Pipeline News March 2010

Keep Carbon Taxes In Sask: Premier Page A3

Kindersley Fire Ignites Growth Plans Page B1

Battlefords’ Billion Page B8

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

March 2010

Focus Edition

FREE

Volume 2 Issue 10

Surveyors

Crew chief Mike Clausen of Midwest Surveys Inc., Estevan, establishes a boundary stake location for a Áow line right of way, east of Alida.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

News

Notes Strong throughput at upgrader

Husky Energy’s midstream operations performed well in the fourth quarter of 2009 with strong throughput at the Lloydminster upgrader.

Infrastructure and marketing net earnings were $49 million in the fourth quarter, up from $28 million in the same quarter of 2008.

Lower operating costs partially reduced the impact of lower light/heavy oil price differentials at the upgrader which generated $14 million in net earnings compared to $47 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Second Dina well producing Tuscany Energy Ltd. reports that the company’s second horizontal Dina oil well commenced production on Jan. 16.

The Evesham well is currently producing at a restricted rate of approximately 80 bbls of oil per day with less than a five per cent water cut.

This is the second successful horizontal well drilled in this Dina pool, on a 1,040 acre prospect.

Tuscany is preparing a development plan for the pool. Based on geology and proprietary 3-D seismic, full development could require more than 30 horizontal oil wells, with associated surface and water handling facilities.

Their next horizontal well is planned for the second quarter of 2010.

Tuscany said it plans to focus its efforts on its Saskatchewan production, development and exploration opportunities. In addition to its existing Evesham and Macklin properties, Tuscany has acquired an interest in 1,934 acres (650 net) on a developing Bird Bear oil play, located in the Evesham-Senlac area.

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

Welcome to the SLSA annual general meeting – in 1922! This year’s AGM marks the 100th anniversary of the association. Photo from the new book, Land Surveying in Saskatchewan.

SLSA to kick off 100th with gala book launch

By Geoff Lee Pipeline News

Regina – The secret is out. The Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association is responsible for creating crop circles – at least one that we know of in the province.

According to SLSA executive director Carl Shiels, surveyors used GPS coordinates to stake a field owned by a woman near the Regina airport who re-created the circular Canada Summer Games logo with seeded crops when the city hosted athletes in 2005.

The revelation is fitting as the work of Saskatchewan land surveyors goes largely unnoticed unless you’re in a plane and wonder how all of those checkerboard patches of land or that crop logo got there.

That’s all about to change as the SLSA will mark its 100th anniversary at its 2010 annual general meeting in Regina Mar 26-27 and trigger a year-long public relations campaign.

“I think it’s pretty exciting,” said Carl Shiels, executive director of SLSA. “It’s a huge landmark for the association and a great opportunity for the surveying profession to show off what they have done and to tell people how

important their work is.

“We are planning a one year-long promotional effort around the 100th.

“For the AGM, we are expecting 150 people to show up including visiting presidents and partners of other provincial land surveyors’ associations in Canada.”

The campaign and the anniversary celebration will kick off with a day of educational seminars March 25.

That will be followed by the launch of a new book, Land Surveying in Saskatchewan, Laying the Groundwork for Property Rights and Development, during a reception gala at Government House that evening.

“There is a blurb on the cover that states land surveying tends to be an invisible profession,” said Shiels.

“The public doesn’t recognize what they do or how absolutely critical land surveying is in setting up the land ownership structure that has led to the economic development of the province.

“One of the purposes of the book is to profile the industry and association. It commemorates the first 100 years of the SLSA and documents the history of land surveying in the province.” ɸ Page A6

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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“It’s not on” - Wall Premier won’t send cap and trade money out of province

By Brian Zinchuk Pipeline News Regina – If Saskatchewan is going to be involved with carbon credit trading, Premier Brad Wall made it clear on Feb. 9 he wants the money to stay within Saskatchewan.

Wall spoke for over half an hour to the Regina Energy Forum, a high-level half-day event which saw senior executives speaking about energy supply opportunities and energy’s relationship to climate change. It was sponsored by the Energy Council of Canada, and had approximately 75 participants.

It’s not on Current models to deal with CO2 do not build on the spirit of innovation, he said, an area he spent much of his speech addressing.

With fully implemented carbon cap and trade, Saskatchewan is projected to lose 2.8 to 7.5 per cent of its gross domestic product, Wall said, according to a TD Bank projection.

“It’s not on. It’s not on,” he declared.

“We will make our case against a blunt application of the regulations we have seen.”

Thankfully, he said, the federal government is being flexible to negotiate equivalency agreements, being more interested in the targets of reductions.

“We will take that opportunity, that flex-

The problem is not the cap part. The problem is the trade part,” said Premier Brad Wall on Feb. 9.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

ibility from our national government. If we don’t, what’s proposed is fundamentally a cap and trade program, and I’m here to tell you the government of Saskatchewan does not support cap and trade programs like we have heard offered by various governments.”

“They’re not an environmental policy in our view. Then it’s a tax.”

He explained, “Caps occur, credits are earned, fees are collected for those who exceed it, and the proceeds of the crime, as it were, are used for you name it – roads, infrastructure, some other government general revenue fund activity.

That’s not environmental

policy. That’s a tax.”

Saskatchewan has introduced legislation to deal with the issue.

“We have said that money needs to stay in a fund, a technology fund that finds answers to the problem. That is environmental policy.”

If the companies that pay into the fund can apply to use that money, matched with their own dollars, to find solutions to the problem, that is environmental policy, he said. “That will be, and remains, the policy of the province of Saskatchewan . . . so at least 80 per cent of those proceeds stay in the province of Saskatchewan.”

“We need to make sure nationally, and in

the provinces, that our governments are not tempted by cap and trade models that are more like a tax, at a time when governments are looking for revenue.”

During the question and answer session, Wall said, “What we will not abide is this notion of wealth transferred out of the province in the name of environmental policy, instead being invested into technological solutions we need to deal with the problem in the first place.”

“The problem is not the cap part. The problem is the trade part.”

“All of this talk is academic without a price in carbon,” he said.

Intuitive minds Earlier in his speech, Wall noted he has met privately with the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu. Wall said he expects to see Chu calling for an entire envelope of energy resources.

Wall pointed to unorthodox approaches, such as using white roofs and lighter coloured asphalt to reduce warming, that Chu has spoken of. Wall said Chu has an intuitive mind.

Along those lines, Wall said, “I’m looking at Malcolm, him, and others here,” referring to Malcolm Wilson, the University of Regina’s Office of Energy and Environment, and Saskatchewan’s, de facto point man on climate change initiatives. ɸ Page A7

News

Notes ARC Energy Trust

ARC Energy Trust’ shallow gas regions in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan had 44 shallow gas wells drilled with 23 of them coming on production before 2009 yearend.

The trust said it experienced significant drilling success in southeast Saskatchewan and Manitoba with 15 new horizontal oil wells.

Some of the key areas that will receive continued development focus into 2010 are Elmore, Lougheed, Midale, Weyburn and Goodlands.

Panther, Eagle Drilling among busiest drillers All contractors that are members of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) had 66,595 operating days in 2009 (using Nickle’s Rig Locator calculations), off 35 per cent from 102,754 operating days in 2008. The fourth quarter of 2009 was somewhat better as operating days were off 27 per cent to 21,050 from 28,844 operating days in the same period of the prior year.

For all of 2009, only four contractors had higher operating days than in 2008 - Ironhand Drilling Inc., Panther Drilling Corp., Bonanza Drilling Inc. and Eagle Drilling Services Ltd. The highest rig utilization rates were posted by three smaller contractors - Panther Drilling (68.7 per cent rig utilization for its two rigs), Bronco Drilling Services Ltd. (66.6 per cent) and Eagle Drilling Services Ltd. (59 per cent).

Panther Drilling Corp is based at Weyburn, while Eagle Drilling Services calls Carlyle home.

Bronco Drilling is based in Calgary.

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

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EDITORIAL

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Editorial Keep the money here There’s a great big bogeyman hiding under Saskatchewan’s bed called carbon dioxide cap and trade, and if we aren’t vigilant, he’s going to climb out and eat us, one chunk of the economy at a time. This province will go from a growing economy into one in serious trouble in short order.

Saskatchewan is faced with a serious dilemma. We have three per cent of the population of Canada, and nine per cent of the CO2 emissions. Our power infrastructure is primarily fuelled by coal and, in an increasing fashion, natural gas. We have some hydro, and a bit of wind, but if it weren’t for fossil fuels, we’d be freezing in the dark.

Coupled with that, we have an economy that has been growing for several years, one of the leaders in the country. Unfortunately, with growth, comes more CO2 emissions.

Current plans for capping emissions and trading carbon credits for those who exceed limits threaten to lay a beating on the provincial economy, sucking dollars out our province with the force of a semi-vac.

What’s worse, that money will likely end up in other jurisdictions, and not do much in the way of addressing emissions in the first place. It’ll pave roads in Quebec, but do nothing here.

Premier Brad Wall, in an important policy speech made at the Regina Energy Forum on Feb. 9, said, “It’s not on.”

He will not allow Saskatchewan to be heavily penalized by a cap and trade system that doesn’t fix the underlying environmental issues, but rather is a tax.

The provincial government’s solution is to collect any such carbon emissions penalties and put it into a technology fund. Companies, in particular the ones that pay into it, can then apply for money from the fund to develop emissions reduction strategies. They will have to add matching dollars, Wall explained, but the net result is that most of the money will stay in the province.

SaskPower is likely going to be a leading contributor to the fund, he noted.

Wall tacitly acknowledged that not all of the money is likely to stay here, but his goal is to retain at least 80 per cent. That’s still a lot better than losing 100 per cent.

If the plan works, it means a huge chunk of change will be invested into programs that actually do something about carbon emissions, like those being worked on at the University of Regina’s International Test Centre for CO2 Capture. Just think of what they could do with several hundred million dollars, each year. Right now they are happy about infusions of a few million here and there, as corporations sign on. This tech fund money will also generate a whole new industry in Saskatchewan, developing carbon capture and storage technology.

If this doesn’t happen, Saskatchewan will be forced to spend that money buying hot air elsewhere. The largest payer will likely be SaskPower, and by nature of its Crown corporation status, you.

One way or another, Saskatchewan is going to have to deal with cap and trade. The Wall solution currently looks like the best on the table for keeping us from being bankrupted by the scheme. Hopefully it will be enough to keep the bogeyman at bay.

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Opinion Some rules are for the birds From the top of the pile Brian Zinchuk

There’s a common thread I’ve found when interviewing people who have worked in the oilpatch for 30 plus years. Invariably, somewhere in the conversation they will say something like, “We didn’t have nearly as many rules back then as we do now.”

There are two areas in particular they refer to: safety, and environment.

Several decades ago, it may very well have been like the wild west, with little enforcement and a lot swept under a rug. Some of that stuff might come back to bite us down the road, when the rug is pulled away.

That might be spills that “magically” disappeared, or “never happened.” Spill? What spill?

Indeed, the rise of environmental regulation has created a whole industry of businesses to address these concerns. Think of all the land spreading that is being done now, or the high standards for reclamation.

Someone has to do that work, and they get paid decent coin for it, too.

But sometimes the pendulum may have swung too far. Take the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

This was the project that many had hoped would

come out of the gates not long after the Alliance Pipeline was competed. That was 10 years ago, over 20 years after it was first kyboshed. The Joint Review Panel for the MacKenzie Gas Project or JPR finally released its report in the last few months, endorsing the project.

You could have got an undergraduate degree and a good portion of a masters in the time they spent looking at the project.

However, Imperial Oil announced in late January they had found a stickler in one of the recommendations made by the JRP to the regulators, who must ultimately approve or reject to the project.

The Globe and Mail reported on Jan. 29, “The JRP said the proponents should be required to design any facilities within the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary, located on the northern end of the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories, to keep noise levels below 50 decibels at 300 metres (984 feet) from the fence line.”

A normal conversation is 60 decibels. Basically, these facilities shouldn’t be allowed to make a sound louder than an operator farting if he was standing next to you.

Imperial, understandably, has said such a measure has so far proved impossible, and it’s not needed to protect the birds. If they can’t develop the two fields affected, the entire project may not happen. “To make this a condition for any approvals for facilities in the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary would have the potential effect of preventing development of the Taglu and Niglintgak anchor fields, and therefore, the entire Mackenzie gas project,” Imperial said, according to the Globe and Mail.

There was a time when we used to build pipelines in June and July. I went to work on Alliance in June, 1999, on the road bore crew. But that didn’t happen with the Alberta Clipper, which started in the late summer of 2008. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the project took so long to start. Finally, someone told me it had something to do with birds.

I have since found out there is a regulation limiting construction during the summer – the prime time to be doing this sort of work. This is the regulation I came across, from a source would prefer not being named, but must work under these guidelines. “No construction activities will occur within the migratory bird nesting period between May 1 and July 31until such time as a bird breeding survey by a qualified avian biologist has occurred with recommendations for mitigating strategies that have been approved by Environment Canada.”

That’s ridiculous, but it makes sense when you realize that one of those major pipeline projects I worked on a decade ago, they rerouted the line around an owl’s nest and some protected grass, to a cost that was well into six figures. Now, they don’t even work at all until they figure the nests no longer have chicks in them.

Granted, environmental practices may have been lax in the past. But we’re getting to the point where common sense is totally out the window. Indeed, soon they might have regulations regarding windows. You never know, a bird might fly into one. Better get rid of them.

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

Are saner boom times ahead?

Could the boom be back in the west? It’s easy to conclude that is the case starting with Alberta where several energy companies are piling on to fast track mega oilsands projects now that capital costs are lower and demand for commodities has picked up.

Leading the charge is Husky Energy Inc. and BP PLC that have revived their $2.5-billion Sunrise steam-assisted gravity drainage project that was originally pegged at $4-billion.

John Lau, Husky's chief executive, reported “design optimization” is the reason for the $1-billion in savings.

ConocoPhillips Co. and Total SA have also revealed an 83,000 barrel-a-day expansion of their Surmont project, estimated at $1.5-billion.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. indicates it hopes to announce an expansion of its Horizon mine by year-end.

Also on the move is Osum Oilsands that has applied for regulatory approval for its 35,000 barrels a day oilsands project.

Dampening the enthusiasm is Royal Dutch Shell PLC that has decided to limit its future growth in the Fort Mac area due to high costs of exploration in the oilsands. Shell has opted to focus on exploration activity in other parts of the world.

Nexen Inc. also threw a measure of caution into the wind when it announced it wouldn’t rush to double the size of its $6.1 billion oilsands project.

Still, Nexen and its partner Opti Inc. plan to

Lee Side of Lloyd Geoff Lee

spend $100 million this year to advance the engineering of their Long Lake project in oilsands.

If this is not a boom then it’s one heck of a growth spurt.

The B.C. economy is also rebounding on several fronts with recent blockbuster land sales in the Horn River and Montney natural gas plays in the province’s northeast.

The outlook for B.C. was buoyed by strong gold and copper prices and the recent environmental approval for the province’s first new mine in 10 years.

Saskatchewan’s oil economy will also be back in the saddle this year as more companies rush to drill in the Bakken and in the heavy oil fields near Lloydminster.

Even the downtrodden potash sector has been given new life with a $240 million (U.S.) funding commitment from BHP Billiton and plans to de-

velop the Jansen mine.

“We feel there are grounds for cautious optimism,” said Roy Schneider, a spokesman with Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Energy and Resources in a globeinvestor.com news report.

“This may be not an outstanding year, but a solid one.”

Much of the recent uptick in capital spending is due to stable oil prices in the $75-$80 per barrel range and strong demand in Asia again for Western Canadian commodities.

In fact, Energy Minister Bill Boyd led a recent investment mission to Asia from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5 to lay the groundwork for possible future investments in the province’s oil and gas industry.

The presentations made in Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo covered everything from carbon capture and storage technologies to power generation and mining investment opportunities.

If this is the start of another western boom, let’s hope it’s a new version marked by sustainable growth without the upwardly spiking prices and costs that helped bring the last boom crashing back to earth.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my car gas or my coffee priced beyond reach – specially my coffee.

Coffee is my life support system that enables me to write these gripping columns every month.

Without it I’ll be writing obituaries, starting with my own!

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

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Neat squares aren’t all neat, or square

This crop circle of the 2005 Canada Summer Games logo “grown” into a Àeld with seeded crops was staked by land surveyors using GPS. Photo from the new book, Land Surveying in Saskatchewan.

ɺ Page A2 The 228 page book is written by Ed Willett, a Saskatchewan author known for his science, science fiction, and fantasy books. The book was published in-house by the SLSA that also did its own layout.

About 2,000 soft cover copies will be printed and sold for $20 apiece following the launch. A smaller print run of 100 hard cover copies will be reserved for gifts and special presentations.

“We will be distributing copies to every high school library in the province,” said Shiels. “We want the young people to understand this is an option as a career.”

Shiels says when he flies over the province on a clear day he can better appreciate what he’s looking at.

“Those neat square patterns aren’t in fact all neat and square and there is reason for that. You begin to appreciate just how amazing the task was for the early day surveyors to walk on these bald Prairies where a few buffalo still roamed, and starting laying out a grid system.

“It was a major human endeavor to have all that

laid out in the expert way they did it.”

The book also talks about the development of the township system in Western Canada and carries through to the formation of the SLSA in 1910 and the evolution of technology to the present day.

The book launch and gala reception March 25 will be hosted by Lieutenant Governor. Dr. Gordon Barnhart and his wife Naomi.

It will include a tour of Government House, welcome speeches and an opportunity to listen to senior land surveyors talk about their history.

One of those in attendance will be veteran land surveyor Jack Webb.

wears many hats managing the one-person SLSA office in Regina.

“I do the frontline PR and public contact functions and provide secretarial services to the managing council of the association,” he explained.

“I am also the administrator of the land surveyors’ exam process and handle new association memberships.”

Shiels’ immediate task is to compete the AGM agenda focused on an all-day business meeting on March 26. That night will be the president’s banquet at Hotel Saskatchewan.

SLSA president David Gurnsey will use the occasion to present several new commissions including two to Alberta Land Surveyors who do want to do cross border land survey work in Saskatchewan. A dance will follow the banquet and presentations.

The AGM will wrap up following the SLSA presidents’ lunch on March 27 to honour all past presidents. As guest speaker, Willett will talk about what he learned about surveying while researching and writing the book.

A Gunter’s chain is a measuring device in land surveying consisting of 100 metal links, equivalent to 66 ft. in length.

“We are up to commission number 301 and Jack Webb is commission number 96. That tells you where he fits into the scheme of things,” said Shiels.

“He is sort of the unofficial historian for the association. He has written a number of books on surveying himself.”

Land surveying has been an enjoyable ongoing learning experience for Shiels, a retired professional engineer, and former government administrator who

The location of this survey pin from 1943 is revealed in the book, Land Surveying in Saskatchewan.

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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“What we will not abide is this notion of wealth transferred out of the province in the name of environmental policy, instead being invested into technological solutions we need to deal with the problem in the first place.”

– Premier Brad Wall Premier Brad Wall is serious about using carbon capture money for innovation, not taxation.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Spend carbon taxes on innovation ɺ Page A3 “Saskatchewan, and other jurisdictions in this room, have prospered when they have embraced the intuitive mind and economic spirit, and applied it to their strengths, there economic strengths. In our case, it’s resources,” he said.

EOR and energy security Regarding sustainable energy development, Wall proclaimed, “Our goal in the province of Saskatchewan is nothing short of developing North America’s most aggressive energy innovation agenda.”

The foundation of that innovation agenda must be twofold, he said. The first is research and development infrastructure; in particular he referenced the centres of excellence at the University of Regina such as the Petroleum Technology Research Centre and the International Test Centre for CO2 Capture. The second is natural resources. “The energy resources we have are the very building blocks of that future of sustainable energy, or at least energy that is more sustainable from a carbon standpoint and generally from an environmental standpoint.”

There may well be an announcement on a nuclear centre of excellence at the University of Saskatchewan

in the months ahead, he noted, depending on the federal government’s action. He thinks Saskatchewan can be a part of a long term solution for the production of medical isotopes.

Saskatchewan can also be a leader on small nuclear reactor technology, he said. Distributed nuclear power is a possibility, he noted, pointing to the U.S. Navy’s experience with nuclear power.

He pointed out Saskatchewan has a rich resource base, and now sells more oil to the U.S. than Kuwait.

Enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, is important, according to Wall. “We don’t talk about this enough, about the potential of EOR.” He acknowledged Petrobank’s work with ToeHeel Air Injection (THAI), and said, “We want to be there with the right royalty regime where EOR makes sense.”

“Incremental increases in the recovery rate of existing oil assets can mean exponential increases in production, and that goes to the heart of energy independence for the continent.”

He noted, “Notwithstanding the CO2 issue or the map at Copenhagen, the number one issue in the United States with the legislators is energy security, and energy independence.”

New currency Wall quoted the author Thomas Friedman, who said that “In a world that’s hot, flat and crowded, clean power and clean technology is going to be a currency of geopolitical and military power every bit as much as tanks, planes and nuclear missiles have been.”

“I want Canada to be the federal reserve of that new currency, and I’d like Saskatchewan to be the chairman of the federal reserve.”

Referencing the Boundary Dam 3 carbon capture project as well as the Saskatchewan-Montana project, he said the province has been working hard on both, and credited the federal government for its assistance.

Wall hopes that discussions with the U.S. and Japan regarding the carbon capture projects will lead to second and third generation carbon capture technologies.

“We’re not in this for today, we’re in this for the longer term.”

Pointing out that Saskatchewan has committed $1.7 billion on greenhouse gas issues, he said, “We’re not going to do it alone. We need co-operation.”

He also said there is a need to spread the risk.

Editor’s note: Watch for detailed coverage on the Regina Energy Forum in next month’s Pipeline News.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Drilling tempo to increase this year says PSAC

By Geoff Lee Calgary – For drilling rig operators, the trend is their friend.

Higher commodity prices at the end of 2009 have led the Petroleum Services Association of Canada to call for better than expected oil and gas drilling activity across Canada for the rest of 2010.

PSAC is expecting a total of 9,000 wells to be drilled this year – a 12 per cent increase or 1,000 more wells anticipated in a preliminary 2010 drilling forecast released in November, 2009.

“Industry is expecting commodity prices to strengthen further this year,” said Roger Soucy, president of PSAC in its revised drilling forecast released in Calgary in January.

“Improved prices led to a spurt in drilling activity in December 2009, and we expect stronger pricing to continue to impact drilling levels as we move through 2010.”

Surprisingly, all of the new 1,000 wells will be drilled in Alberta where activity was originally expected to be flat this year.

PSAC estimates 6,095 wells will be drilled in Alberta in 2010, an increase of four per cent over 2009 drilling levels.

The figures mirror a recent weekly pattern of drilling rig counts the Canadian Association of Oil Well Drilling Contractors of CAODC based in Calgary that puts Alberta out front.

For the week of Feb. 2, for example, Alberta led with 334 rigs drilling followed

by British Columbia with 88, Saskatchewan at 75 and Manitoba with eight.

PSAC expects Saskatchewan will see an 11 per cent increase to 1,935 wells this year, while drilling in Manitoba will increase 29 per cent to 300 wells.

Drilling in British Columbia is expected to jump 10 per cent to 630 wells drilled in 2010.

CAODC forecasts a busy first quarter with 320 active rigs for a 40 per cent utilization rate and a projected total of 8,523 wells drilled in Western Canada.

The CAODC forecast for 2010 was made public on Oct. 20, 2009 and is not Drilling is expected to increase for the rest of 2010 with the biggest gains in Alberta. This rig was seen south of Antler, Sask., on Jan. 12.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

being revised this year like it was last February – the first time in over decades that it revised its projection in the middle of the winter drilling season.

Last February, the association issued a 22 per cent downgrade in the number of wells drilled from its previous outlook in Oct. 2008.

PSAC’s drilling forecast increase is primarily the result of strengthening prices for both crude oil and natural gas.

The forecast is based on average natural gas prices of $5.50 per thousand cubic feet and crude oil prices of $74 (U.S.) per barrel).

A final total for 2009 was 8,450 wells drilled across Canada.

“We are cautiously optimistic about 2010,” added Soucy.

“The commodity pricing signals have been positive so far but this may not be the quick and complete turnaround everyone is hoping for. The real test will come after spring break-up.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

A9

Who is that person with the tripod?

By Brian Zinchuk Regina – Just what is a surveyor, anyhow?

The people you see with a tripod and telescope are often called surveyors, and indeed, they are engaging in surveying activities, but the title ‘surveyor’ is a little more distinct. In some ways, it’s like nursing.

You have aides, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses. In surveying, you have assistants (also known as helpers),

A transit like this has one vertical crosshair and three horizontal crosshairs, used to triangulate distance.

crew chiefs, professional surveyors, and land surveyors. They all may engage in surveying, but there’s a difference between a crew chief and a land surveyor.

Working your way up, assistants are often the labour intensive side.

They used to be chainmen or rodmen, literally the men who strung chains out for measurement, or held the rod for sighting.

Today much of this work is done with GPS technology, although rods with reflective prisms are still in use.

A crew chief is often the person you see looking through the telescope of a survey instrument, the highly precise instrument placed atop a tripod. Current versions are known as Electronic Distance Measuring instruments (EDMs) including ‘total station EDMs,’ which also incorporate a computer to keep track of all measurements. However, these instruments, too, are often supplanted now

by GPS. The crew chief

and assistant are usually the people you see in the field these days.

Above them is the professional surveyor.

A professional surveyor may also be a land surveyor, but not necessarily. A land surveyor is the only person who can create legal land subdivisions in the province of Saskatchewan, be it residential lots or an oilfield lease. Their stamp of approval is needed to certify the boundaries of a property.

Put in context, if you were building a skating rink, a land surveyor is needed to confirm the location of the boundary pins of the property. A professional surveyor can then approve the placement of the foundation within that property.

In reality, most, if not all of the field work is done by crew chiefs and their assistants, and is then approved by the land surveyor or professional surveyor (often the same person). Most land surveyors these days now spend the bulk of their

time in the office, behind a desk.

The professional surveyor or professional land surveyor takes professional responsibility for everything their crews do, affixing their seal on the plans.

The few, the 304 In Saskatchewan, land surveyors are a selfregulated profession, and there have been very, very few since the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association was formed 100 years ago.

Indeed, only 304 people have been commissioned as land surveyors in this province over the past century. That’s just a sliver of what you see in other professions like law, medicine or engineering.

So why only 304?

“It comes in waves,” said Carl Shiels, who is the executive director of the association. Even he’s not a surveyor, but rather, “In the company of surveyors, I refer to myself as ‘just’ a mechanical engineer.” ɸ Page A10

Carl Shiels, executive director of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association, holds a vintage stadia rod, used for surveying in the days before lasers and GPS. Such a rod could be stretched out several times its original length of Àve feet.

This Register of Commissions is 100 years old, signed by every land surveyor commissioned in Saskatchewan over the past century. This page has the Àrst four entries – F.J. Robinson, H.K. Moberly, A.C. Garner, and E.H. Phillips.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

How it all works

A transit station on Lake Athabasca in March, 1938, part of the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary survey.

Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association

ɺ Page A9 Shiels said there were waves when the organization was first formed, and “a whole whack” in the following few years.

“They started the ball rolling with a group of young, new surveyors,” he said. “It’s not easy to get into the profession, and most serve out their careers.”

In the association’s office, Shiels pulls an old book out of a locked cabinet. This book, a little over an inch thick, is the register of every commissioned land surveyor in the province’s history. All have signed, or will sign, the book. F. J. Robinson was the first to sign up. He was instrumental in the formation of the profession in the province, acting as deputy minister of public works at the time, and took part in the drafting of the Saskatchewan Surveyors Act. W.T. Thompson was

another character, one of the original Dominion Land Surveyors. “He continued to survey well into his 80s, and he died in the bush doing a mineral survey in northern Manitoba,” according to Shiels.

“As you go down the list, there was quite a rush of new people in the 50s and 60s.”

Within the last twenty years, there were six years without any new commissions, due to a rush to get in before a change in educational requirements.

The baby boom bubble will see a significant upturn of new entrants to replace retirees, according to Shiels.

As for why so few over the years, Shiels explains that unlike doctors and lawyers, whose demand grows with the population, “There is only so much land, and much of it has been surveyed,” he said.

Technological ad-

vanced have also helped the surveyor become much more efficient. It used to be the surveyor was out in the field with his crew, in a supervisory role if not actually looking through the telescope.

“Now, one land surveyor will typically supervise two to five crews. Each one of those is typically headed by someone with a geomatics diploma. They become the eyes and ears of the land surveyor.”

“It’s quite feasible to be a crew of one,” he noted, with robotic total stations now available.

The education for land surveyors is typically a geomatics program at the University of Calgary or the University of New Brunswick. Some come from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where there is a degree program now offered that bridges the gap from the two year geomatics diploma available at several technical colleges, to a degree.

“You require a certificate of completion from the Canadian board of examiners for professional surveyors,” Shiels explained. It is possible to challenge the exams, which is something many people who have taken the technologist diploma programs do, as opposed to getting their degrees.

The profession also has professional examinations similar to the legal profession’s bar exam. These are the final requirements before being granted a commission as a Saskatchewan Land Surveyor or “SLS.” The crew chief you see in the field usually will have a two-year diploma in geomatics.

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Oilsands linked to unlocking Lloydminster – Oilsands operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan are providing the United States with a technological road map to extract up to one trillion barrels of recoverable shale oil from the Green River Formation in parts of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

That was one of the points that caught the attention of the Lloydminster lunch audience of Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for a presentation by guest speaker Khosrow Biglarbigi titled “Unlocking Ten Trillion Barrels of Global Oil Shale Resources.”

Biglarbigi is the president and director of petroleum engineering at INTEK Inc., an energy consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia, that is evaluating ways for the U.S. Department of Energy to extract some of the known six trillion barrels of oil shale resources in the U.S. “The need for shale oil has to do with the future supply of crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons,” he said.

“We project by 2030, we will need an additional 20 million barrels of oil a day. The question is, where is it going to come from?

“Just about everything is on the table including coal to liquid, gas to liquid, the oilsands here in Canada, enhanced oil recovery, heavy oil and also biofuels and oil shale. Oil shale has to be part of the equation.

“One resource by itself is not going to give us the oil we need in the future. It has to be a catalogue of resources including oil shale in order to satisfy the requirements and the need for the future.”

Biglarbigi has delivered the message that technology is the key to unlocking shale oil resources to audiences throughout North America this year as a distinguished lecturer for SPE. “Lessons learned from Canada are very important in terms of technologies,” he said.

Khosrow Biglarbigi says unlocking oil shale resources with help the U.S. to meet it’s energy demands by 2030.

Photo by Geoff Lee

“For example, you have many upgrading technologies for the oilsands that will have a lot of potential down south with the oil shale.

“Canada also has an experience in mining that we can draw on. Canada and the U.S. share the same market. Our resources are similar.”

The U.S. has its eye focused on developing some of the two trillion barrels of high quality oil shale in the Green River Formation that has a density of up to 13,000 barrels of oil per acre in Colorado.

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“The technology being developed in the U.S is going to have a lot of impact for the development of oil here in Canada,” said Biglarbigi.

Canada has total known oil shale resources of 15 billion barrels led by Ontario with 12 billion and Nova Scotia at 1.7 billion.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan have a combined resource of 1.25 billion barrels that Biglarbigi cautions should not be confused with shale oil from the Bakken.

“Bakken shale is conventional oil whereas this is unconventional shale,” said Biglarbigi. “In terms of the maturity of the resource, the Bakken shale is 50 million years ahead of the shale I am talking about.

“It’s not crude oil yet. We have to do what Mother Nature intended to do in another 50 million years in the lab and in the field to make it crude oil.”

Oil shale is rock kerogen that needs to be subjected to a heat “pyrolysis process” up to 700 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit then upgraded into synthetic crude for naptha, jet fuel, natural gas and diesel.

“You have to produce the kerogen and it’s going to be low in hydrogen,” said Biglarbigi. “You have to add hydrogen to bring it into par with the fluids that the refinery uses.

“We don’t have an oil shale industry yet. It will require a concerted effort by the private sector, government and local communities. The key driver is the price of oil.

“The resources will get developed once we are competitive with conventional oil. There are many barriers to development.

“The first one is access to land. Seventy per cent of the resource is on federal land. In the U.S. they are working on offering commercial leasing programs. ɸ Page A13

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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massive U.S. oil shale reserves ɺ Page A12 “There is also RD and D – research, development and demonstration – with a big emphasis on demonstration. We have to demonstrate some of the technology. We have to get out of the lab and into the field and demonstrate to make sure they are doing what we intended them to do.”

Chevron, the American Shale Oil Company and Shell are conducting in-situ conversion process pilot tests in

Colorado.

Other technologies being tried are an eco-shale in-capsule method in Utah and a technology developed in Alberta called the Alberta Taciuk Processor is being tested in Utah.

A gas combustion retort (vessel in which substances are heated for a chemical reaction) is being used in Brazil, China, Estonia and Australia to process as much as 6,000 bbl/d.

Surface mining is another option

for oil shale, but Biglarbigi favours underground in-situ and its environmental benefits.

“The environmental challenges are the land use and the water requirements,” he said. “If you are not doing surface mining operations, obviously you don’t need water to control some of the activities that are required for the surface.

“One to three barrels of water per barrel of oil are needed for surface mining. Relying on water from the Colorado River is not an option.

“Also in-situ has to do with scalability. With the surface mining, you are limited to the surface equipment that you design.

“With in-situ, it is like conventional oilfields. You go in there and develop it and step out. You develop it to the scale that you like.”

Less land is also required for in-situ than for surface mining.

Carbon dioxide produced in oil shale processing can be used for C02

enhance oil recovery, sequestration and other industrial uses.

Whatever technology is chosen will be capital intensive, and because of that, Biglarbigi says the energy developers will need some kind of guarantee or safeguard against a potential fall in the oil price.

“Government tax incentives would be like an insurance policy in case the prices fall in the future below a certain level,” he suggested.

At current oil prices, the capital cost for oil shale projects are estimated at $55K to $65K at a per barrel of oil capacity rate, but Biglarbigi warns that higher oil prices come at higher cost as they have for the Alberta oilsands.

Canadian oilsands capital costs soared from $3 billion in 2001 to $11 billion in 2008 as oil prices soared according to statistics from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Oilsands operations costs leapt from $33 billion in 2006 to $36 billion in 2008.

Hindsight This painting called “Hindsight” by Laurie Besplug was created to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association. The image will be used on award plaques during the anniversary.

Besplug who lives south of Kindersley on a farm is producing 14 paintings for a book depicting the entire oil production process in Saskatchewan.

The painting is captured from a Besplug photo of surveyors south of the Saskatchewan Rivers. Besplug made 300 prints of this historical painting for sale. She also plans to publish a coffee table of 21 photos.

Photo by Laurie Besplug

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Straddling the border doubles opportunities for Meridian

Surveyor Chris Clappison surveys a winter well site in the Kindersley area. Meridian has seven locations in Western Canada.

Photo submitted

Lloydminster – If Meridian Surveys Ltd. needs a motto, “Surveys R Us” would be an appropriate choice.

Its range of pipeline surveys, oil and gas surveys, subdivision land surveys and digital mapping services for small and large scale projects have helped make the company a go-to source for geomatics in Western Canada.

“That always been our forte. We will not push anyone away,” said Lee Andersen, who shares the branch manager functions at the Lloydminster office with his business partner Murray Radoux.

“For surveying, we do a lot of residential surveys for the two major developers locally which are Sanjo Development Ltd. and the City of Lloydminster. We work for both.

“We survey the new lots in town and do property reports for all of the builders. We also survey acreages for local farmers.”

Anderson and Radoux both expound their belief that Meridian is a grow-by-client company – on both sides of the Alberta and Saskatchewan border.

“We are not scared to do any kind of work,” said Radoux. “We will take on condo surveys today, or a well site survey tomorrow or whatever people need.

We offer a total package. We are quite diverse.

“Being diversified has carried us over the tougher times too. There is no doubt that new subdivision work in the city is linked to growth in the oil and gas industry.

“We see a decline in subdivision surveys if oil and gas is depressed and vice-versa. It’s very good right now,” stressed Radoux. “Everything we’ve been told is that oil and gas activity is picking up.”

Meridian has about 23 employees, down a bit from its peak numbers a couple of years of ago, but Radoux said, “If things pick up like they are telling us they are, we could add a few more field crews.”

Meridian's staff of professionals provides fully comprehensive surveying and mapping services for oil and gas clients such as Husky Energy and CNRL. “We do well site surveying, right of way surveying and all of the other miscellaneous stuff that comes with it,” said Andersen. “The majority of oilfield work is surveying new well sites and new right of ways.”

In 2004-05, Meridian handled one its biggest projects – a gas project for Husky called the Viking gas project – that involved surveying a couple of hundred gas wells and right of ways to tie them in.

“We probably surveyed a couple of hundred kilometers of right of ways that year,” said Andersen.

One of the initial steps and challenges in field surveys for well sites is locating buried facilities in a quarter section and these can date back several decades. ɸ Page A15

A bit a snow and twilight can’t keep Meridian from completing well sites surveys in Coleville.

Photo submitted

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Mapping out both sides of the border ɺ Page A14 “There is a lot more infrastructure than there used to be,” said Radoux. “There is lot more wells and a lot more pipelines and a lot more buried utilities.

You have to be a little more diligent trying to track down all of those other plans. Some of the harder things to find are the older stuff surveyed 50 years ago.”

On well site surveys, Meridian uses the latest GPS technology to identify the exact location of the well centre.

All site information is relayed in real time to their mapping department at the Lloydminster office and translated into a digital map.

Meridian field crews work closely with the operator’s field consultant, land agents and land owners to choose ground that is most suitable for the rig.

“If the well centre looks like it’s in a buildable location the discussion leads to how they will run an access road in,” explained Andersen.

“That’s usually between the consultant and the land owner. Once that’s determined, we finish surveying the well site, the four corners, the well centre and the access road and stake it.

“Then we tie in all of the buried facilities we know of and we do a blind sweep to make sure there is nothing else on the well site.”

Andersen or Radoux will check each plan for accuracy before sending it back to the consultant for review and approval and Meridian’s final sign off to the land department in Saskatchewan or Alberta.

Because some well site surveys are in Alberta and some in Saskatchewan, Meridian has two sets of templates for AutoCAD plan drawings and two sets of rules for what each province wants to see on the plans.

“Both provinces have their little quirks I guess, but a lot of things are still similar from a survey perspective,” said Radoux.

“The surveying is the same, but we see some regulatory differences. It makes the job more interesting.

“Accuracy and getting it done in a timely manner is important as well as getting the best price for your clients.”

Meridian provides a full gamut of survey services at seven locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan including Calgary, Regina, North Battleford, Kindersley, Melfort and Saskatoon where the company started in 1966 as Underwood McLellan Surveys Ltd. and renamed Tri-City Surveys Ltd. in 1972.

Tri-City launched a sister company, Trigon Mapping Resources Ltd. in 1991, and purchased Interprovincial Surveys in Lloydminster in 2001. The entire company was merged and renamed Meridian in August, 2009.

Andersen and Radoux are two of seven corporate directors headed by company president, Max Putnam.

Lee Andersen, a partner in Meridian Surveys in Lloydminster, reviews a well site survey plan.

Photo by Geoff Lee

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Kerrobert rolls out red carpet for Kindersley curlers Kerrobert – It took a little magic to pull off the 48th West Central Saskatchewan Oilmen’s Association (WCSOA) bonspiel, after a fire burned down the hockey rink in Kindersley on Jan. 8, temporarily closing the adjoining curling rink where the bonspiel is normally played.

The WCSOA, the Kerrobert Oilmen’s Association, and the Kerrobert Curling Club pulled a rabbit out of the hat to make the event suddenly appear in Kerrobert Jan. 28-31 with just three weeks notice.

“It went really good actually for having to change the venue from Kindersley to Kerrobert due to the fire,” said Jaymie Holland, president of WSCOA that organizes local bonspiels and oilmen’s golf tournaments.

“We were a little leery on how things would go and having to shuttle people back and forth. In my mind, and everyone I talked to who curled in it, said it went over really well.

“There was a lot talk about us committee guys keeping it going and going the extra mile to get everything ready.

“The three organizations really came together in a short amount of time to make it work. Everything ran really good.

“Boychuk Sales and Service Ltd. helped get us some shuttle vans and HD Energy contributed to the rental cost,” said Holland.

Precision Rentals and TKC Trucking paid for the fuel for the shuttle vehicles and the Kerrobert

We are the A-champs. The Nexen rink of (L-R) skip Lyle Stang, , second Jim Repski and lead Ernie Ducherer. (Missing from photo is third Mervin Stang).

Photo submitted

Rage Jr. B hockey team sponsored the drivers.

WSCOA posted a full page thank you ad in the Kindersley Clarion noting all event sponsors, prize winners and event winners.

A total of 22 teams took part, down from the usual draw of 28 teams, but this was a close-knit

group with many players involved in the firefight to spare the new curling rink and hockey complex from significant damage.

“Everyone was wondering what’s going on and how long until everything’s back up and running,” said Holland. “That’s kind of a question mark that’s up in the air right now.”

The last minute shift in venue proved to be a good omen for the Nexen rink of Lyle Stang, Mervin Stang, Jim Repski and Ernie Ducherer, that captured the A-event title sponsored by Baker Petrolite.

The B-event winner from the Maxxam Analytics Rink of Dwight Pahl, Les Emms, Bob Armstrong and Jim Holloway was sponsored by Syntech-Enerflex.

The Energy Training Centre crew of Shawn Gauthier, Clark Johnson, Sam Wedrick, and Wayne Charteris, and took home the C-event title sponsored by Holland’s Hot Oiling Ltd. The D-event champs hail from the Kudu Rink of Jordy Gerling, Ryan Craig, Brent McLay and Darren Walz, sponsored by Midfield Supply.

As for the ice conditions Holland said, “They did pretty good for what they had. They had about a week and a half notice. It’s all volunteer work up in Kerrobert.

“They have volunteer guys who do the ice. They really came through to get things ready for us. They were really good hosts.”

The shuttle vans came in handy, too, as the bonspiel banquet was held at the Kindersley Inn. ɸ Page A18

Good luck to all at the Lloydminster Heavy Crude Open Bonspiel

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

A great time had by all ɺ Page A17 “The meal was excellent and the comedians pretty much had the audience rolling around. It was a good time,” said Holland who noted there were no fire jokes told.

The banquet was also the opportunity for Holland to present the WSCOA Oilman of the Year award to Kindersely area native son, Lorne Swalm. Swalm was a former president and CEO of Reece Energy, a junior oil and gas exploration and production company that was based in Medicine Hat. “He was always good to the oilmen’s and generous with sponsorship and the community,” said Holland about Swalm.

“He was also a member on different boards and committees. It was fitting that he got the award for all of his hard work and dedication.”

Swalm grew up on a farm near Kindersley and worked the pay zone there – the Viking formation – right out of school in the 1970s.

Oilman of the Year, Lorne Swalm, right, and his wife Laurie are all smiles at At Reece he also drilled horizontal wells in the Viking formation near Kinder- the banquet presentation. sley that were the growth engine of the company.

Photo submitted Reece also had success horizontal drilling at their Dodsland play in west central Saskatchewan near Kindersley.

The company was sold to Penn West in March 2009 following disappointing results with horizontal wells drilled in the Lower Shaunavon and rising debt levels.

This year’s bonspiel events also included a red eye breakfast, and oil wives’ wine and cheese and several sponsored draw prizes.

Holland’s team was shut out of the major event prizes but he said, “We had lots of fun – that’s what we did. We didn’t fare so well in the bonspiel. We lost out in the B-event quarter final. We had a fun and kept everything going.”

He also reported the WCSOA will donate 20 per cent of the proceeds from the bonspiel to the rink building fund in Kindersley.

“We’re trying to build up some money for that,” said Holland. “We are a nonprofit organization and we like to donate our earnings to great causes.”

B-event winners from the Maxxam Analytics rink are skip Dwight Pahl, third Les Emms, second Bob Armstrong and lead Jim Holloway.

Photo submitted

People with brooms to sweep ice in oilmen’s bonspiels If it’s March, it’s oilmen’s bonspiel month or oil person’s as they call it at the Unity Curling Club where the 9th annual Oil Persons Bonspiel kicks into gear March 4-7. The fees are $240 per team.

The Maidstone Oilmen’s Bonspiel is slated for March 11-12 and usually attracts several teams entered in the biggest bonspiel north of Regina - the Lloydminster Heavy Crude Open Bonspiel March 17-21.

We hope to also have a report next month on the 14th annual North of the River Oilmen’s Bonspiel played Feb. 18-20 during our new press time.

C-event titlists with the Energy Training Centre rink are skip Shawn Gauthier, third Clark Johnson, second Sam Wedrick and lead Wayne Charteris.

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TH VAC in step with tempo of horizontal drilling

TH Vac offered its services to the Kindersley Fire Department following the burning of the old hockey rink and sucked out water from lines leading to the new complex.

Photo by Gerry Ackerman

Kindersley – If horizontal drilling were a dance step, it would be a cross between a swagger and a hop.

It’s a move of confidence you can see in the footsteps of oilfield service companies in Kindersley such as TH VAC that is no longer a wallflower in the economy.

“The last little while has definitely been busy with horizontal fracing in this area,” said owner and manager Tim Harris.

“That’s about all that’s going on right now other than routine maintenance.

“We are pretty much the oil side.

We don’t do any drilling – just fracing (servicing) and cleaning tanks and stuff and cleanups.”

TH VAC has a fleet of 11 owned vehicles and four sub-contractor vehicles with its flagship vac trucks, hydro vacs, combo vacs, tandem vacs, semi vacs and hot oilers ready to service the fast pace of horizontal drilling and fracing in the Viking formation.

“With horizontal fracing, we are assisting with hauling the slop back to CCS (Canadian Crude Separators) and the sand back to CCS and sucking

out lines,” said Harris. “It’s been good for us.

“The last few years have been quite good. Last year, was down a bit, but overall, it’s been real good. Our customers have been very loyal to us.

“I offer them good service. I try to be honest with the hours and provide them with good men. Our company is built around our men. They all try really hard.”

Harris started his company in 1988, and has seen it grow to 15 employees and four sub-contractors with the recent influx of junior explorers in the area drilling along with big players such as Penn West, Petro Points and Husky.

“Marble Point is doing some too, so they’re all kind of dabbling in it,” said Harris who notes winter is now his busiest season.

“The last five years, we have been busier in the winter than we have been in July and August. Our busiest time is spring turnaround followed by the fall.

“I think the reason for that is, in the summer people have days off. I think the oilpatch has gone from having an ‘anti type’ family feel to it to more of a family – everyone knows they’ve got families and holidays.

“I think even the oilpatch owners know that now. They slow down in summer.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Wrangler brothers feed Coleville – Like any good farmer, Steve Harris and his brother Randy make hay while the sun shines.

In the case of their Wrangler Tanker Services Ltd. business in Coleville, their cash crop is hauling oilfield fluid, although they both work a chunk of their dad’s farm just south of town. That’s where they grew up along with their other brother Ted who left the business.

“We are an oil service company hauling produced fluid, crude oil and some fresh water,” said Steve, who was minding the business when Pipeline News paid a visit.

“We also have portable steam and pressure wash trucks for thawing in the winter and washing in the summer.

“In the winter, steam is mostly for thawing equipment, valves, lines and wellheads and keeping a bit of heat on tanks. We do have one portable boiler unit that will sit at fracs or service rigs to provide heat for them.”

Mechanic Tony Nugent prepares a crude hauling tanker for a safety check.

Photo by Geoff Lee

Wrangler actually has a fleet of 25 fluid hauling trucks, half of which are theirs and half owner operated.

They also have an old highway sander they use for sanding icy corners and hilly roads during the winter, but fluid hauling in their main business focus.

At one time they used to plow snow, but in recent years snowfalls are few and far between.

“When I was young and growing up on the farm we used to have snow as high as the trees and the shelter belts,” said Harris. “You could drive over them on a Ski-doo when we were kids.

“Kindersley was one of the driest areas in the province last year, so hopefully it will be a little better this year.”

Farming has more sentimental than economic value these days for Harris and his brother as the demand for hauling is picking up with the pace of drilling after the overall oilpatch slowdown of 2009.

“We are starting to see some activity,” said Harris. “As they start to drill the wells, it’s usually a little bit later when we get busier as production starts coming through.”

Wrangler is in the process of hiring one new employee as optimism builds.

“We’ve seen three ups and downs since we started – it seems about every 10 years,” said Harris “From the mid 2000s to last year was definitely a growth period. It leveled off and slowed down last summer. We are optimistic about the next few years.

“They say there’s quite a bit of oil left in the Viking field. They say you can only get 20 or 30 per cent or less than that with conventional wells. ɸ Page A21 Troy Illingworth Cell: (780) 808-3183 Tim Sharp Cell: (780) 871-1276

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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off oilpatch and farm life ɺ Page A20 “Now, with the horizontal wells and drilling techniques they figure they can get some more out.

Hopefully they are right.”

Harris’ dad John was likely thinking similar thoughts about the productive oilpatch when he came to Coleville in the 1950s.

“He worked on Precision Drilling rigs for quite a few years and did some heavy hauling moving rigs in the oilpatch,” said Harris.

“Then he met mom and settled down on the farm. He’s 79 and still doing as much of the farming as he can.

“He’d be talking about the drilling rigs and all three of us boys ended up working on the drilling rigs and service rigs then got into the trucking side of the oilfield.

Ironically Steve and Randy went to college to become farmers but Steve said, “The best thing we did was go into the oilfield instead. The farm has some sentimental value for sure. Who knows?

“We will hang onto it and do what we can with it. Maybe that will be a good way to slowdown sometime.”

The Harris brothers bought their first truck in 1983 and started as owner-operator water haulers but quickly switched to oilfield fluid hauling as a better way to make a living.

In 1992, they bought out the company they were working for and slowly built up their fleet over the years.

“It’s a good life. It keeps us busy. With the oilfield, family life sometimes suffers I guess because of the long hours,” Harris said.

“Coleville is the centre of our operation. We have a shop in Kindersley, too, but most of our work

Steve Harris stands by a new Western Star truck for hauling crude tankers.

Photo by Geoff Lee

is within a 100-kilometre radius of Coleville.

“Coleville is kind of the centre of the oilpatch in this area. Some of the old original wells were drilled

just south of town back in the early 1950s. SaskOil used to have their office here.

“More people may be living in Kindersley now because there are more attractions but Coleville still has a school and store and lots of services.”

Harris also has a house in Kindersley where most of the oilfield service companies are located.

Wrangler was one of several oilfield companies to rush water trucks and other equipment from Coleville to the site of the Kindersley rink fire on Jan 8.

The emergency response from area communities like Coleville helped save the new curling and hockey rink from destruction and it brought a lot of neighbouring communities that use the rink together.

“It definitely changed things for everyone,” said Harris, whose own two kids have had to find other rinks to play in for the rest of the winter.

“They are practicing in Coleville and Etonia and we’ve been going to Kerrobert and Rosetown for games,” explained Harris.

“The vehicle dealerships in Kindersley came through. They donated a couple of 15 passenger vans to minor sports. You can book the vans then you don’t have to have 15 parents driving their personal vehicles.

“Everybody tries to pitch in. I am sure there will be lots of fundraising and volunteering in the next year or two or however long it takes to rebuild.”

Harris says Wrangler is a big supporter of minor hockey and the Jr. A Klippers in Kindersley, but unlike a lot of the kids he knew when he was young, he never played hockey.

“I was too busy doing chores on the farm I guess,” he said.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Daughters’ curling sweeps

Karli and Lindsay Makichuk are coached by their dad Dusty who replays game shots at the kitchen table using salt and pepper shakers. Their biggest fan is their mom Laurie.

Lloydminster – Hurry hard. That been the lifestyle of Dusty Makichuk in recent weeks as he’s flown and driven across the country to cheer for his three daughters in separate competitive curling events.

“The ironic part is the weekend of February 5-7, I had three daughters curling – one in Sault Ste. Marie, one in Lloydminster and one in Bonnyville,” said Makichuk, who is a process operator at the Husky Lloydminster Upgrader.

He’s also on the organizing committee of the 43rd Lloydminster Heavy Crude Open Bonspiel March 17-21 and is chomping at the bit to throw some rocks himself as a second on Monte Armstrong’s team.

“We are in full swing right now getting everything lined up. Entries are already coming in.

We are hoping to get back up to 96 teams,” he said.

“I’ve been with Monte for five years now.

I’ve been fortunate that they keep asking me to come back.”

With the countdown to the oilmen’s under way, Makichuk has some time to savor his whirlwind winter. The fun began when he and his wife Laurie jetted to Sault Ste. Marie to watch their 22 year-old daugh-

ter Lindsay compete for Alberta in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Jan. 30 to Feb. 7.

He left his wife behind to catch Lindsay’s last three games, on the way to a 4-7 tournament record, in order to fly back to Alberta and watch his 15 year-old daughter Karli compete on a Zone 7 rink in the Alberta Winter Games in Bonnyvillle.

His cheering and sideline coaching worked as Karli’s team got a top four finish and the right to compete next fall for a spot in the Canada Winter Games in Halifax.

While back in Alberta, Makichuk checked in with his oldest daughter Ashlee, 23, who was left holding the fort with her broom ready to curl in the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Mixed Bonspiel.

“It’s been a quiet a ride for the whole family,” said Makichuk. The whole family had to kick in to make it work.”

Makichuk also doles out praise and thanks to Husky and his co-workers, who he says bent over backwards to give him the time off to cherish his family’s curling triathlon.

“I was very fortunate.

Husky was good to me,” said Makichuk. “As soon as it happened, a lot guys stepped up – my coworkers – they offered to work mutuals for me and trade shifts with me.

“I think I owe five or six mutuals. I can’t even remember.”

His latest concern is his phone bill. While he and Laurie were glued to their seats at the Scotties, friends and well-wishers who caught the excitement on TSN flooded the couple with text and phone messages.

“We had text messages and phone calls from five provinces from Ontario, Manitoba Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta, and I even had a friend of mine call from Mexico three times,” he said.

“I can’t imagine what the phone bill is going to be like. There was a lot of support. It was very much appreciated. There was a ton of support especially from the local community here.” ɸ Page A23

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

upgrader dad off his feet ɺ Page A22 Makichuk says Lindsay and her Alberta team got off to a good start at the Scotties and faltered in the middle, but speaking as a parent who has coached his girls since they were kids, he added, “You have to live with that.

“It’s one of those experiences where their time is demanding and it’s very exciting for them. They know they can compete with all the teams there. It’s a matter of repetition and hopefully going back and doing it again.”

His three daughters inherited his curling genes that kicked in for him when he just 12 and growing up in Manitoba.

“There was a men’s league in the fall and I walked in and a gentlemen took me on his team. That’s how I started,” he said.

He has also been a member of the Lloydminster oilmen’s executive since he moved to the city in 1992 to work at the upgrader and hasn’t missed a bonspiel yet.

Last year, with Armstrong as the skipper they lost the A-final but they won it the year before that. For sure Makichuk will head into the 2010 spiel psyched by the success of this daughters’ play on the ice.

“I coached them all my life through their junior curling years,” he said. “The Canadian Scotties is the best you can get. The Alberta Games curling was excellent.

“It’s something you hope for and what you really want to get to for them on their path as they grow in their sport. It came very early, so we are excited to be part of that.

“Ashlee is in her first year of teaching in Lloydminster. She is the one we got curling first. Lindsay was curling with her for a few years. There’s a couple of years difference so they ended up on different teams.”

Stay tuned, there’s a lot more curling left to be played this year for the Makichuks.

EnCana top operator of 2009 EnCana Corporation was the dominant operator of new wells in Canada for both 2009 and the decade which started in the year 2000.

Ranked by wells drilled in Canada during 2009, EnCana (1,510 holes), Canadian Natural (827 wells) and Husky Energy (466) wells were the three busiest operators. Husky did not make it into the top three places when ranked by metres drilled as its

average depth per well was only 906 metres.

In a year that saw an increasing emphasis on horizontal drilling, the top four operators of new horizontal wells were EnCana (247), Canadian Natural (158 wells), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (112 wells) and Tundra Oil & Gas Partnership (110 wells).

Saskatchewan’s leading operators in 2009 were Crescent Point En-

ergy (274,140 metres), Petrobank Energy And Resources Ltd. (189,023 metres) and Shelter Bay Energy Inc. (180,414 metres). Shelter Bay, TriStar Oil & Gas Ltd. and Crescent Point were the top explorers.

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They’re back! Karli’s Zone 7 team qualiÀed at the Alberta Winter Games for a specialized 10-month training program for a playoff position for the Canada Winter Games next year. Linsday represented Alberta at the national women’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sault Ste. Marie with a 4-7 record.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Pincemin Fire-Safety passes test Kindersley – There’s nothing like a real emergency to test an emergency response plan. That was the case for Pincemin Fire-Safety (PFS) in Kindersley that found their cellphones jammed when trying to dispatch employees to the Kindersley rink fire Jan. 8.

“When the arena fire occurred, I was on dispatch and had difficulties reaching our staff as all of the cellphones were down,” said Bruce Penner district manager and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) coordinator.

“I had to go to the office to use my landline since all of the cellphones were tied up. So we did test our emergency response plans that we have set up in house. It was good PR work as the public got to see us in action.”

The quick action by PFS and other oilfield services companies in the area that day helped to save the adjacent curling rink and arena from any collateral fire or major structural damage.

PFS is already well known for its ability to supply the oil industry with trained safety individuals and specialized equipment along with emergency response for fires in the oilfield.

“We provide safety for fracing, facility turnarounds and facility construction,” said Penner.

“Our employees are looking after fracing and construction projects.

“We have standby safety, H2S trailers, air equipment rentals, and emergency medic standby.”

The PFS fleet of specialized vehicles includes several medic units, emergency shower units and fire trucks and combo units.

The fire truck rushed to Kindersley hockey rink fire was an industrial fire truck that used supplied water from numerous

oilfield water tankers sent by local and area oilfield companies.

“The truck does have the capabilities of pump and roll which a lot of trucks don’t,” said Penner.

“You can pump water through a monitor while you are driving. That can be used for grassland fires.

It can also be run from a remote from inside the cab too. If weather conditions are poor you can sit inside.”

In any given year, PFS normally responds to six to 12 fires a month in the oilfield, including blowouts, with most of the fires caused by lightning and requiring a foam/water application to put them out.

From May to August, Saskatchewan lightning strikes register in the tens of thousands daily, igniting scores of prairie fires and often sparks an oilfield or industrial target.

PFS does most of its work in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where the company closed its Red Deer office in 2009 when the economy took a nosedive.

“Because 2009 was a slow year, we consolidated to one shop, but we still do work throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta,” said Penner.

“It is oilfield work so it’s is up and down as far as the amount of work goes. Most of our work is within two hours of Kindersley.”

PFS is privately owned by Dale Pincemin who is the president and CEO. The company doesn’t provide any safety training for oil company employees they supervise as that type of standard training is available in-house by the client and at places such as the Kindersley campus of Great Plains College.

Penner’s has over 15 year experience in the oilfield including operating batteries, working on service rigs and providing

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“As the district manger and HSE coordinator, it’s up to me to make sure our staff has the proper training to be out in the field,” he said.

Pincemin Fire-Safety showed what they can do during the Jan. 8 Àre that burned down the old hockey rink.

Photo by Gerry Ackerman

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Green-minded couple test

Ashley Lovatt and Jason Kolberg use their mobile drill take soil and water samples at abandoned oil and gas well sites.

Lloydminster – Colour Border Drilling Ltd. in Lloydminster environmental green.

The company is owned and operated by Jason Kolberg and his fiancé Ashley Lovatt.

They deploy their mobile AMS PowerProbe direct push drilling rig to retrieve soil and water samples at abandoned oil and gas well sites in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

“Most of our work is abandonment work for old oil leases,” said Kolberg. “Before they can reclaim them, they have to confirm that the soil is not too contaminated.

“We just go out there and drill some holes. We are sub-contracted to an environmental company that is contracted to the oil company. There are specific guidelines they have to follow.

Border Drilling follows Phase II Environment Site Assessment procedures for the upstream petroleum industry for repairing or reclaiming land contaminated by oil, gas and related industrial sites.

“We are just on the

equipment operations side of the process,” said Kolberg. “We just drill the hole and they (environmental consultant) take the sample from whatever depth they want and send it to the lab.”

Border Drilling prides itself on getting the job done efficiently year round with a minimal disturbance to the environment, thanks to their light-footed PowerProbe 9700 VTR rig.

“It’s not your basic environmental rig," said Kolberg. “It’s track mounted, which gives you a smaller ground disturbance than the average person’s footprint.

The tracks are 18 inches wide so the ground disturbance is 5 lb. per square inch.”

The 9700-VTR is powered by a liquidcooled 80-hp diesel engine and includes a 175 ft-lb. hydraulic hammer and a 5,000 ft.-lb.

2-speed auger motor.

Typically, Border Drilling will retrieve soil samples from 15 to 20 drill holes per site to a depth up to 20 feet using a solid stem auger or a hollow stem auger.

The hammer is used to

extract the core sample from inside the hollow stem auger.

The rig is driven by remote control and operated by Kolberg or Lovatt, who manipulates it using a set of joysticks on the control box.

“It’s fun to operate,” said Lovatt. “It’s nice to be the helper and also the driller. It’s not too difficult to drill as long you keep it straight. You just have to keep it vertical. It’s pretty easy.”

When she’s not operating the machine, Lovatt also lifts the augers and hammers them together for Kolberg.

“It’s fairly basic to operate,” added Kolberg.

“You still learn something new every day, but once you get the hang of it, you’ve got it.”

Kolberg and Lovatt plan to get married this year and the sight of both of them working side by side in the field generates conversation.

“Everybody always comments, ‘I can’t believe you guys can life together and work together,’ “said Lovatt who is just 24, while Kolberg is a youthful 26.

“It actually works out great. It’s nice because of the hustle and bustle of the oilpatch,” said Lovatt. “If we didn’t work together, I don’t think we would be able to see each other that often.

“It’s a good market to be in and I like the work. You are always somewhere different and with different people.” ɸ Page A27

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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drill for contamination ɺ Page A26 Their job has taken them from south of Regina and north to La Loche in Saskatchewan and from south of Calgary up to Fort McMurray and over to Grande Prairie in Alberta.

“We go all over Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Kolberg. “There may be more work in Alberta because there is more oil development there.

“It’s good to know we are doing something to help out on the environmental side. There is the satisfaction that you are actually making a difference.”

The couple started the business in 2007, a few years after they met at Olds College and decided there was a lot of demand for environmental drilling in the Lloydminster area.

Lovatt had done similar work with an environmental drilling company in Alberta and Kolberg had worked on drilling rigs for a time after he completed a two-year program in land and water resources at Olds.

“I always liked being on the equipment side of things for whatever hands on stuff,” he said. “We just decided to do it this way.”

Picking a name for their business in the busy Lloydminster market was easy said Lovatt.

“We just moved to Lloyd and we

were trying to think of a name. There seemed to be border everything, everywhere, so we thought we would just join the club.”

Border Drilling has its own a shop bay in Lloydminster to park their truck trailer and drill and the owners maintain an office on their acreage near Lashburn, where they promote their business as being environmentally friendly.

“We are the only track-mounted rig in the area so that’s where we have an advantage over a truck mounted rig,” said Kolberg.

“There is the also the advantage of being an owner and operator and knowing who you are going to have running the equipment.”

The entrepreneurs are hoping to purchase a second rig one day but for now, they are run off their feet keeping up with the existing demand for their services.

“There is tons of work of work for us,” said Lovatt. “We are not just limited to oil leases. We also drill at gas stations and other commercial property. With a lot of their underground tanks we will drill around them to see if there are any leaks.

“We also install ground water monitoring wells. It allows the consultant to obtain a ground water sample to see if there’s any contamination.”

Border Drilling deploys a PowerProbe 9700 VTR drilling rig for soil and water sampling on contaminated oil and gas sites.

Century announces farmout Century Energy Ltd. says it has signed a farmout agreement with Atikwa Resources Inc. covering two sections of land in the Roncott field area of Saskatchewan.

The agreement requires Atikwa to drill and complete or cap and abandon a well on the lands to earn 50 per cent of Century’s interest in the section of the lands where the test well is located if the well is a vertical well, or 50 per cent of Century’s interest in all of the lands, if the well is a horizontal well.

If the well is a vertical well, Atikwa will have the option to drill a well on the undrilled section of the lands to earn 50 per cent of Century’s interest in that section. The well was scheduled to spud in early February.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Rec-Tech sleds go to work for surveyors, ¿eld crews Lloydminster – Survey and seismic companies from all over Saskatchewan and Alberta don’t need GPS assistance to locate Rec-Tech Power Products.

The business is well-known in the oilpatch as an exclusive dealer of Bombardier Recreation Products or BRP for work or play.

Although 90 per cent of Rec-Tech’s sales are for recreational use, demand is steady from surveyors, seismic crews and other oilfield companies for the workhorse Tundra and Skandic Ski-doo sleds and BRP Can-Am ATVs. Oilpatch employees and workers are also frequent buyers of BRP vehicles such as Sea-doo boats, motorcycles, sport sleds and related retail gear and clothing for personal use.

For the sake of those in the market for a 2010 work sled or quad, Rec-Tech’s showroom and service

centre is situated 16 kilometres west of Lloydminster on Highway 16 at RR 20 with a large yard to demo drive sleds and other machines.

“We cater to surveying companies and seismic companies that tend to run a lot of snow machines,” said owner and manager Alan Lorenz.

“Even some of the guys who are checking wells are using them to get around.”

The Ski-doo Tundra and Skandic sleds are the most popular snow machines for surveyors and seismic crews looking for a combination of light weight and heavy duty performance.

“The Tundra is something surveyors have used for many years,” said Ken Deleff, service and parts manager. “It’s a bullet-proof built unit with very low maintenance. The cost is cheap to run and they are really reliable.

Ken Deleff maneuvers the Can-Am Renegade 800 standing up.

“They have a cargo rack on the back. They come with a heavy duty bumper and a winch. You can pull a sled if you like.

“There are places to carry stuff. A lot of time, surveyors like to tie on stakes or if they have GPS equipment they have to have a spot for it.

“It’s a small sled. It’s a workhorse and it’s light.

It’s easy to get and out of the back of a pickup. You can get them in a longer track as well if you’re in harsher conditions.”

Surveyors and seismic crews also purchase the off-trail Skandic sleds for the most demanding oilfield jobs.

“The seismic guys tend to run a little heavier machine for towing,” said Lorenz referring to the Skandic.

“The Tundra is the most popular one for surveyors. You see them on the backs of trucks all over. We sell a lot commercially to surveying companies and seismic guys. It’s got good power to weight. Good power to weight is key in the snow.

Lorenz says some seismic crews up north will purchase the BRP Can-Am quad for spring time work and for checking wells in the summer.

“They can get through the snow with one but it’s a cold ride,” said Lorenz. “It’s reliable and has a three year warranty. That’s one of the longest in the industry.” ɸ Page A29

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Tough enough to handle the job ɺ Page A28 Rec-Tech also has some plows for quads and all the mounts for the Can-Am. “A lot of oil companies use them to clear snow in their yard in the industrial parks areas,” said Deleff.

BRP quads or any of the ones with an XT package come with an available winch, bumper, racks, hand guards and are set up ready for work and recreation with 400 to 800 cc engines.

“If you are working in swampy areas, we have the Argos,” said Deleff.

“They are an amphibious vehicle that can go through water, swamps, sand, dirt and mud – they go anywhere.

“They have an excellent reliability and have a three year warranty.”

Rec-tech is also a dealer of small utility Kioti tractors powered by 22 to 90 hp diesel engines and popular with farmers and acreage owners.

“We have sold a few units to guys who were

Alan Lorenz hops in the saddle of this Can-Am quad at his Rec-Tech showroom.

Photo by Geoff Lee

going to use them in the oilpatch for mowing and reclamation,” said Deleff.

When it comes to talking with customers about service and recommending vehicles for the oilpatch, Deleff knows what he’s talking about.

Before coming to Rec-Tech he worked on everything from drilling rigs and vac trucks to wire lining and welding, mostly in the Provost area.

“I used to work with a seismograph company,

and we used snowmobiles all the time getting around and picking all of their points,” said Deleff.

“You couldn’t do the job without them. It’s hard to get around a lot of places with vehicles because of the snow.

“Being in the industry definitely helps. This is something I have always wanted to do,” he said, adding he owns a quad and sold a few of his five sleds this winter.

“This year, there

hasn’t been a lot of sledding locally because of the low snow. A lot of people have been going to the mountains or farther north around Cold Lake or Athabasca.”

Snow and cold weather are good for sales and servicing which Rec-Tech is known for.

“We stock all of the hard parts for all of the different models – especially ATVs – Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaski, Arctic cat – brakes, ball joints, bearings and CV boots for everything,” said Lorenz.

“We keep all of the fast moving parts in stock. You never have to wait.

“Guys in the oilpatch want the stuff in and out quick. Everybody does, but these guys earn their living on the equipment.

That’s how I got into the business and what pays the bills is the service.

“If you can get a guy in and get him out and take care of him and treat him right, he will keep coming back.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Meridian to party in Regina with more to celebrate at home Kindersley – Stuart Hayward, branch manager of Meridian Surveys Ltd. in Kinderlsey, has attended every annual general meeting of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association or SLSA except one.

He missed last’s year’s usual summer AGM due to medical reasons, and that one omission means he can no longer say he knows everyone.

“Being it was last year that I missed – there’s quite an influx of new land surveyors in the last five years,” said Hayward.

“This year, there are about five new land surveyors coming in so there’s five new names that I don’t know. There were other years in the 90s when maybe there were only one or no surveyors coming in.

“The requirements to get your licence were a little bit more confined then and the economic demand wasn’t quite as strong.

“Now, Saskatchewan is booming more and there’s a better demand to have more surveyors. We are seeing more people getting their licence.”

Name tags may be required at this year’s 100th anniversary gathering in Regina, March 26-27.

More than 150 land surveyors, retirees and presidents of other provincial land survey associations are expected to show up including about 15 land surveyors and articling students from Hayward’s office.

“It’s being held at the Hotel Saskatchewan (Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan) which is where the original o convention was, so there’s a bit b of history there for us,” said Hayward w who got his licence in 1980 with Tri-City T Surveys Ltd., the forerunner of o Meridian.

“I have never been to that hotel t before. That will be interesting if n nothing else. I am sure there will be l of memorabilia that I haven’t seen lots show up.” s He also expects better attendance Stuart S Stu St tua uart rt Hayward, Ha ay ywa ward branch ward brran b anch ch c h manager manag anager ag ger at at th Meridian in Kindersley is taking 15 em- for this year’s 100 birthday will attract more spouses to the president’s ployees to the SLSA AGM in Regina.

ball than usual.

“I am sure it will be a lot more gala for lack of better words,” said Hayward.

The AGMs that Hayward has attended, usually start off with a seminar followed by a golf game, but with the 100th in March, most of business and socializing will revolve around the healthy state of land surveying in the province tied to oil and gas development.

“Oilfield surveying is our bread and butter,” said Hayward, about his focus in Kindersley. “That’s where we make our income. We survey anything to do with creating a new title or a residential subdivision, so to speak, or construction.

“The bulk of our work is related to the oilpatch and pipelines. If you do a well, it will need a flow line. Out of a 100 wells, there are probably 60 that get flow lines around here.”

Meridian open its office in Kindersley in 1983 to cash on surveying well site leases for new oil and gas development in the Viking formation and it's déjà vu with the recent boom in horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracing.

“Activity is picking up,” said Hayward. “I am not seeing gas, but I am

Survey assistant James Cappie sets up survey equipment last October near the South Saskatchewan River.

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seeing oil coming up – lots of new juniors and names I haven’t seen before, but familiar names coming through.

“We are seeing a huge amount of horizontal drilling compared to verticals now. With the new technology, rather than the full mile (bores), we are seeing that coming down to the half mile boring length. Maybe that’s where the economics are.

“The horizontals take more planning. The survey doesn’t make any difference to us – it’s a fractional bit more work, but the application for a well licence goes to a different division.

“If you are planning on a March 31 expiry, you have to plan that out a lot more than just the last week of March. It has to be in by February in order to get that through the licensing division.”

Hayward believes the larger production volumes resulting from horizontal wells will put more demand on fluid hauling and trucking which he says, “will eventually push more to the shipping side.

“Inter Pipeline (Fund), the primary shipper in the area, is going to have to keep up with the demand.”

That will lead to more surveys for lease gathering lines for Meridian.

Photo submitted

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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B-Section

PIPELINE NEWS

March 2010

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

Kindersley rink ¿re sets growth plans into motion Story and photos by Geoff Lee

nities around us pulled together and offered us access to their arenas,” she said.

“It brought out the best in everyone and it has ever since.”

Memories of playing in the old rink inspired several pro hockey players from Kindersley – Ironically, the fire that destroyed Kindersley’s 55 year-old Exhibition Stadium hockey rink on Jan. 8 came at an historic moment and reset the Kindersley to donate $30,000 from the NHL Players’ Association to replace new sledge hockey gear and goalie pads for teams that lost equipment in the fire. town’s mindset to the future. th Mayor Wayne Foster was in Mexico during the blaze and it didn’t take him Two days after the blaze, Kindersley marked its 100 birthday as a village and th will celebrate its 100 year as a town from July 21 to 25 – but the loss of the rink long to hear about it. “Within 10 minutes it was on the Internet. With Facebook, there were lots of people that knew what had happened,” he said. has everyone focused on rebuilding and becoming a city.

“I think if we need to make a grant application we would be looked on favor“People felt sad that day but people moved immediately to start thinking about ably,” he added with a grin.” the future and rebuilding,” said chief administrative officer Sherry Magnuson.

Bother leaders agree that the exposure “Strength from our Past. Energizing Kindersley gained from the tragic fire will have our Future,” is the town’s centennial slogan built a positive long-term impact in helping to rebuild around preliminary celebration plans to fund and grow the economy of the town. raise for a Centennial Communiplex Project at “We want to grow. We want to become a the rink site. city,” said Magnuson. “We are right on the cusp “It’s interesting timing that the arena of becoming a city. We think this is a great place burned down while we have plans for a new to live and we need to take it from the town to multi-use complex,” said Magnuson. the city status.”

“Now, we are looking at integrating those “We pride ourselves on having all of the big efforts into some kind of ‘communiplex’ with city amenities with a small town atmosphere. an arena and other facilities that accommodate Everybody knows everybody,” added Foster. other sectors and interests.”

Kindersley is located along Highway 7 with A new facility will be built next to the West an annual traffic count of nearly three million veCentral Events Centre (arena and curling rink) hicles, thanks to the busy agricultural and oil and that was saved from the fire with help from oil gas sectors. and gas companies that are part of the town’s “Oil and gas has been a very positive influemergency response plan. ence on the economy of the Kindersley area for “We had to work very quickly to save the a long time and that’s certainly been the case for standing structure,” said Magnuson. “You have the last five years as well,” noted Boyd. to drain lines; you have to blow heat in the “It creates good, well paid stable jobs for peobuilding; you have to do whatever you can to ple in the area. That’s very good for the economy preserve and save the assets you have. obviously and the business community.”

“We acted fast, but the oil and gas compaMayor Foster says oil and gas companies nies provided us with the equipment we needdrilling wells into the Viking formation have ed. These guys train all the time in emergency provided a strong source of revenue for the town response, working in such a high risk industry. and province during the past five years.

“They are on our resource list. When the “The associated companies that come along call for help came, they were right there.” with oil and gas have certainly added to our comEnergy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd munity. They are a big player in just about every farms nearby and he says the reaction of oil and aspect of our society,” he said. gas companies to the emergency “just goes to Horizontal drilling and multi-fracing have show you the sense of community that oil and invigorated the oil and gas industry and promptgas companies felt when Kindersley was under ed Kindersley to plan for housing growth. They peril with the fire. released 21 new serviced lots for sale in its “The community banded together and Rosedale subdivision in 2009. worked very hard to save the newer part of the “We have the planning and zoning done for arena complex. I think you will see that same the next two stages for a total of 63 new lots,” kind of effort put into the rebuilding process,” added Magnuson. added Boyd.

“The housing needs here are great and we Magnuson says what she also learned about continue to try to meet those housing needs. The her community that day was how everyone development of a new subdivision is based on pulled together.

Mayor Wayne Foster and CAO Sherry Magnuson growth in the oil and gas industry.”

“We had a tremendous support from the have worked to position Kindersley to become a ɸ Page B2 city. local community and the region. The commu-

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Working hard to make Kindersley a city ɺ Page B1

Public works director Jason Behiel is dwarfed by a new water tower that helped to save the existing Western Central Events Centre from the Àre that burned the old hockey rink.

A legacy committee for the centennial celebration will expand its planned “Leaf Your Legacy” program originally intended to encourage visitors and former residents to donate to a Legacy Fund for the Communiplex.

That program will now extend to oil and gas companies, residents and businesses.

“We are the West Central Saskatchewan hub for recreation and for economic, business and retail. It’s important to have a quality multi-use facility,” said Magnuson.

“It just benefits the community and the region. The oil and gas sector will be approached to support this very important project.”

Magnuson continues to field media calls about the fire from all over Canada and lets everyone she talks to know she thinks

Kindersley has a great vibe.

“There is energy here amongst the people,” she said. “That comes from oil and gas too. It reminds me of Estevan. Things are on the move. We are growing and prosperous.”

Kindersley has committed $10 million toward a regional water supply system project valued at about $24

million with surrounding communities and rural municipalities with funding from the federal and provincial governments as well.

The Water West project as the project is called led to the construction of a new water tower in 2009 that holds 726,000 imperial gallons of water – intended for future growth as a city.

The tower was well timed. All of that water and more was used to help fire fighters save the West Central Event Centre from burning up with the Exhibition Stadium.

The rest of that story is history but that’s not where Kindersley is heading. It’s going to be a city by 2011 at the latest – when the next census takes place.

Kindersley will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a fundraising blitz for a Centennial Communiplex Project to replace the rink that burned down on Jan. 8. The town hopes to be in the running for a $100,000 Hockeyville contest prize.

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B3

B4

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Skins format popular at Weyburn OTS bonspiel

By Brian Zinchuk Weyburn – It may have been the weekend of one of the worst blizzards in a while, but that didn’t keep curlers away from the Weyburn Oilfield Technical Society Bonspiel held at the Weyburn curling rink on Jan. 22-23.

According to Michael Mainil, president of the Weyburn OTS, most of the curlers were local or had hotels in town, so once they were there, it wasn’t too big a deal. Being only two days helped as well. “It wasn’t too bad. Everybody was pretty much in town, anyways,” he said.

Playing times were not affected by the storm, however; some people had to postpone their travel plans at the conclusion of the bonspiel due to the storm.

There were 24 teams, with 96 players. They had

about 120 present at the Friday night kickoff banquet, held at the rink.

The A-event was won by the Weyburn Apex team, with skip Larry Paterson, third Mark Schneider, second Darcy Ward and lead Gerard Rieger.

In the B-event, the winning team came from HSE Integrated, Weyburn. It was composed of skip Tyler Tollefson, third Devin Baumgartner, second Craig Robson and lead Ron Eichel.

Mainil’s own Caprice Resources team, which he skips, along with third Tyler Radcliffe, second Trevor Pandachuk and lead Cory Hicks, took the C-event.

He said they keep trying to take the top, but losses tripped them up. “We won it last year. You get one bad game, and it drops you down,” he said.

Mainil said the six-end skins format has proven popular. The winner is not determined by points, but

rather by money earned. As the game progresses, later ends have more value. Even if you have a blowout in earlier ends, it’s still worth your while to play out the whole game. “Every end’s a new game,” Mainil explained.

“We put in the skins format to make it a little more entertaining. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback on our format.”

The Weyburn OTS hosts men’s and women’s golf tournaments each year, in addition to its annual bonspiel. Mainil said they are considering holding another “Oil Boom” cabaret this summer, to be held in the off year of the bi-annual oil show.

Larry Paterson, Mark Schneider, Darcy Ward and Gerard Rieger gather for a picture after winning the A- event at the OilÀeld Technical Society Bonspiel, held at the Weyburn Curling Club on Jan. 22-23 and run in a skins format. The A-event was sponsored by John Kmita Ltd. Photo by Jason Antonio, courtesy the Weyburn Review

Skip Tyler Tollefson, third Devin Baumgartner, second Craig Robson and lead Ron Eichel gather for a picture after winning the B event at the OilÀeld Technical Society Bonspiel. The B-event was sponsored by Jerry Mainil Ltd. Photo by Jason Antonio, courtesy the Weyburn Review

OTS Bonspiel C event winners Skip Michael Mainil, third Tyler Radcliffe, second Trevor Pandachuk and lead Cory Hicks gather for a picture after winning the C-event at the OilÀeld Technical Society Bonspiel. The C-event was sponsored by Brady OilÀeld Services LP. Photo by Jason Antonio, courtesy the Weyburn Review

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B5

Surveying comes alive James Sweeney, branch manager scans part of a new book chronicling the 100 year history of McElhanney.

Photo by Geoff Lee

The McElhanney Story 19102010 is an exciting read about surveying.

Lloydminster – The Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association (SLSA) isn’t the only surveying organization celebrating a 100th anniversary in 2010.

The McElhanney group of surveying, engineering and mapping companies is also celebrating its centenary this year and will send members to the SLSA annual general meeting in Regina, March 26-27 already in a festive mood.

The excitement is evident at the McElhanney Land Surveys Ltd. office in Lloydminster where branch manager and land surveyor, James Sweeney has just distributed copies of a keepsake book to his 22 employees about the company’s storied history.

“It’s fantastic,” said Sweeney. “There’s not many companies, especially Canadian companies, that have survived and been prosperous for 100 years. It’s a good way to celebrate the 100th anniversary. I look forward to the next book.”

The book titled, Maps, Mountains & Mosquitoes, The McEhlanney Story 1910-2010, focuses on the life and times of company founder William Gordon McElhanney and the scores of players, projects and boom/ bust cycles that grew the company from its Vancouver roots into a global enterprise.

“I handed out the books last week (end of January) and nearly everybody’s head was down flipping through it,” said Sweeney.

“They were all pleased with the layout. I was really impressed when I opened the box. I hadn’t seen it prior

to its arrival in Lloydminster.”

Sweeney who has 21 years’ experience with McElhanney, along with survey party chief Adrien Beauvais, with over 35 years of service, are all mentioned or quoted in the book along with veteran party chief Wayne Pollard.

Pollard is described back in 2008 as a “grizzled party chief who had thirty years’ experience with McElhanney under his belt” in a section about Lloydminster.

“We knew that some us would be mentioned in the book because author Katherine Gordon came out to interview us,” said Sweeney, who hadn’t read his part yet when Pipeline News dropped by.

“I am a systematic person. I am starting at the start and reading it through.”

Here’s an excerpt about Beauvais’ brush with a bear near LLoydminster: “Party chief Adrien Beauvais had no gun with him when he was chased by a cinnamon bear a few hours out of Lloydminster, but he made it to his truck safely to tell the tale later. ‘They say you can’t outrun a bear, but I tell you, when it’s behind you, you can run pretty fast,’ he said.”

Gordon also wrote the book Made to Measure, a history of land surveying in British Columbia that led to The McElhanney Story.

“We have B.C. land surveyors in the company,” explained Sweeney. “They saw the book and proposed that we capture the history of McElhanney.

“The new crop of land surveyors doesn’t know the history of the company. We wanted some way of passing on that knowledge and that sense of pride employees should have.”

The book jacket reads, “McElhanney’s name is associated with pipelines and projects across the oil patch of British Columbia and Alberta, highways, and bridges in both provinces, ferry terminals, airports, power projects, and the Sea to Sky Highway and other infrastructure required for the 2010 Winter Olympics.”

Gordon brings the history of the company alive with her story telling style and plenty of fascinating tales. The book is supported by maps and photos of McElhanney employees, projects, survey equipment and historical working conditions packed into more than 300 pages of text.

“It all started in Vancouver British Columbia in 1910 with one man, William Gordon McElhanney.” writes Gordon.

Sweeney is planning to donate a book to the local library and thinks it might be a good recruitment tool for university and technical schools with surveying

courses and a tool to educate the public about surveying.

“The general public has no idea of what we actually do,” said Sweeney. “They see us as a guy standing at the side of the road looking through the telescope.

They don’t realize that it’s a fascinating industry with a lot of high technology.”

The book makes several references to the fact McElhanney is known throughout its history to be an early adopter of new technology including a Tellurometer MRA3 for distance measurement in B.C. the 1950s.

At the Lloydminster office, McElhanney uses the latest GPS tools and specializes in surveys to support the construction of new wells, access roads, pipelines.

“We do whatever our clients want us to do,” said Sweeney. “If they want us to survey a well site, we survey well sites. Once they drill and if they are successful, and they want a pipeline to them, we survey pipelines.

“Our vision and mission in McElhanney is to be in the oilfield sector and that’s what we are good at.

That’s what we know. We don’t get into municipal subdivisions. It’s not our core business.” ɸ Page B6

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Redvers Oil Showcase planning underway

Redvers will be giving away a commercial highway exposure lot to one of the exhibitors during the Redvers Oil Showcase. The lot will be adjacent to the new John Deere dealership, seen here under construction.

Redvers – Things are ramping up for the Redvers Oil Showcase which will take place May 7-8, with exhibitors signing up and arrangements being made. The highlight of the event will be a speech by Brett Herman, one of the top executives responsible for growth in the Bakken play.

Herman, president and CEO of Result Energy and former head of TriStar Oil & Gas, will be the guest speaker at 6

p.m. on May 7.

Herman is one of the prime movers and shakers in southeast Saskatchewan. In late January, it was announced PetroBakken Energy was buying Result for $480 million in cash and stock. In August, 2009, TriStar and Petrobank combined to form Petrobakken, in a deal that saw TriStar shareholders get $580 million in cash and 61.8 million shares, or 36 per cent of the new entity, according to Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin. For those counting, that’s over a billion dollars in deals in less than six months.

Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin reported on Nov. 9, 2009, “TriStar grew from 1,000 bbls of oil equivalent per day to more than 25,000 BOE a day in just over 3.5 years through the successful execution of several strategic acquisitions combined with a low risk development drilling program and an exploration program that helped expand and define the prolific Bakken resource play in southeast Saskatchewan.”

The event will take place at the Redvers Recreation Centre.

“We’re really just getting going. Response has been excellent so far,” said Colette Branigan, Redvers economic development officer.

The trade show opens to the public at noon on Friday, May 7, and is open until 4 p.m., allowing for the evening’s festivities to get underway. Lunch will be available from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m, with supper at 6 p.m.

The supper will feature a pig on a spit and roast beef.

On Saturday, May 8, the morning kicks off with an exhibitor’s breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The trade show will start at 10 a.m. and wrap up at 4 p.m. Lunch will again be available from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

Also on the agenda is a fire extinguisher safety course, to be put on by Safety Source. The Virden, Man.-based company is in the process of setting up a shop in Redvers.

“They’re going to be lighting barrels and showing the proper use of fire extinguishers,” Branigan said.

The organizers are hoping to get a common skyline sight brought in and put on display.” We have interest of bringing in a drilling rig,” said Marius Erickson, one of the organizers.

However, they have to get the clearance of the town and recreation board to bring in such heavy equip-

ment. “We’re hoping,” Branigan said.

There are plans to have a rat hole rig in place.

Lot give-away One of the highlights of the last Redvers Oil Showcase, held in 2008, was the giving away of a commercial lot in town to one of the exhibitors.

Classic Vac of Alida won the draw, and ended up building a substantial shop.

The new facility ended up hosting a new TS&M Supply facility.

It was a major coup for the small town, scoring two new businesses. The organizers are hoping to repeat their previous success, offering up another lot along Highway 13. This one will be just west of the new John Deere dealership under construction, and there will be an adjacent lot available for purchase, if the winner decides they would like more space than the 75-ft. by 300-ft. lot.

However, if the winner decides to forego the lot, they will have the option of accepting a $2,500 travel voucher.

The deadline for registration of booths and supper tickets is April, 20.

More information can be found at www. townofredvers.org/showcase.php.

100th anniversary inspires surveying book ɺ Page B5 McElhanney Land Survey also prepares site plans with the assistance of AutoCAD operators and administrative staff.

Sweeney says optimism is returning to the oilpatch and notes his crews and office employees are busier this year

than they were at the same time in 2009.

“The party chief and the survey assistant are out in the field every day,” said Sweeney in reference to McElhanney’s two-man field crews.

“We are all hoping that it continues to stay busy and that the price of

oil stays high. If the price of gas comes back, that will drive the oilpatch a little more.”

Sweeney and his fellow land surveyors Don Hanson, who is a Canada land surveyor, and Robert King are all commissioned to work in Alberta and Saskatchewan,

where crews are busiest this year surveying for heavy oil clients.

The Lloydminster office was established in 1979 but as the book and Sweeney himself suggest, longevity doesn’t guarantees success.

“It’s our reputation and our quality of work

that drives McElhanney,” he said. “Our plans don’t look much different than any other oilfield survey company.

“The contacts have been made and the clients know we are here.

The fact we have been here for a long time doesn’t guarantee that we are going to continue to get work.

It’s the service and the quality of the work that dictates if you get work. It’s the reputation. Service is producing a quality product in a timely cost effective manner.

Sweeney received an initial box of 35 books and is planning on handing out the extra copies to clients.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B7

Natural gas power plant announced

By Brian Zinchuk North Battleford – The Battlefords are becoming a power generation hub, with the Feb. 8 announcement of a second natural gas-fired power generating station.

SaskPower has chosen Northland Power Inc., an independent power producer based in Toronto, to provide 261 megawatts (MW) of power to the provincial electrical grid. The natural gas-fired facility will be located southeast of North Battleford, 8 kilometres outside of the city, with construction expected to begin in July 2010.

Northland Power said in a release, “The plant will use a General Electric gas turbine with associated heat recovery and a steam turbine to produce the electricity. Construction is expected to begin in July 2010, and the plant is scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2013. The total cost of the project is budgeted at approximately $700 million.”

“We are very pleased that SaskPower has again shown its confidence in Northland Power and selected us as their partner to help meet their needs for reliable generation capacity,” said John Brace, CEO of the Northland Power Income Fund, the parent company of Northland Power. “With construction of our peaking plant near Spy Hill to begin in the spring, this will further strengthen our presence in Saskatchewan and allow us to participate in the province’s continued growth. We are very confident that the North Battleford facility, modeled closely on our cogeneration plant that is

about to begin commercial operations in Thorold, Ontario, will satisfy SaskPower’s requirements in an efficient and economical manner.”

This facility is in addition to the SaskPowerowned 140 MW simple cycle natural gas turbine peaking plant under construction at a nearby site, in the southeast corner of North Battleford. It is known as the Yellowhead Power Plant, and had an estimated cost of $250 million. It was initially announced in February, 2009, and has a scheduled in-service date of December, 2010.

The Northland Power facility will be a baseload plant, meaning it is meant to run pretty much all the time, whereas the Yellowhead plant will be turned on as demand requires.

“In Saskatchewan, we continue to see growing demand for power,” said Gary Wilkinson, vice-president, planning, environment and regulatory affairs, SaskPower. “Our top priority at SaskPower is to ensure that the province’s residents and businesses have a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity for years to come. This project will help us meet that need.”

SaskPower and Northland Power have entered a 20-year power purchase agreement for the facility, which will provide baseload generation for the province. Generation facilities that provide baseload power provide energy at a constant rate.

“This means the construction of a $700 million natural gas-fired power plant near the Battlefords,” said Denis Lavertu, director of business development for the City

“

Our top priority at SaskPower is to ensure that the province’s residents and businesses have a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity for years to come. This project will help us meet that need.

”

- Gary Wilkinson, vice-president, planning, environment and regulatory affairs, SaskPower of North Battleford. “That will lead to approximately 200 construction jobs and once the plant opens, SaskPower anticipates 25 to 35 highly technical fulltime jobs.”

Northland Power was awarded the contract following a competitive bidding process, initiated by SaskPower in the fall of 2008, to procure between 200 MW and 400 MW of new intermediate to baseload generation.

Brian Mohr, SaskPower’s manager of sustainable development and generation planning group, explained the Northland Power project will fill that current need.

“We’re not planning for the short term on issuing another request for proposals,” he said.

SaskPower is currently seeking to expand its wind power generation by 175 MW, as well as adding another 50 MW

of renewable power.

In order to ensure the procurement process was conducted in a fair and open manner, SaskPower retained the services of an external fairness advisor.

In September 2009, Northland Power was chosen to provide 86 MW of peaking generation for SaskPower, beginning in December, 2011.

The natural gas peaking power station will be located near the Tantallon Switching Station, located

40 kilometres north of Moosomin.

In anticipation of federal climate change legislation, SaskPower is developing more natural gas-fired generation. The company noted natural gas has about half the carbon dioxide emissions of traditional coal-fired generation. It is also attractive because of its lower capital construction costs and quicker in-service dates, the company said in a release.

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B8

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

The Battleford$ billion

By Brian Zinchuk North Battleford – When you add up all the construction projects that will be taking place in or very near North Battleford over the next two years, the dollar figure gets big – 10 digits big.

A billion dollars is expected to be spent building three projects at the Battlefords. The first, already underway, is a $250 million natural gas peaking power plant for SaskPower, being constructed within the city limits.

The second is a $50 million multi-purpose recreational facility complex which will start this spring.

The third, and by far the largest, is the recent announcement of a $700 million baseload natural gas power plant to be built by Northland Power. The Ontario company is contracted to supply SaskPower with electrical generation for at least 20 years. It is to be built about eight-kilometres southeast of the city, in the RM of North Battleford.

If those projects weren’t enough, there are others on the go, including an anticipated hotel announcement, and the eventual replacement of Saskatchewan Hospital. That project has been on the books since the NDP was in power, but still seems to be a long way from fruition, given the province’s fiscal situation.

Additionally, there’s an $8 million care home in the works and a $6 million water treatment plant expansion. The University of Saskatchewan is setting up a $12.6 million Canadian Feed Technology Research Facility. There’s also talk of a shipping distribution centre to be located in the city.

All told, the three major announced projects will ensure hundreds of trades people will be flocking to the Battlefords, filling hotels and restaurants, and likely snapping up any rental accommodations available. The Northland project alone is anticipated to require 200+ workers during the construction phase.

There’s not a lot of available housing to begin with. Two years ago, the community was facing a rental crunch, with essentially zero availability. North Battleford director of business development Denis Lavertu said the city is working with developers to encourage them to build or upgrade apartment accommodations.

Herb Cox, a realtor with Westland Agencies, said there’s “about zero” hous-

es available for rental or lease. “To find a house to lease is virtually impossible.”

Real estate listings are few, an indication of a tighter market, although there’s not a lot of movement on higher-priced homes. “We have very few listings right now,” he said, with about 55 or fewer single detached dwellings listed on the local real estate board.

“Rental accommodations are very, very tight,” North Battleford Mayor Ian Hamilton added. He hopes it gives developers the confidence to build new rental accommodations, since there hasn’t been an apartment building constructed in North Battleford in decades.

“With this announcement, things are really moving and shaking,” Lavertu said.

There is increased interest in hotels and fast food projects, he added.

North Battleford city manager Jim Toye said the city anticipates an announcement on a new hotel in the next few months.

“There’s a lot of people very excited about the opportunities. We’ve been talking to developers about a hotel.”

He called it “very serious discussions.”

Things have been busy at the Yellowhead construction site. “The last six months, large crews have been working, at times, day and night,” according to Toye.

“I believe North Battleford’s going to be the centre of power generation for this area,” Toye said, adding there’s a potential for growth in the oil and gas sector, and in other industries.

“These aren’t going to be low-end, minimum wage jobs. It bodes well for housing sales. The spinoffs are very significant. It’s like dominoes. They’re big facilities.”

“It’s all very exciting for us right now,” said Hamilton, who was elected mayor last October, after a term as a city councillor. “What it means for us is reassurance we’re going forward.

“It’s showing confidence in the region, and reinforcing we are the hub of the northwest.”

He added, “I hope it will be a managed growth.” ɸ Page B9

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B9

And that's with a "B" Éş Page B8 Last year, Bruce Power listed the Battlefords as a possible location for a nuclear reactor. That proposal is now dead, when the province nixed the nuclear option. But Hamilton said it “forced us to look internally. Do we have conďŹ dence in ourselves?â€?

At the end of its term, the last city council decided to go ahead with the multi-purpose recreational facility project, after about six years of working on the idea. “It was ďŹ nally time to get going,â€? Hamilton said.

Asked if there was any “not in my backyard� concerns regarding the two power plants, Hamilton replied, “Not yet, no.�

RM of North Battleford The RM of North Battleford will gain signiďŹ cantly from the Northland Power plant. That’s because, unlike SaskPower, which does not pay municipal taxes as a Crown corporation, Northland will be paying municipal taxes. According

Carson Energy builds Battlefords pipeline Battleford – Carson Energy Services’ mainline pipeline division has been awarded the contract to build a 14-kilometre pipeline to service the new SaskPower Yellowhead Power Plant, currently under construction at North Battleford.

The 12-inch steel pipeline will originate at a TransGas facility southwest of Battleford, going east as it swings south of the town. It will cross the Battle River south of Battleford, cross Battleford Flats, a oodplain, and then the North Saskatchewan River at a narrowing of the river, southeast of Saskatchewan Hospital. From there, it’s not terribly far to the new power plant, which falls within the city limits of North Battleford. “It’s about a 1,200 metre bore

across the North Saskatchewan,� explained Dale Ziegler, mainline construction manager for Carsons.

The North Saskatchewan River has a reputation for being diďŹƒcult to bore across. “It’s going to be a struggle, for sure,â€? he said, but noted, “The technology has come along. I think it’s doable.

We’ve crossed it a few times. It can be a bit of a battle.�

Boring across the Battle River isn’t always a walk in the park either, he noted. “We’re kicking o construction on the pipeline immediately,â€? he said on Feb. 11. The work should take about a month, with the crew peaking around 50. The company established a yard in Battleford for the project.

to RM administrator Debbie Arsenault, the current total taxable assessment for the RM is $70 million. While it’s not known how much that will increase with the new plant, a $700 million project is likely going to have a building permit in the hundreds of millions of dollars, increasing the total taxable assessment of the municipality by several times. “It’s deďŹ nitely going to be a boost for the RM,â€? she said. “We’re happy about the increase to our tax base.â€?

The impacts on the RM will be relatively small. The facility will require 2.25 miles of road to be built to a higher standard, something the company wants done right away. “They want us to get going on as much as we can, as fast as we can,� she said.

Once the facility is completed, the impact on road infrastructure will be minimal, compared to the heavy oil industry prevalent to the west of the Battlefords. “It’s not going to impact our infrastructure like the heavy oil industry,� she said. “We’ve been talking with Northland Power for about the last year and a half,� she said. The RM revised its zoning bylaw, allowing for heavy industrial, just in case the project was approved.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Busy, and getting busier There’s been a consistent trend since the beginning of the year in talking to people in the oilpatch in southeast Saskatchewan. Almost everyone is busy, and anticipating the pace to pick up.

Brian Lenouil of Poplar Services, Ltd., Toolpush Todd Lobreau says it’s hard to Ànd experienced drilling rig hands these days.

in Redvers, said they were busy, with everyone working, and looking for another person right now.

The company specializes in testing of drilling waste for land spreading.

Ken Boetcher, one of the owners of Three Star Trucking in Alida, noted their oil hauling in North Dakota slacked off when Enbridge recently opened up more pipeline capacity, but that’s not going to be for long. “It’s building again,” he said.

In southeast Sas-

katchewan, Boetcher said things were great. “Busy.

We’re bringing in more stuff every day.”

When Pipeline News spoke to drilling rig toolpush Todd Lobreau on Feb. 3, Saskatchewan’s drilling rig utilization was at 72 per cent. “You might as well say 100, because there’s no hands to be had,” he said of the quest for workers. “The rigs that are sitting, they can’t get hands for,” he said of the industry. “There are no experienced hands.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B11

Look for the military guy Estevan – When you’re looking for Stephen Tracey, the man heading up construction of the ATCO Lodge Estevan, everyone says, “Look for the military guy.”

Tracey, a tall man with a bushy salt-andpepper moustache, definitely fits the bill.

He retired as a master warrant officer from the Canadian Forces after 25 years and a day, back in 1997.

Tracey first joined the army in 1972, and was initially in the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry, based in Calgary.

He remustered and ended up in construction engineers, in the army. “My trade was water, sewage, fuel and the environment,” he said.

That trade was eventually transferred to the air force, and he would find himself in a blue uniform, once the Forces decided that not

everyone should wear green.

Asked where he served, he replied, “Because of my background on environment, everywhere.”

Everywhere in this case included eight months with the Royal Engineers in England, a stint in Germany, Egypt, Israel, Bosnia and Haiti.

His stint on the Caribbean Island “wasn’t good,” he said, and that was long before the recent earthquake. He was there in 1993. The conditions were hard, and he lost a lot of weight, he said.

It also wasn’t the water, he claimed, because he was responsible for it. The hot weather took its toll, as one of the factors.

It’s not surprising that the former senior enlisted man was hired

by ATCO after his service was up. Most people might not know

this, but ATCO has extremely close ties with the Canadian Forces, so much so that our northern radar early warning system, the one that tells us if Russian bombers are being deployed into our airspace, is entrusted to ATCO. Where the Forces go, ATCO typically follows.

Tracey’s background in construction, water, sewer and environmental makes him a good fit for camp assembly.

Regarding setting up ATCO Lodge Estevan, he said, “The people in this community are some of the friendliest I met,” he said. “The open hands and friendship are incredible.”

When he’s not on the road, Tracey has 160 acres nestled in the bush country of western Alberta, where he raises elk. He’s halfway between Edson and Whitecourt. “I’m 45 km between nobody,” he said.

Stephen Tracey spent 25 years in the army and air force, working primarily in water, sewer, and environmental areas, making him the right man for heading up camp assemblies.

Estevan Office: Phone: (306) 634-2681 Fax: (306) 636-7227

B12

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Assembling a 3D jigsaw puzzle

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – With an opening date just weeks away, the new ATCO Lodge Estevan, was a flurry of activity in midFebruary.

The camp, with 196 rooms, plus a few more for staff, is being assembled east of Estevan, not far from the Shand

Power Station. Its arrival should address some of the housing crunch the city has experienced in recent years, especially with major carbon dioxide sequestration projects in the works like the Boundary Dam 3 project.

The increased drilling activity in the region is also keeping things hopping.

Large camps may be common up north, far in the bush, but they’re relatively rare in southeast Saskatchewan.

Rob Martin, director of major projects and field services, ATCO Structures & Logistics, said the assembly process started on Nov. 15, 2009.

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land owners, checked out utilities, spoke to local economic development people and the City of Estevan. The plan was presented to the company’s board of directors within a week and a half, and dirt work started shortly thereafter, on Dec. 1.

“From that point, we mobilized the units,” Martin said.

“We scraped, ran buggies and dozers to flatten that lot. We put down about a foot of gravel for pretty well the whole site.”

The gravel is important not only to get around, but for the foundations of the facility.

The units are all poised on hardwood cribbing, three feet in the air. The lot is 10 acres in size.

The site, in the KRJ Industrial Park, has major advantages compared to northern camps. They have power, natural gas and water, if not sewer.

The company will be using a vac truck to empty

its holding tanks on a regular basis. “In the areas we work, you haul water in, if need be,” he said, noting that was not necessary in this case.

And unlike northern camps, there are no large diesel generators powering the facility. “It is a much simpler setup if you have the utilities,” according to Martin.

Behind the scenes they have been arranging items like linen and food suppliers, and hiring of staff. The preference is to hire locally as much as possible. That’s not always easy in an area that has a perennial labour crunch. Indeed, the whole purpose of the camp is to accommodate workers who are not local. Typically, the manager is a permanent ATCO employee.

50 loads The whole camp took about 50 loads to bring in, all coordinated for just-in-time delivery, according to Martin.

A cribbing crew laid

out the hardwood blocks ahead of the picker at regular spacing on both sides of each unit. Despite being winter, they were able to make good time. “One day we placed 15 boxes in a day,” said Martin, who noted that was a very fast pace.

The camp is similar in design to one installed at Resolute Bay, Nunavut.

The front of the facility has a reception area, commissary, first aid station, recreation room and workout area. Electricians are busy wiring, while carpenters install a T-bar suspended ceiling.

Some of the items for the gym are temporarily stored in the recreation room. Among them are a number of treadmills, workout bikes, and a large universal gym.

To the right is the kitchen facility, which can seat approximately 130 people at a time. It will be regularly inspected by public health, and is essentially a restaurant, according to Stephen Tracey, who is heading up the assembly of the camp.

Asked about the camp cook, Tracey pointed out it’s not a cook, but a chef, that will head up the kitchen, an important distinction.

The camp will serve up three meals a day.

Since most clients will be out during the day, lunches will likely be a less intense affair than breakfast or supper, when the plates will be loaded down. There’s a prep area for workers to create bag lunches before they go to work in the morning. ɸ Page B13

Stu Quinn assembles a T-bar suspended ceiling in the main hall of the front area of the camp.

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B13

A camp comes together quickly The foundations of the new ATCO Lodge Estevan are made of hardwood cribbing.

ɺ Page B12 Arctic corridor Behind the front area is what ATCO calls the “Arctic corridor.” It joins the front common area to each of the four wings that make up the accommodation area. It allows clients to access the common areas and kitchen without having to bundle up and go outside.

The Arctic corridor is lined with benches, boot racks and heavy duty coat hooks, meant to take heavy outdoor gear. Tracey said there’s something of an honour system, trusting people not to take your clothes hanging in the common areas. Several carpenters worked on the doorways linking units, as well as the baseboards.

Each of the four wings has 49 rooms, plus laundry and washroom facilities. It works out to about one washroom for every six people. The laundry in each wing has three washers and three dryers.

Each room has a bed, desk area, TV, drawers and wardrobe. “Every room has cable TV and high speed Internet, compliments of SaskTel,” Tracey said, noting they did a great job on the install.

Tradespeople The company has a core group of tradesmen who work on assembling these camps, and they try to draw on local trades people when possible, according to Tracey. The crew is made up primarily of carpenters, electricians and plumbers.

Sean Murphy, a journeyman electrician with Estevan’s Techmation Electrical & Controls, Ltd., helped with installing the fire alarm system. One of his coworkers was wiring the front area.

One of the workers, who has been with ATCO for several years, was recently hired on to be the camp’s permanent maintenance person.

Photographing the carpenters, one comes across the name Brideau twice.

Dominic Brideau said you’ll soon find a third. Three brothers from New Brunswick, Emile, Dominic and Rejean, all journeymen carpenters, are working on the project.

Emile and Dominic started working for ATCO about three years ago, whereas Rejean joined up just a few days ago. A fourth brother, Claude, also works for ATCO, but was home for the time being, according to Dominic.

In the coffee room, when the crew is asked where they are from, most of them say from ‘down east’ east, like the Brideaus. There are several Newfoundlander carpenters, Nova Scotians, Ontarians, and New Brunswickers. When asked if there are any from Saskatchewan, two raise their hands.

Jerry Fost, a journeyman carpenter from Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, was busy installing aluminum skirting around the bottom of the units. The skirting keeps the area below the units warm, and the ground won’t freeze as a result, according to Martin. It also keeps out varmits.

Amos “Junior” Jackson is another Trinity Bay carpenter. He runs a circular saw through some two-by-fours, creating smoke wall separations to go under the trailers. He’s had some calls to go back home to work, but says it’s not worth it to leave the west for a job that’s only going to last a few weeks.

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B14

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Holland’s heats up the oilpatch near Kindersley

Holland’s sent three of its four water trucks to help ÀreÀghters contain the blaze that burned the old Kindersley hockey rink to the ground.

Photo by Gerry Ackerman

Kindersley – Let’s boil oil. That’s the motto of Holland’s Hot Oiling Ltd. in Kindersley where it is helping to heat up the oilpatch this winter for companies working the Viking formation.

“It’s been a pretty busy winter,” said Jaymie Holland, safety supervisor and son of business

owner Pat Holland.

“These big fracs in the area have been keeping everybody hopping – lots of water to heat and lots of different activities from drilling to completion. It’s been good for the area.”

The versatile company has three hot oil units, two boilers, a steam truck

and four water trucks which are in and out of the shop frequently as drilling activity picks up.

“Winter is our busiest time as winter deals with heating,” said Holland. “It seems like more stuff is going on in the winter with drilling. It’s our busiest time with steamers, hot oilers and

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boilers.

“The steamer is used to heat valves or ‘sit’ on a service rig and heat up the lines for the rig and wellheads. It can also be used in the summer to wash buildings or tanks.”

Holland’s Hot Oiling units range from 2.5 million BTUs to 7.5 million BTUs used for tank heating in the winter and for heating up tubing for rig jobs.

“The hot oiler goes out and heats the oil and circulates it for rigs and cleans up the wax problem in the well before they do pump changes.

Crews can pressure test to see if there’s a tubing leak,” said Holland.

Hot oil units are not only used for heating water and oil or frac fluids for well stimulations, but they also used for pumping hot fluid down tubulars to clean them prior to a work-over.

Demand for Holland’s many services has picked up along with

Jaymie Holland is a safety supervisor at Holland’s Hot Oiling, a company owned by his dad Pat. Photo by Geoff Lee

quickening pace of horizontal drilling in the Viking.

“Horizontal drilling has rejuvenated the area.

It hasn’t been around long, but everyone is dipping their hand in it,” said Holland.

“It’s good for the Kindersley area especially with this Viking play.

It’s brought a lot of new companies and new players to the area.

“With these big fracs going on, the hot oil units are out heating water and heating oil in tanks and get it ready for fracing or hauling to sell.

“Our fresh water trucks have been moving a lot of water for these fracs. As long as fracing goes on we should be pretty busy.

“We’ve got kind of a wide variety of things that we do,” added.

Holland’s also has two flushbys that are busy year round along with and a combo vac and combo hydro vac.

They also deliver porta-

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potties to job sites and provide a variety of pipeline testing services and equipment.

As for further expansion, Holland said, “With my dad being in the business for such a long time he doesn’t know if he wants to expand anymore, but we are always looking for new opportunities to grow our business to keep it going.”

Holland’s was one of the first oil and gas service companies to answer the emergency response call from the Kindersley Fire Department to help control the fire that burned down the old hockey rink on Jan. 8.

The community effort supported by oilfield service companies helped to save the new curling and hockey rink complex from fire damage.

Holland’s rushed three of its four water hauling tankers to the scene and supplied crews with light towers and will play any role it can to help rebuild the facility.

“The rink is a big part of our community.

There’s going to be some help needed. We are always there,” said Holland.

“We do support local hockey – the Jr. Klippers and minor hockey.

“I have a son who plays midget hockey, so I am affected as much as any other hockey parent. It’s been a little more hectic. We play all of our home games in Kerrobert. Lots of other teams play in Dodsland, Etonia and Eston or wherever.

“There’s a lot more travel. We want to keep it going. The kids will finish off their year. Hopefully, they can get started with a new project on the rink.”

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B15

The Rig Store launches

Warren McEwen sorts out newly arrived inventory for The Rig Store, a new rig supply shop being launched in Estevan.

contacts and drumming up business. He said he wants to be proactive, answering the thought that often leads to new business start-ups, “I wish someone had this...”

“Our goal is to supply a one-stop shop for rig and oilfield companies,” McEwen said.

Among their products will be a full line of hydraulic hoses, wrenches, sockets, pipe wrenches, coil tubing supplies, lubricants, thread dope, rags, aluminum ladders, just to name a few. They will also offer a secondary containment system.

“We’re going to have treater gaskets, tank door rubber, bolts, studs, nuts, spiral wound gasketing, things directly for the service rigs, like rod breaks,” Dow said.

Both service and drilling rigs are on their radar.

McEwen has personally worked around a lot of service rigs, he said.

“We will also repair tongs here,” McEwen said.

They will repair all makes and models of tubing and rod tongs.

However, they are not limiting their products to

just the oilpatch, but are hoping the agriculture and construction sectors will find them of use.

In determining what they will carry, the company will be listening to what its customers’ needs are. The intention is to offer service locally. They will have 24/7 on call for repairs and deliveries, and will open early in the mornings.

McEwen lives nearby to the shop, which is located on Estevan’s 6th Street, not far from Do-All Metal Fabricating.

He says he chose Estevan because, “it’s close to home, close to my farm where I grew up. It’s a growing market. It’s the energy hub for the area, fairly central to the mines and oilfield.”

The company’s timing is to be operational for the spring breakup maintenance season.

Dow said the company wants to become part of the community, hooking up with a charity to support. “We want to be big in the community. We want to support stuff. We want to be part of it and want to fill a niche.”

Estevan – A new independent rig supply shop known as The Rig Store opened its doors in Estevan at the end of February.

Warren McEwen is one of the partners in the venture, and will be running the store. “I grew up on a farm near Francis, 80 miles northwest of here,” he said.

“I ended up here because I worked in Lloydminster in the oilpatch for a few years on a coil tubing unit.”

The 27-year-old has an agricultural economics degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and spent some time selling chemicals for a major agricultural firm.

John Dow is one of the other partners, and president of the company. He’s tied into a welding shop, metal shop and supply shop in Lloydminster, which will be acting as suppliers for the new firm.

“Most have told me there’s a niche that needs to be met,” said Dow, who has been out in the field, making

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B16

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Gibson acquires Johnstone Tank Trucking Frobisher - Larry and Danny Johnstone may have sold their trucking company to Gibson Energy, but don’t expect them to be going far. The pair, along with their wives Karen and Glenda, will still be with the company for a while to

come.

Effective Feb. 1, Gibson Energy, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bridge Creek Trucking, acquired ownership of Johnstone Tank Trucking Ltd., the continuing entity resulting from the recent amalgamation of

Johnstone Tank Trucking Ltd. and Johnstone Oilfield Services Ltd. Johnstone Tank Trucking is based in Frobisher, and primarily transports crude oil and salt water, along with a little bit of fresh water.

“This is a strategic

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Danny Johnstone, left, and his brother Larry, have recently sold their company, Johnstone Tank Trucking, to Gibson Energy. However, the pair will continue to run the operations.

acquisition for Gibson as Johnstone Tank Trucking is located in the fast developingBakken zone of south-eastern Saskatchewan.

Gibson’s growth will be enhanced in this area for our trucking, marketing and propane marketing/distri-

bution businesses as well as through our Deepwell investment via the Palko facility located near Griffin, Sask.,” Gibson said in a release.

In 2008, Gibson set up a small operation in southeast Saskatchewan based in Griffin, giving

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them a toehold in the hot Bakken play. This acquisition will substantially increase the company’s presence in the southeast.

Johnstone Tank Trucking got its start back in 1956, when company founder Pat Johnstone partnered with another person at Frobisher, working as a leased operator. It was a single truck operation until 1981, when Pat’s sons Larry and Danny joined the company. Their mother, Beatrice, used to do the books for the company.

“We got a second truck in 1981 and a third in 1982,” Larry said. This began a pattern of adding a truck a year “until things got really busy.

Then it was exponential growth.”

The company now has 41 of its own trucks, with nine owner-operator units. There’s a real cross section, Larry explained, with body trucks, trucks with pups, train units, vacuum trucks, pressure trucks, and the recent addition of a steamer. He said there are a lot of service-oriented trucks as well as the fluid haulers.

The company works primarily in southeast Saskatchewan, within a 200-km radius of Frobisher. “With our acid haulers, we’re into Manitoba frequently,” Larry said. ɸ Page B17

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B17

Selling on a high note After 30 years of highs and lows now proved to be the time to sell ɺ Page B16 Why sell?

“We sold the company to Gibson, but we’re not going anywhere. We’re sticking around, running the company as we always had,” Larry explained.

There will be some administrative changes, including improved benefits for the employees. A change in days worked is making life easier for dispatchers, he noted. The name is not expected to change anytime soon.

Asked what their motivator to sell was, Larry replied, “You could look at as taking an investment on a high risk company. I’m taking my investment in something risky to something that’s safer.

When you reach a certain size, you need a lot more administrative assistance, and have more needs for capital.”

“There’s lots of reasons – personal reasons,” Danny added. “We’ve been through the ups and downs in the oilfield for the last 30 years. We’d rather sell on a high than a low.”

Of the seven children between them, most have tried their hand at some point in the business, but decided against getting involved full time. All took a pass and pursued other opportunities.

As for how much the company sold for, Larry said, “We’re happy with what we got.”

Larry anticipates they will be with the company for a long time. “They definitely want to have us around,” he said.

Danny added, “Along with all the employees.”

The company currently has a new office nearing completion, along with a large 132 x 80-ft. shop. It will be used for by the mechan-

ics.

“Yeah, we like shops,” Danny said. Indeed, the company has pretty much covered the southwest corner of the small village with them.

Ideally, fluid haulers should be brought into a shop at night during the winter, and with the additions, they should be able to accommodate the fleet, for now.

Larry Johnstone, left, and his brother Danny chat with Murray King, the contractor who is building the new Johnstone Tank Trucking ofÀce.

ANNOUNCEMENT Mr. Rod Bantle, Senior Vice President, Truck Transportation of Gibson Energy ULC, is pleased to announce that, effective February 1st, 2010, Gibson Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bridge Creek Trucking, acquired ownership of Johnstone Tank Trucking Ltd. (the continuing entity resulting from the recent amalgamation of Johnstone Tank Trucking Ltd. and Johnstone Oilfield Services Ltd.) Johnstone, based in Frobisher, Saskatchewan, primarily transports crude oil and operates a strong well service business out of Southeastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba with over 50 units in these areas.

Johnstone has recently added a new office and shop complex to their base in Frobisher and have additional facilities and trucks in Estevan, as well as trucks based out of Arcola, Saskatchewan.

As Mr. Bantle stated “Gibson’s growth will be enhanced in this area for our Trucking, Marketing and Propane Marketing/Distribution businesses as well as through our investment via the Palko facility located near Griffin, Saskatchewan. When considered along with our Moose Jaw Refinery, Gull Lake trucking and terminal operations and the many relationships we’ve built up with local businesses over the years, we saw this as a progressive, organic opportunity, both for us and for these Saskatchewan communities.”

Gibson is a growth-oriented, profitable North American midstream oil and gas company with a balanced portfolio of businesses

For more information, please view www.gibsons.com www.gibsons.com

B18

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Dangstorp adds frost cutting capability Redvers – When you’ve moved as much dirt as Dangstorp’ Service Ltd. over the years, you look for ways to do it better. The Redvers-based earth-moving company has recently added a new

weapon to its arsenal – a Frozen Topsoil Cutter.

The machine is dozer ripper attachment, mounting in the centreshank position of a large dozer ripper, in this case, a Caterpillar D8. It looks

like a combination of a farm disker and a ripper, with three ripper shanks and the four large disks chopping up frost lumps into small, manageable pieces the size of your fist. There are two pads

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that allow for penetration depth adjustment. It’ll rip and condition a six-foot wide strip in one pass.

“That’s to make everything in one rip into the proper conditions to reclaim,” explained Brian Dangstorp, owner of the company.

Compared to mulching options, the apparatus is simply an attachment, as opposed to requiring a specialized machine. Your dozer still retains its full functionality.

So far, the company has seen success with the tool, according to Dangstorp. They’ve tried it on several leases since acquiring it in early January, and the results have been positive. Because it is a ripping action and not a mulching one, you don’t lose topsoil due to dust flying away. “I think it is the proper way to prepare a lease,” he said. “We’re very happy with it. Every customer we’ve used it for has asked for it back.”

Dangstorp has a fair bit of experience with that, running a company that specializes in dirt work. Among other equipment, they have 11 Cats, including four D6’s, five D7’s, and two D8’s.

Their work includes road building, lease preparation, land clearing, excavation, disking and paratilling, “Anything to do with Cats, scrapers and

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graders,” he said.

“When I started in ‘94, there were 30 Cats in the area, directly in the oil business,” Dangstorp said. That’s changed substantially since then. A lot of people have stepped in. “In 2008, there were a lot of rigs running, and lots of companies came in, and stayed.”

They’re holding their own, however.

The company’s area of operations runs from the U.S. border to Moosomin, and from Corning over into Manitoba. “We do lots for Tundra,” he said.

The company is family-owned, between Brian and his 24-year-old son, Perry. A year-anda-half ago they built a new shop on the north side of Highway 13, next door to Dangstorp’s

other business, Redvers Ag & Supply, a farm equipment dealer that is also family owned. His father Emil, 82, is still involved, as is Perry, who has a degree in agricultural economics. Perry spends time with both businesses, but Emil generally sticks to the agriculture side, and the farm. “We farm 5,000 acres,” Brian said.

Emil had operated dozers until the 1980s, but got out of it. Brian got back into it, working in the oilpatch, in 1994.

The shop was needed to accommodate the company’s growth.

They still have their old downtown shop, where the company’s welder “can mend anything except a broken heart,” Brian said.

Having a larger shop to work, plus in-Áoor heat, makes it easier for Dangstorp’s Service Ltd. mechanics to work.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Fairborne drilling Sinclair, Man. – Fairborne Energy Ltd. has five drilling rigs active on its planned 2010 capital program of $150 million. Two rigs are in the Harlech area drilling multi-zone vertical wells, two rigs are active in the Marlboro area drilling horizontal Wilrich wells and one is at Sinclair, Man., drilling a four well horizontal program.

In the Sinclair region where oil is found in the Torquay/Bakken, Fairborne reports its light oil property continues to deliver exceptional economics resulting from low operating costs ($6 per bbl), high quality light oil and royalty free production on Crown lands.

The 2010 capital program includes the

Nothing a steamer can’t ¿x Weyburn – The major storm to hit southern Saskatchewan from Jan. 22 to 24 not only blocked roads and closed schools, it also meant power outages for thousands of customers for several days. Some of those customers were oil companies whose wells were shut-in as a result.

Asked if the power outage caused a problem for Weyburn-based junior producer Caprice Resources, president Michael Mainil said, “Not when you shut down. It’s when you start up.”

“We didn’t fare too bad. It didn’t freeze our wellheads off too bad.

“When the wells shut in, we’re not making money that day. Our whole field was down south of Weyburn.”

Getting things going again is a fact of life for him. “Nothing that can’t be solved without a steamer,” he said.

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drilling of 10 net wells, of which four are drilling in the first quarter. Fairborne’s current inventory of horizontal drilling opportunities at Sinclair includes 142 locations.

During the fourth quarter of 2009, Fairborne received approval from the Manitoba government for a two section waterflood pilot at Sinclair. Water injection commenced in mid December and based on analogues to the north and anticipated waterflood response, Fairborne expects recovery factors to increase from approximately five per cent to near 20 per cent under waterflood.

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B19

B20

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010 Pat Maloney used to use a chain like this, really a highly precise, calibrated form of tape measure, to measure distances while surveying. The device on the right, similar in concept to a Àsh scale, would be used to apply a certain amount of tension to the tape. This particular model is the length of an Imperial ‘chain,’ or 66 feet.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Old surveying methods held up well Weyburn – Pat Maloney’s generation of land surveyors have seen technological changes radically alter the surveying world.

“The change in tech-

nology is massive,” said Maloney, who heads up the Altus Geomatics office in Weyburn.

He holds Saskatchewan Land Surveyor commission #243.

“When I started in the 1970s as a summer student, the technology was the same as the 1870s,” he said, pointing out they didn’t even have a hand-held calculator.

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“There was no such thing as a computer, when I started. I remember thinking, someday we’ll have a computer in every office.”

He recounts the advancement of the early PC computers, with a 286 processor, monochrome monitor and 40 MB hard drive. “They were earthshattering. Now, not even a good paper weight by today’s standards, never mind a BlackBerry on your hip.”

“We’d leave the office Monday morning, and not return until Friday night. We used to write letters and mail them,” he said, noting, “There

used to be a seven to 10 day turnaround. Now it’s minutes.”

As a high school kid, he worked as a chainman.

“We measured everything with a 300-ft tape measure.”

In most cases, the changes have been for the better, he said. GPS is a phenomenal tool. “In the right hands, it’s priceless.

In the wrong hands, it’s worthless.”

“People don’t understand the science of measurement,” he said, nothing there can be four different indicators of north – astronomic north, township north, grid north, and magnetic north.

Yet surprisingly, the old survey methods, such

as those used during the initial Dominion land survey over 100 years ago, have stood up well. “The system was very well devised to contain errors,” he said. “It’s hard to fathom how they did it, heading out from the end of the rail with ox carts.”

“The generation ahead of me was basically used the same methods as the Dominion surveyors. My generation was all the changes.” Now the current generation hardly use the old methods at all.

Maloney said, “They were sensational. I told someone this morning, ‘If your work holds up as well in 100 years as the Dominion surveyors, you’re doing well.’”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Land Solutions celebrates 10 years Lampman – Land Solutions, an active player in the landman (land acquisition) services arena in Saskatchewan, is celebrating 10 years in business.

“We started this process eight months ago,” said Shawn Howard, senior land manager. “In celebration of our 10th year, we wanted something new.”

The company is launching a rebranding campaign, with an updated logo and website.

They’ve added the slogan, “By the experts.”

Why the tagline?

“We felt we were quite modest. We did great work and are considered a bit of an expert in the land acquisition industry. Why should we be modest about this?”Howard responded.

Land Solutions is based in Calgary, and has operations in Bentley, Alta., Lloydminster, Edmonton, and Lampman.

The Lampman location is their most recent, added two years ago.

Most of the company’s work is in oil and gas land acquisition, however; they now also have branched into alternative energy. “There’s a lot of wind farm activity we specialize in,” Howard said.

“We’ve got experience in the actual development phase, from acquiring, to building towers, to exercising options.”

The company’s staff numbers between 50 and 60.

The company is privately held, with the ownership residing in president Ron Vermeulen, vice-president Chad

Hughes, controller Melanie Ottenbreit-Smith, and senior land manager Shawn Howard.

Vermeulen is the majority shareholder. He explained how the company started: “I had worked for oil and gas companies at one time,” he said. “I saw an opportunity for some better and different work.”

Initially he was outsourcing, working mostly in land acquisition. Personally, his experience was with sour gas, shallow gas, working with First Nations groups and project management. The initial work was with Bow Valley Industries, Amaco Canada, Gulf Canada and Newport Petroleum.

He had been quite involved with the landman professional association, where a lot of contacts were made. “It was initially clients coming to me, saying, ‘We need help.’”

“The company was built, really, by the request of industry, instead of the traditional route.”

Over the years the company grew.

“Those same clients, they asked me if I could

assist them with other types of landman work. I got tired of saying ‘No,’” Vermeulen said.

The Bentley location was opened in 2002, as was Edmonton. Lloydminster came in 2007.

The Lampman location, set up in 2008, came about due to growth in the Bakken oil play.

The big land rush of that year really got things moving. “That’s what created really good growth, why we opened the office, and why we grew.”

Vermeulen said it’s an advantage to have an office in Lampman, in the heart of the Bakken oil play, as opposed to Regina. “We’re right there.”

Indeed, the work from southeast Saskatchewan has spilled over to their Calgary office.

They’re also very busy in southwest Manitoba, particularly in the Sinclair field.

The balance of the work is acquisition, with the focus on freehold mineral rights holders.

There’s a time frame, usually two to three years, to develop the property. “If those aren’t done in the initial term, we may be

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out there again, leasing those again, ”he said.

“There was such a huge rush of land being acquired, not all companies could prove it up in time.”

Technical knowledge is important, but you have to be able to work with people to work with Land Solutions. “We hire the best of the best. A lot of it is not just technical, but personality,” he added.

Vermeulen said they have “a culture of caring, about the work, about the client, and about each other.”

B21

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B22

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

New rate review panel members Regina – Saskatchewan’s Rate Review Panel was refreshed Jan. 1, with the appointment of four new members joining three current members.

The panel's mandate is to review the rates for SGI's Auto Fund, SaskEnergy and SaskPower.

"The Rate Review Panel provides invaluable, independent advice to the government when it comes to adjusting the rates at three of our major Crown corporations," Minister responsible for Crown Investments Corporation June Draude said.

The returning panel members are: • Kathy Weber, Saskatoon, Chairperson • Bill Barzeele, Little Bear Lake, Vice Chairperson, retired, formerly of Barzeele and Burkosky Asphalt Paving, Prince Albert • Steve Kemp, Regina, professional engineer The new members appointed in January are: • Delaine Barber, Weyburn, co-owner of Barber Motors, Weyburn’s GM dealership • Lyle Walsh, Yorkton, general manager of a Harvard Broadcasting radio station operating in Yorkton, and retail store owner • Daryl Hasein, Biggar, independent newspaper publisher • Burl Adams, Kelvington, farmer and Kelvington town councillor "When it comes to crown utility rates, we are committed to balancing fair, reasonable rates while adequately covering the costs of delivering these services," Draude said.

"The panel plays a key role in helping us to achieve that balance. We have an excellent combination of experienced members along with the fresh ideas new members bring."

She added, "I'd like to thank the four outgoing panel members - Allison Renny, Robert Bundon, Louis Gardiner and Linda Thauberger for their time, dedication and service to the people of Saskatchewan. We sincerely appreciate their work."

Pipeline News spoke

Derrickman Shane Spencer, of Precision Drilling Rig 409, secures the derrick after it is raised into position.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

The Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel has four new members, appointed for a two year hitch. Before SaskPower, SaskEnergy, or SGI can raise or lower the rates they charge, the respective Crown corporation must get the approval of the panel.

to Daryl Hasein, one of the new appointees.

Hasein is one of the few independent community newspaper publishers left in Saskatchewan, owning and operating the Biggar Independent with his wife, Peg. He got the call from the deputy minister responsible for the Crown Investments Corporation, asking if he would be willing to serve on the panel. The appointment is for a two-year hitch.

“Basically, the ministry called me up and asked if I would sit on the board,” he said. “If you’re asked to do something, and you can, you do,” he said of his view on life.

Hasein has a long track record of community service, having been highly active for a number of years with the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association, as well as being locally involved with senior hockey, golf, the Kinsmen, and board of the local credit union.

Asked if he had any political connections, he responded that would be “suicide” in his line of work as a newspaper publisher.

As for any base knowledge of things like rates per gigajoule, he said “I’ll be doing a lot

of studying between now and then.”

“Now I have to find out what I am doing, learn the process of what we will be doing,” he added. “It sounds like the workload is going to be more than I anticipated.

I think it will be very interesting.”

The panel is only active when there is a request for a change in the rates charged by SaskEnergy, SaskPower, or SGI. That change can be an increase or a decrease. If they don’t have a request, then they don’t do anything, Hasein said.

On the web: www. saskratereview.ca

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

B23

Core laboratory steady these days Regina – Things are going steady at the Saskatchewan Sub-Surface Geological Laboratory, according to its head, Chris Gilboy.

Gilboy is director of the Petroleum Geology Branch for Saskatchewan Energy and Resources. The laboratory is the home of the Saskatchewan core repository, where geologists can access core samples and drilling cuttings.

“It’s pretty busy. It’s not phenomenally busy.

It’s certainly active,” he said on Jan. 27.

Gilboy said the activity is general in nature, as opposed to focused on a particular land sale.

The Bakken formation is still holding interest, he said, as well as the lower Shaunavon. As for the Torquay formation, also referred to as the Three Forks-Sanish in other jurisdictions, Gilboy said it is usually considered with the Bakken, but he had no results to reveal.

While 2009 may have been a slower year in most of the oilfield, that wasn’t necessarily the case for the core lab.

Gilboy said it was still reasonably active, since geologists who would otherwise be in the field have more time to look at core during slowdown periods.

Asked about activity this year, he responded, “Who knows? I’d say it’s looking pretty good.”

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Kim Kreis an independent consultant from White City, takes pictures through a microscope at the Saskatchewan Sub-Surface Geological Laboratory last July.

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Don Kent, an independent consultant is pictured last July applying hydrochloric acid to core samples at the Saskatchewan Sub-Surface Geological Laboratory. Kent is former head of the geology department at the University of Regina. At the time he was doing a study for an unnamed Regina-based oil company last July.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Surveyor died in the woods at 85

By J. H. Webb, SLS (LM) William Thomas Thompson (1853.11.01 -1938.07.09) BaSc, OLS, PLS,DLS, DTS, MaSc, SLS, MLS Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Commission #013 (1910.05.09) Imagine, 63 years as a commissioned land surveyor!

That honour went to Mr. William Thomas Thompson, Cranberry Portage, Manitoba when he passed away tragically in 1938 while still sur-

veying mineral claims in Northern Manitoba at the age of eighty five.

Of all the Land Surveyors who performed mineral claim surveys in the North, there is no doubt that Mr. Thompson was one of the most eminent in his profession.

Mr. Thompson's life story reads as an old time drama in which the hero plays a multi - educated role throughout the entire fable.

Not only a land surveyor of high repute but

a true Canadian devoted to his country, his community and his family.

When one reads all the material that has been penned about his life or read the many articles that Mr. Thompson contributed to history, you get a true feeling as to what a gracious and notable gentleman he was.

While surveying in the West, his inventive mind required him to try his hand at many undertakings. In 1910 he choose a blacksmith at Norquay, Saskatchewan,

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to construct a bulldozer type of blade which he called a "side hill plow".

It was his thought that the blade would push the plowed sod to one side in the construction of building roads.

Unfortunately the horsepower was not sufficient to handle it.

Then when he was in the badlands of Alberta, he found the remains of a dinosaur, dug it up, labeled all the parts, crated them and shipped it East to the Geological Survey Department, Ottawa, Ontario. There appears to be no record of Mr. Thompson ever receiving credit for his efforts.

In 1898, some of his records indicate that he was involved in bridge locations and road diversion surveys while living in Qu'Appelle, North West Territory.

Mr. Thompson started his survey career with a Mr. H.D. Lumsdon, Ontario Land Surveyor and became articled to him in 1872. One of his first jobs - he was assigned the lowly task of supplying liquid refreshments to the survey crew.

The refreshments varied each day, as was the custom, and their favourite was "Blood Brothers Company's Porter and Rum." I am sure it kept the crews in good spirits.

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William Thomas Thompson was one of the most colourful land surveyors in Saskatchewan’s history.

Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association

Mr. Thompson himself was a confirmed teetotaller throughout his life.

Mr. H.H. Browne (1862 - 1932 ), provincial land surveyor in British Columbia talks about his involvement with Mr. Thompson in an article published by the Corporation of British Columbia Land Surveyors. Mr. Browne was articled to Mr Thompson in 1881 and came west to work with him.

He wrote his preliminary examinations out of Mr. Thompson's camp at Fort Qu'Appelle, North

West Territory (now Saskatchewan).

Brown said, "At Portage la Prairie, the end of the track, we loaded our outfit into ten Red River carts and started up the trail to Fort Ellice. The Chief (Thompson) and his assistant rode ahead in a buck board and the apprentices followed on the hoof, with an occasional surreptitious lift in the cart. It used to be a boast of mine that I had tramped the thousand miles from Winnipeg to Edmonton in six pairs of moccasins." ɸ Page B25

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B25

One of the most colorful land surveyors ɺ Page B24 Mr. Thompson qualified as a provincial (Ontario) land surveyor before he was twenty one years old, acquiring his commission in 1875. He then obtained his Dominion land surveyor's commission in 1877, the same year that he graduated from McGill University with the degree of B.A.Sc., in natural sciences. Not satisfied with these degrees he went ahead and obtained, in 1882, not only his master of arts in science but acquired his commission as a Dominion topographical surveyor, the highest commission awarded for surveying in Canada.

In fact there have only been thirty-two Dominion topographical surveyors in the history of surveying between 1876 and 1965.

He was also in attendance at the first meeting of the Dominion Land Surveyor's association in 1882.

When Saskatchewan formed a land surveyors association, in 1910, Mr. Thompson's commission had number 13 on it. It was not until 1930, after Mr. Thompson moved to Manitoba and the year that the federal government turned the natural resources over to the provinces, that he was granted his commission as a Manitoba Land Surveyor.

He was always involved with the various engineering and surveying organizations, as he was with the communities that he lived in. He was elected president of

the Saskatchewan Land Surveyor's Association in 1918. (In 1921 he became the first member to be honoured as a life member of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association.)

In 1880 he surveyed township block outline surveys west of the second meridian, and in 1881 and 1882 was on various baseline surveys in the West. He also found time to survey in the Lesser Slave Lake region and along the Peace River near the British Columbia Provincial boundary.

Then in 1884 he settled in the then village of Qu'Appelle, (which was at one time considered to be the capital of the Western regions) and was appointed to the position of Chief Engineer for the proposed, "Wood Mountain, Qu'Appelle and Prince Albert Railway." He explored and located the proposed line, however it was not constructed until 1902.

In these early years, 1886 to 1896, Mr. Thompson was occupied in a variety of engineering and surveying projects throughout the Western areas. Then in 1896 he was appointed by the council of the North West Territory to be the district surveyor and engineer for the Qu'Appelle Public Works District, which encompassed all the south east segment of the Territory.

When the Province of Saskatchewan was formed in 1905, he continued in office with Public Works. Mr. Thompson had moved

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to various locations in his life and this was a man who had married in 1888 and was gifted with seven children.

Mr. Thompson had lived in Grenfell, Saskatchewan, where he farmed on a large scale and in 1916 moved to Regina, then moved again in 1920 to Preeceville. When he finally settled down in Cranberry Portage, Manitoba, in 1922, his family was the first permanent white settlers in the area.

Mr. Thompson was certainly community oriented, being the president of the Cranberry Portage Board of trade from 1928 to 1934 and was the police magistrate from 1925 until his untimely death in 1938.

He wrote dozens of technical articles and papers blanketing early surveys and engineering in Western Canada. He even published a prospectors map of the mineral belt, north of The Pas, Manitoba, in 1924 and 1925. one of his articles mentions his encounter with the Indian Chief Sitting Bull while on surveys in the West.

Even on April 4th, 1938, when he was 85, in a letter to the Saskatchewan Land Surveyor's Association, Mr. Thompson wrote: "This will be my last

year in active practice.

I have a few unfinished surveys in the Cold Lake area. I am still in very good health and it may be years yet before I pass to the Great Beyond."

How unjust, that only three months later he would be found dead in the bush, while doing the thing he loved, sur-

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veying mineral claims near Sherridon, Manitoba.

According to his friends: "He died as he would have wished, in harness and amidst surroundings he knew and loved so well."

Reproduced courtesy

Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association, which can be found at www. slsa.sk.ca. This article was edited for length. The author, Jack H. Webb, is the unofficial historian of the association, having written several books on surveying and many of the biographies available on the SLSA website.

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B26

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Turbine supplier chosen for CCS project Estevan - After months of behind the scenes work, some movement is starting to show for Saskatchewan’s premier carbon capture project at the Boundary Dam Power Station.

On Feb. 16, Sask-

Power announced that Hitachi Canada has been selected to supply the steam turbine for the Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project. The Boundary Dam project

is one of the world's first and largest. It will determine the technical, economic and environmental performance of new technology, according to the Crown corporation.

“SaskPower's relationship with Hitachi

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goes back 40 years, and includes work on coal, natural gas and wind generation technologies,” Premier Brad Wall said.

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the commercialization of new technology.”

“Hitachi Canadian Industries was established in Saskatoon in 1988, and some of the work on this steam turbine will take place there,” Minister responsible for SaskPower Bill Boyd said. “Innovation is a high priority for this government and the fact that work on this world-leading project will be done in Saskatchewan

by Saskatchewan people shows that it's working.”

The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project would transform an aging unit at Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan into a reliable, longterm producer of clean baseload electricity, while enhancing provincial oil production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A decision on whether to proceed with the Boundary Dam project will be made by the end of 2010.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hitachi, which includes a relationship of more than 40 years with SaskPower and the people of Saskatchewan,” said

Hitachi Canada Ltd. chief executive officer Howard Shearer. “Innovative partnerships between utilities and technology suppliers are critical to the successful commercialization of low carbon energy options. In this regard, SaskPower is an excellent partner for such an important technology initiative.”

In 2009 SaskPower invited vendors from around the world to participate in a two-stage procurement process. The first stage was used to identify the most promising proposals, with more detailed proposals developed during the second stage. Hitachi Canada was selected following the evaluation process.

“This is an important development for SaskPower and the entire industry because it is expected to be the first steam turbine in the world designed to fully integrate a coal-fired power plant with carbon capture,” SaskPower vice-president, integrated carbon capture and sequestration Mike Monea said. “It is also another important step as we develop our business case for this project.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

An Extreeeme way to get your liquor Estevan – You’re tired, you just got in from work, and you would really like a beer, but don’t want to go out and get it. Or perhaps you have company over, and the wine has run out, and it would be nice to get another bottle, but it’s not such a good idea for someone to drive out and get it. Perhaps you don’t have your licence, or don’t feel like driving in bad weather.

Extreeeme Transport is now offering a service to help people in this predicament in the

Estevan area. They call it the “Booze Cruiser,” and it takes advantage of a recent relaxing of regulations that now allow for home liquor delivery.

The company is affiliated with, but formally separate from, Extreeeme Limousine, based in Lampman. (The extra ‘e’s’ are not a mistake missed by the spell checker.

The name is based on a stretched limo, thus, a stretched name.)

There’s a reason for the technical separation, according to owners Ken Sebastian and Connie

Byers. They have a liquor licence to sell alcohol for consumption in their limos, but the delivery service can’t sell liquor directly. “You can’t stock any alcohol. You have to buy it as it is ordered,” explained Sebastian.

They’re not allowed to mark up the price, but rather are paid a delivery charge. Tips are common.

They pay for the item up front, and then have a mobile credit card/debit machine to collect if the client doesn’t have cash.

“We had to incorporate Extreeeme Trans-

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port to separate it from Extreeeme Limousine,” Sebastian explained.

It took a while for them to get their clearance to operate. The first bottle was delivered in mid-summer, 2009. “We were one of the first to apply,” Byers recalled.

The alcohol delivery

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is an additional revenue stream for the Extreeeme Transport. Most of the company’s work is providing crew transport for railways, operating as a relief service for another company contracted to do the work. Byers and Sebastian are looking into providing crew transport in the oilpatch as well.

For instance, in the future, they might transport crews from their Alberta

bases to Saskatchewan, as opposed to the company using their own vehicles.

However, that would involve obtaining licensing and clearance to operate in Alberta. If they want to go into southern Manitoba, that will lead to another set of regulatory hurdles to overcome.

“I think there will be a need, it just hasn’t happened yet,” Sebastian said. ɸ Page B29

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B29

Transport business evens out the workload during the week ɺ Page B28

having been together for eight years. Byers works They also deliver at a financial institution prescriptions for a lo- as a day job, and drives cal pharmacy. He added, limos at night or on “We can deliver any- weekends. The company thing. It doesn’t have to now has two more fullbe booze.” time drivers, and several Extreeeme Trans- spares. port started as a way to A move to Lampeven out their workload. man came around the The Limousine service, time they launched the started in 2005, is busy limo business, as real eson weekends, but not so tate was cheaper there, much on weekdays. and had bigger yards – “We needed some- needed to garage their thing to fill in our time vehicles. during the week,” said The first limo was Byers. purchased in 2005. The They were initially second arrived just in using their limos to time for the Rolling transport rail crews for Stones concert in Regina nearly a year. Now, they in 2006. Both are 1999 have several minivans Lincoln Town Cars with for the purpose. a 120-inch stretch.

“I stumbled across it This past summer, one day. I saw a taxi cab a third limo was added at the railway station, to the fleet, but it’s a lot and wondered why a different than the first Weyburn cab was sitting two. It’s a 20-passenger at a train station in Es- limousine bus, and was tevan,” Sebastian said. put into service in time It all started with a for the big AC/DC conlong-time desire by Se- cert. bastian to own limos.

“When they get into “I basically look after it, their mouths kind of the limos and transport open,” Byers said. There’s company full time, and a 42-inch TV, perfect for do a bit in the oilpatch playing concert DVDs part time,” he said. He on, leather seats, a moon drives gravel truck, or roof and three bar staruns every type of equip- tions. ment like dozers, loaders During the summer and excavators. months, weddings are He used to run plow- the big thing. In winter, Cats while trenching in the Christmas party seanatural gas distribution son keeps the company lines in Saskatchewan humming. Then there and Alberta. “Limos are football games and have been a dream of graduations. The day of mine for 25 years,” he the interview, Sebastian said. took a group of 13-year“We needed some- olds to the school dance. thing else to get into in “They start screaming the area, and there was when you drive up, then nothing around here,” there’s screaming and he said. singing,” Byers said.

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duff and Happy Nun in Forget are common, as well as wing night at the Arcola High House.

“Anything but bowling,” one client requested, according to Sebastian. “We’ve done mortgage burnings and funerals.”

There are also airport Mervin Lokken delivers liquor and other items with the “Booze Cruiser,” runs. One group came in Extreeeme Transport’s entry into the alcohol delivery business. to look at a drilling rig, and was driven out in a limo.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Helicopter medevac responds to southeast

Scott Rodonets is the director of aviation logistics with HazAir.

Weyburn – Reginabased HazAir has successfully performed its first helicopter medical evacuation in southern Saskatchewan, flying a patient out of Weyburn’s airport after the patient was brought in by ground ambulance.

The helicopter, which was positioned in Weyburn to respond to the call, was made available within 30 minutes of the call to dispatch, according to HazAir. HazAir has its helicopter service based in Yorkton, as well as fixed

wing aircraft operating out of Saskatoon, according to Shawn Hazen, president and CEO of Haztech Fire and Safety Services, the parent company of HazAir. He was unable to give too many specifics about the incident, however.

“I am very pleased with the response to this incident from our medical and air crews” said Scott Rodonets, HazAir's Director of Aviation Logistics.

“It was a Eurocopter 350,” he said. “We were able to dispatch in a short

period of time. Through communications with Hazair medical staff, we were able to move quickly.”

“It was an out of the blue call,” Hazen said.

While the HazAir response was part of an unguaranteed non-contracted service, the need for a dedicated standby rotary solution in the booming southern quadrant of Saskatchewan has become apparent, the company says.

HazAir has been working with its clients in the area for the past six months to establish a dedicated air service to supplement the existing standby ground medical service provided by Haztech Fire and Safety Services.

“Through this incident we were able to witness firsthand the value of an immediately available medically equipped rotary solution to service this region. We will continue

to work with our clients with the goal of establishing a program that delivers this essential layer of safety” said Rodonets.

facility, and three shops.

It’s going to be a large facility.

“We’ve been looking to do it for quite a while,” he said.

They also wanted Highway 1 exposure. The location is also an advantage, as he said, “We basically service the three prairie provinces. A lot of our people live in the area.”

“All the work these people do, they go to longer projects. They move in, they move out,” he said.

White City was also a lot less expensive than Regina, he noted, when asked why not go to the Queen City?

The company has had its iron for these divisions spread all over the place,

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Currently, they have office trailers at White City, where the company is setting up in an old farm yard. “It’s still what we consider temporary,” Carson said.

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Carson Energy expanding to White City White City – Carson Energy Services, based in Lampman, will be adding a new permanent facility in the Regina area, consolidating operations in the region.

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McElhanney Canada lands surveyor

This one of the last photos of W.G. McElhanney taken in 1964 at his home in Vancouver. McElhanney started as a Dominion lands surveyor and a B.C. Lands Surveyor.

Reproduced from The McElhanney Story

Lloydminster – If Canada lands surveyor Donald Hanson with McElhanney Land Surveys Ltd. in Lloydminster were alive and working 100 years ago, he might have teamed up with his own company founder, the late William Gordon McElhanney.

McElhanney launched his company in Vancouver in 1910 with his British Columbia lands surveyor commission followed by his Dominion lands surveyor commission or DLS, now called Canada land surveyor or CLS that Hanson is designated.

The DLS designation allowed early surveyors like McElhanney, and modern day CLS professionals such as Hanson, to survey on land owned by the federal government, First Nations, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and national parks.

McElhanney’s first DLS job, surveying lots along a strip of Canadian Pacific Railways track in B.C. while he was articling in 1907, is part of the company’s 100 year history retold in a centenary book, Maps, Mountains & Mosquitoes, The McElhanney Story 19102010.

Hanson is writing his own chapter as a company Canada Lands Surveyor for new oil wells and pipelines in resource rich First Nations in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

“The oil business goes where the oil is,” said Hanson. “There seems to be quite a bit of oil on the reserves. It’s a revenue source for the

reserves. As a general rule, most of them are welcoming the surveys and the development of wells.”

The Onion Lake First Nation north of Lloydminster is Hanson’s busiest work location, where he says the

work is 99 per cent resource surveys.

“The work is surveying for oil and gas purposes and pipelines and occasionally some road work,” said Hanson.

“We survey access roads the well sites and the well site itself. Normally, we tie a well site into a pipeline system.

The well site itself requires gas to run some of the pumps sometimes so we are doing fuel gas tie-ins occasionally.

“A lot of the environmentally sensitive issues come up on the reserves so we work with a lot of environmental people there. Also, we work very closely with the band council and the band members.”

One of the benefits and attractions of the job for Hanson, no matter where he is surveying, is finding historical survey markers. Using

a metal detector, Hanson has located dozens of old iron pins used to mark section corners of township grids.

“You get a special feeling when you get back in the bush and you find evidence of a survey that was done in 1875 or 1885,” said Hanson.

“You find pits or a mound and you think, has anyone been here since they were here 100 years? It’s undisturbed.

It almost gives you a feeling of reverence that you are one of very few who has stood on that spot.

“There are many historical survey markers in Saskatchewan. It hasn’t been developed to the point where it’s destroyed a lot of them.

When you stumble on these things, you stumble on a historical monument every time you find one.”

Sometimes Hanson will locate an old wagon wheel or buried barbed wire, but no antique coins or collectible treasures, as his metal detector only picks up iron.

Hanson hasn’t read The McElhanney Story 1910-2010 yet as it was just delivered when he was interviewed, but he has a sense of history not just about old survey markers, but for the role of the DLS and CLS in Canada’s development.

The Dominion Land Survey (DLS) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes. The survey was begun in 1871, shortly after Manitoba and the Northwest Territories became part of Canada.

“Land surveyors are very rich in historical background. Dominion

Land Surveyors surveyed the CPR in the 1880s.

They started in Winnipeg and surveyed continually west,” said Hanson.

“DLS or CLS has a longer history than provincial associations, which normally didn’t come into effect until the provinces were established.

Katherine Gordon who wrote The McElhanney Story also wrote the book Made to Measure, a history of land surveying in British Columbia.

“Anytime you can put history down in pages is a positive thing,” said Hanson about the McElhanney book.

“The book looks very interesting and I look forward to reading it. I think it will be informative. Not many companies in western companies are 100 years old.

That book is going to tell a real tale.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

C-Section March 2010

Surveying a right of way

By Brian Zinchuk Alida – Before any work can happen on a right of way or lease, you have to know exactly where it is, where things are and where to put things. Surveyors are the first to arrive on site and they have to do their job before anyone else can start theirs.

Pipeline News spent a day with a survey crew from Midwest Surveys Inc.'s Estevan office on Feb. 3, getting a close look at how oilpatch surveying is done in the field.

The day starts at 7:30 a.m. for the crew chiefs. They come in a half hour earlier than their assistants, giving them time to complete paperwork from the previous days survey, download digital data, and familiarize themselves with their projects for the day.

Many people may never find a personal need for surveyor, but oil companies use them all the time. The land surveyor is key in determining property boundaries or extents of rights of way and in completing surveys and preparing plans that the oil field construction crews can use to guide them while they are building oil field facilities.

“A lot of people Mike Clausen, left, and Kurtis Jahnke begin to sweep for underground lines long the right of way they are surveying go through their whole life and never have a requirement to hire a land surveyor to do anycommission 30 years ago this year. the job. Before we head out, Clausen confers with the thing for them,” said Dave Quirk, Saskatchewan land All the work done in the field and in the prepara- firm’s local head draftsman, Trini Piche, asking him to surveyor commission #231 and Manitoba land survey- tion of plans is approved by Quirk or one of the other print a copy of a plan required for the day’s work. or #181, who heads up the Estevan branch of Midwest land surveyors with the firm.

Piche is a huge Riders fan who used the company’s Surveys.

Crews are often client specific. The crew I go out large printers to plaster the office with posters in the The numbers are important, because in the past with has spent a lot of time working with NAL Re- run-up to the Grey Cup. He has a design and drafting 100 years, only 304 people have been commissioned as sources, while another crew chief, Shawn Fornwald, tech diploma from SIAST’s Palliser campus. a Saskatchewan land surveyor. has spent the last several years working with Crescent Clausen’s assistant is Kurtis Jahnke. Jahnke is in Alberta is now in the 800s in a similar time frame, Point. “It seems to work for us,” Quirk said. the process of moving up the food chain, getting his while Manitoba recently crossed into the 200s, despite The Estevan Midwest location services primarily schooling which will allow him to progress to higher having formed its land surveyors’ association 129 years southeast Saskatchewan. levels in the field. “I went to school for geomatics enago. “The oilfield tends to drive a lot of this,” Quirk Mike Clausen is the crew chief Pipeline News fol- gineering, but I haven’t finished my program yet. I’m said. lows on this day. He begins his day in the office review- going back this fall.”

Quirk’s commissioning number indicates many ing his project for the day and ensuring that he has The program he is enrolled in is in Nova Scotia. years of experience. He received his Saskatchewan all of the information and supplies need to complete ɸ Page C2

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

GPS replacing optics for surveyors

Shawn Fornwald, a crew chief with Midwest Surveys, is about to get into his truck after doing some work south of Stoughton on Dec. 29, 2009.

ɺ Page C1 Truck fully loaded The easiest way to identify a surveyor truck is by the quad, or quads, on the back deck, mounted high so that the box underneath can be used to store things like hand tools, stakes and tripods.

This time out, Clausen and Jahnke hook up a trailer with a snowmobile on it. Where they’re going the snow is not terribly deep, but deep enough to make it difficult if not impassable for a quad, and difficult to walk through.

Also characteristic of a surveyor’s truck is the lack of room for passengers. The back seat is filled with their electronic gear and anything else they might need in the field.

The project on this day is to lay out the boundary stakes for a new flow line right of way, linking a well site to a nearby battery site. The new fibreglass line will replace a decades-old, problematic line. Since there are already several lines coming into the battery, a new right of way is being used so there are no issues with striking existing buried lines and so that following the survey plans can be prepared to use to determine compensation paid to land owners.

Since this is a flow line, they will only establish the outer borders.

There’s a big difference between a flow line and a big pipeline, according to Clausen, which has its centreline also surveyed and the ditch line profiled.

The initial plan had been to survey a new wellsite lease at a different location, but in this business, a change of plans is not unusual, as priorities can and do change.

They speak with the NAL operator, and soon

are setting up the GPS system.

GPS For the purposes of this article, their equipment will be refered to as GPS (global positioning system), but in reality, their equipment uses multiple systems, and is referred to as a GNSS, or global navigation satellite system. The GPS system is a U.S. military system. A GNSS unit may also receive signals from the Russian equivalent, known as GLONASS, and the European system called Galileo. The more satellites they can receive signals from, the more accurate the measurements and the quicker a position can be determined.

In this case, accuracy is measured in centimetres, or parts thereof.

The base station is set up on a tripod, off the right of way, and connected to a computer and a power source. The receiver looks like a large white mushroom. Its location is arbitrary. The important part is that it stays still. It uses a radio link to communicate

with the mobile portion of the system. The base station is powered by a deep cycle battery that gets taken into the shop and charged each night.

The next step is to find nearby section and quarter section pins, establishing the nearby north-south section line.

These pins, originally placed decades or even over a century ago, are the foundation for all the day’s surveys work. They are considered true, and all measurement is taken from them. “In developed areas, you might even come across original Dominion Land Survey pins, or brass caps that are 80-plus years old,” Clausen said.

What you won’t see on this job is a surveyor measuring with a tape or peering through a transit, the optical device whose origins date back well over a century, and what most people would consider the basic tool of the surveyor. They almost never use the transit anymore, according to Clausen. “Ninety-five per cent of our work is done with GPS now.”

Pins At the section and quarter pins alongside the road, Jahnke takes out a shovel and starts digging through the snow. A metal detector aids in pinpointing the location of the pins in the frozen ground.

Clausen measures the location of the pins using a rod with another mushroom-like receiver

at the end of it. This GPS unit is known as a rover, and receives radio waves from the satellites and the base station. The information as to length of these radio waves is used to calculate a position and this is stored in a data collector. It looks like a large, rugged scientific calculator. The data collector does all the recording. No more pencils and notepads these days.

Back at the battery, they meet again with a NAL representative.

Dale Didrick is the on-site supervisor, and works on construction, production, facilities and drilling for the company. He and Clausen go way back. “I’ve known Mike since he was a kid.

It just worked out accidentally that this come into place.”

The two have worked together since September, 2009.

Clausen and Jahnke start out from the battery, working their way south to the well site. Clausen uses the snowmobile, while Jahnke alternatively walks and uses the truck, which by now is making good use of its four wheel drive capabilities. Periodically, Clausen gets off, manoeuvres the rover to the specified location, and Jahnke pounds in a stake.

Janke uses a metal stake to create a pilot hole in the dirt, before pounding in a wooden one.

“Otherwise, they shatter,” he said.

It doesn’t take long

Trevor Luddington, a crew chief with Midwest Surveys, works on his notes for laying out anchors at a plant near Bienfait, before heading out for the day.

for them to establish the boundary stakes up and down the right of way.

Now they get to do a fair bit of walking, sweeping the entire right of way with a pipe locator to attempt to locate all underground lines. Using the snowmobile to pack the snow first makes the walking a little easier.

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At the end of the day, their electronic gear will come back into the shop for downloading, charging and storage. The GPS technologists can then process the data in a format that the ACAD draftsmen can upload into their computers and prepare the necessary drawings.

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Saskatchewan’s ¿rst

F. J. Robinson was Saskatchewan’s Àrst commissioned land surveyor.

Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association

By Jack.H.Webb S.L.S.(LM) Franklin Joseph Robinson (1870.11.20 - 1917.05.26) SPS, DLS, OLS, SLS Saskatchewan Land Surveyor Commission #001 (1910.05.09) As the holder of the first Saskatchewan Land Surveyor’s Commission in 1910, Mr.F.J.Robinson, (known as Jadel Robinson) was also a man who accomplished many things during his short life span.

Growing up in St. Thomas, Ontario, he was the youngest of seven born into a well-known Ontario family. His father was an independent Member of Parliament for West Elgin, his sister Harriot was a teacher for 40 years in St. Thomas, and brother William was a railway conductor and nicknamed “Stickine Bill.” Brother Charlie was a veterinary surgeon and Dean of the Veterinary College in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. along with another brother Jesse, also a veterinary surgeon in Washington, D.C. His sister Sarah was married to a James Fletcher.

An article, covering his demise, in the Toronto

Saturday Night newspaper in 1917 stated: “He was one of the ten most popular men in the West.”

It goes on to state: “He happened along out there at the psychological moment, just as the country was opening up to a realization that the prophecy about the 20th century belonging to Canada might possibly be true, and he fitted in. Educated as a civil Engineer and a surveyor, a thorough judge of live stock, of poultry and of land, he was a practical man on the spot. And he was such a whole-souled chap, such a good storyteller, that men, rough western outdoor men, fairly loved him.”

It was natural that F.J. Robinson would accomplish many missions in the North West Territory and in Saskatchewan.

While going to university he evidently was a high spirited and boisterous student even though he never drank or smoked.

“His animal spirits were sufficient to carry him through anything that was going. A broad shouldered powerful fellow of 180 pounds, in hard condition with enormous muscles, he was the natural choice for centre scrimmage for the school in 1893.”

He evidently sang in the school glee club with such gentlemen as W.L. Mackenzie King and other well-known scholars.

His brother William, known as “Big Stickene Bill” Robinson, helped build the White Horse Railway. Because William was well known in the West he appears as a character in one of “Rex Beach’s” western novels.

Graduating from the School of Practical Science in 1895 he worked for the “Federal Department of Railways and Canals” on the Yukon Railway reconnaissance surveys. Later he was assigned to the position of assistant engineer on construction on the Trent Canal in Ontario. At this time he obtained his Commission as an Ontario land surveyor in 1898 and his Dominion land surveyors commission in 1900.

In 1904 he accepted a position with the North West Territory government as the district engineer and surveyor at Macleod (now in Alberta) and in 1905 was promoted to director of surveys out of Regina. When the province of Saskatchewan was formed in September 1905 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Works for the new Province. This

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position he held until 1912 when he was appointed chairman of the Board of Highway Commissioners for the province of Saskatchewan.

It was during this time as Deputy Minister that he and other surveyors draughted the Saskatchewan Surveys Act. Under his direction, work was commenced and carried on to near completion on the Legislative Buildings in Regina. It is of interest to note that he signed his own Commission (#1) on May 9th 1910, and also signed by E. H. Phillips (#4) and A.J. McPherson (#15). The first 17 Commissions were signed on the 9th or 10th of May 1910. ɸ Page C4

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Commissioned land surveyor ɺ Page C3 There is a lake in Northeast Saskatchewan named for Mr. Robinson. The request to name a lake after Mr. Robinson came from Mr. H.S. Carpenter S.L.S. on July 14, 1949. Evidently the Association of Professional Engineers asked the SLSA to submit a name to the Saskatchewan Provincial Department of Nat-

ural Resources for the naming of a suitable feature in Northern Saskatchewan. Thus the lake “F.J.Robinson” was adopted on September 6th, 1956. The lake is east of Lac La Ronge Lake, north of Deschambault Lake and located on map sheet 63 M/12 with geographic coordinates of Latitude 55 degrees, 31 minutes and Longitude 103 degrees, 43 minutes.

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He married Lena Scott of Qu’Appelle and they had 3 children. His brother in law was Mr. B.D. Hogarth, a solicitor in Regina.

Mr. Robinson died in Toronto on May 26th, 1917.

Reproduced courtesy of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association, which can be found at www.slsa.sk.ca.

The author, Jack H. Webb, is the unofficial historian of the association, having written several books on surveying and many of the biographies available on the SLSA website.

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C5

Former Rider hosts luncheon Estevan – Former long-time Saskatchewan Roughrider Dan Rashovich spoke to about 15 guests at a customer appreciation luncheon for Baker Hughes in Estevan on Jan. 25.

Rashovich works with Baker Hughes, primarily selling drill bits. However, with the recent reorganization of the services company, he’s doing

a bit more than that.

“Our job is to sell every product line. It’s been going good,” he says.

He is often paired with former Calgary Flames captain Lanny McDonald for public appearances. McDonald was also scheduled to attend, but was unable to make it.

Jerseys for both players were given away as door prizes.

McDonald’s regular gig these days is doing promotional work with Baker Hughes.

Giving a bit of a pep talk, Rashovich spent most of his time reminiscing about football, including adventures with his father-in-law while attending last fall’s Grey Cup in Calgary. He’s a “46-year, same seat” season ticket holder of the Riders, and took

Former long-time Roughrider Dan Rashovich, right, signs photos for PetroBakken staff who attended a Baker Hughes customer appreciation luncheon on Jan. 25 at Estevan’s Days Inn.

the loss of the Grey Cup really hard.

“All it is is green, pure green,” he described of his abbreviated visit to Riderville.

“The whole game was great, until the end.”

His father-in-law was so disconsolate, he wouldn’t talk.

“I think the future looks bright for the team,” he said. About current quarterback, Darian Durant, he added, “Durant I think has the whole package.”

“I was fortunate enough. I played 13 years.”

One person asked Rashovich, who was a linebacker, who was the best quarterback he ever played against?

“Probably Flutie.

Doug Flutie,” he responded. “He’s kind of like Gretzky, almost – like the wind, trying to grab a feather.”

It’s hard to miss Dan Rashovich’s 1989 Roughrider Grey Cup ring as he talks.

Not surprisingly, then, the photo he had available for autographs was taken right after Rashovich sacked Flutie.

Last summer, Rashovich attended the 20th anniversary reunion of the 1989 Riders’ Grey Cup championship. Indeed, it’s hard not to notice

Rashovich’s 1989 Greg Cup ring flashing as he talks with his hands.

“It was nice to see some of those guys.

Some have had hip replacements already,” he said.

“It does take its toll. I was curling in the Weyburn oilman’s bonspiel. My knee was killing me.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

43 years of coring

He still wears a company hat, 12 years after retiring. Art Wrubleski spent 43 years coring, with almost all that time in Saskatchewan.

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – Whenever someone cuts a core in Saskatchewan, that core eventually ends up in a core box in an ever-expanding warehouse in Regina. A lot of that core, especially in the older portions of core repository warehouse, is there because of Art Wrubleski.

Wrubleski was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society (OTS) on Jan. 19.

Prior to the awards, Pipeline News had a chance to sit down for coffee with Wrubleski, and find out how one becomes a prime contributor to our collective knowledge of core in this province.

Now 80, Wrubleski was born six miles north of Broadview, in a little log house with a sod roof. “I never saw a doctor until I broke my leg at age seven,” he said.

He attended public school at Oakshela, but went

to Concordia College in Edmonton for high school. It was $230 a year for room, board, and everything else, which Wrubleski said was a good deal. “We were a poor, poor family.”

The family would move up to New Sarepta, Alta., in 1948. His older brother had been called up for service in the Second World War, but never went. Art was the third oldest in a family of five boys and one girl. “My two older brothers were born in Poland. Dad came in the fall of 1927, mom in the spring of ’28.”

She had to remain behind in Poland because of medical issues. “They wouldn’t let one of my brothers through because of an eye infection.”

“I finished high school and worked in a general store for a year, then worked in the oilpatch.”

Drilling Like many entrepreneurs in the patch, his early days were on a drilling rig. His drilling days came right when drilling in Western Canada would take off, five years after the Leduc No. 1 discovery. Indeed, living in the Edmonton area at the time, he didn’t have far to go.

“I started in November, 1951, with Lodestar Drilling, just out of Edmonton,” Wrubleski recalled. “I worked for them until February, 1953.”

They went into receivership.

He then went to work for Central Leduc Drilling, where he spent six weeks on the derrick before getting back down on the floor. “I worked for them for about six weeks, then went drilling for two years.”

In 1955, he worked for Bennett and Burns Diamond Drilling. “I worked for them for two months, and they went into receivership,” he said, noting a recurring

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“I got married in 1954,” he said, marrying Alice Oswald. Alice did administrative work for the firm. She would be his partner in life until she passed away in 1983. He has never remarried. “I couldn’t find a woman to replace her,” he said.

Launches firm On Sept. 1, 1955, Wrubleski went into business for himself, launching Wrubleski Coring Ltd. at Gull Lake, Sask. “I worked in Gull Lake until April 1, 1960. That’s when I moved to Estevan. Work was pretty slack. This was a lot bigger centre.”

At Gull Lake, he had worked for three companies, doing coring.

Since work had dried up in southwest Saskatchewan, he packed up the family trailer, and was on the road.

Along the way the Wrubleskis raised five children – Dale, Randy, Wade, Brenda and Denise, spread between 1954 and 1968.

Merger Wrubleski Coring had been operating out of Estevan for five years when the firm merged with a competitor. Al Marcotte had owned Super Coring. “We amalgamated and formed A & A Coring Services,” according to Wrubleski, who still wears a hat with the company logo.

That reduced the number of local coring firms in the area from three to two. “We go along pretty good.

We didn’t have the expenses of chasing the same rig, same job,” Wrubleski said. ɸ Page C7

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

C7

Wrubleski receives lifetime achievement award ɺ Page C6 However, his new partner Marcotte soon desired to leave. “He wanted to move to Edmonton, so I bought him out in 1967.”

Bill 42 “Everything was going smoothly until 1972, when Bill 42 came in, and the NDP formed SaskOil.” The province increased royalties, and a number of companies shut in wells and started to look elsewhere.

It got so bad, Wrubleski was soon seeking work across the border, getting a visa to work in the United States.

“I went to New Brunswick in 1975-76. I cored six wells at 2,000 ft. each hole, which is a lot of coring.”

The work was for

IMC, the mining company. His firm also did work for IMC at the Esterhazy potash mine.

A flood at the mine would mean A & A Coring Services would have two or three men working there consistently.

The scarcity of coring in Saskatchewan lead to diversification in the company. “In 1974, I went into the power tong business, too,” he said. In the late 1970s, he added drill stem testing.

In the mid-1980s, Albert Arndt joined the company as a minor partner.

By this time, the company had 15 employees at its peak, operating two vans, trailers, two shops, seven power tongs sets and two drill stem testing units.

Differences “The big thing was you didn’t have regulations then. You could do anything. Now, you can’t do anything unless you phone Calgary first. Now, with computers and everything, Calgary is always talking about something.”

The equipment has improved, he said, but the fundamental gear has not.

“Coring hasn’t changed at all, or [at least] very little.

A barrel is pretty much the same now as in ’55.”

Bits have changed, however. “They now use synthetic diamonds.”

Retirement Son Wade worked for the firm for a little while.

Daughter Brenda started in 1983, and was with the company until it was shut down in 1998, when Wrubleski retired.

“Then I had to get a real job,” Brenda said with a smile. “I did all the administration, took care of calls when Art was not available.”

She said working with her father was “heaven.”

“There was never even an argument between us.”

Art added, “She did our work, and did it good, so that’s what counted.”

Health was a factor in Wrubleski’s retirement.

On Mar. 31, 1998, he said he “retired completely.”

“I took up golfing then.”

“I sold the coring part to Sebco Coring, the drill stem testing to Double K of Carievale.”

Power Tongs went to Gillis Power Tongs. “He worked for me for a long time,” Wrubleski added.

The shops were sold as well.

Community involvement Along the way, Wrubleski was able to get a string of Estevan OTS golf tournament championships, winning four years in a row, from 1976 until 1979.

“At one time, I did quite a bit with the OTS, in the 60s and 70s, for about 20 years.”

He helped with barbecues, curling and golf. Wrubleski chaired two bonspiels and four

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golf tournaments, one of which had Premier Grant Devine as the honorary president.

Wrubleski was the president of the Estevan Curling Club while it was still in the old rink, back in the early 70s. He was an Elk for 30 years.

He also coached baseball for four years, leading his team to one city championship.

At the awards banquet, Wrubleski thanked his family, saying, “I am very proud of them.”

He also thanked the OTS, and said he had a rewarding career. “I even squeezed in time for a couple hole-in-ones.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Weyburn-Estevan tops land sales for February Regina – The Weyburn-Estevan area topped the February sweepstakes of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights with $25.9 million of the total revenue pot of $39.5 million in the first sale of 2010.

The Lloydminster area registered the second strongest sales at $5.7 million, followed by the Swift Current area at $4 million and the Kindersley-Kerrobert area at $3.9 million.

The February sale is the second highest total for a February sale and brings the total revenue from land sales for the 2009-10 fiscal year to $151.4 million.

“The continuing upward trend in land sale revenues reflects the industry’s confidence in our province,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd in a news release.

“Combine that with projections of increased drilling and new industry interest in areas that have shale gas potential, and we anticipate an exciting and vibrant year in the oilpatch.”

February’s sale included 18 petroleum and natural gas exploration licences that sold for $10.3 million and 293 lease parcels that attracted $29.2 million in bonus bids.

The highest price paid for a single parcel was $2.1 million. Standard Land Company Inc. acquired this 1,552-hectare exploration licence near Unity.

The highest price on a per-hectare basis was $6,512. Baytex Energy Ltd. bid $105,427 for a 16-hectare lease parcel near Maidstone.

Three special exploratory permits were awarded to Scott Land & Lease Ltd. on the basis of work commitments of $1.5 million over the next two years. These permits are for the exploration of 104,300 hectares north of Prince Albert between Big River and Nipawin.

The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas dispositions will be held on April 12, 2010.

Lloydminster The total bonus received in the area was $5.7 million, an average of $272/ hectare. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Standard Land Company Inc., who spent $2.3 million to acquire two lease parcels and one licence.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $128,593 paid by Standard Land Company Inc. for a 115 hectare parcel 2-km west of the Senlac Lloydminster Sand (Oil) Pool, 7-km east of Macklin.

The top price paid for a single licence in this area was $2.1 million paid by Standard Land Company Inc. for a 1,552 hectare block situated 3-km northwest of the Reward Waseca (Oil) Pool, 27-km southwest of Unity.

The highest dollar per hectare in this area was received from Baytex Energy

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Ltd., who paid $6,511/hectare for a 16 hectare parcel located within the Forest Bank Mannville Sands (Oil) Pools, 20-km northwest of Maidstone.

Kindersley-Kerrobert The total bonus received in the area was $3.9 million, an average of $207/ hectare. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Sandstone Lane & Mineral Company Ltd. who spent $1.3 million to acquire two licences.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $250,442 paid by Scott Land & Lease Ltd. for a 259 hectare parcel situated within the Whiteside Ribstone Creek Sand Gas Pool, 22-km northwest of Kindersley. This is the highest dollar per hectare in this area at $966 hectare.

Top price paid for a single licence in this area was $1.1 million, paid by Sandstone Land & Mineral Company Ltd. for a 1,809 hectare block situated within the Milton Viking Sand Gas Pool, 21-km northeast of Alsask.

Swift Current The total bonus received in the area was $4 million an average of $275/hectare. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Standard Land Company Inc. who spent $1.2 million acquire three licences.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $331,776 paid by Windfall Resources Ltd. for a 779 hectare parcel situated adjacent to the Rapdan West Shaunavon (Oil) Pool, 22-km south of Eastend.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $393,545 paid by Standard Land Company Inc. for each of two 1,036 hectare blocks situated 14 –km south of the Rapdan Upper Shaunavon (Oil) Pool, 14- km southwest of Frontier.

The highest dollar per hectare in this area was received from Scott Land & Lease Ltd. who paid $814/hectare for a 259 hectare parcel located adjacent to the Johnston Roseray Sand (Oil) Pool, 7-km northwest of the Town of Gull Lake.

Weyburn-Estevan The total bonus received in the area was $25.9 million, an average of $618/ hectare. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. who spent $5.7 million to acquire 22 lease parcels and one licence.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $702,118 paid by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. for a 259 hectare parcel situated adjacent to the Oungre Ratcliffe Beds Pool, 48-km west of Estevan.

The top price paid for a single licence in this area was $1.3 million paid by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. for a 1,858 hectare block situated 10km southeast of the Bromhead Midale Beds Pool, 24-km west of Estevan.

The highest dollar per hectare in this area was received from Scott Land & Lease Ltd. who paid $3,500/hectare for a 65 hectare parcel located adjacent to the Edenvale Tilston Beds Pool, 14-km southwest of Redvers.

Editor’s note: numbers rounded off.

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

C9

Conacher Contracting carves a niche seismic surveying

By Geoff Lee Saskatoon – Not all survey companies in Saskatchewan are professional land surveyors with membership in the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association.

The SLSA will celebrate its 100th anniversary at its annual general meeting in Regina, March 26-27, but Conacher Contracting Services Ltd., based in Saskatoon, won’t be partying.

Conacher earns its bread and butter doing seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration companies in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

“Our niche is oil and gas exploration surveys,” said Neil Conacher, who owns the business.

None of the surveying that Conacher does for oil and gas companies or for public utilities including SaskEnergy is legally binding.

That fact differentiates it from traditional land surveying by SLSA professional land surveyors responsible for the confirmation of existing property boundaries and creation of new boundaries through the subdivision process.

“We are surveyors, not legal surveyors,” said Conacher. “I can locate boundaries, but not legally.

“Let’s say you want to find the boundaries to your property. I could go out and find the pins for you, but if you’re looking to subdivide something, I can’t certify anything – nothing legally binding.

“For SaskEnergy, we do the odd little piece of legal work, but it all has to be sent through their legal department to be certified.”

On the other hand, Conacher says oil and gas exploration companies don’t require legallybinding seismic surveys because they just want to know where to drill their oil wells.

“What we do is go out and stake out the seismic lines so they know where to lay out all of the recording phones

and geophones and where to drill their test holes,” explained Conacher.

“The oil and gas explorers don’t need it registered or anything.

“Once they do the seismic, they interpret the data and decide where to drill their oil and gas wells.”

For oil and gas companies, seismic images are produced by generating, recording, and analyzing sound waves that travel through the earth triggered by explosives or vibrating plates. A line or grid of geophones records them.

Density changes be-

tween rock or soil layers reflect the waves back to the surface, and how quickly and strongly the waves are reflected back indicates what lies below – hopefully oil and gas reserves.

Conacher founded his seismic survey company 29 years ago and ran it from his farm near Mervin until recently, when he set up a business shingle in the city.

“The majority of our work is in Alberta in the Bonnyville and Smokey area,” he said.

“This winter we’ve been up in Fort McMurray mostly, as well as Wandering River and

Lac La Biche. We also do a lot of work around the Lloydminster area on both sides of the border.”

Despite the winter work in Alberta, Conacher says it’s actually “pretty slow right now” as the main company he works for but couldn’t name isn’t very busy.

“Also, I have been out of the country and my company kind of wound down a little bit when I was gone.”

Conacher spent two years in West Africa on unrelated work and has been back for over a year with retirement brewing in his mind.

“I grew my company

and now I am just coasting. I guess you could say that I am retiring. I am just running it for now,” he said.

Conacher rules out selling the business because as he put it, “A survey company is only worth the employees – you can’t sell your employees.”

In the short term, Conacher has found steady work for some of his seven current employees with a staking contract with SaskEnergy for their natural gas distribution system.

“I’ve been working for SaskEnergy on and off for 14 years,” he said.

“Back in the late 90s, it was pretty busy when natural gas prices were low, then it went up and there was no work.

“I have to bid my work. First you have to get a contract.

“A few years, ago, I got a contract, but there was no work because the oil and gas price was so high. There were very few people who were adding natural gas. The last couple of years have been pretty good because natural gas has been lower again.

“I have also done some work for SaskPower, but our bread and butter is seismic surveying.”

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

OTS pays off $25,000 pledge early

After several years as president of the Estevan OTS, Greg Kallis stepped down in January, to be replaced by Jeff Mosley.

By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – The Estevan Oilfield Technical Society (OTS) lost money on it bonspiel last year, as expected, but more than made up for it with a highly successful golf tournament.

Those details came forward in the financial records presented at the organization’s annual general meeting at the Days Inn in Estevan on Jan. 27. Over 20 people attended the AGM.

Two years into a five year commitment by the OTS to provide $25,000 for the new Estevan civic arena, the organization has paid it off in full. In 2009, the Estevan OTS paid out $15,000 to the project, after giving $10,000 the year before.

That accounted for the lion’s share of donations made by the OTS in 2009.

Another $1,150 went for a TV, donated to the Elks, and $400 for the oil women’s golf tournament, totalling $16,550. That was a $5,140 increase in giving by the group.

The difference almost entirely accounted for the drop in net assets by the end of the year, from $36,714 to $29,505.

The 2009 bonspiel, the organization’s 50th, was planned to be a big deal, and therefore the organization expected to lose some money, according to out-going president Greg Kallis.

“We planned on that, being the 50th, We didn’t lose as much as we bud-

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geted,” he said.

Fo r i n s t a n c e, the banquet and liquor line items were $16,611 for 2009, as opposed to $5,244 in 2008, a reflection of the larger turnout.

The prizes were also up substantially, with each curler getting a commemorative watch. The prizes totalled $21,179, a big jump from the $8,560 spent in 2008 on prizes.

But by the same token, fees and donations were both up nearly 50 per cent each. Fees came in at $18,940, up from

Each curler at the 50th Annual Estevan OTS Bonspiel last March received a commemorative watch like this one.

$12,480, a n d donations were $17,640, up from $13,120.

The 52nd Annual Golf Tournament was a resounding financial success, bringing in a net profit of $19,538, up from $13,156 the year before. Fees and donations were both up on the income sides, but so was the banquet on the ex-

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By Brian Zinchuk There are still a few oilmen’s bonspiels in southern Sask. on the agenda for this month before it’s time to remove the ice from the rinks.

The Lampman bonspiel will occur March 5-7.

The event is a mixed one, requiring at least one woman per team. Leanne Fleck, one of the organizers, can be reached at 306-487-2669.

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The season typically wraps up with the big Estevan OTS Bonspiel. The dates this year are March 25-28. The cost will be $300 per rink, and will be in a format similar to previous years. The banquet will take place on the Friday at the Beefeater Plaza.

More details and registration will be available on the Estevan OTS website, according to Brett Campbell, OTS secretary.

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time to pass the baton.”

With just eight weeks between the annual general meeting and the bonspiel, Mosley said they will be getting together quickly. “Hopefully it is during road bans. It should be.”

The 51st Annual Estevan OTS Bonspiel will be held Mar. 25-28.

Sixty-four teams are expected, with four events played over four days.

More information and registration will be available from the OTS website at estevanots.com.

The 53rd Annual Estevan OTS Golf Tournament will be held June 4-6, at Estevan Woodlawn Golf Club.

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Hoffort and Campbell are new additions to the board. Once the board was elected, the members of the board chose the executive positions amongst themselves.

Kallis closed by saying after around six years as president, “It’s been a great run.”

He thanked the committee, saying, “Now it is

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

C13

SLSA may register private grave sites Regina – When the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association (SLSA) convenes in Regina for its 100th anniversary annual general meeting, a proposal to locate and register private cemeteries as a public service could be adopted.

There are about 3,500 known cemeteries throughout Saskatchewan, many of which are run well and cared for by owners, local communities and religious organizations.

However, there are a significant number that are abandoned and uncared for as well and many more that are unknown or not catalogued, including many Aboriginal burial sites.

The SLSA is considering offering a service to the public to help document the location of private graves and cemeteries as a goodwill gesture and anniversary project.

“There are a number of private gravesites throughout Saskatchewan,” said Carl Shiels, SLSA executive director.

“Historically, members of a homestead family might have been buried on the farm. The family members know where the sites are, but the subsequent owners may not. There is nothing registered on the title as being a gravesite or graveyard.

“The association would like to be able to contribute to this whole effort by helping the public to provide a bit more detail about where these graveyards are and get that information on the registered title.

“If someone buys

the land or they want to subdivide the area, there would be an indication that there is a grave on that property, and where it, is so it can be accounted for.”

Al Dwyer, the former Registar of Cemeteries, is convening a working group of stakeholders and interested individuals to look into the issue.

He will publish a report with recommendations by April 1, 2010 on options to encourage greater community involvement in the care and maintenance of local, non-commercial cemeteries.

“I believe that something needs to be done to preserve our cemeteries and places of interment, to maintain our heritage for future generations and honour the memory of those who helped build this province,” said Don Morgan, Minister responsible for the Cemeteries Act, in a November 2009 news release.

Under the act, all new cemeteries must now

“

If someone is putting through a pipeline and there is nothing to indicate a gravesite, it is not the type of thing they want to discover as there are in the middle of a project

”

- Carl Shiels, SLSA Executive Director be approved by the Registrar of Cemeteries including those on private property, but most historic private gravesites are not registered on any land title.

“If the property changed hands a couple of times since the original homesteaders buried a family member, the new owner may not be aware it is there,” said Shiels.

Shiels said people still bury family members on their property today but the practice tends to happen more often in the remote areas of the north.

“The Registrar of Cemeteries still gets a handful of requests each year for authorization to

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establish a private cemetery,” he said.

The location of old private graves can also be useful for oil and gas companies planning to install pipelines.

“If someone is putting through a pipeline and there is nothing to indicate a gravesite, it is not the type of thing they want to discover as there are in the middle of a project,” said Shiels.

Stuart Hayward, a

land surveyor and branch manager of Meridian Surveys Ltd. in Kindersley, says the idea of the proposal is to find burial sites that are not registered in the hope they would be protected from development or destruction.

“So if anybody can identify those to us and tell us ‘we have a couple

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of grave sites over here’ that haven’t been registered or are less know about, the SLSA would go out and measure those plots and make a plan up and file that in the land title system for posterity.

We would do that on a pro bono basis,” added Hayward.

“The idea is just for goodwill to the province.

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Well Service BOP Weyburn – Mar 29 - 31

General Oilfield Driver Improvement Estevan – Mar 31

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) Weyburn – Mar 17 Estevan – Mar 17

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C14

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Cory Bjorndal District Manager Downhole

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Price of milk drives sales of Degelman snow blades

By Geoff Lee Regina – You see Degelman Industries Ltd. blades all over Saskatchewan, clearing snow on oil leases. However, the blades are now seeing increased in the agriculture sector.

Degelman is a Regina-based manufacturer of material handling, agricultural and cutting equipment. They hope to keep selling their dozer blades and specialty snow plows until the cows come home.

It seems odd to learn that sales of dozer blades, used to clear snow from oil leases, are affected more by milk prices than snowfalls or the price of oil and gas.

“It’s funny how that happened,” said Paul Degelman, sales and marketing manager at the family-run business.

“Dozer blades were typically designed for snow removal exclusively. They had a bit of a

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rebirth as the dairyman’s tool for feed.

“All of our dozer blades, including the Speedblade, are used to push silage into feed bunkers.

“Wisconsin and Minnesota are really hot markets for us. New York is also a big market for us. Wherever there is silage pushed, that’s where our dozer blades are really in demand.

“They push the feed up the bunker and they have these big 4-wheel drive tractors on the back of these blades and they pack down silage.”

Degelman manufactures nine different dozer blade models including the 7900 that is compatible with the high horse-

power 4-wheel drive tractors that farmers use to move silage and snow from oil leases in the winter.

“It’s a blade that’s got lot of height and lots of angles on it,” said Degelman. “It’s got a quick mount system.

“Mostly, it’s farm boys that are looking to utilize that tractor with the investment that they have. The best way to do it is to get involved in the oilpatch.

“The snow plow lease will go right to the farmer. The farmer is the perfect guy. They are great operators.

“They have their own tractors so the oil companies don’t have that cost tied up in an invest-

ment. They use the blade to clean the leases into the wells.”

The dozer blade and most Degelman blades can fit onto more than 450 models of new and existing tractors including popular brands such as John Deere, New Holland, Caterpillar and Case.

“Basically, what we do is try to put our dozer blade on any power equipment that our customers come to us with,” said Degelman.

“Our blades can fit vehicles with as little as 65 horsepower. We’ll built blades for small tractors and small frontend loaders all the way to 500 and 600 horsepower.

“When you put a Degelman blade on one of these tractors, there is no welding and they are engineered to not damage the tractor.

“They are driver safe as well. There’s a lot of thought that goes into them. When you are dealing with 500 horsepower, you have to do it right,” added Degelman. ɸ Page C15

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

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Finding new markets in the agricultural industry Éş Page C14 “For the oilpatch, it’s the farmer’s tractor. It’s high horsepower so you need a good heavy duty blade. “For doing the snow plowing, absolutely it’s a second income for farmers. The tractor is sitting idle at that time of the year. It’s kind of a perfect ďŹ t for these guys. “They don’t have to go to the oilpatch. They can be at home. They usually have a shop and the manpower to put on that blade. They can pay for that blade and tractor. It’s a great income for them.â€?

For smaller snow removal jobs and farm chores, Degelman also manufactures the Ice Breaker blade, the Speedblade and the Snow Bucket.

The Icebreaker blade is ideal for a snow contractor operating in towns and cities and features hydraulic folding wings that allow it to fold under legal transport width regulations. “It’s a wing plow to hold and contain your material,� said Degelman.

The blade also has a trip mechanism to lift the blade up and over obstacles like manhole covers and reset back to its original position.

The Speedblade is designed to ďŹ t onto a

kind of a snow bucket,â€? said Degelman, who tests a lot of new company products at the family farm north of Regina. “Western Canada is our backyard and that’s the area that we design our equipment around. “Everything is manufactured in Regina, where we also manufacture rotary cutters and oset hitches and chemical application systems in

the summer time for vegetation management.�

The business was launched in 1962 by Wilf Degelman who will be 80 this year and still keeps an active hand in the business as its president. “He’s still designing and involved in all of the major decisions. That’s his passion,� said Paul who is one of several family members employed at the company.

Industrial • Commercial Agricultural The Degelman 7900 dozer blade found a market with farmers to move and pack silage as well as snow. The silage blade pictured has optional side plates and a silage rack.

Photos submitted

front-end loader or skid steer and is marketed as snow contractor’s tool and for the farm. “This is our second year out and we don’t know if it’s going to have an application in the oilpatch,� said Degelman. “It probably won’t unless there are some tighter areas where they need to go in and back dredge snow. Usually on a lease application, they have big horsepower.

The Snow Bucket is a high volume, durable bucket for any kind of snow removal or material handling in the summer. “It’s an indestructible

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C16

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

20th year shaping up to be a big one Regina – In their 20th year of business, Caltech Surveys Ltd. is looking at their strongest year yet in 2010, according to Jade McLeod, one of the partners in the ďŹ rm. “Our big year was 2008. Things were crazy,

and we got our foot in the door with a number of clients. We’re looking at 2010 being busier than 2008,� McLeod said.

The company primarily works on oil and gas leases and right of ways, with just a sliver

of their work involving subdivisions.

Caltech has oďŹƒces in Calgary, Unity and Regina. In Alberta, they have satellite operations spread throughout the province.

In Saskatchewan, Unity has four crews, including

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Reston, Man. One of the driving forces behind a busy 2010 is the tremendous land sales of 2008. The leases purchased then have to be developed within a speciďŹ c time frame, or the land reverts back to the province and the investment is lost.

McLeod explained, “We have rush jobs from clients. We refer to them as expiries.�

They have to be done by a certain date, he said. “We’ve heard rumblings there’s going to be a lot of expiries.�

Last year was slow for the most part, but a contract with SaskPower in southeast Saskatchewan helped keep the company busy and able to retain its entire Saskatchewan sta. In Alberta, they held their own. “We didn’t suer like others did,â€? McLeod said, but there were some sta reductions. ɸ Page C17

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PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

C17

The historian of land surveying

By Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association staff John Hooper “Jack” Webb Saskatchewan Land Surveyr (Life Member), ALS, MLS, CLS Commission #096 (1949.06.30) In a letter dated November 13, 1947 to C.D. “Charlie” Brown, DLS & MLS, T.G. “Tommy” Tyrer, SLS (#074) wrote, “I note you are going on part of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary north of The Pas with Mr. E. Gauer, MLS representing Manitoba.

I think you will be working with one of my articled pupils, Jack Webb. He is turning out a pretty good lad and seems to be quite interested in this work. This experience will be of special benefit to him especially under your guidance. Any pointers you can give him will be appreciated. Abe Bereskin (SLS #91) speaks very highly of the boy.”

These early observations were prophetic in introducing the long and pre-eminent contribution of John Hooper “Jack” Webb to the province, the profession and the land survey associations of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.

Jack, who can trace his roots back to 1769 in Wiltshire, England, was born on May 11, 1922, in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Alfred John Webb and Nina Simpson Hooper. He grew up in Grandview, Mani-

toba. In December of 1940 - at age 18 - he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served overseas, and in Canada, until June of 1945 when he was discharged as a wireless air gunner with the rank of Flying Officer.

After the war, he attended Regina College where he completed his Grade 12, but not before falling in love with and marrying Dorothy Helen “Dot” Pulfer.

He went on to take classes in Engineering at Carson College at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon while Dot remained in Regina - not Jack’s idea of how a young married couple’s life should be.

On June 15, 1946, he became articled to T.G. Tyrer - who was chief surveyor at the time - and received his SLS commission on June 30, 1949. Soon thereafter, he moved to Edmonton to take a position with the survey firm of Phillips, Hamilton and Associates and received ALS commission #149. In 1954 he moved to Saskatoon to join the survey firm of Kent Phillips and Associates and obtained his MLS commission in 1955. In 1957 he went into partnership with another employee of Kent Phillips and Associates, R.A.”Al” Webster, SLS (#131), to form the highly successful survey firm of “Webb & Webster.” He remained active with the firm for more than forty years.

In 1959, Jack served as president of the SLSA and in the 1970’s he became a member of the Board of Examiners at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1982 Jack obtained his commission as a CLS under a special offer that the Surveyor General of Canada made to

Mergers are win-some, lose some ɺ Page C16 The fourth quarter of 2009 saw a substantial uptick in their work.

Mergers of oil producers have been a win-some, lose-some affair. They lost out on work in the Lower Shaunavon play in southwest Saskatchewan, but gained considerably in southeast Saskatchewan’s Bakken play. “We have our eyes on Estevan,” he said.

They are also looking forward to new interest in the Viking light oil formation in the Dodsland area near Kindersley, as they have crews located within an hour of the area.

“When things started getting busy again late last fall, we looked at our workload, and tried to assemble our team,” McLeod said. Unfortunately, they’ve had a hard time getting office staff for the Regina location,

so now they use computer-assisted drafting (CAD) personnel working out of their homes in Leader, Windsor, Ont., and Newfoundland and Labrador. The two in the east used to work for Caltech when they lived

in the west, and now are on contract.

Caltech is primarily owned by project managers within the company.

Of the 12 partners, nine are commissioned Saskatchewan land surveyors. McLeod personally

holds commission #288 of only 304 commissions granted in the province over the last 100 years.

He is also a Canada land surveyor, allowing him to certify work done on federal lands like First Nations.

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many provincial land surveyors at that time.

In an article prepared for the October 1991 edition of the “SLSA Newsletter” Jack described the highlights of his career as follows: ɸ Page C18

John H. “Jack” Webb holds commission number 96 in the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association. He has spent many years writing about the history of surveying in this province, and the west.

Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association

Career Opportunities

C18

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

Jack Webb: Sask. land surveyor ɺ Page C17 Every person has memorable highlights throughout their life. My career was one big highlight, as I have always enjoyed my involvement in the profession. Some of the more memorable highlights and thoughts are: • Being on the ground floor in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s when the west blossomed and required land surveyors to fulfill the needs of the survey industry at that time.

• Surveying, and being in charge of part of the first right-of-way survey across the Rocky Mountains from Edmonton to Vancouver in 1952-1953. This was the Trans-Mountain Oil Pipe Line.

• Being involved in many northern surveys; MidCanada early warning systems across Manitoba, mineral claims by the hundreds, and transmission and control lines in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

• Being on the ground floor of original surveys

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such as Creighton, Candle Lake, the Smokey Burn township surveys, and others in Saskatchewan.

• Surveying the town site of Leaf Rapids in Manitoba, baseline surveys in Alberta, along with tons of right of way surveys.

• Having the privilege of re-surveying part of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border in 1968-1969.

• Having the honour of being one of the Entertainment Chairmen for the International Society of Photogrammetry in 1972, the year the west helped put on a large Bar-B-Q event in Hull, Quebec.

• Being associated with Eric Coursier, SLS, DLS in Prince Albert and later with Aubrey Reimer, SLS who took over the Prince Albert office.

• Being President of the Canadian Institute of Surveying in 1979-1980 and helping to bring the CIS convention to Regina in 1980.

• Being a part of, and involved with the Saskatoon community through the Lions Club, Church, etc.

• Having our son, Tom, under articles and starting his own successful career in surveying.

• Being a land surveyor for over forty years with a well-rounded, enjoyable life in surveys, along with a comfortable lifestyle.

My major regret; the weeks on end that I was unable to be home and see my family grow up. However, due to Dorothy’s tutelage, Rob, Meridee and Tom

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have become solid citizens.

Finally, being fortunate enough to retire at an early age and enjoy life with Dorothy and our children and grandchildren.

In 1982 Jack was elevated to the status of Life Member of the SLSA. However that did not encourage him to “rest on his laurels”. If anything, it seems to have heightened his enthusiasm for his professional colleagues and the land survey associations of which he maintains his membership. After retiring from active practice in 1984 he has served on various committees of the SLSA - including the committee that drafted the “Land Surveyors and Professional Surveyors Act” that came into effect in 1997, and the Centennial Projects Committee that is overseeing the preparation of a book documenting the first 100 years of the SLSA. Jack has also worked tirelessly to document his life experiences - and those of his colleagues in the survey profession - by writing no less than five books and preparing biographies (as of February, 2007) of thirty-four commissioned Saskatchewan Land Surveyors - many of which appeared in the “SLSA Newsletter “and its successor the “SLSA Corners Post,” and which form the basis of many of the biographies posted on the SLSA web site. Although there have been more than twice as many commissions granted since Jack’s, than there were before, there can be little doubt that “the pretty good lad” that Tommy Tyrer referred to in 1947 has made one of the most significant contributions to the SLSA in its one hundred year history.

Reproduced courtesy Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association, which can be found at www.slsa.sk.ca.

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Apex Distribution Inc. is a dynamic, employee owned oilfield supply and service company nationally recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. We are committed to providing superior customer service to the oilfield markets of Western Canada. We are looking to fill the following positions in Estevan, SK. Apex Distribution is focused on producing dramatic results for our investors, customers and manufacturers. The organization has developed a technically diverse team recognized for a high level of customer service. We expand our business as market conditions dictate and pursue opportunities that best fit all our stakeholders.

Candidates must have • A proven track record of achievement.

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Cameron Canada is currently recruiting career oriented, enthusiastic, qualified individuals for service technicians to be based in the South East Saskatchewan region.

Instrumentation Journeyman/Gas Fitter/Pipefitter Certification Preferred.

Important to Note: Cameron will be recruiting more/future technician staff with a variety of skills and experience for the Saskatchewan market. If you are looking for a career with a dynamic growth oriented company let us hear from you.

The skills that are required for this position are: • Familiar with oil and gas field operations and the service environment.

• Must have a strong commitment to safety, produce quality work, be self motivated, and organized.

• Good communication skills.

• Possess the skills required for the Journeyman or near journeyman status stated on resume.

Qualifications: Journeymen Certificate or actively working on completing Journeyman status in the near term. Experience in the oil and gas service operations, valid drivers license, safety training, and experience.

We invite you to e-mail or fax your resume & covering letter to:

Process Systems Human Resources Cameron 3902 – 82nd Ave Leduc, AB T6E-8M4 Fax: 780 986-7568 recruitment@c-a-m.com Cameron thanks all applicants, however, only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

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:

• SUPERVISORS • OPERATORS • DRIVERS • FRAC HANDS • HEAVY DUTY DIESEL MECHANIC • YARD/SHOP PERSON 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

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

C19

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352-7668

TOLL FREE 1-877-778-7460 WEEKDAYS 7:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. SATURDAYS 9 A.M. - 1 P.M.

STOCKING ENGINE PARTS

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

1404 SCARTH ST., REGINA, SASK. website. www.continentalengine.ca FAX 525-8222

continentaleng@sasktel.net

Dwight G. Blomander, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., RHU • Life Insurance • Disability Insurance • Critical Illness Insurance • Employee BeneÀt Plans Tel: (306) 761-7506 • Fax: (306) 352-9474 E-mail: dwight.blomander@gwl.ca Toll Free: 1-888-495-7275 • Cellular: (306) 421-1935

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Water Trucking

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Serving All Your Inspection Needsâ&#x20AC;?

UT - MT - PT - RT - VISUAL CertiĂ&#x20AC;ed Level II CGSB Inspections

Estevan OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: 306-634-5285 Regina OfĂ&#x20AC;ce: 306-531-5939

Locally owned & operated.

Klaws Trucking Shawn - 461-6744 â&#x20AC;˘ Lampman, SK

Saskatchewan Owned & Operated

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.

TERRY DODDS (24 hrs.) (306) 634-7599 Cell. (306) 421-0316

Estevan, SK

S4A 2A3

461-8471 â&#x20AC;˘ 461-8472 â&#x20AC;˘ 461-8473 Call: Clinton Gibbons

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M.E.T. OILFIELD CONST. LTD. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All Your Construction and Maintenance Needsâ&#x20AC;?

SPECIALIZING IN: ENGINES, PUMP UNITS, UNIT INSPECTIONS, PIPE FITTING, TREATERS AND PRESSURE TICKET WELDING Box 1605, Estevan, Sk. S4A 2L7 Cell. (306) 421-3174, (306) 421-6410, (306) 421-2059 Fax: (306) 634-1273

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SONAR INSPECTION LTD. Head OfĂ&#x20AC;ce 1292 Veterans Crescent Estevan, Sk. S4A 2E1 F: 306-634-5649

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912 6th Street, Estevan

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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

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

Phone: (780) 875-6880

5315 - 37th Street Provost, AB T0B 3S0

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

24 Hour Service Specializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

C20

PIPELINE NEWS March 2010

SALES AND RENTALS OF NEW AND RECONDITIONED OILFIELD EQUIPMENT • 100 thru 1000bbl API 12F Monogrammed Steel Tanks • 100-750bbl API 12P Monogrammed FRP Tanks • 28” x 60” 500psi Portable Test Separators • 6’ x 25’ Vert. 75lb Treaters • 8’ x 30’ 75lb Hz FWKOs • 8’ x 30’ 75lb Hz Treaters • Flarestacks • Tubing TRUCKING • Wellhead Equipment • 37.5 Ton Picker with Dual Winch • 33 Ton Picker • 22 Ton Picker • (3) 20 Ton Texas Bed Trucks • (2) Tri-Axle 51’ Oilfield Floats c/w Centre Roll • Tandem and Tri-Axle Hiboys • One Ton Trailers • Sandblaster & Painter

View our website for a complete listing of services and equipment!!

Ph. 306-455-2705 Fax 306-455-2250 codygrimes@eagleoilfieldservices.com m.doty@eagleoilfieldservices.com www.eagleoilfieldservices.com

Box 330 Arcola, SK S0C 0G0