve off of casing gas or nitrogen. “We don’t know who is going to what and usually you don’t have time

to customize,” he says. Snapping his ﬁngers, he adds, “The rental business is so quick.” What has been their oddest request? At the ﬁrst Redvers Oil Showcase a few years ago, they had a portable separator package on display. Paul says, “A gentleman came up looked at the package, asked some questions and threw his credit card on the table,” asking to take it. Cody ended up with a deer in the headlights sort of look from the unexpected immediate request. “They wanted to take it home. We weren’t set up to take credit cards,” he says. They have turned out to be a great customer, they add.

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Dustin Bartoff, lead operator in charge of assembly for Eagle OilÀeld Services, works on a trailer mounted portable test separator, just before it goes out to work for Tri-Star Oil and Gas.

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would like to recognize Rig Manager Jimmi Beaton and the crew of Rig #69 for their incredible safety performance. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!

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Estevan Ph: 634-8886 Virden Ph: (204) 748-2381

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

SALES AND RENTALS OF NEW AND RECONDITIONED OILFIELD EQUIPMENT • New 400/500bbl API 12F Cert. Steel Tanks • New 400/500bbl API 12P Cert. Fibreglass Tanks • New 100bbl to 1000bbl Tanks

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Busy place T-45 Oil Corp.’s Bakken Salt Water Disposal at Arcola seems to be a busy place, with trucks coming and going. When Pipeline News last visited in the winter, an expansion was underway. Now they are capable of handing up to eight trucks unloading at a time, according to Terry Johnston, who heads up the operation. "It’s hot and cold. Overall, we’re very happy,” he says. “We tried to make it trucker friendly.” Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Crest wins 25th Carnduff Oilmens golf tournament Carnduﬀ – The Carnduﬀ Oilmens Committee held its 25th annual golf tournament Aug. 7-9. The tourney took place at the Carn-

duff Golf Club, a 9-hole venue. The first day was the fifth annual par-3 tournament. It was accomplished by moving

tee boxes in to the 150 to 165 range. If anyone had gotten a hole in one, there was a $5,000 prize, but unfortunately, there were no takers.

The par-3 round was won by the foursome of Troy Moroz, Jay Dobrescu, Nolan Rohatyn and Blaine Crest. Crest also won main

tournament on Sunday, ﬁnishing with a par 72. Dean Lemeiux, one of the organizers, notes Crest’s win was ﬁtting, because he was one of

the original organizers of the event 25 years ago. There was a steak barbecue held on the Saturday night, featuring door prizes.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Here’s your sign. No, really Forget – Sports pubs hang up jerseys, bats and sticks. Oilpatch pubs? How about rig signs? The Blue Spruce Pub is a humble affair in a humble hamlet called Forget. It’s east of Stoughton, west of Kis-

bey, and off the highway. You have to look for it to find it. But if you do find what the owners call the “best kept secret in the southeast,” you might just find your sign. That is, if you’re missing one.

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The wall above the bar is festooned with rig location signs, the type drilling and service rigs post at intersections to identify their ever-changing location. There are eleven signs up already, and two more waiting to be posted. “One [patron] brought me one, and now, I don’t serve them any food until they bring me one,” says Sharon Gilbertson, who owns the pub with her husband James, also known as “Merv.” She used to run the place for two-and-a-half years until she bought it last year. She was born and raised in Forget. “One was stolen. The stole the whole stand and everything. They took the sign stand back the next

Sharon and James “Merv” Gilbertson own and operate Forget’s Blue Spruce Pub. The rig signs just keep coming. They better, or Sharon won’t feed the rig hands, she says.

day,” she says, not revealing which sign it was. Most of their clientele is oilﬁeld sector, which would make sense since most of the traﬃc nearby is oilpatch related. Forget is right in the heart of the Bakken play. A frac crew

drives by in the afternoon, and at 5 p.m., the parking lot starts to ﬁll on this warm August day. “We serve food. Kids are allowed until 9 o’clock at night,” she says. And if that doesn’t suit your fancy, how about

a haircut? “I’ve done brush cuts – quite a few, actually.” You can even get your clothes patched if you’re lucky. And if that isn’t enough, “I do the mail as well. One stop shopping.”

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This one year certificate program is designed to provide the student with the fundamental knowledge and skills required for initial fabrication and repair demands within the welding industry. This program can be used toward a Journeyman Certificate. General Information: The students develop fundamental knowledge and skills required for initial fabrication and repair demands within the welding industry. This program can be used for credit toward a Journeyman Certificate.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

B11

New shop replaces 1904 building

Rodney Lees

Arcola – Lees Oilﬁeld Services is moving to a new shop along Highway 13, north of Arcola. It’s a move from a dated building downtown to a new, modern facility. “I think it was built in 1904,” says Rodney Lees, who owns the business with his wife Terri-Lee. His brother Russell is also a partner in their Ventures. “He’s my main man in the oilﬁeld,” Rodney says.

The new shop will be about 8,500 square feet. They hope to be in it in early September. The mechanical shop performs safety inspections on oilﬁeld trucks. They also operate two four-wheel-drive tractors with snowblowers. Lees says last year was an “insane” winter in that regard. There are three tractors and mowers for cutting leases and pipelines,

A sea of light towers can be found near the new shop under construction for Lees OilÀeld Services, Arcola.

diskers and quads. “We fired up a fencing crew last year. We decided to get into light towers as well,” Lees says. They have ten staff, with six working on the oilpatch end. A year and a half ago, they sold off Moose Mountain Power, which provided big gen sets for pumpjacks, service rigs, drilling rigs and the like. “With that money, I bought my new shop.” A red-seal heavy duty mechanic by trade, Lees says, “I came home in 2000, fired up the garage. I bought a mower and one tractor in 2001, and gradually got more and more. I think I mow around 700 wells now. That’s our gravy, I guess.” He grew up on a family farm, 10 miles northwest of Arcola, “right along the foothills of the Moose Mountains.” The light towers see more use in the winter, as generators to keep dozers warm, and because of the reduced daylight hours. Lees personally doesn’t do a lot of wrench turning these days. “Those days are done, I guess.” Now he runs around to keep up with everybody else. For instance, Pipeline News ran into him at Forget, where he was checking out a job for

some grass seeding. Lees Oilﬁeld is one of those companies that will see an impact from the Petrobank purchase of TriStar Oil and Gas. Eighty per cent of their work is for the two companies. An example would

be a lease build. “They’ll phone me up, and I’ll mow the lease, and double disk it, so it’s easier to push up. I’ll build a fence as need be and sell the culverts.” Asked if he’s concerned about the combination, his response

echoes other service providers in the area. “Oh, for sure. Working for two companies is better than one. If one company slows down, you’re still working. “It’s huge. I’d hate to be a consultant right now.”

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B12

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Nordic continues Preeceville area exploration Preeceville – Winnipeg-based Nordic Oil and Gas Ltd. is continuing its exploration pro-

gram in the Preeceville area this fall with two separate initiatives – one in search of oil, the other

in search of gas. In addition, Nordic also recently entered into a strategic development agreement

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with a large private ﬁrm also working in the area. In early August, Nordic Oil and Gas. and its joint venture partner, Western Warner Oils Ltd., announced they had entered into an agreement with a major oil company, whereby Nordic has the opportunity to earn an interest in that company’s land at Preeceville. The company in question has had a number of wells listed on program in the area from several months, and did some work near Swan Plain last winter. The company owns approximately 153,600 acres of land at Preeceville situated a few miles southeast of the Nordic lands. This particular company had been looking for gas, but their ears perked up when Nordic announced they had found oil seeps on their land about a year and a half ago. Nordic has had some discussions over the past several months with the company with certain survey and seismic data being shared. The agreement between the two companies gives Nordic the opportunity to earn an interest in the other’s land in Preeceville. The ensuing exploration work on the lands will result in the company having the option to participate on a 50-50 go forward ba-

Nordic Oil and Gas is continuing its drilling in the Preeceville area.

sis with Nordic, or allow Nordic to retain a 100% interest in the land with the other company earning a gross overriding royalty. No timetable on that work has been laid out: “Not quite there yet,” according to Don Bain, corporate secretary for Nordic Earlier this year, Nordic completed approximately four square km of three-dimensional seismic work in the vicinity of where they drilled two exploration wells in 2008. In both instances, indications of oil were found, however the ﬁrst well hit a fault, and the bit got stuck, resulting in the well being abandoned. The second well also had good indications of oil, but they were not able to locate the formation, with the result that the well was deemed not commercially productive. With regard to its exploration program for this year, Nordic will be embarking on a ﬁve-well drilling program for gas

on its own property. Bain says it’s well documented the area contains substantial amounts of shale gas. “We believe that with new drilling technology available to us, we will be successful in unlocking the enormous reserves of natural gas that the Hunt consultants have conﬁrmed is in the region,” stated Nordic Chairman and CEO, Donald Benson. Drilling is expected to begin in September of this year. In addition, Nordic also will be looking to drill up to three oil wells on their own land, with locations chosen from the data secured from the recently completed 3-D seismic. It is anticipated that drilling of these wells will begin in the latter part of the third quarter. Nordic has approximately an 80 per cent interest in 32,000 gross acres of P & NG leases with rights to the basement in the Preeceville area.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

B13

Reservist physician as safety co-ordinator

When heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not wearing a hard hat, you can call Ken McClellan â&#x20AC;&#x153;Doctor,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Colonel,â&#x20AC;? or simply â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sir.â&#x20AC;? However, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d never suspect it from his easy going manner. McClellan is a Ă&#x20AC;eld safety co-ordinator with Waschuk Pipe Line Construction.

Â&#x201E; By Brian Zinchuk White City - He may give the daily safety orientation presentation to new hires, but Ken McClellanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience is beyond what you would usually expect in a pipeline safety co-ordinator. You see, when he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a white hard hat on, he wears a Canadian Forces uniform, and carries the rank of colonel in the reserves. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ tting his status as a qualiďŹ ed ďŹ&#x201A;ight surgeon. A dual-citizen, McClellan was a paratrooper, and had spent a sub-

stantial portion of his career attached to the U.S. military. He served with the U.S. Airborne for ten years. Schooling was ďŹ nanced by working on pipelines and in

as part of the Canadian contingent during the ďŹ rst Gulf War, being one of the few Canadians on the ground in the theatre of action as part of a ďŹ eld hospital. He was slated to go to Afghanistan, but changing personal circumstances put that on hold. Currently heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working as a safety coordinator with Waschuk Pipe Line Construction, having gotten back in the industry four years ago. His roots run deep in the industry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I was a youngster, I worked pipeline,â&#x20AC;? he says. Indeed, not only does he know of the fabled beef jerky produced at

the Vibank Meat Market, a pipelinerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staple, but he knows the owner. Turns out, the owner is a former purchasing agent for Majestic and Marine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a physician, I was a ďŹ&#x201A;ight surgeon. What you see in my line of work is similar to what we do,â&#x20AC;? he says, referring to the pipeline during the morning orientation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t grow a hand back. You have to be responsible for yourself.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re rammy and have a poor attitude, these are the people we weed oďŹ&#x20AC; the project.â&#x20AC;? He was going to be an air force pilot when he was younger. He got

his wings, and has ďŹ&#x201A;own as a co-pilot on Hercules transports. From the pointy end of the spear, McCellan would eventually switch over the to medicine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You see a diďŹ&#x20AC;erent side. Maybe you can help in other ways. You see enough death, so you want to be involved. You want to try to do it with a diďŹ&#x20AC;erent angle.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I probably wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be where I was if it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t for pipeline. It helped me a great deal with my career, with summer employment,â&#x20AC;? he says. McClellan has a place outside of Ottawa, and his grown children live in Edmonton.

part by the Forces. Upon graduating medical school, he was given the rank of captain, and has since progressed up the ranks to colonel. McClellan served

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B14

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

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B15

TS&M’s PC pump shop Moosomin – TS&M Supply may have locations throughout the prairies, but they only have one shop dedicated to progressing cavity pumps – the one in Moosomin. “We are PC pumps, rods, and all well-head accessories,” says Cory McGonigal, manager. “That’s why they opened this store, because there was no on around here who did progressing cavity pumps.” The Moosomin location takes care of a service area that includes Wapella, Rocanville and Kipling. In the back, they have a test bench for the pumps.

Progressing cavity pumps are the standard in the heavy oil regions of the province, around Lloydminster. So why are they used in southeast Saskatchewan? “Wapella is sandy,” McGonigal notes, and in Kipling and other areas, there are higher volumes. “They like to run them fast, produce as much as volume as possible,” he says. The Moosomin location has four full-time staﬀ. Things have been a slow, McGonigal says, but picked up in July. As for the rest of the year, “They’re talking September – October things will start booming.”

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B16

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

No suits here Â&#x201E; By Brian Zinchuk Estevan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; True story: a reporter walks into a drycleaning shop. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How much to get my suit dry cleaned?â&#x20AC;? he asks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sorry, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do suits.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do suits?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, we just do coveralls.â&#x20AC;? Purr-Fect Dry Cleaners of Estevan is not your typical dry cleaner. There is no moving rack with suits and blouses. Their cleaning usually comes and goes in garbage bags. And their stains are a little stronger than a bad encounter at the buďŹ&#x20AC;et table. Barb Connely is the owner. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been in business for six years, after having worked with another dry cleaning company. She saw a business opportunity when another cleaner closed down, and she went for it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I worked at the bank for 15 years,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to do something diďŹ&#x20AC;erent, so this was perfect.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Holy man, this was wicked, so I started my own and took a chance,â&#x20AC;? she says. There was a time when they did conventional dry cleaning, oďŹ&#x20AC;ering full services up until August of 2008. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I kyboshed it because I was so overwhelmed with the amount of coveralls coming in,â&#x20AC;? she says,

noting the volumes werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t there for conventional dry cleaning. Coveralls were much easier and had better margins. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any money in doing good clothes,â&#x20AC;? she says. Now the focus is on industrial coveralls. It has slowed down, she notes, but it not that bad. They were very busy during road bans, because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when everyone is cleaning up their shops and doghouses. The company picked up another dry cleaning machine last summer, allowing for expanded capacity. She sold all her presses to another business doing the â&#x20AC;&#x153;fancy stuďŹ&#x20AC;,â&#x20AC;? she notes. Any regrets? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not at all. Not one iota,â&#x20AC;? Connely replies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When it got slow at the beginning of the year, I got in my truck and went everywhere. I must have picked up another 15-20 companies.â&#x20AC;? The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in her family. Her husband owns KRJ Custom Fabricating Ltd. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to be my own boss. My husband gave me all the support and â&#x20AC;&#x153;you-can-do-it.â&#x20AC;? However, she points out that she started the drycleaning company, not KRJ. É¸ Page B17

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

B17

Getting the oil out of those coveralls Éş Page B16 The pair also has a side business called Hooch Holdings, buying and selling motorhomes and golf carts. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ďŹ&#x201A;y down to Florida on a weekend, and drive it home to a buyer theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lined up. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also thinking of making use of a surplus boiler as a steam truck for the oilpatch. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I can see thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a market, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to go for it.â&#x20AC;? Purr-Fect has a number of drop oďŹ&#x20AC; points in the southeast, and saw some promise after the oil show in Weyburn. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I might have to start driving that way now. Right now I drive east â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Frobisher, Oxbow. I just got a call from Carlyle. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to get a depot there or Stoughton,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m on the road a lot. I like to be the person that does it. I like to talk to main guys there, ask if everything is okay.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to need a bigger truck. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to pick up again. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s starting already.â&#x20AC;? Some companies contract for repairs as needed. The majority of their work is charge accounts where the company pays, but they have at least 50 individuals who bring in their coveralls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we lose one of your coveralls, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll replace it. [It] hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happened yet in six years.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;If muddy, we wash them in cold water and try on low heat,â&#x20AC;? she says, noting it is important not to shrink the coveralls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then we dry clean them. Drycleaning doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take out mud. It takes out oil.â&#x20AC;? The â&#x20AC;&#x153;weâ&#x20AC;? includes Anita Tetreault, her one employee. It can get a little warm for the pair in the shop during the summer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My ďŹ rst ďŹ ve years, we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have air

Barb Connely doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a moving rack for suits these days. Instead, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s garbage bags full of coveralls.

conditions. It got to 110 F. We had a kiddie swimming pool to put feet in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It gets very hot in here. I do have a ďŹ ve-tonne air conditioner, [but] itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never keep up to the heat.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We still take lots of coďŹ&#x20AC;ee breaks,â&#x20AC;? she says with

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B18

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Lampman location sees plenty of trucks By Brian Zinchuk

Left: Javier Guevara opens up the hopper on a truck delivering frac sand to the Lampman Sand Source Services location.

Lampman – Last winter, Sand Source Services set up what looked like a grain elevator complex in Lampman, but what was in reality a frac sand terminal. In operation since February, Lampman manager Javier Guevara says that it’s “so far, so good.” “Usually we get a rush in the morning, then it slows down, then picks up in the afternoon.” Indeed, it’s been busy enough to require more manpower. “I gotta hire somebody else pretty soon,” he says. “We’re getting busier and busier.” Originally from Nicaragua, Guevara came to Lampman from Medicine Hat. The company gets calls at all hours of the day, and they respond. “Got a call last night at midnight,” he says at 9 a.m. on an early August day. “We’ve had four or ﬁve trucks already. Sometimes we get ten trucks at once, sometimes we don’t get any for hours. It takes about ten minutes to load a truck from the overhead bins. Steve Edwards of Greely, Colorado, is the transportation manager for Source Logistics. He’s been up in Lampman up to several times a month, as needed. When asked if it has been a successful move, he replies, “So far, I think so.”

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Sand Source Services’ Lampman location sees regular streams of trucks delivering and picking up frac sand.

Cory Abel (306) 861-3873 Aubray Pulfer (306) 861-4501

Line Locating

PO Box 1473 Weyburn, SK S4H 3N8 Email: abels@signaldirect.ca

Wellsite Inspection

Weyburn, SK

301 Kensington Ave. Estevan, SK. Phone: (306) 634-3616

3902 - 75th Ave. Leduc, AB. Phone: (888) 835-0541

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(780) 875-0203 LloydMall Lloydminster

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

B19

(L - R) Brian LeNouail (Poplar Services) congratulates the team from TPZ winners of the tournament, Mike Heidinger, Pete O'Donnell and Rod Lees. Missing from the photo is Glen Campbell.

(L - R) Brian LeNouail, Joanne Toms, Marius Ericksen, and Marc Wolensky. The Redvers & District Golf Club is presented the cheque from the Redvers Oil Showcase to be put towards improvements to the golf course.

OIL & GAS MINERAL OWNERSHIP You can minimize your income taxes upon production and later upon your death with a proper Oil & Gas Family Trust. You can lose money without proper advice! TOM SCHUCK

Taxation of Mineral Holdings Mineral & Royalty Trusts Family Trusts & Joint Ventures Incorporation of Oil Field Companies Leasing Oil & Gas Properties Re-organizations Purchase and Sale of Oil & Gas Interests 319 Souris Avenue N.E., Weyburn, SK

(306) 842-4654 www.nswb.com Over 35 years of legal experience

Redvers holds Âżrst annual Oilperson's Golf Tournament Courtesy the Redvers Optimist Redvers - In early June a group of Redvers

Oil Showcase committee members - Marc Wolensky, Brian LeNouail and Marius Ericksen

- started talking about organizing an oilperson's tournament so from this discussion and with

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Phone: 634-5016 Under New Management Stan Kovacs - Manager 1033B 4th Street â&#x20AC;˘ Box 695 â&#x20AC;˘ Estevan, SK S4A 0W4 â&#x20AC;˘ Fax: (306) 634-3166 â&#x20AC;˘ serviceestevan@thundercity.ca *Hondaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Get More Summer Event Offer applies to eligible retail purchase agreements for a limited time. This Offer is valid on a new and not previously registered 2009 Honda TRX500PG/FG/FPE/FPM/FE/FM ATV. Manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discount off MSRP is available only at participating dealers and is $750.00 on the TRX500PG/FG/FPE/FPM/FE/FM. Offer valid at participating Honda ATV dealers in Canada only. Extra charge of $300.00 for TRX500PG/FPE/FPM/FE/FM Camo model. Freight and PDI, taxes, licence, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. Dealer may sell for less. Prices/offer subject to change or extension without notice. See dealer for full details and eligible models. Dealer order or trade may be necessary.

the help of several other people involved and the Redvers Golf Club, the First Annual Redvers Oilperson's tournament was held on Friday, July 31. Although the weather did not cooperate, it did not deter the twenty teams of golfers from enjoying the day. The format was a four person best ball competition and after eighteen holes of golf, coming out on top was the team from TPZ and the Most Honest Golfer award went to the 3D Enterprises team. Several companies sponsored the eighteen holes including Hansen Steamers, Dangstorp Services, Maxim OilďŹ eld Services/3 Way, Poplar Services, Classic Vac, Three Star Trucking, Parasolve, Red Hawk and EPIC. Moose Mountain Mud and Equal Trucking provided food and refreshments on #3 and TS & M Supplies did the same on hole #7. MJM Production Services sponsored the two week trip for two to Costa Rica with the $2,000 for airfare and $300 in spending money donated by the Redvers Oil Showcase. The lucky winner of this was Travis Cowan, operator at NAL. A steak supper followed the tournament with P & M Consulting and McGillicky OilďŹ eld Construction supplying the steaks and the salads coming from Ironrider. The Redvers Oil showcase presented all of the proceeds - $6,000.00 - to the Redvers & District Golf Club to be put towards "future improvements to the Golf Course."

B20

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#4096A 2008 Pontiac Grand Prix

#5176A 2005 Chevrolet Impala LS

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#5374A 2007 Pontiac G5

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#5185 2009 Chevrolet ***NEW*** Cobalt LS 285.00 month x 72 @ 5.69 oac

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#CUL1A 2008 GMC ***NEW*** 5500 Diesel 4x4 1 of 2

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#5239 2009 GMC SLT Ext Z71 4X4 3/4 ***NEW***

#5360A 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass

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#CCNB 1995 Chevrolet 3/4 Ext 2wd

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PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

C-Section September 2009

Warren, come on down, you’ve earned a new car!

Ron Wanner, left, who owns T. Bird Oil with his wife Dorothy, handed the keys of this extremely rare Dodge Challenger SRT8 to T. Bird’s general manager Warren Waldegger.

Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Estevan – T. Bird Oil Ltd. owner Ron Wanner thinks hard working, long time employees should be rewarded. “I had worked for majors. After working a whole life, you get a hundred dollar wrist watch,” he says. “Anyone who worked for me would be better rewarded.” As such, the Wanner group of companies, owned by Ron Wanner and his wife Dorothy, is pretty generous when employees reach major milestones. Between Venture Well Servicing, Viking Surplus, Viking Trucking, T. Bird Oil Ltd. and

Wanner Holdings, this year they have one person who has been with them for 30 years, three for 25 years, on for 20 years, and a number at lower levels. It’s common for them to receive $5,000 towards a trip after ten years service. One of their longest term employees with Viking Surplus was once rewarded with a pickup truck. “It gets expensive,” Wanner says, adding, “But these are exceptional employees. We have all good employees. All our employees are important.” On August 17, however, they went a little beyond a trip. Way beyond. Warren Waldegger

was employee number one with T. Bird Oil Ltd., a private junior oil and gas producer that has grown from ﬁve or six wells when it started to the 80-100 well range, spread between Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Waldegger is a professional engineer, who graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1994 in mechanical engineering. He worked for two pipeline companies before coming over to the Wanner companies, where he did engineering and safety work, assisting with business transactions, according to Wanner.

Now he’s the general manager of T. Bird, and has led it through “exponential growth,” as he describes it. The staff has grown from two to fourteen. They average drilling about five or six wells a year, but did 11 horizontals and a few verticals last year. According to Wanner, they were drilled “on a cash flow basis, without an investor.” This year they’ve done a few wells, with another four or five in southeast Saskatchewan on the agenda for the tail end of 2009. Three and a half years ago, T. Bird Oil became an independent opera-

tion, separate from the other Wanner companies, with their own office on Estevan’s Third Street. They’ve grown in that office, and are currently renovating another part of the building. In secret Ron and Dorothy Wanner are car buffs, according to Waldegger. “Warren had indicated the car was in Estevan Motors. It was very nice, and he wanted one some day,” Ron Wanner says. He had it in his mind to do something for the ten year anniversary for what he describes as an “over and above-average employee.”

“It was not just a typical ten year gift,” Waldegger acknowledges. Wanner went to Estevan Motors Ltd. in mid-July and ordered the car. This is not just any car, either. It’s a Dodge Challenger SRT8 two door coupe with a 6.1 L Hemi engine, fully loaded, including leather and a satellite radio and navigation system. It’s got 425 horsepower and 420 footpounds of torque. The Dodge website says it’s manufacturer suggested retail price, including taxes, is in the range of $50,000. ɸ Page C2

JOHNSTONE TANK TRUCKING Ltd. Estevan Location - Phone: 634-8545 Frobisher Location - Phone: 486-2044

Tank Trucks - Acid Trucks - Pressure Trucks - Vacuum Trucks

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Dodge Challenger SRT8 - nice bonus! ɺ Page C1 “I didn’t tell any the office staff, didn’t tell the dealer who it was for. It’s one of only a few in Canada,” Wanner says. It took a week and a half to get it here. Dustin Sands of Estevan Motors says, “It’s very, very, very hard to find. The only one available in Canada was in Quebec.” Sands describes it as “the most desirable Challenger out there.” “It’s his. It’s not a company car,” Wanner adds. Surpise! The plan was sprung on Aug. 17 at a company supper. Dorothy Wanner’s truck was parked at the Beefeater Inn, holding a parking space. Ron had taken delivery of the car and put it his garage. During the supper, the truck and car were swapped. “I gave a small speech and handed Warren a regular employee [certificate].” That was the $5,000 towards a trip to Hawaii, something that was anticipated by Waldegger. “Once I said thank you for that, out came another envelope with keys and a picture,” Waldegger says. It was a laminated story by Jay Leno praising the Dodge Challenger SRT8. “Warren was stuttering and stammering,” Wanner says the next day, still in

the afterglow of the event. “He usually has lots to say, but he was quiet for a few minutes.” After they went outside, and Waldegger and his wife Sherri were shown the car. “Warren roared oﬀ in the sunset with his wife,” Wanner says, adding, “At a high rate of speed, too. We didn’t think Warren was that much of a hotrodder!” Waldegger has four young kids, two boys and two girls. “My seven year old son, his birthday is on Saturday. When we brought the vehicle home, he said he didn’t need a birthday anymore,” Waldegger says. “When tucking him in later, he says, ‘Dad, you know what I said about a birthday? I was just kidding.’” There’s only one hiccup. With four kids, there’s room for all of them, but only one parent. It will be interesting to see who gets to stay home.

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This story, and a set of keys, were in the envelope handed to Warren Waldegger.

Call Leslie Smith

842-2202 160 3rd Street Weyburn, Sask weyburnhomes.ca

smiles@royallepage.ca “Helping you is what we do.”

Celebrating

sold

10 Years

14 Fieldstone Estates MLS#340524 $629,900

in Business!

401 - 122 Government Rd. MLS#348528 $219,900

669 Burge Bay MLS#336376 $379,900

Sale Pending 740 McTaggart Place MLS#337983 $369,500

sold 514 10th Street MLS#346666 $148,900

sold 620 & 622 18th Street

$299,900 each

611 Barber Crescent MLS#337977 $299,000

116 11th Street EXCLUSIVE $289,900

675 Washington MLS#340226 $279,900

37 8th Street MLS#335842 $129,900

310 - 6th Street MLS#341555 $274,900

602 & 604 Barber Crescent MLS#343158

204-445 Government Rd

$254,900 each

$234,402

204-800 Hartney Place MLS#340516 $199,900

364 9th Avenue MLS#342815 $209,900

sold 1138 Park Avenue MLS#347923 $279,900

sold 206 5th Street MLS#348899 $148,900

193 Laing Crescent MLS#343405 $257,900

Sale Pending 133 Birch Drive MLS#348988 $239,900

sold

sold 217 Foster Street MLS#341018 $114,900

313 Railway, Midale MLS#344816 $167,500

203 Missouris Avenue Yellow Grass MLS#345205 $129,900

843 Brimacombe Drive MLS#346821 $356,900

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

New Estevan entrant in surface rentals Estevan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Paragon Energy SerAnother item is the invert system convices SK Ltd. ďŹ red up in Estevan in tainer. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sea container with an invert-vac, May, 2008, just before the peak of the diesel pressure washer, parts washer, and market. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made it through the ďŹ re extinguishers. The pressure washer will peak, and the valley, and report they handle either a diesel or mineral oil base, are busy. and the vac unit helps clean up any excess. It President Rick Geisel says itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s can have a hose to the rig ďŹ&#x201A;oor or the shaker important to set up your company table. properly, and not to overextend yourInvert-based drilling has been around self. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always going to be peaks for a while, according to Geisel, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and valleys. As long as you capitalize currently a demand for it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It depends on and structure your company properly, what formation and what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re drilling,â&#x20AC;? youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get through the down times.â&#x20AC;? he says. By â&#x20AC;&#x153;structure properly,â&#x20AC;? he means Another item is their geologist sample running a lean, proďŹ table operation, station. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a small shack for sample analywithout too much overhead and unsis of cores and drilling ďŹ&#x201A;uid. It allows the necessary expenses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Noâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is geologist to keep all samples and fumes out necessary sometimes,â&#x20AC;? he says. of their quarters or the command centre. Paragon is a new entrant into the If further analysis is needed, they can take surface rental market in the southeast. what is needed to those shacks. The unit has With local investors and an investa vacuum to clean samples. ment partner behind them, the comGeisel works out of Calgary most of the pany makes use of local suppliers for time, dealing with sales and corporate head their equipment. Do-All Metal FaboďŹ&#x192;ces. However, he says he spends most of ricating and Richardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Welding are a his summers â&#x20AC;&#x153;down here.â&#x20AC;? few of their major suppliers. Dave Odgers is the Estevan station Rick Geisel, left, and Dave Odgers, make up half the Paragon Energy The company oďŹ&#x20AC;ers several lines Service SK Ltd. team. Behind them is a tank farm they rented to Tri Star manager. He notes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re new, our of surface rental equipment for drilling Oil and Gas, between Bienfait and Roche Percee. equipment is new.â&#x20AC;? and production. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the ubiquitous He adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;As our demands go, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re add400 barrel tanks in several ďŹ&#x201A;avours, ining equipment to our ďŹ&#x201A;eet.â&#x20AC;? cluding lined models and those meant for sour service. They oďŹ&#x20AC;er frac manifolds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re set up to service all major-sized companies and right down to the ďŹ&#x201A;oc tanks, shale bins, rig matting, transfer pumps, secondary shale dryer and re- junior companies.â&#x20AC;? covery systems, containment systems, line crossings among other items. The pair have a positive outlook for the rest of 2009, with Geisel saying, Demand for items like shale bins and ďŹ&#x201A;oc tanks has risen since the demise of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be busy.â&#x20AC;? the on-site pit. Shale that canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be spread has to be stored on site until it can be Indeed, their yard on the east side of Estevan didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much iron in it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shipped to disposal facilities like Melville or Halbrite. out in the ďŹ eld, where Odgers wants it. There are also specialty items like a spill containment unit, known as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;paddy Odgers grew up in Oxbow, and has worked on rigs and with Enbridge. Geisel shackâ&#x20AC;? for all the absorbent pads stored in it. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oďŹ&#x20AC;ered to have an on-site cleanup sold new and used equipment for various manufacturing companies for the past capability in case of a spill. 16 years. He hails from Estevan.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Opportunity for rentals in Weyburn Weyburn – Trilogy Oilﬁeld Ltd. has long been operating out of its Provost headquarters. In 2008, the time was right to set up in southeast Saskatchewan. The company is owned by Kerry and Melanie McGowan. Kerry’s brother James McGowan came down to southeast Saskatchewan in early 2008 to scout out what was going on. “Kerry and I have extensive family in the Weyburn area,” James says. “We’ve been encouraged for years to come. When southeast Saskatchewan got

busier and busier, it became impossible to ignore.” A decision was made to set up a branch at Weyburn. A farmyard was acquired a few miles north of Weyburn, just oﬀ Highway 35. Greg Fortune and James McGowan would run the operation as a two-man outﬁt. There was a competitive advantage, McGowan says, with no rentals of their variety out of Weyburn and lots of rig crews. Trilogy supplies rental equipment

for service rigs and cased hole drilling. Some items include a top drive power swivel and mud motors ranging from 1-3/4 in. to 6-1/4 in. They also have a full line of ﬁshing equipment such as overshots, bumper-subs, jars, and taper taps. Anything they don’t have on site, they can get overnight from Provost, according to Fortune. While the slowdown in the business hurt a lot of people, it opened

doors for Trilogy in the southeast. “The crash in the oilﬁeld made our business expand. For us, we found more clients. It was a net positive,” McGowan says. Fortune points out that there was more bid work, with companies calling around for bids. The pair say they made some impressive contacts at the Weyburn Oil Show, their ﬁrst time at that event. ɸ Page C5

PARKSIDE OILFIELD SERVICES LTD.

• 5 Mobile Steamer & Washer Units • 8 Tractor Mower Units - For Lease Mowing • Lease Seeding • Bale Shredding • Straw Crimping • Straw for Reclamation • Rock Picking • Texas Gates • Wellhead Enclosures • 4 Wheel Drive Tractors with Blade, Wing Blade & Blowers for Snow Removal & Towing • Rotorspike

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Trilogy OilÀeld’s James McGowan puts some paint on some equipment before it goes out.

1125 5th Street • MLS #341303

We Know Downhole Currently leased with long term tenants (up and down). Excellent revenue property

350 Superior Road • MLS #344147

From some of the world’s most common and widely used packers like the sturdy AS1-X to advanced Open Hole Treating systems, Xtreme Oil Tools sets the standard for innovation, performance and reliability in packer technology. Our packer system selection is the most comprehensive in the industry, and forms the foundation for a complete range of fit-for-purpose completions for all types of well environments and applications, from the simplest single-zone completions, to the most complex horizontal, multilateral and intelligent completions.

Newly constructed shop with 4 overhead doors.

ByPass Industrial Park • MLS #342131 Situated on the new truck bypass, all lots will be serviced to property line, all roads developed.

Curb Pro • MLS #340910 Curb Pro concrete curb business with all material and equipment included.

“Packing Quality and Service into Everything We Do” 634-7966 • 106 Perkins Street, Estevan, SK www.xtremeoiltools.com E-mail: cmcgillicky@xtremeoiltools.com

For information on these or any of our other listings please contact us at 634-2628 or email at home@estevanlistings.com

Lorna Pylychaty Broker/Owner

Progressive Realty 902 - 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0W3 Business: (306) 634-2628 (24 hours)

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

I lost my string

ɺ Page C4 The Weyburn location handles southern Saskatchewan, while the Provost location handles the Lloydminster/Kindersley region and all of Alberta. In the southeast, they’ve supplied equipment for Petrobank, Crescent Point, Bonavista, TriStar, Penn West, ARC Resources, among others. They did a lot of work for Talisman before that company was bought out. Typically, an order comes from the consultant on site. He’ll call up, say, “I need drill collars, or I lost my string down hole.” “A few minutes and I’m on the road,” Fortune says. “In Provost, we do lots of pipe retrieval. Down here, we would like to do more,” McGowan says. Fortune used to work for Husky as a completions consultant. McGowan had worked in the oilpatch since 1994 in addition to farming. Greg Fortune of Trilogy OilÀeld works on preparing a power swivel.

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

An R. French Transport truck Áoods a pipeline near their home base of Forget.

It all started way up north By Brian Zinchuk Forget – It all started way up north for Ralph and Colleen French, owners of R. French Transport of Forget. She worked as an executive secretary on land claims in Yellowknife, and he was driving truck on winter roads. “We’ve been down here since ’85,” Coleen says. “Ralph was safety supervisor and a pilot up in Yellowknife, hauling winter roads for the gold mine. “We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniver-

sary.” Ralph’s brother was a partner on some service rigs at Oxbow, and the brother talked him into coming to Oxbow. Ralph worked the service rigs for quite a few years, drove tank truck, built and reclaimed leases, and even did a winter of pipelining. It was from 1998 to 2000 that Ralph went on the big - inch pipeline jobs. He worked with Bannister on cleanup and with Waschuk Pipe Line on the main gang during their big projects for Enbridge and Al-

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liance Pipeline. It was at this time Ralph got his first truck. However, he wasn’t driving it. “I put a driver in the truck. Pipeline was too good to turn down.” There’s something of a tradition among pipeliners. It’s called the cheque pool. You take the last three digits of your weekly paycheque, combine it with the cents from the amount payable, and that gives you a five-card poker hand. Everyone throws in $20 bucks, and the best poker hand wins the weekly pool. With bigger crews, the payout can be pretty decent. At the tail end of the last job, Ralph won the check pool not once, but a few times. That money in turn helped with buying his first lowboy, allowing him to start hauling equipment for the oilpatch. He hired on with Lorrsill Contracting. “I worked with him a lot, and ended up hauling all his equipment for him. That’s when we started with a tanker.” The first was a Super-B meant to go on winter roads up north, hauling diesel fuel for the gold mines. “We weren’t rockin’ in the Bakken yet,” he says. The same tanker would be used to run liquid fertilizer in the summer. That business grew to the point where they were running 15 trucks hauling fertilizer, including leased operators. “We just sold this out in August of last year,” he says. The business shifted to oilpatch work in 2005, working for Mission Oil, a predecessor of Crescent Point. They were hauling frac fluid for some of the first fracs in the Bakken. “It was all new,” Colleen says. ɸ Page C7

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Seeking a truck, ended up with Forget shop ɺ Page C6 “We worked the two businesses for years,” Ralph notes. “The last two years, it’s been so busy. 2009, so far, we’ve been quite busy.” “We only slowed down for a week during road bans.” Their staff appreciate the steady work instead of seasonal layoffs, Ralph notes. They are also closer to home, instead of running all over the prairies with liquid fertilizer. They sold their lowboy in 2006 to focus on fluids. Indeed, when other companies were cutting back, R French Transport added four new units since last November. Their primary cargo is now salt water emulsion transfers, fresh water fracs and salt water

fracs. “We’ve got two sources where we get our frac water now.” He notes they have to be careful about contamination, because that could cause the frac to fail. As such, they have clean fresh water trailers speciﬁcally for frac water. Their source is an “endless supply” of underground water. So why are they in Forget? Perhaps that question was answered as a Century frac crew drives by the Blue Spruce Pub, where the interview takes place over a Pepsi. It’s a good central point, allowing them to draw staﬀ from Weyburn, Carlyle, Stoughton, Manor, White Bear and Arcola. Indeed, the Frenchs have lived in Arcola for 15 years.

Dennis Lawton of R. French Transport works on Áooding a pipeline near Forget.

“Five years ago, we came to an auction sale because I was interested in a truck,” Ralph says. They ended up buying the shop and the land. Their timing couldn’t be better. They got it for a really good price. “When

we bought this here, there was nothing going on.” The company has 21 on the payroll, plus ﬁve leased operators. There are 12 trucks, and the crew work seven on,

three oﬀ, seven on, four oﬀ. There’s a full time safety supervisor, and Greg Culter is their dispatcher. Colleen says it’s important to have good dispatching. “That’s really important to the company,” she says. “With the fracs, we don’t go to the same location very day. They’re all brand new.” The safety supervisor assists with dispatch. Colleen came over to the business full time in 2006, doing admin work. They also have a parttime clerk. The nature of fracs has changed. “When we started, Halliburton would have 16 tanks for a frac, and we were hauling water,” Ralph says. “Now a big frac is eight, and most fracs are around four tanks.”

They had rodeoed for years, getting out of it just a year ago. “We got so busy with the trucks, we couldn’t do it all,” Ralph says. It seems every second person they mention, they’ve rodeoed with at some time. The Frenchs used to have a team roping arena at their house. Their daughter, Jamie-Lee, is a ﬁfth year petroleum engineering student at the U of R, currently working as an engineer in training with Tri-Star out of Estevan. “She’s right into the oil patch, loving it,” says Colleen. Their other daughter, Taralyn, is still in high school, and hasn’t been drafted into the oilpatch yet. She’s pretty busy with club volleyball.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Weatherford expands Estevan shop Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk

Steve Butler points out the stump on the back of this Weatherford accumulator unit. It is meant for blow out preventer systems.

Estevan – Weatherford Fishing and Rentals is in the midst of an expansion for its Estevan location. The building, which houses fishing, rentals, pipe recovery, thru-tubing and directional services is seeing a substantial expansion to the west. The expansion will

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be 165 x 80 ft., according to Steve Butler, location manager. The front with have two floors of office space, and the back will include shop area, room for rentals, and a wash bay. It will allow for more parking for their field trucks, like their newest incarnation of a jack truck. Weatherford Directional will have more room in the older part of the building,

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sharing it with Weatherford Pipe Recovery. Butler explained they went all the way so that the building is universal and can be used for many purposes. There are liners to protect from any potential spill or soil contamination, for instance. Currently there are 20 people working out of the location – four in admin, three dispatchers, four fishermen, one pipe recovery supervisor and a rigger, three shop hands, two thru-tubing supervisors, two directional hands, and Butler, the manager. “We’ll be adding a safety person and sharing a sales person with Artificial Lift,” Butler adds.

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The intention is to have the shop area ready late fall, and the offices in mid-winter. Wilhelm Construction Services is the contractor. During construction, Butler has the assistance of a facility manager from Nisku. Services It’s not often practical to have the tools and parts necessary for every contingency. That’s where rental companies like Weatherford come in. The Estevan location deals primarily with underground tools, except for Blow Out Preventer Systems, BOPS, that are above ground. “There’s lots of different tools to do a lot of different things,” says Butler. “We pride ourselves on having all the tools you’ll need, right here in Estevan.” That’s part of the reason for the new shop, he adds. They are trying to cover the whole spectrum of rental tools with one call, to have it available in town, without having to bring it in. “We want to supply anything they might need to rent. No company wants to carry all this equipment.” “We can usually supply it – the pipe, handling equipment, everything associated. So many people just want to make one call.” Some examples include their jack truck, which Butler says is not that common, or the portable accumulator rented for service rigs. It provides nitrogen and hydraulic oil to open and close BOPS, even if everything else goes down. ɸ Page C9

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Weatherford is substantially increasing their shop space at their Estevan location. The plan is to be able to use the shop in the late fall, and new ofÀces in mid-winter.

Weatherford ɺ Page C8 Beyond hardware, there’s info. The Weatherford Technical Book, chock full of information like torque spec, can be very useful, according to Butler. A lot of the rental equipment goes out by itself, but if a company feels a need for someone to supervise, Weatherford will supply them. “We are willing to send a supervisor on anything anyone needs, if they want a man,” Butler says. It’s not all that common, and depends on the equipment and the consultant. It was more common when consultants would look after several rigs at a time. The trend now, according to Butler, is to have a consultant with each rig. When it comes to ﬁshing, however, they strongly prefer to have a ﬁsherman go out. About 70 per cent of the Estevan location’s business is with service

rigs, supplying things like 3-1/2 inch frac strings or L80 tubing. The remainder is with drilling rigs, supplying drill collars, larger BOPS, drill pipe and the like. “With rentals, we’re adjusting to all the new technologies. First it was 3-1/2 inch frac strings. Then we rented 4-1/2 equipment.” He says the trend is for bigger equipment. “I think it will be larger – minimum 4-1/2 inch, for better access to the zones.”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Land and environmental issues go By Geoﬀ Lee Calgary – Land acquisitions and environmental considerations for oilﬁeld exploration and development have become as closely linked these days as peanut butter and jam. That relationship is helping to position Calgary-based Pioneer Professional Services Group as a leader in both land and environmental consulting services for the oil and gas industry in western Canada. Pioneer also provides similar services to alternative energy, forestry, mining and telecommunications industries among others. For its main base of oil and gas clients, Pioneer provides fully integrated land acquisition and environmental consulting services covering everything from surface and mineral rights to site reclamation and remediation. “Today, there is an environmental issue that almost comes with every project that these operators have planned,”

said Greg Filipchuk, vice-president of business development. “Part of that is the environmental component and making sure these projects are meeting regulations and making sure we have identiﬁed any environmental liability through assessments.” Pioneer works closely with oil and gas clients on all land and environmental aspects of construction and drilling including drilling waste disposal plans. “If it’s a successful producing well, we help them out with annual maintenance and utility work on the land side. We also manage spill response and environmental clean-ups,” said Filipchuk. “If it’s not a successful well, we participate on the reclamation and remediation of these projects so we put them to rest and eliminate liability from the client’s balance sheet. It is kind of ‘cradle to grave’ on the environmental and land side.” Pioneer project manages, gathers

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and analyzes data, prepares reclamation plans and writes reports regarding the reclamation projects. Heavy equipment required for reclamation work is contracted. Pioneer has offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Lloydminster, Bonnyville, Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, Fort St. John and Regina with the bulk of its land and environmental activities taking place in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. “Business is decently consistent in Saskatchewan,” said Filipchuk. “We are excited about Regina and Lloydminster. “Lloydminster today is probably our busiest office. It’s been a nice steady growth area for us. We have some ‘neat’ reclamation projects on the go. “Lloydminster is extremely busy with land acquisitions because that’s oil country and oil prices have remained pretty consistent and economical for operators to develop projects.” Pioneer is also making inroads in Swift Current and around the Weyburn-Estevan area and inside the Manitoba border near Virden where land sales have increased. “There is a really strong opportunity there. We are pushing really hard in those areas,” said Filipchuk. “A lot of our other offices are around heavy gas plays but with depressed gas prices, land activity is low. Land acquisition is so heavily tied to drilling activity and the price of oil and gas. Obviously, Alberta is a pretty compressed market right now and it’s a little compressed in B.C. “The busiest component of our business today would be reclamation work on the environmental side, followed by land. On the environment front, there are a lot of companies that have reduced budgets but still have money to spend on the reclamation

side. “We are going to see growth on the environmental side. It’s a new game and the regulations in provinces in western Canada are constantly changing. “As a service provider you have to be up on what those regulations are and how they are affecting your clients and make sure you work with your clients to protect their interest and reduce liability for them through reclamation and remedial projects.” Pioneer began to provide environmental services and environmental engineering in 1993 and currently has a diversified staff of engineers, scientists, project managers and other technical specialists. Their website contains a lengthy list of environmental services including environmental planning and site assessments and coalbed methane water and well testing. On the land front, Pioneer’s offices are staffed with project managers, land administrators and licensed land agents with a wealth of knowledge and experience with landowner relations, land and the regulatory environment. Acquiring land through a broker such as Pioneer is becoming more common for oil and gas companies who want to keep their land purchases private in a competitive market. Once the operator is ready to exploit those resources, brokers such as Pioneer assign the rights to those resources to the operator. “It’s a big world out there and it’s a very competitive world,” said Filipchuk. “Operators are constantly jockeying for land position and trying to improve their land holdings. “Land holdings become a marketable asset. They also become a tool to negotiate with other operators in the area.” ɸ Page C11

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hand in hand to keep Pioneer busy ɺ Page C10 Pioneer has secured some work with companies operating in Saskatchewan oilsands developments and is strengthening its hand providing land and environmental services to coal and potash projects in the province. Pioneer opened its doors in 1978 as a land service company and has evolved in recent years by adding new environ-

mental and engineering services to attract new clients and stay competitive. “In the last couple of years we tried to get more aggressive with our company,” said Filipchuk. “We have a younger more aggressive executive today. We are just trying to grow our business and look for good opportunities. “It’s a saving grace to be diversiﬁed in today’s economy,” said Filipchuk. “If

we were a single - pronged service offering we would find ourselves to be in pretty challenging times. I think being diversified and having a multi - service offering definitely helps Pioneer today. It helps our clients too. “Oil and gas is our bread and butter. It accounts for 90 per cent of our

That’s Sauerman, not sauerkraut This tower acts as mast for the cables running across the water body. It’s similar in function to a boom on a dragline, except that it remains stationary during operation. This Saurman was used by Waschuck Pipeline on Enbridges Alberta Clipper project

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business today. It’s a cyclical business and you want to develop your professionals. It’s good for us to branch out and get into other sectors. “We have a skill set of resources that we transfer between sectors. There are always land and environmental issues with diﬀerent types of project.”

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

You need it, he’s got it, usually By Brian Zinchuk White City – Imagine Tim Hortons during a rush period. That’s the warehouse for a major pipeline project, ﬁrst thing in the morning. A crew approaching 700 in strength goes through an awful lot of material – everything from gloves to tubes of grease to pickup truck oil ﬁlters and dozer parts. The company can’t be running to the store every time a strawboss asks for a package of gloves, so large contractors maintain their own, mobile warehouse. Ken Steininger is a newly minted assistant warehouseman, working with Waschuk Pipe Line Construction at their White City location. Steininger spent 1989 to 2000 pipelining, then quit at the completion of the Alliance Pipeline job. “I wanted to spend some time at home,” he says. Now, he’s back at it. Why? “It’s pretty hard to match the money, that’s for sure,” he says after several

years doing carpentry. “This is my first job in the warehouse.” A request comes in for carpenter pencils. A quick look comes up short. “Every day you come across something different for people,” he says, noting he will be ordering some pencils. The warehouse is a series of eight van semi trailers. One forms the central hall, the remaining seven are wings full of pretty much anything imaginable. One of those vans is dedicated to hydraulic hoses of all sizes, another is filled with yellow-painted Caterpillar parts. Yet another is filled with filters. Most of their supplies come from two sources – Caterpillar, for the heavy equipment, and Acklands-Grainger, who supplies most of their consumables like lubricants, pliers, crescent wrenches. “Acklands is probably our main supplier for consumables,” Steininger says. The servicemen come in at the end

of the day, loading up for their next day’s work. There are two servicemen during the day, one at night. Their job is to perform interval maintenance, like oil changes, on all the equipment on the line. There are around 200 pieces on this job. If they are late coming in, the servicemen will call in their orders, and the warehouse staﬀ will get it ready. He works with a father and son combo – Gordie Hora, purchasing agent, and Darryl Hora, the warehouseman who has been training him. The day starts with a ﬂurry, at about 5:15 a.m., and continues in a mad rush until everyone leaves the marshalling yard by 7 a.m. “It gets crazy busy from 5:30 until 7,” Steininger says. There’s a sign on the door saying strawbosses and foremen only, because otherwise it would be totally unmanageable. In reality, strawbosses and mechanics usually place the orders, as foremen have morning meetings before they head out on the line. The rest of the day is spent stocking shelves and placing orders. Steininger is typically there until 7 or 7:30 p.m. each night. “Clean up,

eat, and that’s about your day,” he says. Thankfully, he gets to sleep in his own bed, as Steininger calls Regina home.

Assistant warehouseman Ken Steininger shows a typical order – a crescent wrench, pliers, hammer and ‘Cat bar,’ a pry bar that’s point on one end, Áat on the other. On the right side are gloves and safety glasses.

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Heavy oil and gas Kerrobert deal aids buyer and seller By Geoﬀ Lee

said Anthony Marino president and CEO BayKerrobert – Baytex tex Energy. “There are certain Energy Trust closed its $93 million purchase of periods where it works predominantly heavy oil out when we as the buyer assets in the Kerrobert and the seller arrive at and Coleville areas of the same value. In this southwest Saskatchewan case, we just had an infrom True Energy Trust tersection of objectives last month with both with the seller.” True Energy beneﬁts parties beneﬁting. “We are always by unloading nearly $100 evaluating assets that we million in debt with the might be able to buy,” sale that includes 3,000

barrels of oil equivalent a day. In a separate sale to a private buyer, True sold 145 boe per day including 630 mcf per day of natural gas in Alberta’s Penhold area for $4.75 million to cut bank debt by $97.75 million. The two sales transactions reduced True’s total net debt to about $110 million and proved to be a low risk purchase

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A Àeld operator checks a heavy oil sample at a battery in Lloydminster. Photos submitted

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inﬁll drilling opportunities for gas. The total sale properties have a weighting of nearly 72 per cent heavy oil and 28 per cent gas. The transaction cuts True’s production to 6,500 boe/d made up of 32 mmcf a day of gas and 1,230 bbls of a day of light to medium crude while boosting Baytex’s overall production to approximately 43,000 boe/d. The asset acquisition will help Baytex extend its established heavy oil operations in the greater

Lloydminster area where the company typically drills more than 50 to 60 wells a year. “We do have a lot of operations in the general area so we feel like we’ve got some operating advantages to bring to bear,” said Marino who cites three solid reasons for purchasing True’s assets. “First of all, the price we got them at was a deal that added a lot of value for our company and value for our existing unit holders,” he said. ɸ Page C16

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Everybody wins this time around ɺ Page C15 “Secondly, we think over time, we can increase the production from the assets. Thirdly, we feel that through our technical work we can further improve the operating

performance of the properties.” The heavy oil assets in the Kerrobert and Coleville also present Baytex with numerous opportunities for cold inﬁll drilling and steam-

assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) optimization. “Those two methods are in use but we feel like we can do more of them and over time we can make modiﬁcations to the SAGD to make the

Encana doubles its crime solving reward to a record $1 million Calgary – EnCana Corporation has doubled its offer of a cash reward to $1 million for helping solve the Dawson Creek bombings. EnCana is offering up to $1 million for information directly leading to the arrest and prosecution of the individual or individuals responsible for the recent bombings at EnCana facilities in the Tomslake area near Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The RCMP is investigating six bombings that occurred between October 2008 and July 2009 at three pipeline locations, a metering shed on an EnCana well site and two wellheads. The most recent attack on a wellhead occurred on July 1 and took four days to bring under control. The reward, subject to Encana’s terms and conditions is intended to encourage anyone with information, including EnCana employees and contractors, help the police solve these crimes, stop any further attacks and help ensure the safety of the communities in and around Dawson Creek. “We have doubled our reward, now up to $1 million, in the hope that someone will come forward to help solve these crime,” said Mike Graham, EnCana’s executive vicepresident and president, Canadian Foothills Division. “We are very willing to pay $1 million for information that helps stop these bombings and end these threats to the safety of the people in the Dawson Creek communities. “As well, EnCana employees and contractors are now eligible for the reward. We want to remove any barrier that would prevent someone with crime-solving information from coming forward. “We have made this change to encourage someone who may have previously been reluctant to share information to now do the right thing and help police solve these crimes,” Graham said. “We have witnessed six bombings of natural gas facilities in the past nine months. Each one is a threat to the safety, well being and peace of mind of our workers, contractors and the people who live in the affected communities.” Persons with information about these bombings who want to qualify for the reward are encouraged to contact the RCMP in one of the following ways: Telephone the RCMP toll-free at 1 866-994-7473 Go online by visiting: www.dawsoncreekbombings.com Visit: www.encana.com and click on the Dawson Creek bombings link to the RCMP website. Visit your local detachment of the RCMP.

performance better,” said Marino. Baytex may spend up to $10 million in capital spending in 2009 to further develop its newly acquired properties. A pilot project using toe-to-heel air injection in horizontal wells is also planned for the Kerrobert area later this year with 50 per cent partner, Petrobank Energy that previously worked with True. Baytex also plans to tap into the potential for light oil in the Viking formation with horizontal

drilling and multi-stage fracs – but not likely this year. “We would be looking at starting that development sometime next year and for a number of years after that,” said Marino. “We also have a number of assets in the Dodsland area and a few other areas that are prospected for Viking development. Kerrobert becomes a piece of that Viking portfolio.” Baytex perceives the timing of the purchase to be ideal and comes during a strong heavy oil envi-

ronment. “Our oil economics are good,” said Marino. “That’s why we can do these development activities that we are talking about. “The more assets you get in that area, the better the economics are for developments. You are able to lower your overall cost level. “On top of that right now, heavy oil diﬀerentials compared to light oil are quite narrow so that improves the economics of the heavy oil development.”

Ltd.

DRILLING • COMPLETIONS • PRODUCTIONS • Lab facility • Fresh water available • Industrial Cleaning Products Blaine Fallis

Dean Carriere

General Manager 306-421-2623

Technical Service Rep. 306-421-1238

Steve McLellan

Rick Breisnes

Jason Burback

Chemist

421-5502

421-9418

SWIFT CURRENT Kevin Burton - Technical Service Rep • 421-3473

92 Hwy. 39 E, Estevan • www.cbsterling.com

306.634.6549

At Prairie Land . . .

OilÀeld, Industrial, Commercial

Ph:(306) 634-9888

Land Acquisitions Freehold Mineral Specialists Surface Acquisitions Pipeline Right-of-Way Rental Reviews Damage Settlements Seismic Permitting Crown Sale Attendance Title Registration . . .

ELECTRIC MOTOR DIV. New/Used Sales Complete Rewinding & Repair REPAIR SHOP Trash Pumps, Lights, Heaters, Generators, Compressors, Converters

Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd.

Saskatchewan & Manitoba s Freehold Mineral Specialists

DON PONTIUS

Genset / Light Towers Gas Powered Pumps Telescoping Fork & Scissor Lifts Backhoe / Trenchers / Trailers Temporary Power Cable

Calgary Office: (403) 264-4911 Suite 500, 521 - 3rd Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 3T3

TERRY JORDAN

Regina Office: (306) 757-5600 Suite 300, 2425 - 13th Avenue Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 0W1

Toll Free: 1-800-667-8025 Fax: (306) 586-7669 Swift Current: 1-800-667-8025 eml.postoffice@prairie-land.com www.prairie-land.com

We Place Our Clients First.

C16

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Aub uburnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executive rental trailers

This swanky rental engineer/geologist trailer is equipped with a geo sink operated by manager Ed Davidson.

Â&#x201E; By GeoďŹ&#x20AC; Lee Lloydminster â&#x20AC;&#x201C; This is not your grandpaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oilďŹ eld doghouse. No siree. Auburn Rentals is all about renting their own factory-built executive trailers ďŹ t for an oil baron. The huge business sign at the Lloydminster sales and service ofďŹ ce at Range Road 13 and Highway 16 at the west end of the city also shout rentals of quads, ďŹ fth wheelers, Argos and sleds, but their rental specialty is upscale trailers. Visitors to the site are greeted by Chloe, the Shitzu poodle, and a few snoozing cats who are well acquainted with the

518 6th St. Estevan, SK.

OfĂ&#x201E;ce: 306-634-6325 - 24 hour service â&#x20AC;˘ Fax: 306-634-6326

Rental Items:

â&#x20AC;˘ Frac Heads (3â&#x20AC;? & 4â&#x20AC;?) 10,000# â&#x20AC;˘ Frac Valves â&#x20AC;˘ 7 1/16â&#x20AC;? 2000/3000# Full Opening Gate Valves â&#x20AC;˘ Gate Valves, any sizes or pressures â&#x20AC;˘ Any miscellaneous Well Head Equipment

Lyle Grube

Burt Blondeau

creature comforts of the trailers along with their owner and site manager, Ed Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everybody in the ďŹ eld â&#x20AC;&#x201C; once they are into our trailers, they really donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to go back to regular trailers,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ours have more comforts, just like being in a house compared to being in a mobile home.â&#x20AC;? Some of the standard features are instant hot water heaters, quiet built-in vacuums, full appliance packages, satellite systems, air conditioning, La Z Boy reclining sofas and chairs and pillow top mattresses. The trailers are made in Edmonton by Auburnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parent company, Denille Industries Ltd. and targeted for the oilďŹ eld. There are ďŹ&#x201A;oor plans for command centres, manager units, wet sleepers, security operations, ďŹ tness centres and for well site engineers and geologists. The corporate marketing motto of the family-owned business is â&#x20AC;&#x153;if you have to work away from home, why not work in the best?â&#x20AC;? and that helps Davidson to move his available rental units oďŹ&#x20AC; the lot. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ours have a little bit more ďŹ nishing. They are just a higher class trailer,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of the ones we are building have internal water and sewer

â&#x20AC;˘ Laydown or Pickup Casing, Drill-Pipe, Linears, Tools, etc. â&#x20AC;˘ Operating the past 12 years in Saskatchewan â&#x20AC;˘ 4 Trucks setup for both Drilling Rigs & Service Rigs â&#x20AC;˘ SECOR SAFETY PROGRAM â&#x20AC;˘ #1 in Saskatchewan

containment systems. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It saves money for the end users since they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to put sewers in them. The vac truck just comes in and hooks on and sucks everything out of it.â&#x20AC;? The trailers are built to meet or exceed guidelines established by the Alberta government for relocatable industrial accommodations as trailers are oďŹ&#x192;cially classiďŹ ed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our trailers last a lot longer than most of our competitors,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They are also more durable. They can get moved every couple of days.â&#x20AC;? Auburn trailers feature full-length beams on the skids and the walls are constructed using full length OSB for strength and rigidity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All of our trailers have â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;extra specsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the ceilings,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No matter what kind of winter there is here, you will never have the ceilings falling in.â&#x20AC;? All water lines have been built in to interior walls to prevent winter freeze up problems. The units are manufactured with insulated 2x6 exterior walls with R-20 rated walls, ďŹ&#x201A;oors and ceilings and 2x4 interior framing with space for optional R-12 insulation for soundprooďŹ ng. The all-season rugged construction of the trailers makes it easier for Auburn to sell its used trailers to U.S. oil companies operating in climate environments similar to

Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s north. The company also operates in Calgary and Grande Prairie and has delivered about 20 trailers to clients in the Arctic and is bidding on a trailer contract for a 1,000 man camp in Norman Wells. They also service customers in B.C. Alberta and Saskatchewan. In Lloydminster, Davidson has several units rented to uranium mining companies and small oilďŹ eld camps and more units are ready to go once drilling activity picks up. Three or four years ago, when the demand for trailers peaked and emptied the yard, Davidson began renting ďŹ fth wheelers to pull fourseason camping trailers to rig sites. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when we got into other stuďŹ&#x20AC;,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A couple of companies were asking if we had sleds so we brought into them. Now weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve bought into everything else for four seasons.â&#x20AC;? The move to diversify in the boom has paid oďŹ&#x20AC; in the current business slowdown with the seasonal rentals of all-terrain equipment such as Suzuki and Polaris quads or the 8-wheel Argo Avenger 750 ATVs. There is also an available 26-foot, 16-passenger TriToon workboat made by Crestliner for rent. Sleds from Yamaha, Bombardier and Polaris are in the winter rental pool. É¸ Page C17

Hei-Bro-Tech Petroleum Services A Division of 24-7 Enterprises Ltd.

707, /<:;3,9 *(:05. :,9=0*, 3(@+6>5 ;9<*2: OYZ

>L`I\YU :HZR Â&#x2039; WPWLO\Z[SLYZ'NTHPS JVT >L`I\YU :HZR Â&#x2039; WPWLO\Z[SLYZ'NTHPS JVT

â&#x20AC;˘ Fluid levels â&#x20AC;˘ Dynamometers â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure surveys (automated & manual) â&#x20AC;˘ Foam depressions â&#x20AC;˘ Equipment sales (new & used), rentals & repairs â&#x20AC;˘ Repairs done on all models including: Sonolog, Echometer, DX, etc. â&#x20AC;˘ Major parts and supplies in stock at all times

Box 4, Midale, SK S0C 1S0 Phone: (306) 458-2367 or (306) 861-1001 Fax: (306) 458-2373

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

C17

built with all the lasting comforts

The sign says it all. Manager Ed Davidson is eager to rent an executive class trailer or all-terrain motorized equipment to oilpatch and industrial customers.

Auburn now in Weyburn

ɺ Page C16 “We also have a few trailers that we sell after about ﬁve years of use,” said Davidson who recalls the longest a customer has been in one was about three and a half years. “Recently, a gentleman rented one for a month when his house burned down,” he said. “The trailers are more like a motel with all of the comforts of home.” The rental rates depend on the ﬂoor plan and features and Auburn delivers with contract drivers. “People tell me they like the layout,” said Davidson. “Any feedback we get is most appreci-

ated and we take ideas into consideration for improvements. “Some of the standard trailers in use are boxy and hard to move around in but ours are pretty much wide open.

“People can call us and take a look at what they are getting over the competition. We are a little higher end and people see that when they see our trailers.”

Do you have dirty, oily work clothes & overalls? GENESIS CLEANERS & LAUNDROMAT 1104 6th St., Estevan • Ph: 634-2077

Weekly drop off now available: at Prairie Sky Water - Main Street, Stoughton. And at Davis Meats - 201 - 5th St., Alameda

Phone: (306) 388-2652 Fax: (306) 388-2345 24 Hour Service Keith Baudria of Auburn Rentals in Weyburn displays a consultant shack. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Weyburn - Aurburn Rentals established a presence in Weyburn a year and a half ago, according to Kalia Kantakis, who handles Weyburn sales. “We’re still getting established,” she notes. The company has a yard on the east side of the city, north of Weyburn Inland Terminal. It’s part of a long term strategy for the company. They purchased the yard, as opposed to renting it. “We don’t plan on mov-

ing any time soon,” Kantakis says. Keith Baudria is the local person they have hired as the service manager to look after the units in Weyburn. The company is operating about 20 units out of Weyburn, plus some more that are at work in the potash area. That diversity is a beneﬁt, she says. “It’s treated us really well in Saskatchewan. You get the most untilization – long term and consistent.”

When drilling dropped oﬀ substantially with the price of oil, they felt it. “It was obviously hard. It was hard on everyone. Now that oil’s starting to come back, things are picking up. More rigs are starting up.” Asked about how the Petrobank/Tri-Star combination will aﬀect them, she says “We’ve done business with both.”

• Crew Work • Gravelling • Backhoes • Excavators • Graders • Dozers • Skidsteers See Us At The Weyburn Oil Show!

www.prairiewestern.com

“Timber!” 3 X 12 Timbers In Stock 10 x 10 WE DELIVER TO THE RIGSITE!

REDRIVER LUMBER LTD. 481 Devonian St. • Ph: 634-2114 or 634-2143 Weekdays 7:00 am - 5:30 pm; Sat. 7:30 am - 5:00 pm After Hours call CHAD 634-0195 or cell 421-1896

483-2848

Quality Controlled Safety Co-ordinated

Serving Southeast Saskatchewan and Southwest Manitoba since 1956.

TRUCKS BASED OUT OF OXBOW, ESTEVAN, LAMPMAN, CARLYLE, KIPLING, TYVAN & PIPESTONE, MB.

C18

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Saskatoon-born Nexen leader energy person of the year Calgary – Now that he is retired as the president and chief executive oﬃcer of Nexen Inc., Saskatoon born Charlie Fischer can take a bow and get to work being an ambassador of Canada’s energy sector. Fischer has been chosen by the Energy Coun-

cil of Canada as the Canadian Energy Person of the Year for 2009. He will receive the award during an energy council presentation event in Calgary on October 20. As an energy ambassador Fischer will represent the industry and promote the sustainable

use and development of energy and its positive beneﬁts. The award was established by the energy council and is supported by various energy associations of Canada, to recognize and pay tribute to leaders in Canada who have made a signiﬁcant contribution

Energy Training Institute • All classes begin at 8:30 am unless otherwise stated

H2S Alive Assiniboia - Oct 3 Carnduff - Sep 30 Estevan - Sep 3; 16 Redvers - Sep 24 Weyburn - Sep 8; 25

• Most classes have a student rate. When registering, please indicate if you are a student (21 years and under)

H2S Alive Challenge – New!! Estevan - Sep 9 Weyburn - Sep 29 New! Evening Classes Available: Sep 15

ATV Training Estevan - Sep 12 Boat Operator Weyburn - Sep 22 Confined Space Assiniboia - Oct 31 Carnduff - Sep 29 Estevan - Sep 17 Redvers - Sep 25 Weyburn - Sep 22

Heavy Equipment Operator Program - 200 hours The Heavy Equipment Operator Program provides knowledge and skill development in operating heavy equipment. You must successfully complete the theory courses and the two specialty courses. Each specialty course focuses on one of the following pieces of equipment: • Backhoe • Crawler tractor • Excavator • Motor grader

Construction Safety Training System (CSTS) Computer-based training. Assiniboia, Estevan, Weyburn, and Whitewood Detection and Control of Flammable Substances Estevan - Sep 24 Weyburn - Oct 8 Fall Protection Estevan - Oct 15 & 16; Oct 18 & 19 Weyburn - Oct 21 & 22; Oct 24 & 25 Fire Extinguisher Assiniboia - Oct 14

Admission requirements: Valid Class 5 driver’s license

First Aid and CPR (Standard) and AED Assiniboia - Sep 19 & 20; Oct 24 & 25 Carlyle - Sep 9 & 10 Redvers - Sep 22 & 23 Estevan - Sep 1 & 2; 14 & 15; 26 & 27 Weyburn - Sep 9 & 10; 19 & 20 Moosomin - Oct 26 & 27 Whitewood - Oct 22 & 23

This program may be a funded program - will you, or are you presently collecting EI benefits? Students will receive three safety certificates: St. John’s First Aid/CPR level “A” & AED, Ground Disturbance Level II & WHMIS.

First Aid and CPR Refresher and AED (must have a current certificate) Estevan - Sep 8 Weyburn- Sep 23 New! Evening Classes Available: Sep 16 & 17 Forklift Assessment Please phone the nearest campus for details

Front - end Loader Assiniboia - Oct 22 Ground Disturbance Level II Estevan - Sep 16 Weyburn - Sep 16 Ground Disturbance – Train the Trainer Estevan - Sep 10 & 11 Hazard Assessment Estevan - Sep 28

Over the years, he has worked for many well known Canadian companies including Hudson’s Bay Oil and Gas, Bow Valley Industries, Trans Canada Pipelines, and Encor Energy Corporation Inc. Fischer joined Nexen in February of 1994, as senior vice president, exploration and production, North America, and after

Safety Management & Regulatory Awareness Estevan - Sep 21 - 23 Weyburn - Oct 5 - 7 Safety Management & Regulatory Awareness Refresher Estevan - Sep 24 Weyburn - Oct 9 Safety Program Development (COR) Estevan - Oct 1 & 2 Weyburn - Nov 2 & 3 SECOR Refresher Estevan - Sep 30 Weyburn - Nov 4 Service Rig Assessor Estevan - Oct 9 Skid Steer Assiniboia - Nov 13 Special Provisional Engineer Estevan - Sep 28 - Oct 2 TDG or WHMIS On-line

Graduates may find employment operating heavy equipment in the construction industry, pipeline and oil patches, forestry industry, or rural and urban municipalities.

Forklift Operator Assiniboia - Oct 15 Estevan - Sep 15 Weyburn - Sep 4

to Canada’s energy sector both nationally and internationally. Following his graduation from the University of Calgary graduating in 1971 with a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and in 1982 with a Masters Degree in business administration and ﬁnance, Fischer launched his career with Dome Petroleum.

Assiniboia - Nov 3 – Dec 4 Broadview/Grenfell - Oct 5 – Nov 6 Indian Head - Oct 5 – Nov 6 Weyburn - Spring 2010 Incident & Accident Investigation Estevan - Sep 29 O H & S – Ready for Work Assiniboia - Oct 19 Petroleum Safety Training (PST) Assiniboia, Estevan, Weyburn & Whitewood Qualified Electrical Worker Power System Safety Training – New!! Saskatchewan’s OH&S has developed the “Minimum Training Requirements for Qualified Electrical Workers in High Voltage Electrical Safety”. Magna Electric Corporation’s 2 day, hands-on training seminar provides electrical workers working on electrical apparatus over 750 volts, the information required to meet Saskatchewan’s OH&S legislation. Weyburn - Sep 28 & 29 Estevan - Oct 26 & 27 Moosomin - Oct 6 & 7 Rig Rescue Estevan - Oct 17 & 20 Weyburn - Oct 23 & 26

Train the Trainer Assiniboia - Sep 26 Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Assiniboia - Nov 25 Estevan - Sep 8; 14 Truck Driver Training • 1A Truck Driving Programs • Programs start weekly • No classroom, all in-truck training (Exception: Estevan and Weyburn has 2 days of classroom with the 10 day program) • Programs designed to suit the students’ needs • Hourly, 6, 7, or 10-day programs Please contact your local Southeast Regional College campus for more information and current tuition prices or call toll-free 1-866-999-7372 Understanding Arc Flash– NEW!! Arc flash dangers such as shock, electrocution, and arc blast will always be present while working on electrical apparatus. Magna Electric Corporation’s 1 day course, “Understanding Arc Flash”, provides electrical workers the information, proper awareness, training and the development of arc flash safety personal protection strategies to minimize the likelihood of injury and fatality. Weyburn - Oct 20 Estevan - Sep 23 Moosomin - Sep 30 Well Service Blowout Prevention Estevan - Oct 5 - 8 Weyburn - Oct 27 - 30 Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) Assiniboia - Oct 20 Estevan - Sep 8

*REGISTER NOW! Swing for Scholarship Fundraising Golf Tournament Sep 18

For more info or to register contact Southeast Regional College

1-866-999-7372 Visit our website: www.southeastcollege.org

Energy Council Energy Person of the Year, Charlie Fischer was born in Saskatoon.

various assignments was appointed to the Nexen board in 2000 and in 2001 was appointed president and CEO. Fischer sits on the boards of Pure Technologies and University of Calgary where he is vice chair and heads several committees. He also co-chairs the Alberta Climate Change Central Board, and is a member of the Calgary Airport Authority Business Development Advisory Council. On the energy front, Fischer has served as chairman of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada, and is a past-president of the Calgary Petroleum Club. Being named Canadian Energy Person of the Year reﬂects the award’s nomination requirement for the recipient to have a strong sense of social responsibility and a belief in giving back to the community by focusing on environmental and social issues and economic development. ɸ Page C19

Products Inc. 100% NATURAL PRODUCT ~ ENVIRO SAFE

ENVIRONMENTALLY “FRIENDLY”

This clay product is a lightweight aggregate used on roads and pathways and has proven to be extremely effective. 3/8” MINUS RED AND TAN DUST SHALE: IDEAL FOR: ROADS AND PATHWAYS ADVANTAGES: • Chemically Inert • Free Drainage • Easy to Handle and Install • Absorbs Moisture Well • Eliminates Hard to Maintain Areas

• Water Insoluable • Readily Available

REDUCES MAINTENANCE COSTS

ROAD ACCESS: • Continuous access during and after heavy rain

BENEFITS: • No Additives • Environmentally Friendly

• No Sprays • Promotes Conservation

• No Chemicals • Protects the Environment

www.coloredshale.com Contact: Colored Shale Products Inc. Phone: 306-693-8800 • Cell: 306-631-1955 Email: denise.therrien@sasktel.net

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

C19

Cliff Nankivell Cliff Nankivell Trucking competed their new shop in Kisbey in April, and now they’re looking to build another. “We’re hoping to get the other one stared in Lampman before October,” Claudia Mullis, one of the owners, told Pipeline News. The Lampman construction will be an addition to an existing shop. This is the new Kisbey shop. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Charlie Fischer recognized with award ɺ Page C18 At the community level, Fischer sits on the Faculty of Medicine (University of Calgary) Dean’s Advisory Council, is chairman of Hull Child and Family Foundation, and co-chaired a successful $50 million

capital campaign for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. Fischer has been recognized by the University of Calgary with the Faculty of Management's MAX award, the Hal Godwin award for Excellence in Interna-

634-3009

tional Business and the Haskayne School of Business Distinguished Leader award. The list of honors includes the Canadian Engineering Leader award, an honourary Doctorate of Laws degree, and the Faculty

Estevan

DENNIS TROBERT 20 & 30 Ton Pickers Owner - 421-3807 Winch Trucks Norm Meyers Bed Trucks Sales - 421-8640 Low Boy & High Boy Trailers Les McLenehan General OilÀeld Hauling Dispatcher/Sales - 421-8810

Vacuum Truck Services • Steam Cleaning Septic Tank Service Portable Bathroom Rentals Pressure Washing • Dry Steam Boiler

634-3144

67 Devonian Street, Estevan, Saskatchewan

Association Recognition award. Fischer was also the recipient of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals’ Generosity of Spirit award, the 2005 President’s award from Calgary’s Strategic Leadership Forum,

the President’s Partnership award by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and the 2005 Business Person of the Year by Alberta Venture magazine. In February, 2009, Fischer was named Re-

source Person of the Year by the Alberta Chamber of Resources. He is married to Joanne Cuthbertson, chancellor of the University of Calgary. The Fischers have two daughters, Kate and Lindsay.

Serving Southeast Saskatchewan’s well servicing needs since 1972 “EXPERIENCE, SERVICE & SAFETY YOU CAN TRUST.”

Tel (306) 634•5522 • Fax (306) 634-3238 Box 549, Estevan, Sk., S4A 2A5

www.ensignenergy.com

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Career Opportunities

C20

REQUIRED Pump Unit Mechanic Helper Motor Mechanic Helper • Experience an asset and must have: First Aid, H2S and valid drivers license.

636-7001 • #3 Reagh Street, Estevan, SK • Pipeline Construction • Facility • General OilÀeld Maintenance • Fabrication

• Permanent full time position. • Competitive wages, full beneÀt package Apply in person or fax resume to 634-7090

Hank’s Maintenance & Service Co. Ltd. 410 Mississippian Drive Estevan, Sask. S4A 2H7 No phone calls please.

LOCATED

FORGET, SK

Requires A MECHANIC to join their team! 2 Competitive Wages 2 2 Scheduled Days Off 2 2 Health and Dental Plan 2 2 Yearly Bonus 2 Please fax resume to 457-2735 or e-mail to r.frenchtransport@yourlink.ca or call 457-3774 for more info.

We are currently accepting resumes for the following positions: • Superintendents • Foremen • Truck drivers • Equipment operators • Experienced ticketed labourers.

Please fax 306-636-1514 or email resumes to: estevanofÀce@renegadeoilÀeld.com

Crew Foreman

Experienced FOR LLOYDMINSTER AREA

MUST: • Have Valid Drivers License & Be A Team Player • Safety Tickets • Picker & Bobcat Experience An Asset C’s OFFERS: • Top Wages • Benefits Package • Performance Bonuses • Scheduled Days Off • Opportunity For Advancement • C.O.R. Safety Program • AB & SK B31.3 Q.C. • Premium Equipment

www.suretuf.com

CNC Plasma / Oxyacetylene Operators Applicants must have welding background. Driver’s license required. Reliable, team player. Wages depend on experience. Beneﬁts available. Performance bonuses. Only those to be interviewed will be contacted.

DUTIES: • Daily Operation Of A Light Picker Truck • Pipe-fitting & Construction

Apply in conﬁdence to: Fax (780) 808-2689

OILFIELD SERVICE LTD.

CONSULTING & CONSTRUCTION

ELECTRICAL 3RD, 4TH YEAR APPRENTICES & JOURNEYMEN REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY

Fibreglass Solutions Inc.

Require safety certiÀcates & valid drivers licence. Competitive wages and beneÀts package.

Regina Branch Positions

Fax resume to 637-2181 or deliver to: 62 Devonian Street, Estevan, Sk.

Requires Drillers and Helpers Class 1 or 3 drivers Competitive Wages Group Insurance Beneﬁts Fax Resume to (306) 842-2039 or email to brucehodgkin@hotmail.com

We are a leading distributor of premium Star•Smith•Fibercast FRP piping systems for chemical, industrial, HVAC, mining, and oilfield applications. We are seeking applications for warehouse, inside sales, and field service positions. Our company offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits package, and also an employee profit sharing program. Experience with the distribution of industrial or oilfield products will be considered as an asset, but all previous experience will be considered. Please forward your cover letter and resume to jobs@frpsolutions.com or send via fax to (306) 525-8884. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.

Apply in confidence to: Fax (780) 808-2273

Energy Services Ltd. Cost Accountant Carson Energy is looking for an ambitious and team oriented candidate to Àll the immediate opening of Cost Accountant. This position will be based out of our Lampman OfÀce. Required Skills: • Minimum of 2 years experience. • Diploma or degree in Accounting required. • Strong knowledge of MS OfÀce and Accpac Please apply to: Carson Energy Services Ltd. P.O. Box 160 Lampman, SK. S0C 1N0 Attention: Corporate Controller Fax: (306) 487-3235 Email: glatimer@carsonenergyservices.com

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Resources Guide Bulk Agency

Lloyd Lavigne â&#x20AC;˘ Kirk Clarkson Owners/Managers 6506 - 50th Avenue Lloydminster, AB

Phone: (780) 875-6880

5315 - 37th Street Provost, AB T0B 3S0

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

912 6th Street, Estevan

Kevin Anderson/Darwin Krall

FUSION INDUSTRIES LTD. 301A Kensington Ave. Estevan, SK.

â&#x20AC;˘ Quality Control â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure Welding â&#x20AC;˘ OilĂ&#x20AC;eld â&#x20AC;˘ Portable Welding â&#x20AC;˘ Fabrication â&#x20AC;˘ Breaking â&#x20AC;˘ Shearing â&#x20AC;˘ CNC Plasma & Torch Cutting â&#x20AC;˘ P1-P1 Carbon Steel Procedures â&#x20AC;˘ P1-P8/P8-P8 Stainless Steel Procedures 24 hr Service

Phone: 634-6177 Fax: 634-6178 Cell: 421-5441 421-6179

Email: fusioninc@sasktel.net

J J & & B B P ING P SULT

ON TY C SAFE

634-7275

24 Hour Service

C21

Box 907 Carnduff, SK S0C 0S0 (306) 482-7997 pbjsafetyconsulting@sasktel.net

Saskatchewan owned and operated

Specializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

â&#x20AC;˘ Safety Supervision â&#x20AC;˘ COR/SECOR Coaching â&#x20AC;˘ Numerous Safety Classes â&#x20AC;˘ Inspections & Investigations â&#x20AC;˘ Safety Meetings â&#x20AC;˘ Medic Truck â&#x20AC;˘ Claims Management â&#x20AC;˘ Manuals â&#x20AC;˘ Garbage Bin Rentals

Gordon Harty Box 95 Marwayne, AB T0B 2X0

Bus. Phone

Fax No.

Res. Phone

(780) 875-9802 (780) 847-3633 (780) 847-2178 4?E7 3?<@9DDC

Fresh Water Hauling Custom Bailing & Hauling

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JUSTIN WAPPEL - Division Manager 401 Hwy. #4 S. Biggar, Saskatchewan PO Box 879 S0K 0M0 Ph (306) 948-5262 Fax (306) 948-5263 Cell (306) 441-4402 Toll Free 1-800-746-6646 Email: jwappel@envirotank.com www.envirotank.com

Investors Group Financial Services Inc., I.G. Insurance Services Inc.

Jim Pratt Senior Financial Consultant 231-12th Avenue, Estevan, SK S4A 1E1 Phone: (306)634-0800 Fax: (306)634-0802 jim.pratt@investorsgroup.com

Bus: 306-453-2728 Cell: 306-577-8085 Cell: 306-482-7755 Fax: 306-453-2738 mel.fitzpatrick@midfieldsupply.com www.midfieldsupply.com

Midfield Supply ULC P.O. Box 1468 402, #9 Service Road South Carlyle, Saskatchewan S0C 0R0

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Cory Bjorndal District Manager Downhole Tools

93 Panteluk Street Kensington Avenue N Estevan, Saskatchewan S4A 2A6 PHONE: 306-634-8828 CELL: 306-421-2893 FAX: 306-634-7747 cory.bjorndal@nov.com www.nov.com

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Sandy DeBusschere Drilling Management Consulting & Wellsite Supervision Box 275 Cell: Carlye, SK OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: S0C 0R0 Fax: Email:

(306) 421-9000 (306) 453-6405 (306) 453-6433 admin@artisanltd.com

Specializing in well site and pipeline surveys Yorkton 306.783.4100

Swift Current 306.773.7733

Edmonton 800.465.6233

Weyburn 306.842.6060

Lloydminster 780.875.6130

Calgary 866.234.7599

Regina 800.667.3546

Medicine Hat 403.528.4215

Grande Prairie 780.532.6793

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PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

Resources Guide LTD.

Specializing in: â&#x20AC;˘ 20 ft Texas Gates â&#x20AC;˘ Cattle Guards for Oil Leases â&#x20AC;˘ Lease Drags Call Shop - 538-2202 Cell - 736-8848 Owner Jason Trail, Kennedy, Sask.

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Digup

www.pennwest.com

A Gradall Ă&#x20AC;nishes up a dig-up project on one of the older pipelines belonging to Enbridge. Gradalls, with their unique telescopic booms, can be quite handy when doing this sort of work. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

311 Kensington Avenue, Estevan â&#x20AC;˘ 634-1400

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ilĂ&#x20AC;eld CHANGE BUY SELL TRADE

For Sale

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â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure Vessels â&#x20AC;˘ Well Testers â&#x20AC;˘ Frac Recovery â&#x20AC;˘ Wellbore Bleedoff â&#x20AC;˘ Ball Catchers â&#x20AC;˘ 400 bbl Tanks â&#x20AC;˘ Rig Matting â&#x20AC;˘ Complete Trucking Services

Dale (306) 861-3635 â&#x20AC;˘ Lee (306) 577-7042 Lampman, Sask.

Reconditioned 750 BBL Tanks Heated & Insulated c/w Hawkeye guageboard assembly Phone Paul (403)664-0604

Oyen, AB.

SONAR INSPECTION LTD. Head OfĂ&#x20AC;ce 1292 Veterans Crescent Estevan, Sk. S4A 2E1 E: sonarinsp@sasktel.net

P: 306-634-5285 F: 306-634-5649

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Serving All Your Inspection Needsâ&#x20AC;? UT - LPI - MPI Wayne Naka Taylor Gardiner Cory Rougeau

306-421-3177 306-421-2883 306-421-1076

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

a division of:

DIAL BEFORE YOU DIG!

Discover what other major energy companies already have. If you’ve buried it, we will Ànd it! • Western Canada’s largest and premier provider of pipeline and utility locate services • Established in 1990 • All crews: CertiÀed Damage Prevention Technicians • CCA Gold Seal approved Health and Safety Program • Members of: - PSAC - ADPC - CAPULC - ORCGA - ISNetworld - Canada HSE Registry - NULCA • Proven leader in the development and implementation of underground facility locating standards across Canada

24/7 SERVICE AT

1-888-899-7500 www.red-alta.ca

C23

C24

PIPELINE NEWS September 2009

PO Box 32, Carlyle, Saskatchewan S0C 0R0 Phone: (306) 453-4411 Fax: (306) 453-4404 E-Mail: jwaugh@mmmud.ca

Specializing in Non Damaging Biodegradable Drilling Fluids Designed for Horizontal Drilling

Jason Waugh - Division Manager 306-577-9900 (Carlyle) Trevor Van Alstyne - Field Supervisor 306-421-0344 (Estevan) Ryan Toms - Field Supervisor 306-452-8182 (Redvers) Victor VanDresar - Warehouse Manager 306-577-9934 (Carlyle)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Serving The Oil and Gas Industry with 24 Hour Drilling Fluid Serviceâ&#x20AC;?