Pipeline News October 2009

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

October 2009

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Volume 2 Issue 5

Focus Edition:

An alloy tossed into the liquid steel produces a Áurry of sparks at the Evraz Regina melt shop. See related Evraz stories inside.

Coaches stick handle hockey and oilÀeld Pages B4-B7

Pilot testing to achieve heavy oil recovery gains Page A2

All Parts & Service For Makes and Models!

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Totem Drilling completes 5th rig Pages B11-B14

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

News

Pilot projects needed for advancement

Notes

Wilson announces Bush Visit On the same day that W. Brett Wilson spoke on the same stage as former U.S. President Bill Clinton in Regina, he also announced another president will be coming to Saskatchewan.

Former president George W. Bush will be speaking in Saskatoon on Oct. 21. Wilson and Clinton spoke in Regina on Sept. 8. Wilson will act as moderator and master of ceremonies at the Bush event, to be held at TCU Place.

Wilson, originally from North Battleford, was one of the founding partners of FirstEnergy Capital Corp, and is now one of the panellists on the CBC entrepreneurial promotion show Dragon’s Den. FirstEnergy Capital is one of the prime lending institutions for the Canadian oilpatch.

Drilling rig count on pace with 2007 By mid-September, Saskatchewan’s active drilling rig count had finally caught up with the pace it saw in 2007. According to Nickle’s Rig Locator, there were 63 rigs active as of Sept. 24. That’s a sharp drop from the 2008 levels, but above 2007 levels for September. Except for a brief period in June and during spring breakup, Saskatchewan’s drilling rig count has lagged behind 2007 levels all year, and been substantially behind 2008 levels.

Saskatchewan active service rig levels in September are still about 20 to 30 per cent behind both 2007 and 2008 levels. On Sept. 15, there were 105 active service rigs in Saskatchewan, with a 58 per cent utilization rate.

Texalta enters into letter of intent Texalta Petroleum Ltd. has signed a letter of intent with Phoenix, Arizona-based Rogers Oil & Gas Corp. related to development wells in southeast Saskatchewan.

Rogers will commit up to $22.4 million to earn a 50% interest in a series of development wells in three southeast Saskatchewan project areas.

The funds will be used to satisfy capital requirements to drill and complete up to 16 wells.

By Geoff Lee Pipeline News Lloydminster – It was a back to the future presentation for Ron Sawatzky, senior research scientist with the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton during the 16th annual Heavy Oil Technical Show Sept 16-17.

Sawatzky’s talk built on a 2006 presentation

by Rob Morgan from Harvest Energy who observed the Lloydminster area experienced two heavy oil production plateaus since the early 1970s followed by a threefold spike in production.

Each phase in the cycle lasted about six to eight years.

Sawatzky stepped up to the mike to speculate if and how the current benchmark of 350,000 barrels of oil a day could triple to one million barrels of oil a day with Morgan’s work in mind.

His short answer was more modest production gains are likely through improved well configurations and recovery processes that led to previous production booms.

“To increase production you can either find new pools or develop technology to increase oil recovery,” he said noting no new pools are likely, leaving new recovery techniques as the main solution.

“These will probably be based on hydrocarbon solvents or injecting air to burn (combustion) or injecting steam to heat the oil,” he said following the presentation.

He also cited the need to continue to im-

prove recovery processes, drilling and completions, lift technology and improve treatments of production fluids to step up oil production that has stagnated for about 10 years.

The first production

mary horizontal wells.

“These have been the key pools in Lloydminster but only about eight to 10 per cent of the oil has gotten out so those are the places where future production is likely to come from,” he said.

Ron Sawatzky used past history to speculate on the future of heavy oil production in the Lloydminster area.

Photo by Geoff Lee

plateau was experienced in the early 70s with rate of about 40,000 bbls a day from vertical wells and waterfloods. A threefold increase followed in the 80s thanks to factors such as better well performance and thermal cyclic steam floods.

Production leveled off a second time in the late 80s at approximately 110,000 bbls a day then hit the current ceiling in the 90s with the introduction of horizontal wells, progressive cavity pumps and the big mover – CHOPS (cold heavy oil production with sand).

Sawatzky thinks the best production potential for heavy oil lies with the reservoirs that are currently being produced with CHOPS and pri-

“If we can increase the production by a factor of three we will wind up producing 17 per cent of the oil that’s there.”

Sawatzky estimates the Lloydminster formation trend contains at least 35 billion bbls of oil but the thinness of the reservoir and the high viscosity of the oil present technology challenges.

As for approaching that one million bbls a day potential, Sawatzky says “it depends on whether the companies are willing to invest in the pilots. I believe that they will.

“I don’t think the production will be three times. I don’t think this region will produce a million barrels a day but there is every chance it

will maintain its current production and has the chance to increase it by going to these other recovery technologies.”

Sawatzky lauded the innovation that has come from the Lloydminster area so far, most notably CHOPS. “What happened in Lloyd is they made lemonade out of lemons,” he said. “They found if they produced the sand, they got way more oil.

“Then they had to come up with solution on what to do with the sand. Caverns are the solution they found that works for sand.”

Sawatzky argues strongly for continued pilot testing of new techniques and technology on a practical scale to keep raising the bar on production.

“None of these things can be demonstrated at a laboratory scale,” he said.

“There are all kinds of changes going from the lab to the field including how it’s actually going to work in the field.”

Sawatzky suggested the continuation of field trials would be dependent on the price of oil to ensure research and development is economical.

“You can’t be sticking more money in the ground than you are getting out,” he said. “It depends on the world demand for energy. There will have to be a prices threshold.

“There is also going to have to be optimism by the oil companies that the price of oil will reach a threshold and stay high enough there.”

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

GERALD SMITH Cell: 421-2408

CHAD STEWART Cell: 421-5198

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Evraz rising to face challenges

Greg Maindonald is vice president and general manager of Regina Steel.

Jim Clarke is vice president of tubular operations for Evraz Inc. North America.

By Brian Zinchuk Pipeline News

to Evraz.

The pair notes that there had initially been some concern out there about the new Russian ownership. “There was some uncertainty with respect to the Evraz acquisition,” Clarke admits. However, operating as Evraz Inc. North America has actually created nice synergies, he says.

The reality is not much has changed, they explain.

“It’s business as usual. They’ve let us run the business as we’ve always run the business,” Maindonald says.

“They didn’t spend that kind of money to close down our facilities.”

This year has had its challenges. Things were going well until the spring time, when the economy and markets fell off a cliff. Small tubulars such as those used in drilling which were in high demand, were no longer so. “For us, the impact was at the end of the first quarter. All of a sudden, on April 1, it stopped,” Clarke says.

After two decades of running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the steel mill had to reduce its shifts, cutting back on weekends. According to Maindonald, it’s the first time in over 20 years the mill shut down to a five day work week, and had a few outages.

To add insult to injury, China began shipping significant tonnage last October into Western Canada. The company is looking into trade initiatives to address the low-cost Chinese imports. In August, Evraz Regina received word from the Canada Border Services Agency that it was launching an investigation into those allegations. Evraz believes they and the other companies involved in the filing have a very strong case.

Some layoffs were announced last spring, and while no production employees with recall rights are currently on layoff, the company’s two inch mill is not running. ɸ Page A6

Regina – Regina’s northern edge is dominated by the Evraz, formerly IPSCO, complex. In turn, the company has dominated the steel industry for the oilpatch in Western Canada for over 50 years.

Ever since the early days of intense petroleum development and pipeline construction in the west, the company has been inexorably linked to the Canadian oilpatch. Be it casing, tubing or big inch pipeline, if it’s steel and in the ground in the west, there’s a good chance it came out of an Evraz plant.

Indeed, one more project was announced on Sept. 24, with Evraz receiving a significant order for 36 inch crude pipeline to supply the TransCanada Keystone XL project. The line will run 3,600 km, from Hardisty, Alta., cutting across southwest Saskatchewan, and down to Nederland, Texas.

Evraz anticipates steel and pipe production will begin in 2010.

It’s welcome news, after a tough 2009 that saw the first substantial curtailment of steel production at the plant in two decades.

Greg Maindonald is vice president and general manager of Regina Steel, while Jim Clarke is vice president of tubular operations. Essentially, Maindonald heads up making steel in Regina, while Clarke’s responsible for managing the company’s North American tubular business.

They met with Pipeline News on Sept. 22, discussing some of the issues, strengths and challenges of the company.

IPSCO to Evraz The company that was known as IPSCO for decades was purchased by a Swedish company called SSAB in 2007, and then sold to Russian owners in 2008. At that point, the company name was changed

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News

Notes Ammonite drilling in SE Ammonite closed its private placement financing in early August raising $2.68 million which leaves the company in a positive working capital position.

Funds from the financing will be used for development of its Saskatchewan and Wembley light oil prospects.

Ammonite Energy Ltd. said it would commence drilling its first horizontal well on its Flaxcombe, Saskatchewan property in early September with additional locations being licensed for drilling later in 2009.

The company primarily focused on light oil exploration, development and production in the Wembley area of northwest Alberta and Kindersley area of southwest Saskatchewan.

Ryland Updates Bakken Farm-In Activity Vancouver-based Ryland Oil Corporation reports that its joint venture partner, TriAxon Resources Ltd., has now put on production its third farm-in well on Ryland’s Bakken lands in the Flat Lake area of southeast Saskatchewan.

The stimulated horizontal well at 1-22-1-14 W2M, was put on pump in August. The well is producing approximately 200 bbls of oil per day (net 100 bbls of oil per day to Ryland) with a 35% water cut and a high pumping fluid level. This is the third earning well drilled by TriAxon under the farm-out agreements, with TriAxon paying 100 per cent of the costs to drill, complete and equip the well to earn a 50% working interest in a portion of Ryland’s surrounding acreage.

Ryland also has announced that TriAxon has spud its next commitment well on Ryland’s Bakken lands in southeast Saskatchewan. This earning well, being drilled under the same terms as the previous wells, is approximately four miles northeast of the new producer. In addition, TriAxon has formally notified Ryland that it has elected to drill the next option well, scheduled for January 2010, about five miles west of the new producer.

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EDITORIAL

PIPELINE NEWS October 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.

Editorial Contributions: SOUTHEAST Brian Zinchuk - Estevan 1.306.634.1015 SOUTHWEST Swift Current 1.306.634.1015 NORTHWEST Geoff Lee - Lloydminster 1.780.875.6685

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Editorial

Spending money where it comes from There are some truisms you can never escape. In life, there are death and taxes. In Saskatchewan, we complain about highways.

For years, there was much justification for those complaints. Potholes could swallow Geo Metros.

Several thin-membrane roads were returned to gravel.

If you were a passenger in a car driving across the Alberta border, you could tell when you were over the line with your eyes closed – your bum and ears could easily distinguish where you were.

However, today those complaints seem to be fading. That’s because finally, our roads are beginning to catch up.

We can’t speak for the whole province, but there has seemed to be definite payback from the huge dollars poured into highways over the past several years.

One area in particular has seen a lot of investment this past year. The southeastern corner, and more specifically, the area of the Bakken oil play, has seen a lot of road improvements. Driving down Highways 13 or 47, you discover something marvellous – real, black ashphalt – not a mound of gravel with some oil poured on top of it. Most of these highways are now as smooth as a baby’s bottom. It would have been nice if the shoulders were expanded to better accommodate wide loads, but we’re not complaining. We’ll take what we can get.

Even where roads have not been resurfaced, Saskatchewan now does a better job of repairing the cracks that for across the roadway. They used to blow it out with an air compressor, and insert some sort of rubberized compound to seal the cracks each year. This

resulted in the characteristic “bump, bump, bump, bump” every second or two while driving.

Now they are doing a new process where the cracks are smoothed over. The result is a wide black strip crossing the highway. It looks like a zebra pattern, but it works. Where this has been done, like on stretches of Highway 39 between Estevan and Weyburn, the road is much, much smoother.

Estevan has a truck bypass in the works, as does Yorkton.

It’s fitting that the Bakken area around Stoughton and Carlyle has seen these infrastructure improvements.

It was there that in 2008 nearly a billion dollars were spent on mineral rights – a huge chunk of the provincial budget that year.

This has been recognized by the Wall government.

Premier noted at the Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Show in Weyburn in June the importance of spending money on infrastructure where the money is coming from. He reiterated this notion again during the premier’s supper in Estevan in September.

The Lloydminster area has also had a number of roadway projects this year. However, because the intense heavy oil traffic is brutal on the gravel roads, not just the provincial highways, it will take a long time and an awful lot of money to catch up.

We’re on the right track, though. Highways probably won’t get as much money next year, due to the state of the economy and declining resource revenue compared to previous years. But if we can continue to catch up on our roads, perhaps in the future all we’ll have to squawk about is death and taxes.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

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Opinion Retire Your Ride retires pipeliner link From the top of the pile Brian Zinchuk

It all started innocently enough. A radio ad for the “Retire Your Ride,” program (www.retireyourride.ca) prompted me to check out the Canadian version of Cash for Clunkers. Most of the incentives aren’t that enticing – a $300 cheque from the federal government, or a city of Prince Albert bus pass. Some auto manufacturers are offering discounts on a new car, too, but for two of them, it was nothing to sneeze at. Ford (and now GM), however, decided to offer up to $3,000 off the price of a new truck. You just had to bring in a functioning, registered, 1995 or older vehicle. The idea is to get polluting vehicles off the road, and likely to stimulate the economy along the way.

Boy, did I have a car for them. A van, actually. A great big, honkin,’ rusted out camper van. If I sold it through the classifieds, I would be lucky to get $750, assuming I could find a buyer.

It was my grandfather Ed Marnovich’s van before it was mine. As my late Baba told me, they bought it, but hardly ever used it. The payments were so high, it nearly bankrupted them, and she resented it for that.

She was glad to be rid of it.

An 1982 E-250 camperized van conversion, it featured a fridge, sink, propane stove, fold out bed, bunk, and enclosed porta-potty washroom. It’s what RVers call a class “B” motorhome. VanAmera of Kelowna manufactured them, and they were distinctive for the striping packages. At one time, it even had

functioning air conditioning and cruise control.

The problem was, it was never garaged, and by the time I got it over ten years ago, the rust was substantial. I bought it off Baba to be my home away from home while working on the pipeline.

Cleaning everything out of this van was a mournful affair, preparing it to be sent of to the wrecker for recycling.

The first thing I learned about RVing was you didn’t go anywhere without a tube of silicone caulking. Driving to my first pipeline job with it, it was raining cats and dogs, and the rain was coming in around the top of the windshield, right onto my lap.

I soon discovered that, at least back then, many of the small towns I worked in did not have their stores open late more than one day a week. As such, the van was always stocked with dry goods. In anticipation of a coming job on the mainline, I would stop at Costco and pick up $300 or $400 of items like juice boxes, puddings, and the like, because I didn’t know when or if I would be able to get these things while on the job. I made sure I had enough food to last at least two weeks without access to anything more than a corner store.

Cleaning it out, I realized I had enough food in there to survive a minor nuclear holocaust.

With this van, I learned to never go anywhere without a fully equipped toolbox.

The heater fan blew fuses consistently. I kept several boxes of spares, just in case.

The engine temperature gauge never worked properly, and for a while, I always thought it was going to boil over. I changed the sensor, put in a new thermostat and rad hoses – nope. It was the dashboard gauge.

I went through four voltage regulators, to the point where I kept one or two spares on board, just in case. One had to be swapped out just before a job in Big River, in the company parking lot.

One my way to a camp job north of Manning,

Alberta, the alternator died. The dealer there didn’t even have v-belts for what you would think was a standard Ford 351 engine. Everyone in that country drove vehicles newer than three years, they said, and what on earth was I doing driving something that old in northern Alberta?

In Dawson Creek, working on the Alliance project, I stayed in the van until they shut down the campground, because the water lines were freezing.

So I moved to another, year round campground for another few weeks. After working in the cold all day, I had never known cold as I did sleeping in that camper in late October in northern B.C. Two electric heaters and the propane furnace barely kept it warm, and that was after I hung blankets and towels around all the inside walls to block out the chill.

When my friend and I tried to launch a virtual reality simulator to teach people how to operate excavators, our proof of concept prototype (a mock up of the cab of a Caterpillar excavator) went in the van where the bench/bed usually was. It was our mobile showroom – we’d fire up a borrowed generator and do a demo right there, inside the van. It got some funny looks from the rust, but it was paid for.

Jason and I hauled that thing all the way down the Las Vegas, and then to southern Arizona, in search of investors. The funniest thing was we got around 18 miles to the imperial gallon using American fuel, but never much better than 14 mpg here in Canada ever since I bought it.

I’m sure my neighbours will be glad to see the rusted eyesore gone, but for me, it’s a bittersweet goodbye. It was the last link I had to my grandfather, and the most substantial link to my pipeliner days.

Yet it will still form a link to the pipeline – likely to be reborn as a piece of pipeline at Regina’s Evraz mill.

What goes around, comes around, I guess.

Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net.

Let’s go marketing and town pro¿ling Recently, the Pipeline News has attracted an infusion of advertisements from consumer businesses that you wouldn’t expect to read about in an oil and gas publication.

Recent or seasonal advertisements from an ocean fishing lodge, an upscale retirement or vacation property in other provinces and area consumer retailers fit this category.

It make sense, considering studies show that companies that continue to market during tough economic times often see growth while businesses that cut their marketing and advertising budget often see a decrease in sales.

Many small to large scale energy companies have taken this to heart and expanded their geographic business boundaries to establish new markets.

Some others have relied on expanded media or Internet advertising to attract new customers from near and away.

The fact that non-traditional advertisers such as getaway lodges and lifestyle retailers have advertised in the Pipeline News, implies a lot of good things about the state of the oil and gas economy in the west.

It strongly suggests these advertisers have confidence in the oil and gas economy and a belief the customers they are trying to reach have the time,

Lee Side of Lloyd Geoff Lee

money and motivation to purchase their goods and services.

On the down side, it suggests these advertisers may have relied too heavily on one market niche and that their traditional market has dried up. This has forced them to invest quickly in new marketing and marketplaces to fill the void and stay in business.

Oil and gas companies who have expanded by diversifying, merging or acquiring new assets or by offering exceptional service and products have smartly shared the good news through their targeted advertising and marketing campaigns.

The practice seems to catching on with consumer advertisers who are getting the word out more often

in the oilpatch media. Who knew the oilpatch was a lifestyle?

Small towns with bigger dreams One of the more interesting assignments with the Pipeline News is writing town profiles about how the oil and gas industry has influenced local growth.

Usually, the local mayor along an economic development officer are more than willing to talk about their community and host a tour of the major attractions.

Even where there is no apparent strong link to oil and gas, one always seems to surface, revealing the strength of the energy sector on the economy.

For some towns, oil and gas is the driving force behind success while others plan and hope energy business will come their way.

Given the past months of economic slowdown, those small towns that are well diversified seem best suited to weathering the storm.

If there is one common thread to all of these town profiles is that they all communicate pride about being, small friendly and safe communities but yearn to be bigger and better – just like the oil and gas industry.

It’s a story worth repeating, town after town, issue after issue.

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

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Facing challenges head on ɺ Page A3 The second half of the year is usually busier. “This is the first time we’re entering a fall season without a recall,” Clarke says. There’s also been no welding of small tubular in Calgary, Red Deer and Camrose since the second quarter.

They are running skeleton staffs in the Alberta plants. The Regina 24inch mill has some business and is currently operating with 2 shifts 1 million tonnes The Regina steelworks is capable of producing 1 million tonnes of steel annually. If the Regina pipe mills are running full out, they can use up to three-quarters of that steel-production capacity. Coiled steel is also processed at Regina’s cut to length mill, where they process plate for fabricating customers.

A trainload of Evraz pipe makes its way to a pipeline.

However, compared to the rest of the steelmaking industry, which was running at around 40 per cent capacity due to the recession, Regina is a bright spot. It’s at 75 to 80 per cent capacity.

Flash back five years ago and there were three

spiral pipe manufacturers in North America, with a total capacity of about a million tonnes a years. However today, there are five new spiral mills all coming on stream in the southern U.S. in anticipation of huge pipeline activity. As

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a result, there will soon be a three-fold increase in North American pipe production capacity and serious competition for Evraz – a market that at one time was dominated by the Regina spiral mill.

Major projects like Enbridge’s Alberta Clipper are wrapping up.

There are fewer than expected new projects currently underway so the TransCanada’s Keystone XL contract is being warmly welcomed.

“The challenge in Regina is to make that spiral mill the lowest cost producer in North America,” Clarke says.

The company runs at about 1,000 staff locally when running full out.

They point out that in 2007, the average wage

Photo submitted

came close to $80,000 a year. But they qualify that by explaining it’s not just salary, but profit sharing and bonuses. “It’s worked well.”

Clarke calls it sharing the wealth when the wealth is generated.

Storied history The history of the Regina steelworks is long and storied. Indeed, it is a story now. IPSCO commissioned a hefty 385-page tome called Against All Odds – The Story of Ipsco’s First 50 Years. There is an accompanying documentary DVD that goes with the book. It was published in 2006, in conjunction with the company’s 50th anniversary. They interviewed dozens of workers, retirees and the like.

It’s a compelling

read. The 20 year reference Maindonald makes refers to some very tough times in the 1980s, when work dried up and the company bet the farm on a very expensive $65 million continuous caster.

That innovation allowed for great improvements in production capacity as well as quality, and was key to the company’s strength over the next two decades.

It’s seen challenges before, and risen to the occasion. “There are lots of opportunities,” Maindonald notes. And he should know, having been with the company and the cyclical steel and pipe industry for more than 3 decades.

“We have a research and development centre renowned in the pipeline industry,” Clarke says.

One of the strategies they can follow is to develop new and better products. The company is also diversified with the flexibility to sell more coils when the markets change.

Maindonald says they are a low-cost producer. “The people and work ethic we have here is superior – very inventive, hard working.”

E n v i ro n m e n t a l l y, the company has taken strides.

“Our water system completely self-contained,” Clarke explains, noting it is a closed system. No water enters the local sewage system or flows outside the plant property. Rather than discharging any water, Evraz retains all its water for reuse within the plant, he adds.

“The steel industry in Canada actually met the Kyoto protocol, one of the only industries that did.

“We get about one third of our scrap needs from Western Canada, the rest from the U.S.,” Maindonald explains.

In 1997, the company bought a large scrap company with five shredders – it sources a substantial amount of the mill’s raw scrap.

In Regina, where the steel is melted, casted, rolled and processed, Evraz can track its production history right back to the recycled scrap that first went into the furnace.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A7

Quality We’ve got a steel LAMICOIDS of a deal for you & metal cable tags EfÀcient Service

Estevan – Need a fridge? Got it. Stove?

Yup. Leather couch?

Got that too.

One-eighth inch flat bar steel, cut six feet long? Check.

Sholter Horsman Furniture & Appliances in Estevan has something of an odd couple when it comes to business lines. Between Sholter Horseman and Econo Furniture & Sound, they handle your standard furniture, appliance and electronics lines. They also have a U-Haul branch, which isn’t too far-fetched for a furniture business.

But then, off to the side of the main building, there’s a shop filled with steel. That’s the iron sales portion of the business.

Jerry Van Roon, who owns the store with his wife Connie, admits it’s a weird combination.

The iron sales started many years ago, under the previous owner Rick Horsman.

The iron sales origins, according to Van Roon, started when Horsman was pricing out some racks for the warehouse. “He went to Dominion Bridge and got some pricing,” Van Roon says. Horsman was propositioned with an opportunity to sell steel, and before he knew it, there were two semis backed up and he was selling steel ever since.

The Van Roons came into the picture when they bought the store in 2003, after several abortive attempts to buy a Dairy Queen franchise in various locations.

Jerry had spent 26 years with the Weyburn Coop, working his way up

from stocking shelves after school to numerous management positions.

“Rick said, ‘You want to buy a business? I’ll sell you mine.’”

Horsman made an offer the Van Roons couldn’t refuse, and soon they were in the furniture and stell business.

Horsman stayed on for about a year to help out.

“He’s my brotherin-law. That has a lot to do with it,” Van Roon says of the purchase.

The first several years, iron sales were problematic. It wasn’t because of sales, but rather the difficulty in finding someone to work with it. “I was ready to give it up until two years ago, then James came around,” says Van Roon.

It was a case of needing the right people in the right place.

He heaps praise on James Grad, who takes care of the iron sales.

“He’s been excellent. He pretty much runs it himself.”

“We concentrate on our furniture first. That’s our priority. This is a sideline,” Van Roon explains.

Grad’s not your typical guy with a chop saw.

He has a degree in English from the University of Saskatchewan. He needed to find work after university, and returned to Estevan to work in the oilpatch. Eventually he ended up at Sholter Horsman.

Most of their orders are oilpatch related, although some are for farmers. “A lot of the these guys are welding for oil,” Grad says. A lot is for maintenance purposes. “There’s always

something that’s breaking down.”

What differentiates them from other suppliers is that they will cut steel into requested sizes, although they don’t do machining work like drilling holes. For that, Grad recommends a machine shop.

“We’ll cut it. That’s where we get a lot of customers,” Van Roon says.

“They’ll phone in, ask for the iron guy, give us a list of what they want cut up, and we’ll have it ready for them,” Grad says. “We cut it, put it on the back of the truck, and put a flag on it.”

You’d think they would end up with a lot of leftovers pieces, but that’s not the case. “Usually it ends up going somewhere,” Grad says.

There’s been growing interest in steel beams for housing construction.

They have one regular customer from Manitoba who has already ordered seven beams.

The company pulls product from two suppliers – Russell Metals and Wilkinson Steel and Metals – both in Regina.

Having two suppliers results in more flexibility for price and availability of product.

The company is building new racks for their steel, making for easier access and inventory control.

In its own strange way, the steel sales have helped out with traffic and sales in the furniture store. “They come to buy iron, and while they’re here, they come and look at furniture,” Van Roon says. Sometimes the

husband will come in for steel order, and the wife will shop for furniture.

“Really, iron doesn’t have anything to do with furniture,” Van Roon says.

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A8

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Play the game, or ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION, MAINTENANCE & SERVICE

Kipopoly is the board game where Kipling becomes Monopoly.

Mike Kearns, temporary community development ofÀce, shows it off.

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Kipling – If there’s one community that knows how to promote itself, it’s Kipling. They should write a book about it. After all, there’s already a movie staring the town and many of its townfolk, a board game that takes off of monopoly, and a giant red paper clip.

The community has two direct ties to the oilpatch – first, there’s oilfields to the south of the town, making Kipling the northern edge of the southeast Saskatchewan oilpatch. The second is the Enbridge mainlines. Kipling is one of the few communities in Saskatchewan that is bisected by the mainlines. They literally run right through the southern part of town, next to houses, recreational facilities and at least one church. Regina and White City are the other notable communities with Enbridge mainlines passing through them.

It means the community has to be vigilant in the unlikely event something should go wrong.

Town Adminsistrator Gail Dakue says, “The town just did a series of EMO (Emergency Measure Organization) meetings with Enbridge specifically regarding the pipelines and what to do in the event of a leak. It’s been here a long time, and it is what it is. You’re not going to move it.”

“It’s not our objective to scare residents, just to educate.”

The town benefits from the pipeline as well. Local firm Gee Bee Construction, for instance, does a lot of dig up work for Enbridge.

The recent construction of the Alberta Clipper project, part of the mainline system, meant increased activity for local businesses. ɸ Page A9

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A9

watch the movie ɺ Page A8 The community may have a census count of 972, but Dakue says it is more like 1,100, according to Saskatchewan Health numbers.

Mike Kearns is the temporary community development officer. When asked how important the oilpatch is to Kipling, he says, “It’s very important. It provides jobs.”

“With an increasing amount of activity in this area, it will create more, we hope.”

“The landowners around here don’t seem to mind,

especially if they have mineral rights.”

Some of the companies working in the patch include producers TriStar Oil & Gas, Harvest Energy, Supreme Oilfield, Gee Bee Construction, System 3 and Batchwell Oilfield Service.

Kipling also has two prominent hog genetics companies, Kearns says.

The town has industrial, commercial and residential land available, he adds. The residential subdivision just opened this summer.

The town is also a retirement community, he explains. There is a real need for rental accommodations.

One can’t forget the town’s shameless publicity stunt – trading a house in a series of trades that started with one red paperclip. The story can be found at http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/. The feature film by Corbin Bernsen was filmed in Kipling in February and June of this year. Called Rust, the trailer can be found at http://teamcherokeeproductions.com/ “There’s a lot of locals in it, really,” Kearns says.

He was one of the extras, and can be seen in the This is the house that was the Ànal trade in the trailer. “This guy’s driving our handi-transit today,” One Red Paperclip scheme. It’s on Kipling’s Main he says, pointing to one of the actors.

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A10

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

The teeth of the operation

This shredder handles 70,000 tonnes of material a year, and is capable of doing up to 100,000 tonnes.

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Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Regina - Saskatchewan may have oil, gas, uranium, potash, coal and diamonds, but one thing that is not mined here is iron ore. Yet, rising above the prairie is a steel mill that mines its raw material from another source – scrap.

Evraz’s Regina steel mill, formerly known as IPSCO, feasts on old clunkers, rail cars, farm implements, and anything else made of steel that is now considered scrap. Nearly 100 per cent of what goes into the mill is scrap.

Northeast of the steel mills is a large scrap yard and shredder. It operates under the flag of General Scrap Partnership (Wheat City Metals), but is now 100 per cent owned by Evraz.

The yard is the receiving point for some of the scrap entering the steel mill. If the melt shop is the stomach of the complex, General Scrap is the teeth, chomping steel into digestible bites.

The shredder was built in 1972, according to Paul Maindonald, manager of the Regina operations of Wheat City Metals. General Scrap Partnership has locations across Western Canada and in North Dakota, and also owns the Bucks Auto Parts chain.

General Scrap’s primary purpose is to generate raw material for Evraz’s mini mills and third parties, according to Maindonald.

The Regina facility processes about 150,000 tonnes a year, about one seventh of the steel mill’s production. That means that the rest of the mill’s raw material has to be sourced from throughout western Canada and western U.S. All of their ferrous (iron) material goes into the melt shop in Regina.

The company uses a variety of methods to convert the scrap into processable material. ɸ Page A11

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A11

Dude - where’s my car? ɺ Page A10 The most prominent is the shredder. It uses a rotating drum of hammers to pound whatever it’s fed into tiny bits. The pounding action sends the material through big, heavy grates, much like the cylinder on a combine.

Cars, bales, odds and ends – they are brought to the shredder by loaders, then hoisted into into the mill with a grapple attached to a permanently mounted excavator.

The shredder operator sits in a control room overlooking the drum, ensuring no ammable materials enter the scrap stream.

Vehicles must be stripped of uids and batteries and operators constantly monitor for such oversights.

All General Scrap facilities oer a bounty on mercury switches, because not only is it an environmental contaminant, it also aects the quality of the steel. “There’s things we won’t shred – mercury switches and propane tanks,â€? Maindonald notes.

The hammers have to be replaced on a weekly basis. “Basically, a shredder eats itself. You always have to replace stu.â€? he explains.

The shredder hammers produce four dierent streams of material – ferrous shred steel, u, zorba and dirt/garbage.

The shred steel goes into rail cars to be processed in the steel mill. It is pulled out of the material stream by magnetic drums.

Flu is bits of plastic, car seats and the like. They are sucked up by a giant vacuum and disposed of. “Zorbaâ€? is non-ferrous metals, like copper, brass and aluminum which are separated by an eddy current system.

Finally, the dirt and garbage are just that – wood, tire chunks and the like, which are also disposed of.

There are a number of hydraulic excavatormounted shears that chop up big items like rail cars.

Some items end up being torched apart.

The latest equipment addition at Wheat City Metals is what Maindonald describes as the “world’s biggest baler shear.�

It’s a 2205 tonne shear, 5 feet wide, used to cut up pipe and rail cars. “Basically, it can cut steel up to 8 inches thick,� Maindonald says.

It’s particularly useful in cutting up scrap leftovers from the pipe mill. The high-grades steel pipe gets attened, sheared, and sent back to be melted, and likely become pipe yet again.

That’s the beauty of steel recycling. Unlike some other materials which will break down over time, steel can be reused again and again. “Theoretically, you can bring a car in, it can be shredded that morning, and in a furnace charge that evening. The next day it could be in steel coil for a If you’ve recycled your ride in Saskatchewan, customer, to be made into a useful, new product,� odds are, it will end up here, before going through the Wheat City Metals shredder.

Maindonald says.

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A12

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Recycling rods, cables & hospitals: Mryglod

A worker at Mryglod Steel & Metals slices through a Àre tube.

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Weyburn – It once was a large psychiatric hospital. Now, its metal skeleton will likely become steel pipe, transporting oil. The company doing the steel recycling is Mryglod Steel & Metals of Weyburn.

Mryglod is one of the largest metal recyclers in southeast Saskatchewan. It didn’t get there overnight. The company is currently run by its third generation of Mryglods, and developing its fourth.

Kevin Mryglod is the current president. He and his wife Sandra own and run the show. “My grandfather started it. We have four boys. The oldest, Travis, took a few years university, and he works here.� Mryglod says. Their three other children, Tyler, Brad and Kyle, all in high school also help out. “They’ll be the fourth generation,� he says. Travis can be found operating a grapple at the hospital site.

Alex Mryglod was the ďŹ rst generation, and Bill Mryglod, Kevin’s father, was the second.

Steel is the ďŹ rst thing that comes to mind when you see a recycler, but it’s not the top earner. “Tonnage-wise, the bulk is steel. Dollarwise, no,â€? he says.

Other metals, like aluminum and copper, can be more valuable. But Mryglod doesn’t like to talk about it too much, because of the value of the high-priced commodities.

Their yard, in the southeast corner of Weyburn, is full of sorted piles. These mounds can be large and varied – from the shiny rotors of progressing cavity pumps, to rusted rods, telephone booths, cable and washing machines. The biggest pile is No. 2 scrap steel, lots of it.

In it comes and out it goes, part of one of the most signiďŹ cant recycling industries around today – steel. “Steel is the second most recycled material behind paper. I can’t see anything changing,â€? says Mryglod when asked about the future of the company.

The process is reasonably simple – collect it, chop it up into small pieces, and ship it away for processing.

The company has two shears mounted on hydraulic excavators. The giant shears can chop through large pieces, snapping it in two. One machine is older, the other is a brand new arrival, working on the hospital site.

They also have a number of grapples and magnets, meant to pick up and handle the material. Nearly all the equipment is on rubber tires, instead of tracks.

It makes it much easier to get around.

A pair of workers torch through thicker No. 1 scrap steel – in this case, one is cutting apart old oilďŹ eld ďŹ re tubes. The pieces can be no longer than three-anda-half feet by 18 inches.

They use an oxy-propane mixture, instead of the expected oxy-acetylene. It’s more economical, Mryglod explains, and they go through a lot of it. The big oxygen tank has the capacity of 22 large, conventional oxygen tanks. Running two torches, it should last about a week. ɸ Page A13

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A13

Old farm equipment scrapped Éş Page A12 Joining the tour is Rob Donison. He and Bob Erickson have been with the ďŹ rm since the 1970s, in Erickson’s case, since 1972. “Employees make the business. We’re fortunate to have good employees and long term employees,â€?

Mryglod explains. The sta averages around 20. “Him and I, we used to go load scrap by hand,â€?

Mryglod says of Donison.

Donison spends a lot of his time in a truck, collecting and delivering scrap. A good 80 per cent of his time is on the road, he explains.

A lot of their scrap comes from farmers. “We’ll go to an area where there are ten farmers, concentrate and then move on,� he says. “Either I go out and look for job, or a farmer will leave their name and number.�

Cultivators, combines, cars, diskers, plows, they all end up on the truck. The bigger pieces, they will cut up. They’ll often pull out cars or farm equipment that has trees growing through them. Usually, the tree will come o.

Combines, for all their size, don’t result in a lot of metal, however.

They have contracts with SaskPower and SaskTel, which results in a lot of their non-ferrous items.

While some of their tools are big and powerful, one in particular is small – but also powerful. It’s a handheld scanner, a very pricey piece of kit, but one that allows you to analyze the composition of a metal just by touching it. The scrap business has just met the Star Trek Tricorder. “All the scrap in the yard goes to Evraz and Wheat City,� Donison explains. The ferrous materials go to Evraz, where they come out as pipe and plate. The company in turn buys some product back from the, primarily plate.

One of their important business strategies is to ensure their trucks never run empty. When a load

of metal goes to a mill, be it in the states or Regina, they make sure there’s an order of metal for the backhaul.

“I won’t go down unless I have a load to come back,� he says. If it’s a one way trip, they will hire someone else to take the load.

Kevin Mryglod stands before a mound of No. 2 scrap. The piles actually do shrink in years where there is high demand for steel.

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A14

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Provincial operations, based in Kipling

A new subdivision in Gee Bee Construction’s home town of Kipling was a recent project for the Àrm.

Photo submitted Alan Batters stands before Gee Bee Construction’s new computerized fuel system.

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Kipling – They might be based in Kipling, but Gee Bee Construction’s scope is more provincial in nature. The earthmoving company in recent years could be found doing digups and facility work for Enbridge, building a subdivisions in North Battleford, Carlyle, Gull Lake and Oxbow, performing lease construction and reclamation and roadwork.

That’s just a partial list for a company that ranges far and wide.

Alan Batters, 36, heads up the company founded by his father Elgin and Charlie Gerhardt back in 1953. It’s a family business, with his wife Donna Cross working in admin, and younger brother David, as oilfield supervisor.

Batters says his father, in his day, built mostly roads and highways. In the 1980s, he got into oil leases.

Headquartered in a town that is bisected by the Enbridge mainlines, Gee Bee finds a lot of work with the pipeline company on their lines.

“We do a fair bit of civil work in the stations – drainage, roadwork,” Batters says.

“We do some work for Alliance as well,” he

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explains, working from the Estlin station near Regina to Loreburn.

“That’s where most of our Enbridge guys are right now. There’s 100+ digs there right now.”

The company has wrist buckets and tampers, ideal for digup work.

“Plus we do a lot of work for Harvest and TriStar,” he adds. Both oil producers have offices in Kipling.

The fleet includes eight excavators, 12 trucks, three pickers – one 32-tonne tandem steer and two knucklebooms, five dozers, two graders, three rock trucks, four loaders, three skid-steer loaders, two backhoes and a mini-excavator.

The staff runs around 55, plus local labourers that are sometimes hired.

“We have a full-time water and sewer crew that go all over the province and do subdivisions,” Batters says. The crew is currently in Melfort.

The dirt crew is working on a roadway at North Battleford for the new SaskPower gas turbine power station.

“We go where the work is,” Batters says, adding. “I like to do the local stuff in the oilfield.

We’re fairly diversified.

If something drops off, we can go elsewhere. It makes it tough when everything is busy.”

They are going full

bore right now, he says.

There’s been more competition on bidding, with Alberta firms trying to get in on the action.

“We’ve had to sharpen our pencils,” he says.

Sometimes it’s tough being based in Kipling, when they are doing a lot of northern work. “It was a treat to go an hour to work on a subdivision,” he says. One job they bid on, you had to haul your equipment in on a barge.

While they are all over the place, the company does not haul its own camp facilities around. It’s too much of a hassle. “A lot of our guys have their own trailers, and we just pay sub.

Some jobs, they’re there for two, three weeks.”

The company has an office in downtown Kipling, and a yard on the northeast corner of the town. There, a brand new fuel system has been installed, using key fobs to authorize fuel. The computerized system will make it much easier to account for fuel consumption.

A new dedicated service truck for their mechanic was purchased this past spring.

Asked about federal stimulus spending, he says, “The money’s been slow coming, but it turned into some work.”

“If we can make it through this year, and we will, next year can be only get better.”

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A15

Custom built rigs meant for corrosion inhibitor application Kipling – Formerly a teacher, Brian Szakacs made a big change 11 years ago. Now he operates a small fleet of corrosion inhibitor trucks, based near Kipling.

The company is called Batchwell Oilfield Service.

“When I was 29, in 1998, I was looking for a career change. A cousin suggested this business.”

Szakacs says, standing beside one of his trucks.

He had been in Grand Prairie, but returned to Kipling, where he grew up.

The truck is Dodge 5500 dually with a custom built body and a medium-sized tank. It’s a far cry from what he started with one truck.

“It wasn’t anything like this,” he recounts.

“We pump corrosion inhibitor downhole,” Szakacs. “After

Brian Szakacs didn’t like the old method of using drums and an electric pump for corrosion inhibitor applications, so he designed his own trucks to handle the job.

being in the business for about five years, I saw a need to develop specialty equipment for dealing with the chemical.”

Up to that point, he was using barrels and an electric pump.

The result was a fully hydraulic, fully enclosed unit. “The whole system is designed to minimize contact with the

chemical while loading, unloading and repairing. We don’t want to breathe it, touch it, expose it to the environment in any way.”

“I looked all over and ended up building my own,” he says. “The

primary focus of our business is to do it as safe as possible.”

The company has had its COR for several years, and is registered with HSE and ISN Networld.

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a week to six weeks.

“We’ve also branched into doing pressure tests with these trucks, slow rate cement squeezes. That’s something new, and we’re set up perfectly for it.

The next unit to be added has already arrived, but needs some setup before beginning operations. It’s a former fire department foam truck that was used only a couple times. It will be used for tank or vessel turnarounds, spraying a layer of vapour and fire retardant. The plan is to get it to work by spring of next year.

Szakacs also works as a contract field operator south of Kipling, something he’s done for 12 years.

compartment, 406-code with a 3,700 litre capacity. Most of the time, the product is pure, but sometimes they do batch mixing.

“This has the same PTO as a semi. I can suck on a load in five minutes,” Szakacs says.

Some of the suppliers whose product he carries include Prairie Petro-Chem and Baker Hughes. They don’t sell the product, but rather provide the application.

The fleet has grown to four units, the most recent added in June, 2009. “We started with around 110 wells we treated every month.

Now we’re around 3,500 that we treat monthly.”

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A16

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Supreme on the northern edge

Mike Biette of Supreme OilÀeld Construction shows their conÀned spacer safety trailer, based in Kipling.

Kipling – Kipling is at the northern edge of the southeast Saskatchewan oilfield. Operating out of Kipling is Supreme Oilfield Construction, a satellite office of the Estevan-based company.

Mike Biette is the Kipling area supervisor for construction and maintenance.

“This year, we did a whole pile of turnarounds at Redvers, Stoughton, Forget and south of town here,” he says.

The two biggest producers in the area are TriStar and Harvest.

TriStar is soon becoming part of PetroBakken. Will that affect Supreme in Kipling?

“Hopefully not.

TriStar gives us a pile of work,” Biette says. They’ve also done reclamation of leases for Petrobank.

Supreme’s Kipling staff runs around 15 staff, including Biette. This summer they had a pile of summer students, he adds.

They do work like building temporary batteries, construction of headers and well piping.

Fab work is done in the

shop. There’s also general maintenance, like fixing well heads and piping, facility upgrades and turnarounds. The staff spends a lot of their time pipefitting.

“We do so much of everything,” Biette says.

They are seeing a lot more Albertan companies coming in, looking for work. They’ve been very competitive on price.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Biette says.

His counter?

“We’ve got lots of experience, quality workmanship, good equipment, good, fast service, lots of knowledge. There’s a lot of guys here who have been working for my old man for 30 years,” he says.

The Kipling shop was set up in the 1990s. Biette has been there since 1999, and took over running the Kipling operation in 2003, assuming the reins from his father, Don Biette.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A17

Baker Hughes golf tourney rule: have fun Kevin Ross takes the celebrity photos of the Arc Resoures team prior to the Baker Hughes golf tournament at Mainprize. From left are Gord Hamilton, Dan Rasovich, Lorna Nelson, Don Hengen, Lanny McDonald and Deving Carrington.

By Brian Zinchuk Mainprize – Close to 130 golfers participated in the 6th Annual Baker Hughes Golf Tournament at Mainprize on Sept. 3.

“Have fun, that’s the only rule,” says Cal LaCoste, one of the organizers.

Of that 130, were Baker Hughes staff from Calgary, Virden, Estevan and Weyburn.

The rest were customers, for which the company wanted to show appre-

ciation. “This is the way we can give back a little,” LaCoste says.

The day started with a pancake breakfast, then continued with a photo op with former Calgary Flames player Lanny McDonald and former Roughrider Dan Rasovich. Both work for Baker Hughes, Rasovich as part of their explorers group, and McDonald in PR. The 18 hole Texas scramble tournament concluded with a steak supper. Caprice Re-

sources, Ed Smith, Kevin Zilkowsky Construction and Pyette Oilfiled/ Weimer Hometown each sponsored hole-inone prizes. Smith and Zilkowsky are landlords in Estevan and Weyburn for the facilities Baker Hughes reside in.

Baker Hughes also donated breast cancer jerseys for the Weyburn Red Wings, to be worn Oct. 17. It’s their second year doing it.

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A18

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

McDonald big draw at tourney Lanny McDonald sends one down range on the 5th hole. He provided a helper shot to each time, giving them the option of using his drive, or one of their own, during the Baker Hughes tournament. “I never know where it’s going to go,” he says.

Dawn Hengen of Arc Resources eyeballs Lanny McDonald’s Stanley Cup ring.

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Mainprize – Lanny McDonald played with the Calgary Flames for seven and a half years, and spent 11 years on the management side.

Now a slapshot is traded for a golf swing, as he works the crowds for Baker Hughes.

“I’ve been with Baker Hughes for 9 years, in sales, marketing, PR, hosting days like today. It works out great,” McDonald told Pipeline News during the 6th Annual Baker Hughes Golf Tournament at Mainprize, south of Halbrite.

When he’s not doing PR work with Baker Hughes, McDonald’s been working on a residential development at Bear Mountain, Montana. “Needless to say, I’m a little busy, but having fun.”

“Today, I’m on the fifth hole I try to help everyone get across the water.”

At his posted site, McDonald makes a drive with each team.

They can elect to use his drive, or their own.

“You have a little fun going through. You have a chance to meet everyone.”

This year was McDonald’s sixth at the tournament.

He works with the various divisions of Baker Hughes. “One day I’m working with oil tools, the next day, Petrolite, day three, Central Lift.”

His golf handicap is around a nine, he says, and probably could be better.

McDonald is based in Calgary, but is all over the country. The day before the Mainprize tourney, he was in Edmonton. The next week saw Leduc and Fort McMurray, then off to St. Johns to host a golf tournament for Baker Hughes and the Boys and Girls Club.

“A lot of times, I’ll play noon-hour hockey with clients and have some fun,” he says.

“I don’t think you ever retire, you just move onto the next project.

Right now, this is my next project.”

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A19

Cathedral launches new division in Estevan Estevan – Cathedral Energy Services launched a new division at its Estevan location in late August, with two days of open houses. The company, which currently offers directional drilling services in the southeast for the past 9 years, will now provide production testing.

Richard Defreitas is the company’s vice president for production testing, and was present for the open houses.

“We’re going to bring pressure vessels like the one you see here, flare stacks and office trailers. That’s one complete package.”

“Now’s a good time to branch out and move out a bit,” he says. They already have bases in Red Deer, Drayton Valley and Grande Prairie. “We’re looking to do Northern B.C.” “We’re pretty busy in Alberta. Obviously, it’s gotten a lot slower. It depends on the customers. Some are busier than others.”

“We’re not flat out by any means. Compared to our peers, we’re up there,” he says.

“We started here with directional drilling,” Defreitas explains, describing an incremental growth strategy.

The company is seeking local employees who

know the lay of the land and have local contacts to run the show. Each operational unit requires 4 people – two for days, two for nights. The company plans on starting with one unit, and going from there. The Estevan branch will focus on southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba.

“That’s the tough thing, finding quality people. We’ve got to start somewhere. We’re starting with one unit.”

“We’re looking for a guy who knows the area, knows the people, who can run the division.”

After a well is drilled, you do a completion on the well then test it to determine the reservoir characteristics.

Liquids, solids and gases come into the pressure vessel, where the liquids and solids fall to the bottom. The gas comes out the top and is measured and then goes to the flare stack, while the fluids can go into a pipeline or into on-location production tanks. Everything is metered.

The unit on display had a 500 psi vessel. Defreitas says Cathedral has everything from 500 to 2,000 psi pressure vessels.

“Most of the time, we’ll do completions with a small test,” De-

freitas says. “They’ll use sand, acid, water, oil, depending on the formation and we flow the frac back.”

Richard Defreitas of Cathedral Energy is looking for local people to run their new production testing division in Estevan.

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A20

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Forever reborn – scrap steel lives again

Still glowing red-hot, a slab of steel rolls off the continuous caster.

AS &

Regina – Your old car gave its life to become a piece of pipe. It’s been chewed up, mixed with chunks of rail cars, washers and dryers, girders and other scrap. Now it’s time to meet its maker, and become reborn as new steel.

The Evraz steel mill in Regina, formerly IPSCO, feeds on scrap as its main feedstock.

Different types of selected steel scrap are sorted and placed into massive buckets. The scrap is then placed into one of two electric arc furnaces – where high current electricity melts it down into a glowing orange liquid. After melting and metal refining, the steel is tapped from the furnace into a ladle and alloys are added

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to meet the exact chemical requirements for the type of steel being made.

Each ladle takes about 150 tonnes of scrap, and produces approximately 135 tonnes of new steel, explains Colin D’Souza, one of the managers in the melt shop.

The melting process is loud and impressive, with sparks flying and smoke billowing. But that smoke does not end up in the atmosphere – all dust is captured by the powerful suction of the neighboring baghouse. In simple terms, the mill dust is sucked from the furnace and cleaned from the air by this giant sized vacuum cleaner.

Each batch of steel produced is referred to as a “heat.” Each heat is tracked to ensure quality control throughout the entire system. You will eventually find it recorded on tubular products manufacturered at the adjacent pipemaking mills.

It takes approximately 90 minutes to produce a heat, from charging to tapping, D’Souza explains.

Once out of the furnace, it goes to the Ladle Metallurgy Furnace (LMF). There, process operators mix up the recipe for the steel – adding alloys to ensure the exact chemical requirements for the type of steel being made. The addition of alloys results in an impressive shower of sparks.

Working in this area, the first thing you notice is the heat. It would be easy to sweat off several pounds in a day, especially during a hot summer day. Just to enter

the meltshop, visitors and employees need to put on hefty flame resistant Kevlar jackets. The company is ever vigilant about keeping production workers hydrated, by providing plenty of water and drinks like Gatorade.

“You sweat, sweat, sweat,” D’Souza explains. “You get a good work out here. The heat is pretty intensive.”

Quality control and meeting customer specifications is key at the Regina mill. Steel samples are drawn from the arc furnance, LMF and caster, and sent by air tube to the on-site laboratory, confirming the customer’s requirements are met.

In the lab, an analyst like Wayne Scherle runs one-gram samples through various machines. One uses combustion to get a reading on carbon and sulphur content. A second instrument reads nitrogen and oxygen levels.

From the LMF, the heat is then sent to the caster. It’s a high part of the building, allowing for the liquid steel to flow downhill. From the bottom of the ladle, molten steel is poured into a bowl called a tundish.

It’s similar in design to the oilpan on a V8 engine – there’s a hole in the bottom that allows the steel to pour into the caster.

The caster was a major innovation for this company back in the 1980s. Before, steel used to be poured into molds called ingots. The continuous caster increased production and quality.

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ɸ Page A21

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A21

The control centre for the ladle metallurgy furnace is called the ‘pulpit.’

Scrap steel business is being reborn ɺ Page A20

down. It has high powered air conditioning Aaron Massey, a la- blowing into it. dle controller, watches Watching the steel closely as the steel flows. flow is Darryl McE“My job is to watch for wan, a strand operator. slag,” he says. “My job He explains that as the is to detect when we are steel goes through the out of steel in the ladle tundish into the mould, so we are not filling the it cools and is cut into tundish full of slag.” lengths.

(Slag is an impurity in “It is always 8 inchthe steelmaking pro- es thick. We can concess which rises to the trol the width from 40 top of the molten steel. to 88 inches, and from It’s a valuable by-prod- 3 metres to 9-1/2 meuct used to pave roads, tres long.” highways and support Overwatching the railway beds.) caster is a “pulpit,” one Massey has a small of several throughout booth, not much bigger the facility. Each is than a phone booth, filled with computer where he goes to cool screens providing read-

ings on each step of the process. One shows a diagram of the caster – the steel starts going straight down, then curves to horizontal.

Once it is horizontal, plasma cutters slice through the solidifying steel, producing slabs.

At this point, the steel is still red hot, but it holds its shape. The piles of slabs are moved by a short rail line to the slab yard, where they await processing into the rolling mill.

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A22

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Contractor fatality on TransCanada site Moosomin – A contractor worker was killed on a TransCanada site near Moosomin on Aug 24. .

At 4:44 p.m. that day, Moosomin emergency services and RCMP responded to a work site accident near the TransCanada pipeline pumping station approximately 10 km northeast of Moosomin.

Moosomin RCMP identified Billy Gary Miles Francis, 23, of Battleford, as the victim.

Glennis Bihun, executive director of OH & S, told Pipeline News, “The deceased worker was unloading a steel power pole used to build a transmission line.”

Francis was an employee of Power Maxx Construction of Regina.

OH & S strives to complete their investigations within 90 days, according to Bihun, however, they want to ensure it is an accurate and thorough investigation.

Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety is-

sued a stop work order with regards to the incident, specific to the task the worker had been doing. That order was lifted as of Aug. 28, as the requirements of the order had been met.

At the end of the investigation, and sometimes during, officers will issue reports for recommendations.

These can be in regards to non-compliance, or addressing causes identified. Almost all workplace fatalities are referred to the Ministry of Justice for a review. Prosecutions can result.

That report is not public, however. It can be obtained through a freedom of information request, but information relating to a possible prosecution is typically redacted.

Just a few days before the Moosomin fatality, another person was killed in a horizontal directional drilling operation on Highway 16 between Rudell and

Maymont. That incident was in regards to a road bore to enable the simultaneous installation of culverts. In-Line Contracting of Edmonton was the contractor.

Since the beginning of 2009, OH&S has had 15 fatalities reported as of Sept. 23. On average, the province has 36 workplace and agricultural fatalities each year.

“Each and every one of these fatalities is preventable,” Bihun says. “Even one is too many.”

OH&S is partnering with the Workers Compensation Board to promote Worksafe Saskatchewan. “The target is zero, hence the call to action: Mission Zero,” she explains.

With some 35,000 workplaces in Saskatchewan, and more than 43,000 injury claims to the WCB last year, Bihun says, “That’s an unacceptable number. Employers need to apply standards. Workers need to employ the training provided.”

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A23

Like rolling dough, except a little hotter Regina – It enters the Evraz Regina steel mill as scrap, and leaves the melt shop as giant 9 inch slabs. Before clients can use it, these slabs need to be a lot thinner. Enter the rolling mill.

When a slab of steel comes out of the continuous caster in the melt shop, it is still red hot. Even when it is no longer glowing, it still takes about a day to drop to 300 C. Slabs are moved the short distance to the rolling mill via rail. There, they are stacked in a slab yard, awaiting reheat.

A heavy duty overhead crane picks up the slap, and deposits it at the entrance to the reheat furnace along the side of the building. There, the natural gas furnace returns the slab to its previous glow, heating it to around 1300 C. The process takes about two and a half hours.

The reheat furnace operator watches the process via several closed circuit cameras – one of which is actually inside the furnace. The camera is water cooled and has special lenses, explains reheat furnace operator Albert Olynick. His other role being a slab crane operator.

Slabs can end up in a wide selection of lengths and gauges. The reheat operator will sequence the order of slabs so as to make it easier on the rolling operations. Once leaving the furnace, a slab goes through what is known as hot-roll processing. First, it will shoot right, down a series of rollers, having the scale removed off the surface. Then the “2 Hi” roller will have a go at it. ɸ Page A24

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A24

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Major air conditioning needed here ɺ Page A23 It’s similar to the process of rolling out dough with a rolling pin, flattening it a bit each time.

The width is restrained, so the slab gets longer as it gets thinner with each pass. After seven or eight passes, the slab that was once 8 inches thick is now about an inch thick.

Scott Hendriks operates the 2 Hi roller.

Computer readouts to his left and right tell him how much force is being applied, the number of passes, and the thickness.

His “pulpit,” or control center, straddles the rollers, so he can look directly down at the redhot steel slab as it passes through. The air condi-

tioning is powerful in the pulpit, because the heat outside of it, is intense.

You don’t see a lot of people walking around on the floor, because most of the work is done from the pulpits.

The flattened steel is then sent down along rollers to the other end of the very long building, where it goes through the “4 Hi” roller.

Fred Singer sits in a pulpit overlooking this operation. “I got this from the other mill at about an inch and a quarter. When I’m done, it’ll be a quarter inch,” he says.

This time, instead of the steel staying flat, it is spooled up onto coiler

drums each time it passes through the rolls. A coiler drum on each end receives the glowing steel, then discharges it. The coiler drums are heated to keep the steel at the proper temperature, according to Singer.

After a few passes, the steel is at the desired gauge, and it is ready for the next stage.

It comes out of the 4 Hi roller to be coiled. This is the final product of the steel mill. These are the large, donut-shaped coils one will often see on flatdeck trailers on Highway 11. Coils are labelled and bound, ready for use either in Evraz’s downstream facilities or for sale to other parties.

Scott Hendriks thins out a slab of glowing-hot steel from 8 inches to about an inch thick.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A25

Birthplace of big-inch pipe

By Brian Zinchuk Regina –Evraz Regina, formerly known as IPSCO, has been the leading provider of steel tubulars, and in particular big-inch pipeline, to the petroleum industry for over 50 years. The current Enbridge Alberta Clipper project is being built with Evraz pipe. The steel and pipe maker finished that run in July, after 18 months of production. Ditto for the Alliance Pipeline, and nearly every other major pipeline to transit Saskatchewan – if it’s a big pipe in western Canada, it probably came from the Regina steel mill.

Large diameter pipe is produced on the company’s four spiral pipe mills, on the southwest corner of the Regina complex. The steel, produced next door at the melt shop, and spooled at the rolling mill, enters the pipe making facilities as large coils.

Myron Hill, a general foreman for the spiral mill. “This particular mill is well known for large diameter pipe,” he explains. Evraz also has two Electrical Resistance Welding (ERW) plants on site that produce smaller tubular products. One is a two-inch mill, meant mainly for well tubing and pipeline, and the other is a 24-inch mill. These mills weld the pipe longitudinally instead of in a spiral.

The spiral mill has three identical mills on one side, and a fourth, recently added, on the other.

“Right now, all four mills are making the same gauge, same size,” Hill says.

The spiral process creates something similar to what you would see in a wrapping paper roll.

The steel comes off coils; an uncoiler flattens the steel; and then the steel is fed into the spiral mill.

“We want it nice and flat when we weld it,” Hill says. There are automated milling heads that shave off the edges, and several levelling systems to flatten it.

This part of the apparatus pivots, changing the angle as steel enters the spiral.

A sharp angle to the longitudinal axis of the pipe produced large pipe, up to 56 inches in diameter. A shallower angle makes for smaller diameter pipe. The current run of 30 inch pipe uses a 41 degree angle.

As the steel is wound into a helix, two automated AC and DC welders weld the inside and outside of the pipe. Flux is deposited into a small trough around the weld head, and vacuumed off at the other end.

Water then passes over the pipe, cooling it for the ultrasonic testing. ɸ Page A26

An ultrasound head performs a quality assurance check on the weld.

Photo submitted

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A26

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

An ultrasonic station scans new pipe joints.

Spiral welding

Premier large diameter pipe producer ɺ Page A25 An ultrasonic testing device monitors the welds for indications. If any are detected, it automatically marks the pipe with a splotch of paint for later repair and the indication is entered into the computerized pipe tracking system. According to Jim Clarke, vice president of tubular operations for Evraz Inc. North America, for every piece of pipe that rolls out of the mill, Evraz can track it’s production history right back to the recycled steel that went into the furnace. That information is stencilled onto the pipe as it passes through.

At the desired length, typically 80 ft., a plasma cutter severs off the pipe into joints.

Much of the rest of the plant is devoted to quality control. Workers visually inspect both the inside and outside of each joint of pipe. They go through the inside via creeper similar to what you would see in an auto repair shop. Each pipe is inspected end to end both internally and externally for dimensional tolerances and surface condition, prior to proceeding to the third party inspection bay. Here, customer representatives can review the history and personally inspect each pipe

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prior to it being weighed, measured and ready for delivery.

When the pipe is actually assembled into a pipeline, hydrostatic pressure testing is a long, drawn out affair that requires pressure heads to be welded onto each end of the pipe. Not so here.

There are two hydrostatic test benches. Each one will pick up a joint of pipe, seal off the end with enough pressure to perform the test, fill it, pressure it up, and drain it. The whole process just takes about five minutes.

Failure is rare and Evraz has had no spiral welded pipe field failures according to Hill. “Really, it’s a non-factor,” he explains.

Most, but not all, of their big-inch pipe is coated next door at the Shaw Coating plant. The final product is then shipped out by rail.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

A27

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A28

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

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PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

B-Section October 2009

Wall hints at incentives for Three Forks-Sanish

Premier Brad Wall smiles as he is introduced to an Estevan crowd of party faithefuls

Story and photos

by Brian Zinchuk

“We need to diversify this resourceWall took on NDP Leader Dwain based economy,” Wall said, speaking of Lingenfelter’s idea of having a governclean coal, carbon capture and storage ment energy company. “What a comEstevan – In a room full of party and enhanced oil recovery. Referring to pletely wrong message to send to the faithful and more than a few local oil- clean coal, he said the world is going to energy sector.”

From his government he said, “You men, Premier Brad Wall spoke of mov- want to see what is being done in Estevan. can expect the same – that good faith, ing forward during his Sept. 9 premier’s Regarding oil and gas, he said the that good will.” supper in Estevan.

Referring to the question posed During the speech, he hinted at in- oil industry is huge in Saskatchewan, by the opposition, centives for development of the Three and the province will “Where has the Forks-Sanish formation, but offered soon be the number one producer money gone?” Wall nothing definitive. said the province “The province owes much to you, of conventional oil cut taxes, built innot just to oil, but to the entrepreneurs,” in the country. He frastructure, rehe opened up with in his speech to over reiterated his common refrain of sayduced debt by 40 300, filling the Beefeater Plaza. ing “thank you” to per cent, all while Speaking of the recession, he noted “running a balance that Saskatchewan was not immune, the industry. “We in actual cash.” but comparatively very strong. Since don’t say thank you Speaking of the recession began, he noted there enough.”

Wall said peothe world’s need are more people working here, and the ple can expect his for fertilizer, progpopulation had grown. ress on enhanced He alluded to riding a bicycle. “To government to keep oil recovery and keep your balance, you must keep mov- barriers to growth down. He spoke of clean coal, Wall ing.” concluded by say“We’re going to keep moving to incentives to unlock new plays like the ing “Our best days keep our balance, in order to avoid Premier Brad Wall will always be stopping, or worse, falling down, we’re Three Forks-Sanish ahead of us.” going to do everything we can to keep (referred to in Saskatchewan as the Torquay formation).

Speaking to reporters after, Wall moving forward.”

said there was a lot of catch up to be done on infrastructure. “You can’t take all the golden eggs without feeding the goose,” he said.

Early in the summer, a partnership was announced between Montana and Saskatchewan on a carbon capture and storage project. At the time, it was said more would be revealed in three months. Asked about that, Wall said, “We are both waiting on our respective federal governments. I spoke to the prime minister about it today.”

“I’m very hopeful. It’s competitive,” he noted, saying Saskatchewan will have to compete with Alberta for the federal dollars. He wondered if it is possible to work as partners.

Regarding the Three Forks-Sanish formation, he said, “We’re hearing pretty exciting information on oil in place. It’s taken technology to unlock it.

There’s an area for government to partner with you.”

Wall spoke of incentives on the tech side, but when pressed for a timeline, he said there was nothing specific coming.

“We haven’t heard anything definitive back,” he said, referring to industry and its needs.

B2

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Tanker tips over, causes partial evacuation at Carlyle

The semi stayed on its wheels, but with the trailer on its side, its frame took a beating.

Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Carlyle – A tanker semi hauling butane condensate partially rolled over on the outskirts of Carlyle on Sept. 16, causing Highway 9 to be shut down and the northern part of the community to be evacuated for much of the day. However, the

spill was minimal and no one was injured.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., a Plains Midstream tridem tanker unit ended up with its trailer on its side at the approach of the east service road where it joins Highway 9, near the Ford dealer. The tractor unit did not rollover, but the trailer ended up in the ditch.

“It slowly went on its side,” explained Carlyle Fire Chief Trent Lee, who is a parts manager at Merit Ford. The trailer was dented, but the there were no holes, and the fully loaded tanker did not burst open.

“I went out and told the RCMP we better take some precautions. I’m not an expert, but let’s clear

house.”

All the businesses down to the Co-op gas station where cleared out.

Highway 9 was closed from that intersection to the next major intersection north of the town, with traffic detoured. All the increased traffic on the road ended up creating a pronounced haze around the community.

“It was well contained. We had a minor

Carlyle’s Àre department has worked hard in recent years to build up its capabilities, according to Fire Chief Trent Lee. This is one of the units that responded to the tanker rollover.

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leak out of the top hatch.

Once we had the other truck begin offloading, it relieved the pressure.”

In addition to local RCMP and ambulance, the Carlyle Fire Department had approximately 10 people on the scene.

The highway was reopened just after 7 p.m. that day. A hazardous materials team was contacted for final cleanup.

The town did not activate its emergency measures organization plan, but the fire chief says it was in the back of his mind. Only businesses were immediately affected, he noted.

The chief was frustrated with one person who breached their barricades. “We had one person drive through the barricade, because they had to get combine parts,” Lee explained.

That jeopardized not only the driver, but him and his men.

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B3

New Stoughton hotel to cater to oilpatch Before and after – the framing has begun, and the architect’s plans show what Stoughton’s new hotel should look like. Harry Jedlic is not only architect for the project, but one of the investors.

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DRILLING • COMPLETIONS • PRODUCTIONS • Lab facility • Fresh water available • Industrial Cleaning Products Stoughton – Framing began in late August, and by April next year, the new Poplar Tree Inn should be in operation in Stoughton.

At the corner of Highways 13 and 47, the hotel is in a prime location, with a large portion of the Bakken play taking place in the surrounding area.

The cost of the project is pegged at $3.2 million, not counting furnishings. It features wood frame construction with an elevator.

Larry Walker Construction of Kipling is the construction contractor.

The new hotel will feature 43 rooms on three stories, a meeting room, continental breakfast facilities, and three wheelchair accessible suites, according to Tom Sangster. Sangster is the site manager for construction and one of the 17 shareholders in the company, Sangster Group Lodgings Ltd..

He holds the role of vice president.

The investors are locals or ex-locals, accord-

ing to Sangster. Harry Jedlic, for instance, is not only architect for the project, but one of the shareholders.

The hotel will be run as an independent. “We felt that was best for us here,” Sangster says.

“We’ve been called the belly button of the Bakken – the Stoughton area,” he says of the location.

The whole quarter has been annexed by the town.

Sitting on 6.9 acres, Sangster says “We’ve got lots of parking for big trucks.” Only half of the area is being developed for the hotel.

They are looking for future development for the rest of the site, according to Sangster.

That could mean office space, but nothing is definitely, yet. “Anyone who wants to come and do it, or we might do it ourselves.”

The target market is the oilpatch, particularly the service side. It will also be a benefit for hunters and tourists.

Don Sangster, pres-

ident of the company, said in a release, “This is the right time and it’s definitely the right place for a venture of this nature. Not only is Saskatchewan’s oil and gas development hot right now, but we also see a need at the local level to accommodate guests, tourists and family members who would like to come for a visit.”

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Jared Toth, left, and Lance Walker, work on framing the new Poplar Tree Inn in Stoughton.

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B4

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Estevan Bruins coach stickhandles SJHL team and oilpatch career Estevan – “How’s it going, fellas? Welcome to windy, hot Estevan.�

Five young men pile out of a Dodge crew cab pickup, overloaded with luggage. Each grabs a suitcase, hockey bag, and bundle of sticks taped together. Their coach and general manager Karry Biette, head of the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins, welcomes them to their new home – the Estevan Civic Centre.

Three minutes before and about a mile away, Biette stepped out of his one life and into his other, walking out of his oďŹƒce at Canadian Advanced ESP. He’s the local sales manager and team leader for the ďŹ rm, Estevan Bruins head coach Karry Biette maps out practice drills for the team. which set up shop in Estevan earlier this year. much English. But it all The new arrivals, the As general man- according to Biette. “It Biette tells them to works out, nonetheless. ďŹ rst group to arrive for ager in addition to head goes all year, from the grab their gear and en- “We’ll go for a skate and this season, are quickly coach, he has to make coach’s and general manter the rink, “Everything go from there.â€? introduced to their billets sure everyone is paid on ager’s standpoint.â€? will fall into place,â€? he He jokes with one and sent o on their way. time, he notes. “You don’t y in ďŹ ve says, shaking the hands player not to play poker In a few minutes, Biette Some might think guys in from Ontario of the players. One, from with his billet, because is at his desk, signing this is day one of the and Quebec on a whim.â€?

Quebec, doesn’t speak he’ll lose his wallet. cheques. new season, but not so, Rick Oaks is the

Bruins’ head scout. “He’s invaluable. He does a lot of the legwork I just can’t do with a family and another full-time job. He does an excellent job as well.�

Most SJHL coaches are full-time, without outside employment.

Indeed, SJHL director of communications Mike Stackhouse noted that Biette was the only one he was aware of at the current time with an outside job. “I treat it as a fulltime job,â€? Biette says. “It deďŹ nitely makes it difďŹ cult to try to do both.

I believe both employers get their money’s worth.� “I give both places 100 per cent of my attention. They have to be cognizant I have to different places of employment. Neither has been left in the cold because of the other. I made them understand I could do both.� ɸ Page B5

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B5

Family, work and coaching ¿lls his days ɺ Page B4 Before working with Canadian Advanced ESP, and electric submersible pump company, Biette worked with Future Energy, a family business run by his father. In that job, he was working with machines.

With Canadian Advanced ESP and his job in sales, he deals with people.

It’s Biette’s fifth year with the team, after being a player/coach in a European elite league.

“I’ve moved practice

to the morning,” Biette says, noting it frees up his lunches for sales meetings. Before this fall, the team practiced in the afternoon. He personally practiced in the morning as a player, and says it “gets guys up and gets them moving.”

A typical day starts at the rink at 6 a.m., getting a lot of the paperwork done, reviewing video after the game and the like. “We’ll get on the ice by 9, off the ice by 10:30.”

“I usually have a

Weilding his stick, Estevan Bruins head coach calls out the next drill.

good hour after practice, dealing with players, schools, dealing with things that come up.

Then it’s over to Canadian Advanced.”

There he usually works until 6 p.m.

Evenings, when there aren’t games, are family time. “My number one job is being a dad and husband. They get me from 6 until it’s time for the kids to go to bed.”

He has two daughters, Kiarra, 3, and Greycin, four months. Biette’s wife Julie manages the household. “This would not be possible without her skills in the house, bills paid, kids fed.”

Doing work at home is very difficult. “You waste time trying to do work in your house with the kids around.”

Having his oilpatch office so close to the rink is a definite advantage.

He’s able to zip back and forth in a few minutes.

His work in his previous job meant being out in the field.

Time management is important, and planning ahead is key.

“If you’re planning for

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Tuesday’s practice on Tuesday, you’re in trouble,” he says, explaining he tries to stay a week ahead.

Jeff Pierson, president of the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins, stops by briefly to say hello, picking up a practice schedule. The next day, the team is going for a run.

Biette relies on his right hands, all three of

them, to help him out.

At Canadian Advanced ESP, Chris Istache is his right hand, a fortunate circumstance for him. “It makes doing both much easier.”

At the Bruins, Chad Leslie and Sean Garagan are the assistant coaches.

Both also work in the oilpatch. “I tell both my assistant coaches they have a job that pays their mortgage and feeds their

families. Both are dedicated guys with service above and beyond.”

Because of their normal jobs, they can’t always be there, but nine out of ten times, one of the two will make it, according to Biette. It’s at games especially where the coach says it’s important to have three sets of eyes to pick up as much as possible.

“We get ‘er done,” he says.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Assistant coach hopes to backstop team with his formula for success

Tryouts were held in August for the Lloydminster U-16 Bobcats in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

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By Geoff Lee Lloydminster –As an assistant coach of the Lloydminster Bobcats, Kevin Rutherford knows from personal experience that corrosion inhibitors and anti-sludge agents can play an important role in building team chemistry.

The confidence, motivation and communication skills he learned as a goalie growing up have helped him become a successful sales representative for Clariant Canada Inc., a leading supplier of chemicals and integrated services to the oil and gas industry.

Starting his second year as an assistant coach with the U-16 Triple-A minor midgets this season, Rutherford aims to teach the same formula for success in life and hockey to his defensive and goaltending core.

“Part of the job is motivation and part of it is teaching skills and helping the kids out,” he said. “At this level, the kids know how to play the game. It’s kind of fine tuning.

“With this you want to do is promote your players to get to the highest level. Ideally, what I would like to

ble degree in psychology and physical education and landed a job in with Alta-Sask Sports Physiotherapy and Wellness Inc. in Lloydminster.

“After, I was looking for something a bit different and I found there was a job opening with Clariant,” he said. “One thing led to another and I ended up selling oil and gas chemicals.

“I’ve being doing [it] for a year and a half and I am happy where I am at.

I am enjoying the chemical industry and that’s what I am making a career out of right now.”

Rutherford, 30, still plays some hockey and credits the lessons he’s learned from the game for his early success with Clariant.

As a sales rep he sells a full range of chemicals and services that cover the oil and gas life-cycle – from exploration to field development, extraction, processing, transportation and refining.

“Playing team sports gives you a lot of life skills,” said Rutherford.

“Teamwork is definitely huge.

“In the chemical industry you have to work with your clients. The more you can do for your clients and go out on a limb for them – it’s going to help you too. ɸ Page B7

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see our players do is get a university education through sports.

“I was one of those guys who said I was going places in hockey and didn’t need school, but that’s where it’s at.

You never know when the game is going to be over.”

Like the kids he now coaches, Rutherford, who was raised on hockey in Neilburg, wanted to take his game to the highest level he could.

He played five years of elite Jr. A hockey as a goalie for the Flin Flon Bombers, the Lloydminster Blazers and the St. Boniface Saints. He also backstopped over age Jr. B hockey teams in St. Paul and Lloydminster.

Rutherford’s career aspirations as a goalie ran out of steam after a couple of seasons playing in a semi-pro league in the Czech Republic and Germany.

“After two years of playing in Europe, I decided to come back and go to the University of Alberta,” said Rutherford who played senior hockey while studying.

“I put hockey a bit more on the back burner and took school a little more seriously. Going to school was one of the best moves I ever made.”

Rutherford graduated in 2005 with a dou-

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B7

Hockey can be a great icebreaker ɺ Page B6 “Sometimes with sales, you are doing cold calls and you go out there and you don’t know anybody.

You have to be able to go out there and be confident and put together a good presentation in the hope of having an opportunity.

“Quite often, the topic of hockey does come up.

It’s an easy way to get to know someone that you don’t. A lot of the guys in the oilfield have played at some level.”

One question worth asking Rutherford with his psychology degree and goaltending resume is what goes on in the mind of a goalie?

His answer to the Pipeline News is “Anything and everything, I would say. Definitely, I would say the flakier the goalie, the better he is. I had a lot of my own superstitions.

“You have to be aggressive and you have to be that individual who wants to be an individual on a team the same as a quarterback in football or a pitcher in ball. You have to have a drive to be on your own but part of a team as well.

“I like a goaltender who talks a lot to his players and helps them out and plays the puck. More and more, goaltending has developed into a third defenseman.

“You need a goalie who can play the puck well.

You have to have skill but you have to be coached too.

Nobody steps in and is the best goalie.”

Rutherford got into coaching last year at the request of a goaltender who wanted him to come in and help out and it worked out well enough that he was offered the position.

“I enjoy helping the kids,” he said and admits he can see his younger self through some of the players he coaches.

“Last year, we had a goalie who was very much like I was when I played. When I got mad the coach couldn’t talk with me. It was the same thing with this kid and I realize know how frustrated my coaches were when I was like that.

“With the goaltenders especially, I can relate to that. Having played myself at a high level I can put myself in their shoes in a pressure situation.’

“As a coach you are there to win. This is elite-level hockey. Every coach coaches to win but at the same time it is a minor sport. You need to do a lot of skill development.

“A lot of these kids are fairly talented kids. It’s fine tuning the skills, giving them an opportunity to bring their game to the next level.

The downside to being a goalie says Rutherford is sometimes you get too much blame and too much credit.

“Every goalie plays to get the credit. Every goalie is probably his worst enemy. You never have to tell a goalie he did something wrong. He knows.”

Assistant coach Kevin Rutherford and coach Chris Hamilton assess players during tryouts in Lloydminster.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Enform needs assessment travels Saskatchewan Estevan – Enform Saskatchewan is getting its footing, and spent a good chunk of Sept seeking out what the industry wants to see for training in the Land of Living Skies.

Needs assessment workshops were held in Estevan, Swift Current, Kindersly and Lloydminster between Sept. 15 and 23.

The training organization has over 600 instructors contracted, with 130 employees and campuses in Fort St. John, Calgary, Nisku and Regina. It offers 120 cours es, crafted from industry input.

One of the requests they heard at their June launch in Regina was for

blowout preventor systems training.

They are looking at doing four days of training in southeast Saskatchewan, followed by one day hands on at Nisku.

It’s too expensive to set up the hands on equipment here, participants at the Estevan forum were told.

“It’s not a perfect situation,” replied Enform’s Bryan Green.

Bob Ross of the Saskatchewan branch and Bryan Green, manager of program development and distance education, led the forum. They called for the 13 participants to stick on a while specific training desires, and then votes for them. ɸ Page B9

Bryan Greene of Enform has been spending a lot of time developing distance learning programs. He was in Estevan seeking input on training needs.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Enform Busy placeseeks input ɺ Page B8 Some of the points that received a lot of votes included: • Specialized courses and available equipment to run the courses, i.e. simulators.

• Trained employees and contractors • Qualified drivers • Courses that make sense (well site supervisor) • Well site supervisors credentials or lack thereof • Qualified and re-

spected safety advisors • Training costs The last item got the most votes.

“One of our major focuses is going to be on e-learning and teleconferencing,” Ross noted.

Tom Copeland, operations manager for T. Bird Oil said Saskatchewan material was not referenced in one course.

“Right now, CPAC speaks for Alberta, period,” he told the Enform reps.

Ross acknowledged they need to look at

Bob Ross of Enform Saskatchewan asks about training needs.

course, legislation and COR audits. “It’s a slow crawl, but I think we’re finally getting our heads above the weeds on this one.”

Fall protection courses, for instance, were being re-written this fall, making references to Saskatchewan standards.

Jean Kolb of R. A. Kolb Trucking Ltd., Carnduff, spoke of the need to have qualified oilfield drivers. “There’s no white line on a gravel road,” she said.

Kolb later explained to Pipeline News they had a truck go off the road with an inexperienced driver.

Boiler certification was another issue raised as a sticky situation between conflicting Saskatchewan and Alberta certification and recognition.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Seeking to reduce H2O use and CO2 emmissions Regina - StatoilHydro announced a $6 million research project being done in conjunction with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina.

In a release, StatoilHydro characterises it as “an important field research and pilot project to test technology with the potential to reduce water usage and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at its Leismer oil sands in situ project, located approxi-

mately 150 kilometers south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.”

The Steam-Solvent Co-Injection (SCI) Project (SOLVE), being conducted in partnership with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) in Regina, will seek to develop, optimize, and commercialize StatoilHydro’s new technology – through an extensive field testing and accompanying research and development program – leading to re-

ductions in the use of water and the emission of CO2 over conventional Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) technology.

The SOLVE project was awarded $6 million in funding by Sustainable Technology Development Canada on September 10, 2009 to assist in the development and deployment of this technology to lessen the environmental impacts of in-situ oil sands extraction.

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current research into solvent extraction technologies,” noted Executive Director Dr. Carolyn Preston, “fits perfectly with StatoilHydro’s innovative solvent co-injection at Leismer.

We’re delighted to be involved with such an exciting research project.”

“We are pleased to partner with PTRC on this innovative pilot project,” said Age Kristensen, vice president of heavy oil R&D, StatoilHydro Canada Ltd. “The technology is an excellent enhancement to the existing SAGD process because it could potentially reduce steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) while increasing the bitumen recovery. “ Reduction in steam-to-oil ratio has a direct effect on reducing water use and CO2 emissions since the solvent increases the amount of bitumen produced per barrel of water and fuel consumed.

StatoilHydro’s solvent co-injection (SCI) SAGD process will be piloted at specific wells in the Leismer field to see if there are reduced environmental impacts during extraction, and to optimize the pro-

cess for possible application to the entire field.

“The benefit is, if it works, this could be applied fairly easily to other SAGD projects,” Norm Sacuta, communications director for the PTRC, told Pipeline News.

SAGD is the predominant in-situ recovery method currently used in Canada’s oil sands. Unlike surface mined oil sands, insitu recovery involves much less land disturbance, but still requires the use of water and natural gas in the steam production process.

Burning natural gas produces CO2 emissions.

Environmental Improvements Both water use and CO2 emissions are a major challenge for the oil sands industry. StatoilHydro believes the piloting of its solvent co-injection technology at Leismer will demonstrate – as a minimum – ten percent savings on the steam-to-oil ratio required for extraction, with a potential saving of as much as 25%.

Research Program The SOLVE project will include – in addition to

the field demo – a research program that will be integrated with the demo results to reach clear conclusions about specific factors influencing solvent loss, oil production, energy use, and water consumption.

The partners characterize it as a unique approach to developing a new technology, bringing together a research consortium through the management of the Petroleum Technology Research Centre in Regina. Research partners will include research councils and universities from both Saskatchewan and Alberta to help optimize the process for more widespread commercial use.

Several key milestones in the project are anticipated between early 2009 and late 2011. These include the drilling of co-injection well pairs at the demo site (completed in 2009), injecting of steam in early 2010, and co-injection beginning in the autumn of 2011. Research modeling and simulations are already underway, and data collection, monitoring and measurement will be on-going throughout the project.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B11

Congratulations Totem Drlling on Rig #5

Bob Betts with remote control system.

Blowout preventer system.

Totem Drilling Ltd’s Rig 5 undergoes Ànal testing before being put to work.

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B12

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Totem’s Rig 5 comple Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk

Driller’s station and derrick

Estevan – By late September, Totem Drilling Ltd’s fifth rig neared completion in the Do All Metal Fabricating yard in Estevan. Workers were busy touching up the paint, welding on the final pieces, and putting each system through its paces. By early October, the fifth rig for the Carnduff-based drilling company should be ready for work.

It comes at a time when the company’s four other rigs are back at work, after a year that saw them running at 30 per cent capacity at times.

The slowdown was enough to delay the rig six months, according to Bob Betts, the operations manager for the company. Work had initially begun on the project after Rig 4 went to work in November, 2008. It was not long after that the bottom fell out of the drilling market, and the next rig went into hiatus.

While Totem held off on the rig, Do-All kept working on it, in an effort to keep their staff busy, according to Betts. That worked out in the end, because when Totem was ready to resume, Do-All had a lot of the work already done. It was something of a gamble for Do All, however.

Totem had already invested $2 million into the project by the time they had shelved it, so it made sense to continue with the project.

All of Totem’s rigs are telescopic doubles rated for 3,500 m, except for Rig 2. It’s rated for 2,800 m. The rig designs are very similar, making it easier for crews to float from one rig to the other.

Big enough “This will be our fifth rig, and probably our last,” says Betts, in the doghouse of the new rig.

The company does not want to get too large – anything much bigger than that, and management ends up

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B13

eted as work picks up

illing Àeld supervisor

getting more complicated, and you lose touch with your employees, according to Betts. “It’s nice to know all the guys that work for you ant their name. Our employees don’t become a number.”

When things were slow over this past summer, they would put crews that were not drilling to work on the new rig. “When slow, we could still keep our men working, building the rig,” Betts says.

“Things are picking up a lot right now. By Monday, we’ll have all four rigs running,” he said on Sept. 22.

Rig 5 will not be put out in the field until all its testing is completed.

On Sept. 22, the electrical system was getting a workout. “We’re testing the amploads on our breakers,” Betts explains. “Right now, we’re in our third day of testing. If we were sitting on a well, everything is running.”

In the background, you can hear the large gen set running. Two men are grinding, installing a heavy metal door.

“All our hydraulics are tested. The iron roughneck is rigged up and ready to program.”

He says it will take at least three weeks to test everything. They want to ensure it’s all functional before going out on a site.

When fully crewed, the company will have around 120 employees. Currently, they are at about 100. Rig 5 will have four crews of five, plus a tool push and a field supervisor that is shared by all the rigs.

Lorne Rose, or “Rosie,” is that field supervisor. He also handles safety for the company.

Iron roughneck Rose points out two key safety features of the rig – the hydraulic catwalk and iron roughneck. “Eighty-five per cent of the accidents on a rig happen on the catwalk or floor area. If you can eliminate that, it’s a big thing,” he say. ɸ Page B14

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Local suppliers used as much as possible ɺ Page B13 Betts explains that when the company was formed and they were designing their first rig, safety was right at the top of the list. They wanted to do everything they could

to that end.

Betts himself is somewhat haunted by an incident that occurred with a company he used to work for. A young man, a motorman, lost his leg. “A pin came out

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of the holdback lines on the tongs. The tong arm wrapped him around the pipe in the cable.

“It always stuck with me. I didn’t want anything like that to happen on our rigs.

“Our leap of faith on the whole project is the iron roughneck,” Betts explains.

“When we first started up Totem Drilling, the manager’s name was Murray Lundle. When we were going over how we would build a rig and planned it, our main goal was to have safety in mind. What can we do that no one else has done yet, on a smaller, telescopic rig?”

He continues, “Murray would write it on a napkin and hand it to you – saying 'Here, make it work’.”

That’s where the iron roughneck suggestion came in.

It’s a mechanical apparatus that makes and breaks connections between joints of pipe.

While the slips still have to be set manually, it means that human roughnecks are not longer in there, handling tongs. The motorhand runs the iron roughneck

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from an enclosed control centre on the drill floor.

“Let’s see what’s out there. We’ll get one and design it into the rig,” Betts says. “No one else in Saskatchewan that I’m aware of has designed an iron roughneck onto their rig.”

The control panel is laden with lights and switches. “When you see this, it’s kind of overwhelming,” he says, but points out that the current generation is good with joysticks.

The system can automatically break pipe, spin the connection out and back up behind the derrick, out of the way, all with one press of the button. The hands prefer to do it via manual controls, however.

They hydraulic catwalk allows pipe to be brought up or down to the drill floor, and set out onto the pipe racks on the side, all without having a worker actually on the catwalk. Totem’s hydraulic catwalks can be controlled by remote control from the drill floor.

The payoff has been substantial. “As of today, our company has 2103 safety days combined with all four rigs, and zero lost time accidents in our company’s history,” Betts says. “That was our goal we set out to do.”

Speed At first there was some derision in the industry about the speed of an iron roughneck – could it keep up to the standard human crew?

“There was an expectation it would be slower.

At the start, it was,” Betts says. “It started getting quicker and quicker.”

Design changes after worked out the bugs and made the iron roughneck as efficient as possible.

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A Ànal door is welded onto the doghouse.

4, we had all the glitches out. Speed, that’s behind us now. We can compete with any rig with manual tongs. The iron roughneck doesn’t slow us down one bit.”

As an example, Rig 2 had reached 980 m on day two, after having moved at noon on day 1. They’ve even picked up some drilling records from bit companies.

“From what we found, lots of people are scared to change,” Betts recounts. “What we found was customers like Postell Energy, ran by Darcy Walker, had agreed to pick us up as a brand new rig with a new rig, new tech, on the first hole he drilled.”

Customers gave them a chance to prove themselves, he explains. There have been almost-daily improvements.

This is also the first rig for Totem with a remote control for tugger, boom and survey lines.

It allows the operator to see what’s going on, as opposed to running the lines from the driller’s station on the drilling floor, where their vision can be obscured. If it works out, and has positive feedback, Betts says the system would likely be retrofitted to their other rigs, which have been pre-wired for such a unit.

Suppliers Do-All Metal Fabricating did much of the work on the rig, with the derrick, substructure, and drawworks being assembled at their Glenburn, North Dakota facility.

The pumphouse building

and gen sets, hydraulic catwalk and doghouse were done in Estevan.

Wil-Tech Industries Ltd. supplied hydraulic components, and Flowdraulics provided installation and hookup for a lot of the hydraulic systems.

The iron roughneck carries the Alco Machine badge. Apex provided parts like piping. Lampman Electric took care of the electrical work.

I’m also an owner The company started in 2006, and is owned by about 20 investors. All of the management, including the toolpushes, have shares.

“By giving our toolpushes a part of the company, it gives them something to work for,” Betts says.

“They take more pride in their work,” Rose adds. Both Betts and Rose have shares in the company.

The company has been getting “tonnes” of resumes, but they’re not going to hire on more staff until they have work for all five rigs. “A good driller will have no problems picking up a crew,” Rose says.

The company usually works within a three hour radius of their home base in Carnduff. They’ve done some in southwest Manitoba, but Betts notes it’s a hard market to break into. The furthest well they did was near Kroneau, east of Regina. By working close to home, it also means the crews usually get to go home each day after their eight-hour shifts.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B15

Before it’s a skid package, it’s raw steel Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Estevan – Pretty much everything out there in the oilpatch started at some point at the local steel supplier.

Be it batteries or drilling rigs or skid packages, before the welders can fabricate it, they need the raw steel to use as building blocks.

Varsteel Ltd. has locations throughout Western Canada, with three in Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatoon, and Estevan. Cathy Spalding heads up the Estevan location.

“Ours is basically your regular hot-rolled

and cold-rolled steel, and some stronger abrasive plates. We carry pipe, tubing, beams, angles. If we don’t have it, we can get it in,” she says.

The Estevan location services southeast Saskatchewan, from the US border to Redvers, and from Weyburn to the Manitoba border.

“Big job, small job, they all come here,” Spalding explains. “I’d say over 90 per cent is oilfield.”

The remainder goes to agricultural or construction.

“It varies. Some days you go through plates, other, tubings or beams.

It’s basically everything.”

“If we don’t have it in stock, that’s what everyone wants that week,” says Shelly Darby with a smile. She takes care of admin work and sales.

It goes in spurts, according to Spalding. By 9 a.m., they have a good idea of how the day will go. July and August are slower, but it picks up in September, she explains.

Spalding has heard things will pick up in October. Fall and winter are typically busier.

“We sell half or full lengths. We don’t sell Cathy Spalding is the local manager for Varsteel in Estevan small pieces,” Spalding says. They used to, but found it was a hassle, and discontinued the practice several years ago.

Racks filled with 20 and 24-ft. lengths are kept indoors. The company colour codes the ends of each piece by thickness, so at a glance, you can tell if it’s a quarter inch thick, or just three-eighths thick.

They can get stainless steel in, but don’t do much in the way of aluminum.

Some of the larger orders they have filled have been for the construction of drilling rigs, like for Red Dog or Advance Drilling. On orders like that, she notes they don’t buy everything at once.

Varsteel in Estevan deals with full and half-length pieces. Here Christopher Peskleway move some square tubing.

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ɸ Page B16

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B16

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

No scraps please ɺ Page B15 One thing they don’t deal with is scrap. “No scrap at all,” Spalding says. “We get so many calls for that.

We haven’t done that for a good 12 years or more.”

They have a delivery service, something that is quite popular. “We do deliver quite a bit,” she says.

Varsteel has four full-time employees and one part time staffer in Estevan.

Thursdays and Fridays are their busiest days, because the weekly shipment arrives on Thursday.

Sometimes they’ll get two trucks a week.

Asked about a typical order, Spalding says it depends on what kind of job they are doing. “We never know from one to the next what they’re going to use.”

Gord Reeb cuts off a damaged piece of steel.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B17

Diversify, diversify and, oh yeah, diversify Kennedy – There are so many lines of business for Kennedy-based Parkside Oilfield Services Ltd., you might run out of fingers counting them. It goes with owner Ken Singleton’s strong belief in diversity.

“We run oilfield steamer/wash trucks. We do lease mowing, snow removal, lease seeding and preparing leases for seeding. We specialize in doing reclamation, but not actual dirt moving.

That list, however, is just a start.

Singleton says he takes after his grandfather, having been an entrepreneur all his life. At the age of 10, he sold eggs around his home town of Kisbey. By 15, he was treating poplar fence posts and hiring other kids to work for him.

“We’re very diversified. I don’t care if you’re farming or in the oil patch. You have to be diversified these days,” he says. “When one slows down, the other is usually going.”

“We have a welding shop that builds a full line of livestock equipment,” he says. That includes bale feeders, grain troughs, grain bin hopper cones, grain bin floors. They are getting into grain bin construction.

The company has 17 full time staff, two shops in town and an office on Main Street that used to be an old shoe store. It’s the biggest employer in Kennedy.

The company has been in Kennedy for 12 years.

For almost all those years, Ken’s wife Denise has done the books for the company. She teaches at the local school.

Singleton used to run a cattle feed business as well, with a tub grinder and bale picking truck. He’s custom baled since the age of 16. He’s now 52. He sold the baling equipment three years ago. Singleton explains, “Couldn’t get help, and the oilpatch was getting busier for us.”

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“We run eight tractors and mowers, five mobile steamer washer units, four tractors with snow blowers. We just got into it big time last winter.”

The timing couldn’t have been better, with all the snow last year. He traded hopper bins for a snowblower.

“A battery operator came in, said, ‘get that on a tractor,’” he recounts. They’ve since bought several more.

They have four tractors with blades, and a big four wheel drive tractor with a wing blade. “Around this time of year, I start to wonder, is it going to be cold?” he says. Just like farming, it’s a weather dependent business.

“We do feed lot expansions. We’re doing a buffalo system out by Kenossee.”

He’s also starting up a small scale lumber yard, mainly for farm use.

“I’m fortunate to have guys that are multi-talented.”

The company is working on its Certificate of Recognition, hopefully to be completed this year.

“We’re working on Enbridge Alberta Clipper,” he says. “Tomorrow morning at 7 o’clock, we start seeing the cover crop on Clipper.”

On top of all this, they are in the process of getting bids for a 60 x 100 ft. addition onto the welding

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shop. It’ll help with construction of Texas gates and wellhead enclosures.

Asked if it is hard to draw workers to a small town, he says, “I have 51 resumes, all current, in the file folder.”

They are from as far as La Ronge, Kamloops and Nova Scotia. “It’s because people want to move their kids to small town Saskatchewan, out of the bigger centres,” he says.

Some are due to the slow down in the auto sector.

He has one worker who came from a Toyota factor in Ontario.

Is there anything he doesn’t do?

“Sleep,” is the response. “Take a day off.”

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B18

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Taking over the world, one service at a time Stoughton – Ambitious? That doesn’t even begin to describe Yvette Delanoy and her son Kyle Delanoy. From their property at the corner of Highways 13 and 47 at

Stoughton, they plan on taking over the world, or at least a small chunk of the oilpatch supply sector.

Aug. 27 was their open house, in which

they announced the exclusive Saskatchewan and Manitoba dealership rights to Katch Kan, a company that specializes in containing spills before they actually become

a spill.

It joins an evergrowing list of ventures the family is involved in.

The first was KBY Hotshot Services Ltd., which operates in Wey-

Yvette Delanoy, right, visits with clients during the KBY open house on Aug. 27. Behind her is a display for Katch Kan, a new product line for the Àrm.

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burn, Estevan and Stoughton. It started in 2005, and they now have five units.

Before that, Yvette had worked at CAA in Weyburn for 21 years.

“I needed a change. I loved my job, the people I worked with, it was just time to try something different and venture out.”

“It started out as a joke. ‘Why don’t you get into hot shot?’ It grew very quickly,” Yvette says.

The “KBY” stands for Kyle, Brittney and Yvette.

Brittney is Kyle’s sister. She’s in high school, with intentions of further schooling, however she helps out with things like cleaning the rental trailers and marketing.

In January, the family bought five acres at the intersection of the two highways – a prime location for the Bakken oil play. Most traffic into the Bakken from Estevan or Weyburn passes that corner. A hotel is being built across the road for the same reason. They took possession in the spring.

It includes a former agriculture dealership, Quonset and shop.

Yvette still lives in Weyburn, but is considering a move to Stoughton once Brittney finishes high school. Kyle lives in Stoughton.

Kyle has an abundance of hours under his belt, having worked for Do-All Metal Fabricating and Hyper Arc Welding in Estevan. He took his initial training in Weyburn, then his third year at Moose Jaw’s SIAST campus.

This spring, he fired up KBY Welding & Fabricating Ltd., which offers in shop and on location welding.

“I’m only 23, and I have 8,000 hours welding as an apprentice and that’s not counting since we opened the shop.

“I have lots of experience in the oilpatch, and in non-oilpatch welding.”

In addition to Kyle, there are three journeyman welders working with KBY Welding – one full-time and two part-time. Two are pressure “B” certified, while Kyle specializes in fabricating.

To that end, he’s now carrying raw steel for sale. “I’m set up as a salesperson for Russell Metals,” he says.

Primarily its smaller stuff farmers might need, or items they will use in the shop. “The closest steel sales is Estevan and Weyburn, I don’t always have time to drive back and forth,” he says. ɸ Page B19

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

B19

Crazy busy at KBY ɺ Page B18

shot, we want everything.”

That could lead to They usually take delivery once or twice a items like light towers, week, but orders can be and perhaps some form of supply store. had over night.

Because of the high There’s a number of well-site office trail- visibility location, she ers, meant primarily for envisions some form of service rig consultants. billboard service as well.

“You should see my They are under the Evergreen Energy Tank vision board,” Yvette says. In her office is a Rentals flag.

Behind the shop, a Bristol board with phofew campers are set up tos taped to it, and ideas for a construction crew floating for future venworking in the area. tures and goals. There “All they want is power,” are several on the board Yvette says. They are that are in the planning looking at being able stages.

There’s a collection to accommodate more workers staying there in of satellite dishes bethe future. hind the Quonset. They “We want to have act as a storage depot anything and everything for the Pason Systems here in the oilfield,” Corp satellite commuKyle says. “We want the nications systems, used rentals. We want the hot by rigs.

FYI on KBY

If all that isn’t enough, Yvette asks Kyle, “Did you tell him about the cardlock?”

“Not yet,” he replies.

They are in the process of setting up a Petro Canada cardlock, which should be in operation this fall.

“Everything’s getting staked out,” she says.

“By October, it should be up and running.”

“My whole vision is to have a one-stop oilfield shop,” she says.

“We seem to be getting approached with different services. It’s location, location, location.”

Yvette notes that consultants spend a lot of time lining up services.

“Wouldn’t it be ideal if they can have one place to phone?”

“We’re still very raw, still growing, trying to make the right decisions.”

If you look closely, you can see Àve lines of business in this photo, run by Yvette and Kyle Delanoy. From left are the Quonset, used by KBY Welding & Fabricating, Pason Systems Corp satellite communications systems, a KBY Hotshot Services truck, a wellsite trailer from Evergreen Energy Tank Rentals, and steel from Russell Metals. That doesn’t include several other lines, such as Katch Kan or a new bulk fuel station.

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KBY Hotshot will be the new Saskatchewan and Manitoba dealer for Katch Kan. The company specializes in containment solutions that catch potential spills before they actually become a spill.

“We’re an environmental company. Instead of paying for cleaup after, why not just catch the fluids?” says David Malkewich, operations manager for Katch Kan. “We have everything from the top to the bottom of the rig.”

Some of their products include the Kelly Kan, which wraps around the kelly on a drilling rig. There safety mats for the drilling floor. The Upper Katch Kan that goes under the drilling floor, and the Lower Katch Kan goes under the BOPS. It connects to a hose that can either run into a reservoir or back into the mud system.

“We have service rig kits as well – smaller, more durable, and easier to move.”

Other items include drip trays and pipeline trays to contain any spills from a hammer union.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Kipling-based lease builder keeps growing

Ken Ede, with his wife Sandy, own and operated lease building contractor System 3.

Benson – The lease has got a bit of a slope to it, and the two dozer operators will have to cut about four feet from the

high end, moving it to the low end. No sweat for Ken Ede, and his brother Phil, the dozer operators working on this lease

near Benson.

Ken is the principle behind System 3 Supply Ltd., a Kipling-based dirt-moving company that specializes in oilfield leases, building and reclaiming them. A small fraction of their work is agricultural. A substantial slice of the pie involves working in Moose Mountain Provincial Park.

System 3 is currently renting shop space from the local concrete plant in Kipling. Their equipment doesn’t spend a lot of time there, however.

“Our stuff never makes it home,” Ken says.

The company started five years ago. Before that, Ken had worked for four years running equipment like dozers, trackhoes and semis. Prior to that, it was 18 years in a family-run lumber yard at Langbank.

“The first thing we ever bought was a forestry mower for logging in Kenossee Park,” Ken says. Since that time, they have built up to 18 pieces of iron, including dozers, graders, excavators, semis, and a dozer-mounted IronWolf Slasher. It was the first IronWolf in Saskatchewan.

The IronWolf allows them to forego much of the ripping involved in winter work, and allowed for separation of soil types. Instead of great big chunks coming out as the result of ripping, each pass of the IronWolf results in fine powder.

“When we first bought it, we had two small Cats. Everybody else had bigger equipment then I could afford.

For us to rip the frozen ground with smaller Cats was an impossibility.”

The IronWolf Slasher gave them a competitive advantage, at least until they caught on.

Now several firms in the southeast have acquired the heavy-duty mulchers.

“We went from January to March and never shut it off,” explains Phil regarding their first year with it. “No one believed grinding would work.

Everyone believed in ripping.”

Most of the equipment they run has widepad tracks, allowing them to work in softer terrain.

“I’ve got a friend with a D7 parked because it’s wet,” Ken says. “We don’t have that problem.”

The company has been on a continual growth trend.

“Consultants asked for a bit more, and a bit more. We just keep buying pieces as we need them.”

The company operates mostly Komatsu equipment. Ken says the first one, a dozer, was because of price, and the rest were due to reliability. “That one now has 20,000 hours on it, and we’ve never done anything to it.”

Sandy Ede, Ken’s wife and equal partner in the business, does much of the equipment buying.

She makes extensive use of online sales, hiring a local mechanic as need

be to check out a piece of iron before laying down the money.

She does all the hard stuff, payroll, bill paying, he explains. Ken can still be found in an operators seat.

The continual stream of mergers and acquisition means the firm has new clients all the time.

“Every year we’ve worked, we’ve had to start at new company in the spring,” Ken says. As an example, probably 60 per cent of their work this year has been for Petrobank, and it will soon become PetroBakken. They also do work for some smaller companies.

The current workforce is around 16, but that’s changing. They need more. “Looking for Cat operators is a daily process, ones that know what they are doing,” Ken says. “Just a normal part of Saskatchewan nowadays.”

And yes, he realizes he calls them “Cat” operators, even if its Komatsu iron they operate. Maybe he should be calling them crawler operators, he offers.

“The very first employs we had are still here. [It] must not be too bad for them,” Ken says.

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PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

C-Section October 2009

PWM Steel times latest expansion for turnaround Story and photos by Geoff Lee Lloydminster – PWM Steel Services, a retailer of new and scrap steel in Lloydminster, is putting the finishing touches to a new steel processing facility to custom cut and bend big sheets of steel for customers.

“We couldn’t offer that service before,” said manager Paul Klaassen. “We are increasing our services.”

PWM purchases new structural steel such as piping and tubing from steel mills such as Evraz in Regina and sells it to welding shops, oilfield companies, building contractors and do-it-yourselfers.

“If someone wants a two foot piece, we will cut it but previous to our plans for the new facility we couldn’t do the larger custom cuts or brakes (bends).”

The 13,500 square foot building will feature a new 400 amp plasma cutter, a 12-foot brake for bending and a vertical band saw.

The space will also house an overhead crane to feed the brake and the plasma table and plans are underway to move in an existing ¼ inch by 10 ft. shear and a 60-tonne iron worker device used to punch holes and cut angle iron flat bars.

“Outside, we are going to have an overhead crane to lift our longer steel products like our 40 to 48- ft. stuff. It will make it safer and keep the yard organized,” said Klaassen.

The decision to construct the new processing facility was made last spring when demand for steel and scrap steel hit rock bottom but lowered construction costs.

“I figured I could save 10 to 20 per cent of the cost of the project,” said Klaassen. “Also, the contractors come when we need them and we won’t go over budget.

“We felt the ‘contracts’ will have quality people and not just bodies like in previous years and that we would be ready for the upturn when we were done.” ɸ Page C2

This 80,000-lb. material handler transfers a pile of scrap steel to an 800-tonne shear baler.

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C2

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Steel prices beginning to rise as expansion takes place ɺ Page C1 The project is well timed as prices for plate, square and rectangular tubing and scrap steel sold by PWM to Evraz are already on the uptick.

In fact, the Evraz steel mill, a plate and structural steel tubing supplier and a major buyer of PWM’s scrap metal has increased production after halting purchases of scrap during the recession.

“Our business is driven by the price of steel,” said Klaassen. “It’s a commodity. Everything is such a global economy.

What happens in the world affects the price of scrap.”

Most of PWM’s scrap comes from the oilfield but a lot of it comes from farmers who are cleaning up their shops.

Construction sites also haul scrap to PWM’s yard.

“We pay according to what the market is,” said Klaassen. “Last summer, when we had record highs we were paying top dollar. This spring,

Paul Klaassen reports business for scrap steel is picking up again.

we couldn’t sell scrap for three months because Evraz didn’t have any sales.

“The bulk of their sales is to the oilfield for pipeline, casing and tubing and plate for tanks so they ran their inventory down. Now, they are starting to get sales and are buying scrap again.”

Klaassen also thinks now is the perfect time for customers to sell their

scrap metal to PWM before fuel and labor costs rise.

“We shipped a lot of scrap when the prices were up,” he said. “Prices are down now but it’s cheaper to keep your yard clean today than to clean it tomorrow. If you clean it two years from now, your costs will go up and who knows what you will get for your scrap then.”

Light pieces of scrap

metal piled at PWM are run through an 800-tonner shear baler. A shear mounted on an excavator cuts plate metal to 18-inch by 3-ft. pieces and pipe to 4-ft. lengths for shipment by rail to Evraz.

“Every year recycling get bigger,” said Klaassen who notes the company also provides container service for the disposal of scrap steel. “We are

recycling more stuff and finding new markets.”

“We sell to anybody who wants steel and we are open at 7 a.m. for the oilfield because they like to get going.

“We are also open during the dinner hour and Saturday mornings for oilfield emergencies and individuals looking for stuff like 1-inch sq. tubing to fix something.”

Up to 20,000 lbs. of new product can be delivered to customers in a single load using tandem tilt deck trucks.

Some of the major milestones for PWM included the purchase of their leased 13-acre site in 2002 and linking the yard with a CPR rail spur in 2003 to increase their capacity to ship scrap metal.

In 2004, the company constructed a 7,900 sq. ft. storage shed to stock a larger amount of steel bar stock and protect it from weathering.

“It’s been pretty steady growth here since 1992, “ said Klaassen who started the company in 1982 with two partners who were eventually bought out.

“I am a journeyman welder by trade. I saw a chance to get into the market. I enjoy it because you keep expanding your business. Customers’ needs change and our business has changed a bit.

“We will stop growing when Lloydminster stops growing.”

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C3

Newalta expands waste processing markets with SADG operations

By Geoff Lee Lloydminster – Newalta, one of Canada’s largest industrial waste management and environmental services companies, is cleaning up on oil waste in the heavy oil corridor from Kindersley, Saskatchewan to Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Regional demand for Newalta’s oilfield waste processing and oil recovery and recycling has spiked with tougher waste management regulations and new steam assisted gravity drainage or SAGD operations.

The company’s Lloydminster area waste processing and landfill sites located in Carruthers, Unity, Plover Lake, Elk Point, Hughengen and Kitscoty handle anywhere from 150 to 1,000 cubic metres of oily waste a day from tank stings transported by vacuum and tank trucks.

“That volume has been increasing in the last few years due to SADG operations and the commissioning of new projects,” said Ash Thibault, sales representative for heavy oil in Lloydminster.

Companies are no longer allowed to mix the waste and spread it on roads for dust control thanks to new ERCB directives requiring producers to haul their oil waste to a licensed treatment facility.

Newalta’s processing facilities such as the one in Kitscoty feature industry leading technology including centrifugation to separate oil, water and solids by their density. Clean water is injected downhole and into the formations.

Solids including silt and clay known as interface materials are trucked to Newalta’s landfill in Elk Point or Unity. Oil is recovered and put back into the pipeline or returned to the customer.

When waste is received at a regional facility, site staff will do cuts on it and fill out a receiving ticket noting the percentage of each by-product. Each ticket is emailed to Lloydminster for entry into the system so an invoice can be generated.

Waste is billed by the cube or metric tonne depending on the process.

At Newalta’s higher volume processing sites, the value of recovered crude oil that represents more than 30 per cent of the waste content is credited to the producer.

“Every time you do a sting you bring in a bit of oil,” said Thibault. “Our plants are set up so if you bring in high oil material, we give you what we called a waste recovery oil credit.

“That is our best competitive advantage. A lot of companies try to tank clean it and that takes time. The oil credit side of the business is growing as more customers understand it.”

Growth is also been experienced by Newalta’s on-site services division with its technical capabilities to process by-products from slop oil and settling ponds at customers’ production sites.

“A lot of companies use ponds for warm lime softeners,” said Thibault. “The solids will settle out in the pond over time. We will come in and dredge them out and centrifuge them to separate the water and the solids.

“Slop oil contains solids or high water that producers don’t want to run through their treaters. That’s stuff we pay them for if they bring it to our site. If producers generate a large volume of it, it may be more economical for us to be on their site.

“With on-site projects, the client gets to keep the oil and they can put the water down their deep well disposal. The only thing they have to haul off is sand or solids.

“It helps to mitigate the company’s liability by being on their site and it downsizes the volumes they have to haul at the end of the day.”

Providing on-site services also gives Newalta a chance to build relationships with clients and provide additional waste management services.

“We’ve had our on-site equipment on pretty much every site in Fort McMurray,” said Thibault. “We’ve worked for just about every producer up there. It’s a big

Contractor Ken Carson discusses oil waste processing with site manager Ken Lockhart and sales representative Ash Thibault.

cost saving in transport and disposal for producers to do it on their sites.

“Over 90 per cent of the on-site work we do is oil related where we recover oil,” said Thibault. Newalta recovers more than two million barrels of oil a year.

The Lloydminster area also experiences a seasonal uptick in business from companies needing to dispose of their drilling mud waste.

“You get ‘hit hard’ with drilling mud in late November because companies can’t field spread it easily,” said Thibault. “If it has any visible hydrocarbons in, they have to haul it for disposal.”

Newalta’s landfill sites are licensed to handle non hazardous oilfield or industrial waste and feature state-of-the- art liner systems to contain the waste. They also have leachate management systems, and surface run-on and run-off controls among other environmental safe guards.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Cummins steers quickly toward zero emissions gas engines

By Geoff Lee Lloydminster – Cummins is revving its engines on a new journey to zero emissions for its natural gas engines that will be a major growth area for the company in the future.

It will do so with lessons learned from the

25-year development of clean diesel truck engines that has been driven by tougher air quality regulations.

Harmful NOx (oxides of nitrogen) emissions will have been cut from 15 grams per horsepower to only .2 grams by 2010 during

that development period. Heavy-duty diesel truck emission regulations came into effect in the United States and Canada in 1985.

Diesel engines will be 99 per cent emissionsfree in 2010 including the virtual elimination of harmful particulates.

“You can put a white handkerchief now on the tailpipe on one of these new trucks with diesel engines and it won’t even get dirty,” said Gottfried Muench, president of Cummins Western Canada.

He explained that by 2010, it will take 100 new diesel engines to produce the same amount of pollution as as one engine did 25 years ago.

“It’s been a phenomenal rate of improvement on pollution reduction.

If you asked me 25 years ago if we would get there we would have said ‘no way’. There is no way you could get a diesel engine that clean.

“Over that 25 year period, every three to five years there have been new regulations to gradually reduce the amount the pollution.”

In a presentation to the 16th annual Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium Sept.

16-17, Muench says he believes the science and technology behind clean diesel engines is applicable to building cleaner natural gas engines.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the first 2 gram NOx standard in 2008 and 1 gram NOx by 2010.

Cummins has already developed a cleaner Westport natural gas engine for the domestic market in anticipation of Environment Canada following the U.S. standards.

“Some time in next

Lloydminster branch manager Myron Basset showcased this 8.3- litre natural gas engine during a summer customer appreciation day.

few years we will see exactly the same laws,” said Muench. “We think that’s the right approach.

Ultimately, the world should go to a harmonized approach.

“The EPA approach has been to go after the big polluters first. That’s why they went after trucks first.

“A decade later they went after construction equipment and now they have gone after ‘power gen’ and the last one on their radar screen – on the heavy duty side – is the natural gas engine.

“We think if the laws regulate less pollution we can get there. Some of the solutions we have learned in the past 25 years on the diesel engine

side are transferrable.”

In his presentation, Muench cited turbocharging, aftercooling, electronics, low sulphur fuel and high pressure injection for helping to reduce emissions through better in-cylinder combustion.

“Ultimately, we couldn’t do enough with the engines so we had to add some after-treatments,” said Muench.

“After the engine, you will have two devices that will reduce emissions – one for particulates that is in place today (particulate trap) and a new one (selective catalytic reduction) in 2010 for further NOx reduction.” ɸ Page C5

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C5

Natural gas engines are an area for major growth

Lloydminster Heavy Oil Symposium Weatherford’s Patrick Veller, Larry Seversen and Aaron Shaw are all smiles at their company’s artiÀcial lift booth during the heavy oil symposium held in Lloydminster Sept. 16-17. Photo by Geoff Lee

THE SKI-DOO

ɺ Page C4 Muench says Cummins got into the natural gas market years ago as a hedge in case diesel engines could not meet the regulatory requirements.

“At one time we wondered if there was going to be room for diesel engines,” he said. “Cummins is predominately a diesel engine manufacturer.”

Cummins’ engines from 31 to 3,500 hp are found in nearly every type of vehicle and equipment on earth from emergency vehicles, 18-wheelers, berry pickers and 360-ton mining haul trucks to recreation and marine diesels.

“We wondered if society would allow diesel engines to exist,” said Muench. “Twenty-five years ago, we weren’t sure we could get there.

“We started to focus on natural gas as not just a new engine for us but also – what happens if diesel doesn’t make it? Now, it will make it and we think there will be a menu in the future – diesel, natural gas, and hybrids.”

The Cummins ISL G engine meets 2010 EPA requirements and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission standards.

It features advance emission controls including cooled gas recirculation, a new electronic control module and a three-way catalyst.

Muench ended his talk with a look at some Cummins’ clean engine technologies of the future.

These include hythane fuel (blend of natural gas and 20 per cent hydrogen), micro-co-gen systems (combined heat and power), Juniper small engines and Westport cycle engines.

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P O W E R P R O D U C T S. C O M Gottfried Muench explained the technology journey toward zero emissions diesel and natural gas engines at the Lloydminster heavy oil symposium.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C7

Global Steel grows on the strength of the Canadian Àag

Photo submitted

Calgary – Global Steel, a Calgary-based retailer and distributor of oil country tubular goods has the Canadian flag on its side in more ways than one.

The Calgary-based company is independently owned by Kindersley area businessmen Harold Spicer and his son Eric. Spicer told Pipeline News being Canadian is key to their growth in western Canada, where they have established 18 sales and distribution points.

“We heavily promote and market ourselves as a Canadian company that is independently owned,” said Spicer Global carries a full range of oil country tubular goods from 60.3 mm to 114.3 mm OD tubing and 114.3 mm to 339.7mm OD casing including electric resistance weld and seamless varieties.

“We are in a tremendous growth mode right now,” said Spicer. “People are taking note of us quite a bit now because we are getting so much market share.

Last year, Global sold more than 65,000 tonnes of steel tubing and cas-

ing used for drilling and completions of oil and gas wells along with potash mining in the Saskatoon area.

“We carry a full range of oil country tubular products – anything that is produced according to the American Petroleum Institute,” said Spicer.

Global is throwing their patriotic weight behind a troublesome trade fight against the import of cheap Chinese tubular goods that has led to supply shortages and layoffs at some of their distribution centres.

“More than 95 per cent of the inventory we sell is manufactured in Canada by Canadian companies – Welded Tube of Canada and Lakeside Steel Corporation in Ontario,” said Spicer.

Lakeside Steel Corp. is one of several steel manufacturers in Canada alleging injurious dumping and subsidizing of oil country tubular goods from China resulting in everything from lost sales and price cuts to lay-offs and under utilization of capacity also felt by Global. ɸ Page C8

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Canada's reputation is helping to sell Global Steel around the world ɺ Page C7 “When we take a situation like that where the steel is dumped into Canada and we go into somewhat of a recession, companies like Lakeside that employ thousands of people end up laying people off because we can’t give them orders,” said Spicer.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will issue a decision on Oct. 23 on whether the Chinese imports are harming Canadian producers and will determine if the imports are being dumped or subsidized by Nov. 23. A countervailing duty is possible.

Dumping occurs when goods are sold to importers in Canada at prices that are less than their selling prices in the exporter’s domestic market or at unprofitable prices.

Subsidizing occurs when goods imported into Canada benefit from foreign government financial assistance.

“The investigation has effectively stopped Chinese steel from coming into Canada,” said Spicer.

“By being Canadian, we can get more orders for our Canadian mills and we can get people who are laid off from steel mills and at some of our stock points back to work.”

Despite the trade dispute, Global is especially busy this year is Saskatchewan where tubular goods are sold and distributed in Kindersley, Lloydminster, Estevan and Swift Current.

“We try to set up our stock points where the steel is closest to the areas of activity for drilling to make sure the customers have the product where they need it and when they need it,” said Spicer.

“Most of the demand is coming from the Bakken zone. I believe that Shaunavon area is going to become a very busy area.

“Saskatchewan is definitely leading the charge in our company for sales and it always has. We’ve been always strong in Saskatchewan. There is so much opportunity in Saskatchewan. We are really excited.”

It’s a different story for Global in Alberta ,where demand for tubular products has died off due to a slowdown in gas well drilling, royalty changes and a variety of issues that Spicer says is making it unattractive to drill for oil or gas in Alberta.

“Our sales in Alberta are definitely down,” he said. “It’s a very volatile market because our business is tied so closely with the oil and gas companies. The level of activity that oil and gas companies have mirrors our activity level. There is huge difference in Alberta and Saskatchewan for steel.

“Saskatchewan, because it’s mostly an oilbased province has been very strong for us. Our business would really be suffering if we weren’t in Saskatchewan. It is a core part of our business.

We are really proud to be so involved doing what we are doing there.”

In 2010, Global will celebrate its 20 th year of business that was launched by Harold, who was born in Netherhill near Kindersley where the oil and gas sector has been prominent for decades.

“When he was going to university to become a geological engineer he worked on the rigs,” said Eric, who names Kindersley as his birth place.

“My background is the same kind of thing. I worked out in the oilpatch in Kindersley while I was going to school. A lot of our success and work ethic was developed and fostered growing up in Saskatchewan.

“Harold went on to become a drilling engineer for an oil company. Years down the road, he was looking for a switch and came over the service sector and started the steel company.

“I am the general – I am the succession plan.

I am the guy who lets Harold go to BC and relax and float on the lake and do some golfing.”

As a point of interest, Eric’s mom and his stepfather own a small oil company near Kindersley that buys steel tubing from Global.

Spicer notes that Global is actively pursuing new opportunities in Syria and Iraq that favour the Canadian connection.

“The thing about Iraq is they are very excited to have a country like Canada with such a great reputation internationally come into their country and do business with them,” he said.

We have a solid growth strategy for our company and we are going to continue to grow and add sales staff and continue to capture more of the market.”

Global Steel is Canadian owned company that sells oil county tubular goods to the oil and gas sector in western Canada.

Photos submitted

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C9

Retired oil executive builds his own ¿eld of dreams Osoyoos –Adrian Erickson is a man with two eyes, one vision and a focal point to his business life.

These assets all come together at the site of the former Anarchist Mountain Ranch overlooking Osoyoos, British Columbia that he bought to develop in 1999 when he was president and CEO of Destiny Resource Services Corp.

“We purchased approximately 6,000 acres to get better utilization of people and equipment during spring break up,” said Erickson. “It was a great time for working out here and it’s a good time to sell lots.”

The original 6,000 acre site has become Erickson’s 8,000-acre Regal Ridge retirement community development, featuring private three-acre lots with spectacular lake and mountain views of the Okanagan Valley.

Erickson acquired the entire ranch property from his company when he stepped down in 2000 with a vision to create a one-of-a-kind development with over 3,000 acres dedicated to wildlife conservation.

“I consider myself a business man,” said Erickson who just turned 57. “I believe I have a vision whereas most developers have a mindset to get in and get out as fast as you can. This is a long-time project.”

Construction is underway on village amenities including a gas bar, coffee shop and community hall and more than 300 fully serviced lots have been sold at prices averaging $250,000.

“We are averaging about 50 lot sales a year,” said Erickson who noted there are another 600 lots to be developed over the next 12 years.

Most of the sales, which are managed by Erickson’s son, Ryan, have been to Albertans who are in the market for a summer home or an active retirement lifestyle in a warm climate.

Regal Ridge abuts Crown land along its northern edge and is ideally located 30 minutes from Mount Baldy Ski Area and 20 minutes from other year-round recreation and shopping in Osoyoos.

The key to the project has been securing financing earlier this year from Ventures North Financial Group Inc., partnered by Fred North of TNT Tank and Trailer in Lloydminster and Aaron Davison of Edmonton.

“They knew about us and we knew about them through a mutual contact,” said Erickson. “We met and we started talking. They are a significant funder and they have partnered with us. They get a very good return on the land sales.

“The money from Ventures North is being used to service more sites and develop infrastructure. It’s given us the capital to expand and bring it up to another level.”

The subdivision includes paved roads and driveways with drilled wells and utilities services to building lots and access to more than 75 kilometres of hiking and mountain bikes trails.

“It was the timing of our association with Ventures North that was good,” said Erickson. “The project was going along pretty good.

“If they had not come along we would not be able to take it to this world class level. It allows us to expand at a time when services can be acquired cost effectively.

“We are putting in a 4,000 foot air strip, doing more work into the central village and providing high speed Internet. That’s what we needed the financing for to take it to the next step.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on re-zoning to double the useful life of the project. We have a land supply for 15 years.”

Erickson has planted thousands of trees and rehabilitated countless acres of land that were overgrazed and over-logged when he started the project in keeping with his environmental roots.

His other son, Jason is the reclamation manager in charge of completing the acreages and readying them for sale.

“I am building on Regal Ridge now, Ryan will be building next spring and Jason already lives on Regal Ridge,” said Erickson.

Erickson was born and raised near Hines Creek, Alberta and ran an outfitting business and did some

trapping while in high school.

He had planned to attend the University of Alberta in 1970 to become a zoologist but when he found out the annual starting salary was a laughable $2,400 a year, he turned to oil field reclamation and seismic work.

He also did a lot of heli-hand cutting and drilling and founded Peace Helicopters Ltd. in 1979 and Destiny Drilling in 1981 that did seismic and water well drilling for oil and gas exploration in more than 19 countries. The company went public in 1996 and was renamed in 1996.

Erickson says the idea to buy Anarchist Mountain Ranch came to him during the 90s’ era of mergers and acquisitions that rapidly shrunk his company’s client base.

“I thought the purchase was long-term smart

thinking ahead with a shrinking clientele,” he said.

“The board of directors didn’t think property development was core business. We parted company and instead of a golden parachute, I took this as my severance. ɸ Page C10

Developer Adrian Erickson discusses the progress of a home construction at Regal Ridge.

C10

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

X-ray helper is now $17 million richer Lloydminster – The small town of Outlook, population 2,200, has become the happy dance capital of Saskatchewan.

That’s where Don Grimard, a 21-year-old Alberta resident, performed his jig after winning a $17,292,550 Lotto 6/49 prize on Aug. 5.

Grimard worked nearly three years for Applus RTD, a non-destructive testing company most recently assisting with testing for the Alberta Clipper Pipeline.

“We are in charge of the non-destructive testing for the Alberta Clipper pipeline,” said Derek Jackson who was one of Grimard’s supervisors.

“We do the girth weld inspection with ultrasonics and X-rays. Don was an X-ray helper on the Clipper.

“He was a super nice guy. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person actually.”

Grimard’s celebration dance kicked in moments after he scanned his winning ticket at the D & E Convenience Store in Outlook, where he bought six $5 quick picks the day before.

“I ran out of the store and started jumping up and down in the parking lot,” he said in a Western Canadian Lottery Corp. news release Aug. 28 when he picked up his prize.

“I was hollering and screaming.I went back to work, but I was only able to work for a half day.It felt like a dream.”

His windfall was half of the $34 million draw prize and the largest lottery prize ever won on a ticket purchased in Saskatchewan and the largest prize ever claimed by one player from Alberta.

The news sent the whole town including Grimard’s co-workers into frenzy of their own.

“Within 15 minutes the whole town – the pipeline yard was just buzzing,” said Jackson. “Everybody was running around after hearing that someone local had won.

“About five minutes after all the commotion, Don came back in and says, ‘I think I won’. Confused was the probably the best way to describe him. He didn’t really understand what was happening.

“It was something pretty cool to see. He wanted to go to work for the morning. He didn’t want to leave us in the ‘jar’ for outstanding work. By noon, he called me back and said ‘I am definitely quitting’.

“I think reality set in by lunch time. He stuck around and waited for a flight the next morning out of Saskatoon.”

Jackson reports, Grimard earned about $70,000 a year at Applus RTD prior to his lotto win and says, “he definitely got himself a good little production bonus. He had a bit of a tough life but this should improve things for him.”

He thinks Grimard is a high headed guy who won’t blow the money or get in trouble like some lottery winners have.

As for the question of where Grimard is now, Jackson would only offer “he’s long gone. A couple of the managers have talked to him since.

“I think he and his parents are going to go on a vacation until things quiet down for him. There’s a lot of frustration that goes along with winning the lottery as well. He’s got lots of friends!”

Grimard told the media that he delayed picking up his prize cheque until he had spoken with a financial advisor and chilled out playing a few rounds of golf.

“It’s important to me to make sure I have things in place so I will never have to worry about finances again,” he told the media at the lottery office in Winnipeg.

He says he plans to use his winnings to help his family and do some travelling and who knows, there could be return trip to Outlook in his future. He told reporters it’s his favourite town in Saskatchewan.

Had Grimard’s ticket been bought as part of his office lottery pool, he would have shared the celebration with 22 of his co-workers who are left thinking “if only.”

“For a couple of months we have been running a ‘Let’s get the hell out here fund’,” said Jackson and noted that Grimard often participated in those draws.

“He went in and bought a quick pick the night before the draw. We’ve been running the lottery as a group and he bought his own ticket on the side.

“We have won 60 bucks and stuff like that. There’s up to 22 people at the most in the draw putting in $10 apiece and he spent just $5!”

“There are only five of us in the pool now but we’ve all got our $5 on the table.

Jackson says he is more excited now when there’s a Lotto 6/49 draw and admits like most people, he dreams a bit about what he would do if he were in Grimard’s shoes but notes he “doesn’t dwell on it too much.

“It would be entertaining to say the least if I won the lottery.”

Field of dreams ɺ Page C9 “At the end of the day I wanted to do something different. I wasn’t getting any satisfaction from what I was doing.

“The oil patch was a really good business. It was a handshake business. A lot of my clients who were like that retired and the business has changed. It’s not done like it was before.

“I watched Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams - if you build it they will come. I’ve always wanted challenges in life. The Regal Ridge project is just a sense of accomplishment. This is my last big project.”

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Chamber appeals to oilpatch leaders Lloydminster – Always look at the bright side of life. That’s what the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce hopes to accomplish from its fall business booster campaign called Right Here, Right Now. The campaign kicked off with a community barbecue Aug. 26 and support from the City of oydminster, the Lloydminster,

“I know the oilpatch has been hurting during the downturn but there are some positives. They have been able to streamline their businesses.

“They have been able to reach out to each other which is what the campaign wants to focus on – we are all in this together and we will get through it together.”

it reflects on your whole business, employees and family.”

The cheerleading portion of the campaign will be followed by a series of educational workshops will provide an opportunity for businesses to evaluate their business plans and their strategic planning to prepare for the upturn in the economy.

“The follow-up workshops will be about helping businesses to prepare for the good times,” said Tenney who sees optimism already creeping back into the community.

“Some companies are streamlining, some companies are focusing more on the strength of their companies rather than trying to be everything to everyone. This is a good opportunity to do that.”

The Right Here, Right Now campaign is also an opportunity for the Chamber to acquire new membership from Bev Dixon, from the Lloydminster Chamber of the energy sector.

Currently, only one Commerce displays the colourful bag of promotenth of the Chamber’s tional items for the Right Here, Right Now cammembership includes lopaign. cal and oil and gas companies.

Streetscapes Company, The purpose of the “The campaign is all the Lloyd Mall Merchants drive according to Bev about encouraging busiAssociation and the car Dixon, the Chamber’s ness growth,” said Tenney. dealership association. special projects coordina- “We would like to increase Local oil and gas tor, is to incite a commu- our membership too but companies are also being nity-wide attitude adjust- we are not just focusing canvassed to join in the ment for businesses and on the Chamber. We are campaign in a more, the oil companies to focus on focusing on the whole merrier approach by the the economic positives business community.

Chamber. and prepare for the up“We are trying to in“We would really like tick. clude the oilfield in the them to be part of this “We like to refer to community spirit and whole campaign because it as a pep rally,” she said. trying to get them onthey are such an impor- “It’s very easy to focus on board and offering them tant part of our commu- the negatives in a down- a promotional package nity and a huge part of our turn. There are some posi- and making them aware economy so they fit with tives. of what the campaign is us really well,” said Pat “A lot of it is atti- about.

Tenney, executive director tude. If you are thinking “We have some fabof the Chamber. with a defeatist attitude, ulous leaders in our oil

community and they have been leaders in the community as well in supporting some the social programs and some of the structures that we have.

“This is the time to retool and refocus on what’s important in their companies and take that opportunity to make the changes they need in order to get through the downturn and get ready for the ramp up that is

coming.’

The Chamber is actively marketing the sale of a participation kit for the Right Here, Right Now blitz to its member businesses and oil and gas companies.

The package includes balloons, posters, door decals, a car flag that comes with a reusable shopping bag and an opportunity to be involved in future activities, such as mail-out

coupons and a presence on the Chamber website.

“Going forward with the campaign we want to offer opportunities for businesses to learn about some of the things they can do to prepare for the ramp up so we don’t get in a position where we don’t have enough employees to do the work that needs to be done or enough skilled employees,” said Tenney.

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Astec safety owners back as masters of their own destiny Lloydminster – JoAnne and Larry Johnston and their son Chris are back in control of their safety training and services company re-named Astec Safety Inc. and relishing the experience.

“We are a family owned business. We are getting back to basics,” said Jo-Anne, the vicepresident in charge of business development.

“We are specializing in training and equipment providing service, sales and rentals of oilfield safety equipment and safety training.”

Her optimism follows the family’s decision to buy back their company, formerly called Astec Safety Services, from their joint venture partner Everyready Energy Services on Aug. 1, 2009.

That’s when Everyready was bought by U.S. company Clean

Harbors, a hazardous waste disposal company.

They gave Everyready’s non-core assets like Astec a chance to opt out after being controlled by Everyready

since 2005.

“It feels great,” said Jo Anne of their decision to buy out and be independent again.

“Both ownership situations have their upside.

I can’t say it was a bad

experience to be part of Everyready.

“We had an opportunity to expand and grow. In the end, you have to make a choice.

We weren’t prepared to take the next step and

be a part of a billion dollar company.

“We felt we know what we do best and we prefer being back and doing that.”

Astec’s forte is safety training using the

Jo-Anne and Larry Johnston and their son Chris hold a framed copy of oilpatch scenes by artist Trevor Kuntz they are using for the cover of safety courses.

motto “the ticket gets you on-site, the training gets you home” and is pursuing third party a accreditation for all its courses.

“We believe in what we are doing,” said JoAnne. “Every day, we hear about accidents in the industry. When we get it right and nobody is getting killed there will be no need for companies like us.

“There is a need to give quality training for those people coming in to the industry. This is important. It may be the most important day of your life to find out what the dangers are.”

In fact, Everyready made it a point to approach Astec about a business partnership deal in 2005 based on their safety training relationship with Astec in the Bonnyville area where Everyready operated. ɸ Page C13

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C13

Quality and service the heart of local safety company ɺ Page C12 “They were impressed with our service and quality,” said Jo-Anne. “They proposed a joint venture for us to expand into areas where they were prevalent including Fort McMurray, Bonnyville and Provost.”

The honeymoon with Everyready led to new store openings in those locations within nine months, a fact that still amazes Jo-Anne.

“It was a huge undertaking,” she recalled. “For the last two years, we have been nurturing those businesses and helping them to grow. Now we feel we can service the industry.”

Astec even opened a shop in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador in November 2008 that is still busy training offshore workers and those headed west.

Safety program offerings at all locations range from certified Enform and St. John’s courses to Oil Sand Safety Association (OSSA) certified programs such as fall protection and confined space rescue.

“Accreditation means when a customer comes in asks for a specific course, it’s not just Astec saying a course meets the industry requirements but that we are recognized by third party organization that has given approval to our programs,” said Larry, the vice-president in charge of training and quality control.

“We’re talking about institutions such as Enform, OSSA, Alberta Damage Prevention Council, and the Alberta and Canadian safety councils.”

Astec has hired Ed Masson as their full time program developer and all instructors have years of safety knowledge in the oil and gas industry.

“We like to hire people to do our training who have ton of industry background and a ton of experience to try to get people to buy into this thing we call safety,” said Chris, the general manager.

“It’s a way of life. It doesn’t matter if you are changing the oil on your vehicle or working 150 feet up a tower. Safety is a living, breathing thing we need to buy into in order for it to do anything for us.”

Astec also sells services and rents a full line of industrial safety equipment and supplies including gas detection equipment, air packs, fire extinguishers and fall arrest products.

“We do repairs, sales and rentals of that equipment,” said Chris who oversees the servicing of safety products and rental equipment.

“Rentals are a big part of our business. We did have a bit of recession but as it’s moved along, it’s definitely coming back.

“Right now, the big mover is fire extinguishers. Everybody is trying to keep up with compliance with extinguishers.”

Astec is also an authorized dealer and distributor for Sperian safety products including fall protection, respiratory monitors, hearing and eye protection and the popular Survive- Air Pack, a self-contained breathing apparatus.

“That’s a huge line for us,” said Larry. “It’s priced very competitively and they are very well known and well established. In this market people shop around – it’s good buy.

“With Sperian, our technicians are trained by the factory and we are the warranty dealers for them. We can sell the product and fully service and warranty it as well. That’s one of the advantages with Survive- Air products for us.”

Astec is also a distributor of Sperian’s Miller and BioSystems brands of equipment and has six technicians to service its inventory.

The Johnstons bought their business from one of the company founders in 2003 after they moved from Sylvan Lake to follow Jo-Anne’s transfer to Lloydminster with Canada Post where she worked full time.

Chris and Larry operated a steam and vac truck business in Alberta and they both landed jobs with Astec before all three jumped aboard and bought the company.

Since taking back the company in August, the Johnstons have been undergoing a re-branding to get the word out there are a family-owned business again.

“Now we are getting back to putting the things that we think are important first and be able to concentrate more on the safety side of the business,” said JoAnne.

“We have stayed the management team right from the beginning. It’s differ-

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C14

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Oil¿eld workers picking RTM homes

An electrician contractor wires the interior of an RTM home.

Lloydminster – If you buy a home from Nelson Ready to Move Homes in Lloydminster, it’s like you already know your neighbour.

Donovan, Preston and Maddison, please meet Hampton, Jacob and Ryley.

These are the names of some of the 26 model homes made by Nelson RTM, a division of Nelson Lumber.

Nelson RTM can

build and move an entire finished home from 900 to 2,700 square feet from their construction yard at Range Road 15 south of Highway 16 west of Lloydminster to a serviced lot with a foundation. Nelson RTM’s are also built in High River, Alberta.

“The majority of our business a year ago was oilfield related whether the buyer was hauling fuel or water or working directly in the oilfield,” said Tim Rau, general manager.

“Now, it’s switched somewhat since the slowdown to agricultural. We still build a lot of homes for oilfield related people.

“This year, we will sell 30 to 35 RTMs at this location compared to 45 when the economy was stronger. With our two locations we will sell more than 75 this year.

“We are keeping going. Things are starting to move already. We see a lot more traffic and more interests in quotes.”

The optimism reflects a report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. that housing starts across the country rose more than 12 per cent in August, hitting a seasonallyadjusted annual rate of 150,400.

Construction in the western provinces was particularly strong, soaring 56 per cent in British Columbia and 16.1 per cent on the Prairies.

“We are starting to get a lot more people phoning and asking about houses,” said Rau. “Overall, I would say the whole economic per-

Nikki Rainford, sales coordinator, shows off a washroom on display at the RTM show home at Nelson Lumber in Lloydminster.

spective has changed in the last three or four months. There is a lot more optimism about what’s going on.”

Mark Neumann, Nelson’s RTM specialist reports he is seeing a lot of interest recently from the uptick in oil activity near Cold Lake, Bonnyville and even Fort McMurray.

The major selling points of an RTM home are quality of construction, available trades workers, lower prices for home buyers and guaranteed delivery deadlines, “We have control of the trades here,” said Rau. “We like to promote the fact our houses are delivered on a timely basis and on budget whereas, if you build them on site you have travel times and an inconsistent schedule that the trades are going to provide.

“During the boom years it was difficult to get trades, and that applied to us. Now, we have

control of trades. We tender out on a yearly basis so they know what is coming down the pipe. In the busy season we had up to 50 people working on site in various trades.”

Nelson RTM Homes can build a house from under $79 a square foot to approximately $95 per sq. ft depending on the size and floor plan.

“Quality and service is our key,” said Rau. “We are very diligent on our service and the quality we put into our homes. I believe we are second to none.”

Nelson’s RTMs are engineered and built to higher codes where needed to minimize any damage while in transport that could be as far away as Grande Prairie or Brooks, Alberta.

“The key is to hire good movers and make sure the houses are built better than those in town,” said Paul Biever, senior site supervisor. ɸ Page C15

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C15

Former oilpatch worker puts his “animal instincts” to the business test

By Geoff Lee Lloydminster –You could call Rick Dyck’s new job a pet project.

After working a few years in the cyclical oilpatch, Dyck and his wife Sherry decided it was time to become captains of their own career ship.

He and his wife Sherry took over the ownership of the M-R Pets store in Lloydminster on June 1 with no regrets.

Nearly four months down the road, Dyck finds himself bonding with customers, staff and pets such as Tempo, a chatty tropical bird and not missing the ups and downs of the oil business.

“I love it,” said Dyck. “It’s much better for me than the oilpatch. In terms of the customer base, customers are quite happy to talk about their pets.

“It’s definitely a different clientele. It is a retail business. The people we deal with are easy to get along with. It’s a fun, family type of business to run.

“I just found that the energy sector was quite cyclical. With the pet industry, it’s a recession- resistant industry. Everybody has pets and they need to look after them.

“We have lots of them – too many. We’ve got dogs and cats and rabbits and fish – you name we have it.”

Dyck says he and his wife began to shop around for a business as a change to the oilpatch and steady career opportunity.

He was transferred from Calgary to Lloydminster in 2002 by Weatherford to manage their used equipment division but found himself looking for work about a year later when the shop shut down.

His next move, managing CE Franklin Ltd.’s supply store short-circuited in 2008 when Full Tilt Field Services acquired the shop and restructured.

After working for a few months managing the service department of National Oilwell, Dyck and his wife decided it was time to follow their dream of owning a business.

“My wife and I were saying we need to take charge of our own destiny and this opportunity came available,” said Dyck. “There hasn’t been any looking

Rick Dyck holds a cute pet mini-lop rabbit for sale.

back. It’s been fun.”

The Dycks bought the pet store from former owner Ken French who wanted to retire after running it successfully for 30 years.

Originally, the business was located in the Lloydminster Mall and moved to its current location at the Wayside Plaza seven or eight years ago.

“It’s not without a transition period but over the past few months we have gotten to know the staff quite well and that’s progressing nicely,” said Dyck. A lot of the customers I dealt with in the oilpatch are customers of the store.”

“It was a big leap for my wife and I to take and get into something different like this but if anything, it’s been a breath of fresh air and it’s made me want to get up in the morning and go to work.

“The employees who work for me are committed to what they are doing. They are here because they want to work, not because they have to work.

“That’s a big change from the industrial sector.

Some people seem more inclined to be there to work for a pay cheque rather being there for the enrichment of the job.”

Dyck has always owned and loved pets and says

his two daughters age six and nine “absolutely love coming to the store.”

Owning the store has also been an opportunity for Dyck to use the business smarts he acquired from working in the oilpatch and from earning his degree in business administration.

He began his studies in 1998 at the University of Calgary and paid his way through school working part-time for Weatherford before being transferred to Lloydminster, where he competed his degree in 2007.

“Owning the store allows me to use some of the skills that I have acquired academically,” he said. “The trick with this business is to try to mix things up and bring in new products as they become available.”

M-R Pets is an A to Z pet store that carries a full range of food and products for pets such as cats, dogs, fish and birds. The store also has a wide selection of tropical fish and supplies.

M-R Pets carries seasonal items such as Christmas gifts for pets and their owners and pond supplies for seasonal outdoor gardens.

“We sell lot of livestock like guinea pigs, birds, hamsters – you name it, we have it,” said Dyck. “We stock reptiles and we provide dog grooming services.

“The most popular pet with kids are rabbits. They are friendly warm and cuddly and easy to keep.”

As for those pesky rats that are causing havoc in cities such as Swift Current, Saskatchewan and recently in Calgary, Dyck reports pet stores in Alberta are not allowed to sell those rodents.

“I have been reading the tabloids about some of the problems they are having in Saskatchewan with rats,” he said.

“There is legislation that prevents us from selling certain animals such as exotic animals or turtles and of course rats. Live rats are big no-no.”

M-R- does however, sell frozen rats as reptile food brought in from other provinces.

Workers picking RTM homes ɺ Page C14 Biever says outside sheeting is nailed and glued and there is 1 ¾-inch by 11-inch rim board all around the base so it acts as a beam material.

“There is a lot of structural engineering that goes into it,” added Rau. “We have stiffened up the structure where we can. We add extra hangers and perimeter joints to make the structure rigid and take the tolerances of the highway.”

The home owner does the foundation work beforehand and ties in the plumbing, heating and electrical when the home is delivered and rolled into position.

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C16

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Steel buildings help to strengthen startup oil¿eld insulating company

Ken Larson is relocating his KenLar Insulations to this new WedgCor Inc. steel building.

Irma, Alta. –KenLar Insulations in Irma, Alta., got into the steel building business a year ago to shield itself from slow cycles in the oilpatch.

With fall just underway, the company is ramping up its seasonal oilfield insulation activity and looking forward to boosting sales

of WedgCor Inc. steel buildings sourced from Jamestown, North Dakota for installation next spring and summer.

“It’s been almost a year since we’ve been with WedgCor and we are completing our third building,” said owner Ken Larson.

“It’s going pretty good so far. Most of the

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buildings have been for agricultural purposes.

We do the smaller shops from 30-ft. by 60-ft. to large 80-ft. by 100-ft. buildings.

“We only have a few months to put them up.

I think next summer we will double what we did this year. The word is spreading and I am hoping this will carry us a

little bit. I think we have a good product here.”

The first steel building KenLar put up was a 36’ by 46’ for their own supply shop to relocate their business from town to a larger property with Highway 14 frontage just west of Irma.

“It kind of gives us free advertising right on the highway and we can set out some of our other products that people can see from the highway,” said Larson.

An office trailer will be moved onto the property soon to complete the move and facilitate additional sales.

“We haven’t touched the oilfield for a big steel building like ours yet but there definitely room for these in the oilfield and just depends on how we are going to put them up,” said Larson.

“I am thinking a steel base building on an I-beam system would be the way we’d have to go with these.”

Larson says he learned about WedgCor through a friend of a friend and eventually

contacted the company and invested in advertising and supplies as a sales consultant.

“We did our building first to see how it all went together and get our guys well versed on how well they went up,” said Larson who knows the value of diversity.

“Insulation tends to slow down in the summertime. You have to diversify to stay alive. I think I would have some hungry guys if I didn’t.”

KenLar has some employees who are ticketed for scaffolding work.

The company also makes small buildings using utilidor urethane panels and does some glycol tubing. They also sell and install soft cover blankets for valves and flanges.

“If we didn’t have these other services things would have been pretty slow this past summer,” said Larson.

“We have been managing to go week to week and keep everybody going.”

Further diversity could follow with spray foaming to satisfy a

growing number of requests to spray foam basements, attics and their steel buildings with R-20 to R-50 warmth values.

“We just did one in Chauvin,” said Larson.

“They are better with insulation because you could get condensation problems.”

KenLar provides a turnkey service from start to finish from the pouring of the cement pad and footings to the installation of the sumps, gutters and assembly of steel components with a coloured galvanized roof and siding.

There are anchor bolts cemented into the foundation and all of the main columns are bolted to the cement and Larson says “it’s a bolt-up pattern for the rest.”

Larson says the advantage of a steel building is that it will last a lifetime and can save money with lower insurance premiums compared to wooden structures.

They can also be completely assembled in four to eight days including doors and windows followed by electrical work that is sub contracted.

KenLar is stocking its new steel shop with all types of oilfield insulation including fibreglas, mineral wool, foamglas, calcium silicate, tank wrap and urethane panels in expectation of a busy season. ɸ Page C17

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C17

Lloydminster Heavy Oil Symposium

Ken Larson opens up a piece of mineral wool pipe insulation.

Kenlar looking to move into oilÂżeld buildings Éş Page C16 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Right now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the fourth quarter for the oilďŹ eld and they usually keep money aside to get ready for the winter,â&#x20AC;? said Larson.

When you have trouble and pipes freeze up they have to heat trace it, steam it and get it ready to be insulated so they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that problem again. From now until Christmas, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usually wide open. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We supply a good service for the oilďŹ eld â&#x20AC;&#x201C; facilities, batteries, small wells out in the ďŹ eld.

We go in after the electricians have heat traced the piping and put our insulation over top of the heat traces to supply a constant temperature. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For tank farms, we box in clusters of piping inside the utilidor. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more cost eďŹ&#x20AC;ective than doing each pipe individually. Mostly, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winter stuďŹ&#x20AC; so they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have freeze-up issues.â&#x20AC;?

Larson has been doing oilďŹ eld insulation for more than 15 years and started his own company to work closer to Irma where he was born and raised. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We started the company two years ago and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come a long way since. I did it all on my own. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want any partners to argue with.

So far itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a tough go,â&#x20AC;? he said but his dad Richard helps by picking up the freight in North

Dakota in a diesel truck. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been 24/7.

When you got 12 guys relying on having work for them on Monday morning you got to keep going and keep everyone happy. Hopefully, one day it will all pay oďŹ&#x20AC;.â&#x20AC;?

KenLar currently has 12 employees and will hire ďŹ ve or six more as seasonal insulation orders pick up. The company bought a house in Kerrobert Saskatchewan to house workers who are busy last winter insulating pipe and doing facilities work in the Colville area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope we get quite a bit more work there as the heating bills can be high,â&#x20AC;? he joked.

World Champion curler Kevin Martin drove from his home in Edmonton to entertain the Lloydminster heavy oil symposium banquet held at the Best Western Wayside Inn. Photo by Geoff Lee

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C18

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

CJS tubing goes stateside with its FLATpak coil product

Joe Reck grips a section of an early prototype of encapsulated coil tubing.

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Lloydminster – Joe Reck and Collin Morris, the two principle owners of CJS Coiled Tubing Supply Ltd., were born in Canada but are in danger of acquiring American accents.

On their business cards, Reck, an owner/ operator, and Morris, the president have found a growing market in the United States for the Flatpak tubing system they designed in 2007.

Morris should be jetting back from Holland soon after delivering a paper during the 3rd European Conference on Gas Well Deliquification Sept. 15-17 and manning a booth promoting the FLATpak.

The development of the FLATpak was expensive but worth it as the market for CJS’s conventional coil tubing has stagnated during the industry slowdown.

“The new product is key to future growth,” said Reck. “We are like any company. You have to diversify and find new methods.

“The conventional

coil market will come back when the markets turnaround but the Flatpak will definitely strengthen.”

The FLATpak umbilical uses multiple coiled-tubing strings that are encapsulated in a plastic jacket to create one uniform, rectangular shaped matrix that can use a production conduit.

“Most of our customers are currently in the States but we have a lot of users in Canada as well,” said Reck. “It’s been used mostly for dewatering of gas using jet pumps or hydraulic submersibles.

The FLATpak can be configured to convey virtually any artificial lift system into an oil or gas well and can deploy pumps for cleanouts to remove liquid, sand or bitumen from filled wellbores.

“It’s a multi-tubular conveyance system which means we can convey anything you like whether it’s an electric submersible pump, an hydraulic pump, a single point gas lift, a dual point gas lift, a hybrid pump or a progressive cavity pump,” explained Morris. “It’s for putting things in the ground.”

CJS Coiled Tubing is being used to de-liquefy low pressure, low rate stripper wells in southern and northwestern Alberta and in a growing number of

states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.

A stripper well is a well that can no longer produce on its own energy to evaporate its own well bore fluids. It’s either no longer flowing or its production is restricted due to liquid loading.

“That market is extremely large,” said Morris. “Some 60 per cent of North American gas production comes from stripper type wells.

“The market we are in – assuming the gas price comes back should be very profitable.

“The greatest potential is for coalbed methane beds and shale gas in some areas like the Barnett shale gas formation in Texas.

“We can do everything live. We don’t have to snub or kill the well so we have a number of different advantages including costs. Intervention times are also lower since we don’t need the service rig to kill the well.

“We are not like other coil companies that have service trucks.

We don’t have service trucks. We are a supply company.

“We supply products to the coil tubing industry. We don’t perform any coil tubing services. We supply parts, coil tubing and FLATpak. ɸ Page C19

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Collin Morris Àts the terminator cap to a wellhead made for the CJS FLATpak coil tubing while Joe Reck looks on.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C19

New products are key to future growth ɺ Page C18 “Often we will go will go out in the field and help with the transitional learning curve but after three or four jobs, they don’t need us anymore.”

CJS Coiled Tubing will also be deploying its FLATpak tubing system on some new deep wells – 4,000 to 7,000 metres deep – in New Mexico, Wyoming, California and Colorado.

“We expect to have those in the ground by December,” said Morris.

Morris says the idea for the FLATpak came from a customer – Global Energy Services – that were having problems conveying their hydraulic submersible pump. It needed three tubulars to drive the pump and produce fluid to the surface.

“We went through a series of iterations and came up with the Flatpak,” said Morris. “Like any research and development, we went through several iterations and several tests and styles of pipe from round to triangle.

“The shapes were critical – the reason being – we were looking for something that was easy to use, easy and cheap to manufacture and could be manufactured locally – in Houston where our coil tubing is manufactured.”

CJS Coiled Tubing credits Lloydminster companies such as Sandpiper

Coiled Tubing Services, Danco Coiled Tubing Ltd, T-Rock Coiled for assisting with the research and development of the FLATpak.

Metaltek Machining manufactures all of the company’s equipment including the wellhead units that go with the FLATpak.

Asked it if was good timing to develop a new product in 2007, Reck gave a yes and no answer.

“There is a lot of R and D,” he said. “A lot goes into a new product to prove it up. There were a lot of sleepless nights.”

For his part, Morris, believes conventional coil cubing will continue to be the standard for coil tubing. He also has high expectations for the FLATpak for stripper well de-liquifications.

“It may replace conventional tubing in some wells due to costs,” he said.

“We are seeing that in upcoming gas well projects in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. There is also potential for other zones as they taper off and age.

The FLATpak’s potential for the heavy oil market could be realized as soon as a pump manufacturer comes up with a hydraulic submersible progressive cavity pump.

“We would need a pump of some sort to go on the end of it,” said Morris.

“Once those pumps hit the market we will try them out.”

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CJS president Collin Morris holds a dual 1 1/4-inch Flatpak designed for a jet pump.

C20

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C21

Osum could turn awesome with its funded SAGD oilsands projects Calgary – Osum Oil Sands Corp. is generating excitement of the over the potential of its upcoming pilot in the Saleski carbonates south of Fort McMurray and its proposed Taiga oilsands project at Cold Lake – both using SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage).

“I think it is the most fascinating new thing to happen in heavy oil development in the last 10 to 15 years,” said Steve Spence chief operating officer and vice-president of projects about the Saleski pilot.

“A number of companies woke up to the area in 2006. Shell went in a bought a large land position around the same time Osum acquired its acreage in the southern part of the trend.”

Osum has a 40 per cent working interest in the Saleski pilot with a jointventure partner, Laricinda Energy Ltd. adjacent to Osum’s 100 per cent owned lands.

“We are looking for the startup of the pilot by late 2010 or early 2011,” said Spence.

The Saleski and Taiga properties have the potential to support a total of four commercial projects with an estimated production potential of 200,000 barrels a day from recoverable reserves pegged at 2.2 billion net bbls.

The junior oil explorer will submit a commercial application for its planned 35,000 bbls a day Taiga project located on its 29 sections of land near Cold Lake before the end of the year along with an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Pending regulatory approval, Osum will begin construction at Taiga in the latter half of 2011 with the first bitumen production in early 2014.

The Taiga project will consist of more than 750 SAGD directional wells are planned along with 64 cyclic steam stimulation wells. About 75 per cent of the oil will come from the Clearwater formation and 25 per cent from the Lower Grand Rapids zone.

“We are really excited about moving this project forward and we think it will be a good addition to the area,” said Spence.

“We completed the delineation of the leases last winter and right now we are driving toward submitting the commercial application and the EIA at the end of this year.”

Osum has put together a project team with more than 350 years of combined experience in oilsands development.

The company currently has about 30 employees and expects to increase that number to 40 by year-end and up to 60 by the end of 2010.

Spence managed the exploration and development of a number of oilsands projects for Shell Canada including their Orion SAGD project at Cold Lake before coming to Osum to lead the Taiga project that he says will be primarily a SAGD operation.

“The project will be a thermal project,” he said. “We do see some parts of the reservoir that will require Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) similar to what Imperial Oil does right next door. I would say about two thirds of the project will be developed with SAGD.” Because Taiga is a proven productive area near Imperial’s 150,000 bbl per day CSS operations along with area producers Canadian Natural Resources, Royal Dutch Shell and Husky Energy Inc., no pilot is needed.

“When we look at the projects in the region it will be very similar to what has already been done,” said Spence. We are not re-inventing the wheel.”

Osum will also apply SADG stimulation to its Saleski pilot project that will tap into the Grosmont formation that contains an estimated nine billion bbls of oil.

“The recoverable number is subject to great amount of speculation,” said Spence. “It will depend a lot on the results of the pilot to help us understand what the true production potential is there.”

The unique feature of the Grosmont is the “incredible” permeability of the carbonate reservoir that is saturated with bitumen.

Steve Spence reports Osum is making progress on its two thermal projects.

Photo submitted

“The oil is not in sand,” said Spence. “It’s fairly different than other oilsands plays. What we see in the properties of the reservoir really makes us believe that it’s the next big heavy oil play.”

The Saleski carbonate zones contain an abundance of fractures which will allow a heat or solvent to be carried through the formation to recover the bitumen.

Osum raised $375 million for its projects before the economic downtown in 2008 and will spend an additional $25 million by the end of this year.

“The financing we raised a year ago is really what we use as a replacement for cash flow,” said Spence. “It’s what we draw down to get our work done.

“We are glad we are not out there trying to raise money right now. We get to focus on our project and getting our work done.

“When the project is up and running we will have a nice cash flow and lots of work left to do.”

Osum received the final terms of reference from the Alberta Environment for the Taiga EIA that it began to work on months ago to collect four season data on wildlife studies.

“These environmental studies are all part of scoping out what the project could be and determining what the disturbances could be,” explained Spence.

One of the key environmental components of the Taiga project is the decision to use and recycle 95 per cent of saline water from brackish sources for steam generation instead of using fresh water.

The central processing facility with be “carbon capture ready” in anticipation of legislation on greenhouse gas emissions.

The project will also be designed to minimize surface disturbance using multi-well pads with horizontal wells. Osum is even considering developing a steam and electricity co-generation plant in the latter stages of the project.

“What takes up a lot of my life right now is trying to get clear messages out about is really going on in oilsands and to differentiate the issues between the companies who are doing mining and in-situ,” said Spence.

“We are making sure we are designing the most efficient project possible.

We are following through with the EIA and really looking very closely at mitigation measures. We also want to make sure we are compliant with any of the new regulations that are coming.”

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C22

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Osum’s Saleski carbonate play could strike a ‘home run for the company’ Lloydminster – Osum Oil Sands Corp. hopes to be the first junior oil explorer to tickle the elephant oil reserves of the Grosmont formation with its Saleski carbonates SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) pilot project in late 2010.

The pilot will be conducted with joint venture partner Laricina Energy Inc. on 40 per cent owned Osum leases next to its 100 per cent owned lands to prove the commercial viability of the carbonates with SAGD. Osum is also the third largest resource holder in the bitumen-bearing Saleski carbonates after Shell and Husky in a remote area south of Fort McMurray.

“The pilot is mainly a technical test on the recovery method we want to use,” said Jamie Carlson manager of operations.

Carlson answered questions about Saleski following his presentation on Osum’s Taiga oilsands project near Cold Lake before delegates at the 16th annual Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium held Sept. 16-17.

The proposed Taiga project (see story on C21) will also be a SAGD operation but in a productive and proven bitumen resource near Cold Lake.

Osum will submit a commercial application by the end of the year for its planned 35,000 barrels per day Taiga project with regulatory approval expected in 2011 followed by the first bitumen production in 2014.

Comparing both projects, Carlson noted Taiga “is closer and a little more real but Saleski is the home run for our company.

“With any luck, the pilot will be cash flow gen-

erating but we don’t expect it to be,” he said. “The promise is huge. The potential is because of the vast size of the resource – 400 billion barrels of oil in one reservoir in one place in the world is rare to find.”

The carbonate play is described by Osum as an immense global resource potentially second only to Saudi Arabia in size.

“It’s one of the biggest oil deposits in the world,” said Carlson. “If you can find a way to exploit even a small percentage of that, you will have a tremendous amount of oil recovery coming out of that area.

“Once our pilot project with Laricina is up and running in 2010, we will prove the commerciality of the carbonates and we will be off to the races.”

Osum is working on an estimate of nine billion barrels of oil in place (net) on its operating area in the carbonates – a resource that has been overlooked by the development of other hydrocarbon-rich areas of western Canada.

The carbonate rock in the Grosmont formation is very permeable, is fully saturated with bitumen and contains a number of fractures that Carlson says present advantages and disadvantages in terms of steam stimulation.

“The advantage is that the fractures are full of oil and there are no rocks or sands to take up the space that the oil does,” he said. “It’s also an advantage because it helps to transmit the thermal energy faster.

“It can be a disadvantage as well as you can transmit thermal energy further than you’d like it in some cases. With the carbonates, the challenge will be to have some method to keep the thermal energy in place without having it take off down a fracture somewhere where you don’t want it to go.”

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Carlson assumes if the pilot test is productive and economical, it would prompt other companies with carbonate leases to hurry their pilots and push the development of much needed infrastructure in the area.

“It’s a challenge because it’s a remote area and there are no pipelines to take the oil to sale,” said Carlson.

He added that Osum made the decision to secure leases in the areas in 2006 simply because “that’s where the oil is.”

Jamie Carlson addressed the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on the Taiga project about the Saleski carbonates.

Photo by Geoff Lee

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C23

OilÀow Solutions introduces its oil mobilizing polymer Lloydminster – Go with the flow. That could be an ideal marketing slogan for Oilflow Solutions Inc. that introduced their Proflux chemical technology at the 16th Annual Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Show Sept. 16-17.

Proflux is a polymer-based technology that converts thick, low mobility bitumen and heavy oil to free-flowing, low viscosity dispersions.

Phil Fletcher, the company’s technical director and a physical chemist who developed the formula describes Proflux as an oil mobilizer or a heavy oil viscosity reducer.

“It’s a chemical product that is a water soluble polymer that mixes with oil with varying viscosities and it mobilizes the oil,” he explained.

“The idea is to make the oil more ‘flowable’ and ‘pumpable’ in many environments including reservoirs, pipelines and in wells around progressive cavity pumps.”

The commercial applications are called Wellflux for mobilizing the flow of oil near subsurface pumps and TransFlux for increasing the throughput of oil in pipelines.

Oilflow Solutions is also working on the development of a new reservoir application called Terraflux.

Early Wellflex trials on wells in Peace River, Wabasca and Lloydminster resulted in increased oil production from 40 to 400 per cent and were the subject of a presentation by Jeff Forsyth, Oilflow’s research and development manager.

Forsyth used a video and slides to show how the Proflux solution converts heavy oil into a free-flowing dispersion containing encapsulated oil droplets.

The dispersion is composed of 70 parts oil and 30 parts of solution.

As the presentation revealed, dispersions can be easily separated using conventional demulsifiers and

vanced Gel Technology Ltd. and SGAM/4D Global Energy Development Capital Fund.

“We came here because the challenges are here,” said Fletcher. “The North Sea oil is really not super heavy oil. We came to Canada where the heavy oil is and where there is business.

“Proflux was tested to North Sea standards and we have North Sea certification which we are hoping will help us get certification in Canada.

“Right from the beginning we decided there is no room for chemicals that are toxic in the modern world. We specifically designed Proflux to be nonChemist Phil Fletcher demonstrates the effect of toxic and non-polluting. It is very biodegradable.”

Oilflow Solutions offers clients a full range of ProÁux solution on mobilizing heavy oil. services for a well treatment, for example, from seseparation systems to recover the oil. lecting candidate wells and designing the chemical The Proflux solution is typically injected into an treatments to preparing and injecting the product oil well and can significantly cut pump torque, and and monitoring and optimizing the results. pump energy consumption and reduce well costs “We work very closely with the clients, which is with fewer interventions and downtime. why the field trials have been critical to develop an “There are many problems pumping heavy oil,” understanding of each well and develop confidence,” said Fletcher. “The usual problem is that downhole said Fletcher. “We view ourselves as an oilfield serpumps suffer from high torque. vices company.”

“What we do is pump the product under gravity Field trials of TransFlux were conducted a few down the annulus of an oil well. It releases the oil years ago on heavy oil pipelines in Columbia and more easily and it flows more easily so you can in- Albania and resulted in substantially reduced friccrease the pump speed and draw more oil from the tion pressures and ease of transportation. reservoir. This is a way to increase oil production and Oilflow Solutions also has research project to get more out of the reservoir. make Proflux even more applicable to bitumen al“Every well we have treated has responded posi- though Fletcher says bitumen can be defined as a tively. On a case by case basis, some are better than rock to something that is free flowing. others. We are learning the rules now to make every “We will be improving the product and refine it well produce effectively.” to be applicable to bitumen although many of our Proflux was originally developed in the UK in applications at the moment are what you call bituthe mid 90s for North Sea oil before the company men,” he said. uprooted and moved overseas to Calgary in mid“Bitumen typically has an API gravity of 10 and 2008. we are working below that now, so we are techniOilflow Solutions is privately owned by Ad- cally working with bitumen.”

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C24

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Cap and cut with us, Premier Wall implores U.S. delegates Regina –Unlike pantyhose, there may not be a “one size fits all” approach to reducing carbon emissions.

That fact became clear when Premier Brad Wall told a touring U.S. congressional delegation in Regina Sept. 18-19 that he favours a “cap and cut” approach to cutting emissions.

As he first stated during the Council of Federation gathering of premiers in Regina in August, Wall doesn’t like the cap and trade idea pitched by some other premiers and by the Canadian and U.S. governments.

He also reiterated his opposition to a carbon tax to senators Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) and Kay Hagan (Democrat-North Carolina), Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (Democrat), and Jessica Maher, associate director for congressional affairs at the Council of Environmental Quality.

Under the cap-and-trade system, larger polluters who exceed industrial emission targets can buy back credits from greener companies.

Back in August, Wall told his fellow premiers, Saskatchewan prefers a cap and cut method that has the support of Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach.

Quebec, B.C., Manitoba and Ontario are in the cap and trade camp along with the Harper government.

Wall told the U.S. delegates that it makes more sense to invest in green technology to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the air by the province’s coal-

fired electrical generation and the production of bitumen in the oil sands.

Under the cap and trade system, he warned that Saskatchewan, which is a producer of coal and fossil fuels responsible for nine per cent of Canadian greenhouse gas emissions, would face stiffer penalties.

Wall proposes the Canadian and U.S. governments introduce an environmental levy on companies exceeding their emission caps. The money would be re-invested into green technology such as CO2 sequestration.

“If we use the levies charged to companies that exceed their caps for anything but reinvestment into technological solutions to fix the problems in the first place, then it is not environmental policy. It’s a tax,” Wall told the delegates on Sept.

19.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says Congress will be deciding on the U.S. energy policy soon and called the meeting in Regina important in order for energy producing states like his to be heard along with the consuming states.

“We are the producers and many of the other states are the consumers. So we think this is a partnership and we want to make sure our voices are heard when this energy policy is developed,” said Schweitzer to the media.

While in Regina, the congressional party toured the International Test Centre for CO2 Capture at the University of Regina and visited the Weyburn-Midale CCS project.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

C25

Meadow Lake on the energy services and supply map

Meadow Lake hopes to market its new city status to attract energy sector services.

Meadow Lake – Meadow Lake’s new city status announced by Premier Brad Wall Aug. 31 has helped put the former town on the map as a logical service and supply hub for energy exploration and oilsands developments in the northwest part of the province.

“When we talk about oil and gas exploration we see this corner of the province as being a real mover with the oilsands,” said Mayor Darwin Obrigewitsch.

“We are the hub for a lot of services already. Basically, we are looking forward into the future. We have seen Meadow Lake grow and we want to it grow even further.

“This puts the city and the whole region into the spotlight again. We are now a have province that’s growing and we want to march forward with that.”

Meadow Lake’s status as the province’s 14th city will take effect Nov. 9 following the first council meeting after this fall’s civic elections.

As a point of interest, Martensville, a town near Saskatoon, on Sept. 4 was

announced as Saskatchewan’s 15th city, effective this November.

To receive city status, a community must have a population of 5,000 or more.

According to the 2006 census, Meadow Lake was below the 5,000 population threshold to be declared a city.

“Prior to 2006, we actually did a one-off count with the help of Stats Canada and we were over 5,000 then,” said Obrigewitsch.

“When they came back and did their general one, for some reason we were back under again.”

However, with significant growth in the past three years, the town council and provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs were confident that the population had reached the required level.

The decision was made based on health card numbers that show Meadow Lake now has about 6,500 residents.

“It’s growth that is being driven by many factors – agriculture, energy exploration and the tremendous future potential of oil sands development in Saskatchewan,” said Wall in a news release.

“Today’s decision is a vote of confidence in the community and further evidence that Saskatchewan is moving forward.”

Saskatchewan grew by 3,282 in the first quarter of 2009, bringing the population to 1,027,092 - the highest level since July 1, 1988, according to figures released in June by Statistics Canada.

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Obrigewitsch says discussions about Meadow Lake becoming a city go back at least 12 years ago when he was elected to council.

“We looked at different things in the Cities Act that would help us with infrastructure,” he said.

“Also when we talk about economic development, we want to move ahead and we want to attract some new business and people.”

Despite the economic downturn, four new buildings are in various stages of completion on the city’s main street.

The city received $3.15 million from the Community Development Trust Fund last April to build a new waste water treatment facility and construction will start this fall. The plant was previously updated in 1980, 1986 and 2006.

With the latest improvements, the city’s water and waste water treatment systems are capable of servicing a popu-

lation of up to 10,000 including the Flying Dust First Nation.

When oil and gas exploration activity picks up, Obrigewitsch hopes the city can attract energy service and supply businesses.

“Right now, things have been fairly quiet the last six to eight months,” he said. “Previous to the downturn, there was a lot of development and there still is when it comes to the oilsands in the northwest. We have always been a jumping off points for all of your services.

“Whether it be financial or health – we are that last point from here to the northwest. There is no oil and gas activity in the area. We’ve had a lot of interest but things have stalled over the eight to 10 months. We want to prepare for it also.”

As for the future, Obrigewitsch says he hopes Meadow Lake keeps growing at a pace that is manageable.

“We want to make sure we are ahead when it comes to infrastructure.

We have always been like that.”

C26

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

Pump switching system designed for thermal and heavy oil applications

By Geoff Lee Swift Current – The days of pulling tubing strings to switch from a conventional rod pump to progressive cavity pump are over thanks to a universal pump hold down system developed by Dura Products in Swift Current.

The pump hold down system allows heavy oil operators to install either pump type interchangeably into the same seating nipple that comes with the unit.

This makes the product particularly well suited for thermal production where operators may have a need to change the pump type when well temperature changes during steam injection or oil production.

“Flexibility is the key point,” said general manager and mechanical engineer Paul McCreedy who designed the system for heavy oil applications in mind with input from colleague Ray Neudorf.

“Before you had this nipple it wasn’t possible to do this,” said McCreedy. “You had to pull tubing string. With this system, you can change pumps back and forth at any time.”

McCreedy says during the beginning of the production cycle in thermal and heavy oil applications, the well is too hot to handle a PC pump with its rubber or elastomer material.

“Your only option is the conventional reciprocating rod which is completely metal to metal,” he said.

“There are no plastic or elastomer seals in it.

“As you produce a well, the temperature decreases and the viscosity of the oil increases. At some point, you have efficiency problems.

“You run into problems where the rod string doesn’t fall freely because of the viscosity of the oil.

At that point, it is more efficient to use a PC pump that can tolerate the lower temperature.

“The pump hold down system allows you to go from the high temperature phase of production to

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the lower temperature without having to pull tubing.”

According to Dura’s product information on their web site, installation of either pump type is simple – set down to install – and straight pull to retrieve.

The system design features a one piece nipple and an inner mandrel with metal to metal seals to keep the release mechanism free from sand and solids when it’s pulled out of the well.

“We have two prototypes tested and we have quotations all over the world,” said McCreedy. “It’s a brand new product. “We see this as a new product line.

“We have two sizes in this and we may have one or two more sizes. There are only two of us on the de-

sign side so we are pretty snowed under. We certainly hope it will help us to grow.”

Dura’s primary business is the manufacture of conventional rod pumps but they have engineered and manufactured new products recently including a quick change stuffing box and an auto latching tool for deploying and retrieving rod pumps.

“It takes a while to break into new things but we’ve had some good success with our latching tool and we are always on the lookout for new opportunities,” said McCreedy.

The idea for the universal pump hold down system came to McCreedy from a customer who wanted the option of using an insert PC pump.

“It’s one of those deals where the customer comes along and asks ‘is there any way you could do this?’

They don’t know what the solution looks like but they know what they want it to do,” he said.

The key challenge for Dura was to design the hold down system to withstand the high torque of PC pump.

A three-and-a-half inch diameter system was torque tested to 3,500 foot-pounds and a four and a half inch prototype was tested to 5,000 ft. - lbs which McCreedy says, “is way above what you would have in the field.

“A rod pump only has to take an up and down force –tension and compression in the nipple. This design has to be able to withstand torque,” he explained.

“You rotate the rod string to drive the pump so you have to hold the housing of the pump stationery while that happens. This system allows you to do that.

“For our rod pumps, the assembly is a little simpler. It doesn’t have the collet piece. It’s just a friction hold-down but the modification means you can run it either way.”

The pump hold down system will be manufactured at Dura’s 21, 000 square foot shop in Swift Current and sold by CE Franklin Ltd. “We have also been talking directly to some of their PC pump manufacturers,” said McCreedy. “It’s a hard thing to sell on its own. You have to sell the system.

“On the rod pump side, we can supply the pump but with the PC pump, we have to work with the PC pump manufacturers. We are working with a number of those.”

Dura is a Canadian company and a whollyowned subsidiary of Wilson Supply, a division of Smith International Incorporated. Dura also makes pump components and production accessories.

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

WANTED INDUSTRIAL INSULATORS Shop Foreman, Journeyman & Labourers Required immediately.

1A Truck Driver Wanted • Hauling crude oil and salt water • Safety tickets and driver’s abstract required

Please fax resumes to:

780-542-5957

Klaws Trucking Inc. Call Shawn at: 461-6744 or Fax resume to: 1-306-487-2885 ELECTRICAL 3RD, 4TH YEAR APPRENTICES & JOURNEYMEN REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY Require safety certiÀcates & valid drivers licence.

Competitive wages and beneÀts package.

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

TRICAN WELL SERVICE LTD. is one of Canada's fastest growing well service companies, providing a comprehensive array of specialized products, equipment and services utilized in drilling, completion, stimulation and reworking of oil and gas wells in the Canadian and International marketplace. At Trican, we base our recruitment practices on the belief that a company's greatest asset is its people.

Trican provides services in Fracturing, Cementing, Acidizing, Coiled Tubing, Nitrogen and related services in our field bases ranging from Fort Nelson, BC to Estevan, Saskatchewan.

WE ARE CURRENTLY HIRING FOR ALL LOCATIONS:

INTERNATIONAL DRILLING OPPORTUNITIES CanElson Drilling Inc. is looking for experienced hands to crew our newly built 3600 m drilling rigs, with opportunities in both Canada and Mexico.

In addition to following the standard CAODC rig worker wage schedule, the Company provides a beneÀts program, employee savings program and the potential for stock options.

If you are a hard working individual interested in challenging and rewarding work on brand new equipment, and want to join an organization with an involved management team, complete the application form in the Employment section of our website at www.canelsondrilling.com or fax your resume to (403) 266-3968.

Only those applicants with a valid Rig Tech (1,2 or 3) ticket will be considered. The ability to speak Spanish will be a deÀnite asset for those interested in the Mexico project.

We thank all those who apply, but only those chosen for an interview will be contacted.

No phone calls please.

• SUPERVISORS • OPERATORS • DRIVERS • FRAC HANDS A valid Class 1 required as well as prior experience in the above pressure pumping operations.

Trican offers a dynamic work environment and a competitive salary and benefit package. Please apply in person to any of Trican's field bases or forward your resume and references, in confidence to:

Trican Well Service Ltd. Box 849 Estevan, SK S4A 2A7 Fax: (306) 637-2065 • Email: vscott@trican.ca

SpeciÀc Targeting Contact your local pipeline sale rep. to get 35,000 Circulation on your career ad!

Career Opportunities

Great Jobs • • •

Join a growing team Learn and advance Work with the best

Packers Plus Energy Services is a completions technology company with locations in the United States, Canada and agents internationally. Staffed with some of industry's best completions personnel, Packers Plus can engineer and execute the most challenging completions, whether deep, critical sour or extended reach horizontal.

We are unlike any other completions company. Ingenuity in product design, combined with service, quality, and knowledge of the needs of Producers sets us apart from the pack. Look for the introduction of a number of exciting, new and innovative products which are designed to reduce well costs, improve production, and maximize profits.

To support our dynamic growth, we seek a top notch professional for the position of Inventory Coordinator in our Estevan, SK office.

Position Summary This position will be responsible for tracking inventory and processing Order Sheets for our Service Center in Estevan. This position will plan, organize, direct and control inventory activity, ensuring quality, accuracy, and timeliness. Working closely with Service Center Manager, the Inventory Coordinator will have responsibility for all Inventory within the Service Center.

Do you have enthusiasm, drive and determination to get the job done right?

Are you keen to make your mark on a dynamic and growing company?

Do you want to be valued for your skills, your experience, and your initiative?

To find out more and to e-mail your cover letter and resume referencing the above position, please go to careers@packersplus.com.

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Cathodic Protection Technician/Technologist Required and Electrician Required Experience an asset but not required.

Electrical background an asset.

Competitive wages & benefits

Contact Jeff at 634-6464 Fax Resume to 634-3987 or mail to: Box 301 Estevan,SK S4A 2A4

Total OilÀeld Rentals in Midale and Carlyle

-Picker Operators -Bed Truck Drivers Fax resume to: Midale Carlyle Brent Lawrence: Travis Hutt: 458-2811 453-4401 Fax: 458-2813 Fax: 453-4402

(A Division of Total Energy Services Ltd.)

Prairie Petro-Chem ESTEVAN, SK. 634-5808 Looking to fill three (3) Full-Time positions: CHEMICAL DRIVER: Prairie Petro-Chem requires a Truck Driver to operate light to medium duty trucks for transportation and delivery of oilfield Chemicals. Drivers are dispatched out of Estevan and will be making day trip deliveries within SE Sask. and SW Manitoba.

Driver will be required to load and unload and will be required to operate a forklift, pumping equipment, etc.. A Class 1 driver’s license is not required but would be an asset. Position may encounter all kinds of road, weather and traffic conditions.

The qualified applicant must possess the ability to work without direct-supervision, and deliver the load on-time and in a safe manner that complies with regulations. Weekend work and overtime may be required. Valid Class 5 driver’s license and abstract are required. Starting salary will be based on general oilfield experience & ability. Other assets would include any mechanical experience, Forklift training, H2S, WHMIS, TDG and Defensive Driving certificates.

BLENDING PLANT OPERATOR: Prairie Petro-Chem requires an energetic, motivated and careerminded Blending Plant Operator responsible for performing a variety activities related to the production of oilfield and industrial chemicals. Successful applicants will possess a general knowledge and willingness to learn about the safe handling of chemicals, operation of pumping equipment and fluid systems, inventory management, and shipper/receiver responsibilities. Other duties may include operating a variety of equipment and tools related to maintenance and repair activities, and performing related duties as assigned. All duties are to be performed according to company operating procedures in order to maximize the safety of all personnel at the work site and to efficiently perform the task.

Assets for the position include basic mechanical experience, forklift training, H2S, WHMIS, and TDG certificates, basic computer skills and any record keeping experience. Occasional overtime may be required. Starting salary will be based on general experience & abilities.

RECYCLING PLANT OPERATOR: Prairie Petro-Chem requires a Recycling Plant Operator to perform a variety general labourer duties related to the recycling of drums and containers, general shop cleaning, maintenance activities, and performing related duties as assigned.

Starting salary will be based on general experience & abilities.

BENEFITS: - All three are Full time positions - Salaries will be based on education, experience & abilities - Dental, Medical, Life coverage & Retirement benefits

Any interested applicants can forward resume to: Email: bfichter@sasktel.net Fax: 306-634-6694 or drop off at the office at 738-6th Street, Estevan

C28

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

1A Drivers

Johnstone Tank Trucking Ltd. Frobisher, Sk. has openings for 1A Drivers.

TOOLS

Tank truck operators starting at $22-$23 hour.

OT after 60 hours per week. 7-3 - 7-4 schedule.

Extra wages for running vac or pressure trucks.

Rooms available at $300 - $400 per month.

Fax resume with work references & abstract to 306-486-2022 or email: jttl@sasktel.net

JOHNSTONE TANK TRUCKING Ltd. Full Line of Tank Trucks Acid Hauling, Pressure Trucks, Vacuum Trucks

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Warehouse Personnel Required Full time Position 1 G Required Benefits Package Offered For more information contact:

Victor Van Dresar at (306) 577-9934

16-1

JOB OPPORTUNITY

JOB OPPORTUNITY

for Journeyman Heavy Duty Mechanic

for Tank Truck Operators

E-mail resumes to: lhowe@mmmud.ca For more information call

306-453-4411 306-577-9960

16-1

Full time, Competitive Wages, Benefits, Yearly Bonus, New Equipment E-mail resumes to: lhowe@mmmud.ca For more information call

306-453-4411 306-577-9960

16-1

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

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Resources Guide JUSTIN WAPPEL - Division Manager

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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

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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.

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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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OILFIELD HAULING LTD. Specializing in Hauling Well Site Trailers

Lloyd Lavigne â&#x20AC;˘ Kirk Clarkson Owners/Managers 5315 - 37th Street Provost, AB T0B 3S0

6506 - 50th Avenue Lloydminster, AB

Phone: (780) 875-6880

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

Bruce Bayliss Owner/Operator OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: 482-3132 Dispatch: 485-7535 Fax: (306) 482-5271 Box 178 Carnduff, Sk. S0C 0S0

24 Hour Service Specializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

Sandy DeBusschere

Gordon Harty Box 95 Marwayne, AB T0B 2X0

Bus. Phone

Fax No.

Res. Phone

(780) 875-9802 (780) 847-3633 (780) 847-2178 Fresh Water Hauling Custom Bailing & Hauling a l t u s g e o m a t i c s . c o m

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

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

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C30

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

ilÀeld

CHANGE BUY SELL TRADE

For Sale Reconditioned 750 BBL Tanks WANT CASH? Sell your equipment in the OilÀeld Exchange!

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

Oyen, AB.

Oil industry pro¿ts’ projected to dip over 24 per cent for 2008 Ottawa – Profits in Canada’s oil industry are expected to decrease by over 24 per cent this year from record levels in 2008, according to the Conference Board’s Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Oil Extraction Industry – Summer 2009.

“The Canadian oil industry has long been a boom or bust industry, and that has been the case over the past year,” said Todd Crawford, economist.

“The price of crude went from highs of over US$140 to lows of US$35 in the span of just six months. Even though prices have doubled since the start of the year they remain more than 50 per cent below their 2008 record highs.”

Pre-tax profits will drop to $11.6 billion, down from $15.3 billion in 2008. The outlook covers upstream activity and excludes the gas extraction industry, which is a separate forecast.

Production declined in 2008 and is expected to increase by only 1.8 per cent this year due to deferrals of numerous megaprojects in the non-conventional industry and a poor year for conventional drilling.

The slowdown in production and investment will also lower growth in total costs to 12.8 per cent, well below the 27 per cent increase recorded in 2008.

Starting next year, the oil extraction industry will begin to see strong production gains as prices are expected to resume their long-term upward trend. Industry revenues and costs are both expected to increase by an average of more than 20 per cent annually over the next four years.

Resources Guide Bulk Agency 912 6th Street, Estevan

634-7275

Kevin Anderson/Darwin Krall

FUSION INDUSTRIES LTD. • Quality Control • Pressure Welding • OilÀeld • Portable Welding • Fabrication • Breaking • Shearing • CNC Plasma & Torch Cutting • P1-P1 Carbon Steel Procedures • P1-P8/P8-P8 Stainless Steel Procedures 24 hr Service

301A Kensington Ave. Estevan, SK.

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

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

Email: fusioninc@sasktel.net

J J & & B B P ING P SULT

SONAR INSPECTION LTD. Head OfÀce 1292 Veterans Crescent Estevan, Sk. S4A 2E1 E: sonarinsp@sasktel.net

N Y CO T E F SA

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

Saskatchewan owned and operated

“Serving All Your Inspection Needs” UT - LPI - MPI Wayne Naka Taylor Gardiner Cory Rougeau

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

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

www.pennwest.com 311 Kensington Avenue, Estevan • 634-1400

• Safety Supervision • COR/SECOR Coaching • Numerous Safety Classes • Inspections & Investigations • Safety Meetings • Medic Truck • Claims Management • Manuals • Garbage Bin Rentals

PIPELINE NEWS October 2009

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PIPELINE NEWS October 2009