Pipeline News November 2010 by Pipeline News

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

November 2010

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Canada Post Publication No. 40069240

Volume 3 Issue 6

Aboriginal Involvement In The Oil Patch

Onion Lake Grows With Oil Patch Page A8

White Bear Planning To Drill Pages B5

Penn West Ramps Up Waskada Production Page C1 Roger Lewis, a safety Àeld manager for Onion Lake’s Askiy Apoy Hauling, stands in front of a lease site operated by Black Pearl Resources.

Photo by Geoff Lee

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

News

Notes

Torquay doubles production Torquay Oil Corp. says its southeast Saskatchewan production has doubled since its last update in August. Current corporate production is averaging approximately 550 barrels of oil equivalent per day (an increase of 110 per cent since August). The company plans to drill three additional 100 per cent working interest wells through the remainder of the fourth quarter. Torquay also intends to shoot a 32.5-square kilometre 3-D seismic program on a new Mississippian prospect prior to year-end. In addition, Torquay recently secured ﬁnancing to help fund upcoming drilling operations and for general corporate purposes.

Weather turns drilling around Saskatchewan’s drilling rig count had been nudging into the 90s in the late summer until wet weather pummelled that number down to 54 by Sept. 24. However, a string of warm, windy days in late September and early October turned that around quickly, and with a couple of days of that low point, the rig count jumped to 73 active drilling rigs by Sept. 27, according to Nickle’s Rig Locator (www.riglocator.ca). On Oct. 7, the day before the Thanksgiving long weekend, that number had rallied to 87 active drilling rigs. On Oct. 19, that number was again 87 after a small dip.

Diaz announces purchase Diaz Resources Ltd. has acquired a 45 per cent working interest in a Dina heavy oil property located at Macklin. The company’s partners include Tuscany Energy Ltd. (30 per cent) and Sharon Energy Ltd. (25 per cent). The property comprises 3,770 acres and includes four shut-in Dina horizontal oil wells, a water disposal well and seven square miles of 3-D seismic. Diaz plans to reactivate the horizontal oil wells and evaluate the 3-D seismic for future development. Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

Empire grows with First Nations welding crew and we were looking for partners,” said Bill Iron By Geoff Lee stand, the regional project manager for SIIT and the Pipeline News North Battleford – A labour market partner- manager of BICC. “Empire Welding was approached because they ship between Empire Welding and Machining Ltd. and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technol- are one of the largest manufacturing companies in ogy (SIIT) in North Battleford is working out just the Battlefords. “A partnership was formed where we will bring swimmingly. in entry level weldEmpire employs ers, train them and many new welding then companies like apprentices from a Empire will employ deepening pool of them, and we will First Nations’ prehelp them through employment grads their apprenticeship from the Battlefords through journeyman Industrial Career status,” he said. Centre (BICC), adIronstand beministered by SIIT. lieves it’s critical to “About 40 to have partners like 50 per cent of our Empire or GLM welding staff and Industries in Battlour fabrication staff eford to take on an have a First Naapprentice. tions background,” “You can train said Don McGuire, someone, but if general manager of there isn’t a job or a Empire. career at the end of “A lot of those the line, there is no students come in point in doing the as Level 1 welding training,” he said. training, and they “We work with are developing with industry to deus now. termine what the “Currently, we workforce needs are going into a new are and how we can production run and provide that type of we will bring more training. employees in. There are now “We are proseven BICC locaducing land rollers tions in the province mainly for the U.S. including La Ronge, market. We do a Prince Albert, Saslarge business prePatricia Wolfe from Muskeg Lake First Nation takes a katoon, Regina, dominantly in the break from grinding a test weld to smile for a Pipeline Yorkton, North Bateastern part of the News photo. tleford and Meadow U.S., all the way down Lake to provide to Texas.” Empire also manufactures oilfield products such training in all types of trades. “So far we have over 11,000 clients and we have as a low-rider oil tank moving trailer and provides custom manufacturing, fabricating and design ser- found 9,000 placements for work in training provices along with exports of farm equipment to the vincially,” said Ironstand, who notes interest in the trades among First Nations people is peaking. U.S. and Australia. “It’s huge,” he said. “Predominantly, we are a Empire’s plan initially was to take on one First Nation student at the grass roots level, but the com- ‘work with our hands’ type of people. There is always mitment mushroomed after SIIT established a the entry level work, and now we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is journeyman status in all BICC facility in North Battleford in 2005. ɸ Page A6 “We came into the area with a training system, the different trades.”

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Two Abex nominees

Jim McCuaig, manager of Bar Engineering’s Building Systems Group, is delighted by Bar’s nomination for an ABEX Growth and Expansion Award by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.

By Geoﬀ Lee Lloydminster – BAR Engineering may be contracted to design and build a trophy case for itself and for Grit Industries Inc. Grit could probably build it. The two Lloydminster businesses that are well known in the oil patch are ﬁnalists for this year’s Achievement in Business Excellence (ABEX) Awards staged by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. BAR is nominated for a Growth and Expansion Award, while Grit is in the running for an Export Award and an Environment Award. The ABEX awards presentation takes places in Regina Oct. 30. News of the nominations led to a round of applause for the two Lloydminster companies during the 2010 Business Week Awards Gala held by the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 13. “Bar and Grit have been trail blazers and leaders in our community for a lot of years,” said Pat Tenney,

executive director of the Lloydminster Chamber, just minutes before the gala got underway. “They will be acknowledged as being Saskatchewan Chamber ABEX awards nominees, and we are very proud of that. “Tonight is for Lloydminster companies, and it’s a time for prestigious awards for our community and a celebration of business excellence.” Knowing that Grit was nominated the local Community Involvement Award, Tenney added, “They are great contributors to our community in culture, sports and recreation. “That’s what helps to keep the social fabric of our community going. A healthy business community makes for a healthy community overall.” During the pre-show media scrum, Jim Spenrath, Grit’s chief operating officer, said his company feels honoured to be nominated for a local chamber award, and he was pleased to comment on the two ABEX nominations. “We were pretty flattered. There’s pretty good company there,” he said about ABEX. “There are lots of really strong companies. It’s really an honour. If we happen to win, it will even be that much more special. “In 1999 we were the award winner for New Ventures so we have been around awhile. This is our second time around at the ABEX awards, so it’s very nice.” Spenrath says being nominated for the Export Award is in keeping with Grit’s sales of natural gas line heaters through its Cold Weather division. Grit also exports its A-Fire oil tank burner system for heavy oil applications. “We have a natural gas dry line heater that is all over the U.S., especially the Northeast,” said Spenrath. “In fact, our heaters heat the natural gas going into New York City. “We also have a pilot project under way with the United Kingdom. We have a large utility there. We are building a prototype as we speak. That product will be on the ground in 2011. We now we are exporting across the ocean as well. “It’s a high tech product. We manufacture the product here in Lloydminster. It’s the heater, the boiler the heat exchanger – the dry line heater – the whole system.” The ABEX Environment Award nomination is an acknowledgement of the reduced greenhouse gas emissions from Grit’s gas line heaters. “Our products are environmentally friendly in terms of the natural gas heating industry. We use significantly less fuel than conventional models,” said Spenrath. “It’s a very low NOX and low emissions, so some of the advantages we have with some our products are that they are environmentally friendly with a low carbon footprint and ease of applications. ɸ Page A7

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

News

Notes

Seawall plans Kindersley drilling Seawall Energy Management Corp., a private Alberta corporation, has announced a non-brokered private placement offering of approximately $6 million. Seawall plans to use the net proceeds to fund its development drilling program in the Viking resource play near Kindersley and to incur expenses related to Canadian exploration expenses and Canadian development expenses to satisfy the company’s obligations regarding the flow-through common shares. The company intends to drill between two and four horizontal wells by the end of this year. Seawall is a private oil and gas start-up focused on low-risk oil plays using multi-stage fracture techniques. Seawall president Douglas McKinnon has served as founder and director of firms such as 3 Martini Ventures Inc., Blue Denim Exploration Inc., Reece Energy Exploration Corp. and Stoneworx Earth Sciences. The company’s main land and drilling areas of interest are eastcentral Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Queensdale test results For its recent horizontal well in the Queensdale area of Saskatchewan, Sure Energy Inc. says the Alida formation flowed 1,164 bbls of 37 degree API oil over a 42.5-hour test. The final restricted flow rate was 500 bpd on a 0.875-inch choke with an average flowing pressure of 230 psi and an 11 per cent water cut. The company expected the well to be on production in early October, initially at a restricted rate of 150 bpd. The well is 100 per cent owned by the company and will qualify for the Saskatchewan government's horizontal oil well royalty incentive rate of 2.5 per cent for the first 37,740 bbls of oil produced. The company has a minimum of two 100 per cent direct offset locations to this well and owns five sections of 100 per cent working interest lands in the Queensdale area. Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

EDITORIAL

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Editorial Contributions: SOUTHEAST Brian Zinchuk - Estevan 1.306.461.5599 SOUTHWEST Swift Current 1.306.461.5599 NORTHWEST Geoﬀ Lee - Lloydminster 1.780.875.6685

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Where are the Aboriginal entrepreneurs?

Special thanks to JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group for their contributions and assistance with Pipeline News.

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This month, Pipeline News chose to focus on Aboriginal involvement in the oil patch, particularly in Saskatchewan. This paper tries very hard to focus on stories of the individual entrepreneurs. We talk to more momand-pop operations than we do Calgary CEOs. But finding Aboriginal entrepreneurs in the patch was a challenge, to put it mildly. We spent several months digging here and there for aboriginal entrepreneurs. In southeast Saskatchewan, frequently one name was heard, the head of Eagle Drilling Services, Derrick Big Eagle. His company was featured prominently in last month’s Pipeline News. But when asked about someone other than Big Eagle, the answer was soon the sound of crickets. We did come across two organizations that have money to invest with Aboriginal entrepreneurs and organizations. The Clarence Campeau Development Fund has $6 million of federal and provincial money to invest with Métis people, specifically in the energy and resource sector, a fund that has just recently become available. Westcap Management looks after a $20 million First Nations and Métis Fund that has been around for three years, but to date, has only made two investments combining for a total of $4 to $5 million. The seed money for the fund was provided the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Westcap soon realized there was a need to address governance within First Nations before the next step of wealth creation can be taken. They now administer an $8 million program called BRIDG – Business Ready Investment Development Gateway

-meant to build up the institutional basis for investment. They were quickly ﬂooded with applications for the program. Among the three programs, there is $26 million for investment, plus another $8 million for governance for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan. However, on the investment side, the uptake has been slow, too slow, given how important and growing the Aboriginal population is in this province. Most of the people we talked to were group-based, i.e. chiefs, associations, bands. Communal thinking, basically. Even some of the investment fund strategies are based on bands getting into business. But the oilpatch is built on individuals. That may not jive with a lot of native culture, but that is how this industry works. That is the culture of the patch, from the guy who works nights driving his water hauling truck as a leased operator, to the CEO of a management team that builds and ﬂips oil companies. They have their own money invested, and are working hard to make life better for themselves and their families. Saskatchewan’s demographics are shifting to a younger, growing Aboriginal population. This is our future workforce. These are our future entrepreneurs. There are jobs to be had. Each month, we hear of companies looking for skilled workers. But there are also opportunities to be had, as business people. We hope that more First Nations and Métis people make the leap to become entrepreneurs. Create jobs, not only for yourselves, but others. There is lots of room to grow. But you have to be ready to take that step, typically, on your own. It’s time to get in the game.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Opinion

Gas price cycle fell apart From the top of the pile Brian Zinchuk

I believe it was at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck last May where I heard a speaker say, “There’s no cure for low prices like low prices.” The implication was, with regards to natural gas, low prices put a halt to drilling. With substantial production decline curves, supply drops. Soon, supply becomes short, prices rise, and drilling picks up again to take advantage of higher prices. Overproduction results in too much supply, and prices fall again. It’s a cycle that has repeatedly occurred in the natural gas industry. That cyclical pattern may now be broken, and unfortunately for gas producers, it broke at the bottom of the cycle. Several times in the last two months I have spoken to producers who are largely abandoning natural gas production in favour of oil. Some were looking to Saskatchewan for their company’s growth, as opposed to Alberta. Saskatchewan is more oily, whereas Alberta is more gassy, they tell me. When you look at Saskatchewan’s rig count these days, it’s safe to say nearly all those rigs are

working on oil wells. What was perhaps most telling was a conversation I had with the assistant deputy minister for petroleum with Saskatchewan Energy and Resources while attending the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on Sept. 15. Ed Dancsok said that as of Sept. 3, only 81 gas wells had been drilled in Saskatchewan this year. Only one year in his 28 years with the ministry had seen lower gas drilling. In 1982, just seven gas wells were drilled in Saskatchewan. In 2003, there were 2,318. The diﬀerence now, I believe, is that the cycle for low drilling causing low supply has ceased to function. That’s because supply, on a continental basis, is no longer low, and likely will not be considered low for decades. Shale gas production in the eastern United States and Texas has fundamentally changed the game. While the production and transportation infrastructure will take a long time to get caught up to what is currently in place in Western Canada, at some point, it will. There’s a big push for more natural gas usage. Over the next several years, we’re going to see a large changeover from coal to natural gas power production. Currently in Saskatchewan alone, several peaking power plants and one baseload power plant are being built with natural gas feedstocks. While the peaking plants are to be expected, in a province where coal has been king, seeing a natural gas baseload station is a bit of a switch. This should be driving more drilling in Saskatchewan, but it’s not. The province brought in horizontal drilling incentives for natural gas in June, and so far, they’ve hardly been touched. If those incentives were meant to be the deﬁbrillator paddles to shock

the drilling flatline, they’re not working, at least, not yet. We’re in danger of losing the patient. We’ve got people like T. Boone Pickens pushing for a more natural-gas based economy in North America. This would take advantage of domestic, i.e. not Middle Eastern, energy sources, and reduce the carbon footprint. Some people would like to see fleets of natural gas semis replace diesels in the coming years. This hinges on cheap natural gas and plenty of it. The problem is, there is not going to be plenty of it if no one is willing to pay for it. This is not like the farming business, where for decades farmers have struggled under low world prices because they had no other option other than quitting farming. Companies that have the expertise to produce gas can shift to oil production, as I am already seeing. We’ve now found ourselves on the wrong side of the continent, shipping gas a long way to distant markets. It’s tough to compete against gas they can drill for within a few hours drive of the eastern seaboard. If the math doesn’t work for Alberta and Saskatchewan gas, you can forget the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline making fiscal sense in the next decade or two. We may now have large continental gas reserves unlocked by new technology. Unfortunately, the technology that is having a tremendous impact unlocking previously unusable reserves like the Bakken or breathing life into old fields like the Cardium is killing off our local gas production industry. For that, the answer for gas producers is going to be the same thing they told farmers for years – diversify. Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net

Reclamation is PR ammo for oilsands Suncor Energy will go down in history as the ﬁrst oilsands company in Alberta to complete the reclamation of a tailings pond. The milestone was reached Sept. 23 with the reclamation of a 220-hectare site known as Pond 1 and renamed Wapisiw Lookout at the ceremony to honour the Aboriginal heritage of the region. Pipeline News reported the milestone in advance in our September edition. The event scores a major point for industry in the ongoing PR battle over the environmental perception of the Alberta oil sands as green or dirty. Suncor and the Alberta government found an ally in Chief Jim Boucher of the Fort McKay First Nation who views the project as a positive sign. “I'm really proud of this work that we’ve done here and I’m hoping this will set the stage, this will set the standard in terms of reclamation for the oil sands industry and that what we leave behind for future generations is something that the community can use for traditional purposes and something we can use to support a sustainable way for our communities,” said Boucher. The tailings pond milestone follows on the heels of Suncor’s new tailings management system called TRO reported at length in Pipeline News. Suncor expects to invest more than $1 billion

Lee Side of Lloyd Geoff Lee

to implement the TRO technology over the next two years, potentially reducing tailings reclamation time by decades, and speeding the return of oilsands mining sites to natural habitat. The ﬁrst reclaimed tailings pond generated a wealth of positive news for the province. “The reclamation of this tailings pond is a historic achievement, not only for this company, but also for the oil sands industry, our province, and our country,” said Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach in a news release. “I was happy and proud to be standing on the solid ground of this former tailings pond today, as it is evidence that tailings ponds can and will be reclaimed. “The existing tailings ponds will continue to

be a challenge for Alberta, but the challenges of oil sands development have always been solved through investment in technology and innovation. “Albertans are excellent innovators and I’m confident that one day tailings ponds as we know them will no longer exist." The new technology will allow Suncor to meet Alberta’s Directive 74 guidelines on mature tailings fines. Reclamation is destined to become a major sustainable industry as oil companies have to reclaim their expended mining operations as well. So far they have barely scratched the surface. Suncor for example, reports it has disturbed more than 17,161 hectares of land since 1967 and had reclaimed approximately 1,182 hectares by 2009. Suncor expects to begin using its TRO technology this year on a commercial scale which will allow it to speed up the reclamation of its nine active tailings ponds. More good environmental news will be flowing from the oilsands in the coming months as new reclamation success stories literally take root. For the industry’s sake, let’s hope the word spreads like weeds.

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

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Nearly half of welding crew is Aboriginal said Ironstand. There are also plans to offer the first Level 2 welding program starting Feb. 21, 2011 to the delight of instructor Dwight Doshen. “We began this in 2005 so that’s been going six years that we have been putting out Level 1s,” he said. “There are a lot of ‘ones’ that don’t want to go to Saskatoon or Moose Jaw to continue their training. We figDonald “Chief” Adams, left, from the Sweet ured it was about time Grass First Nation, talks with welding instructor we offered a Level 2 here Dwight Doshen about his test piece. to move them up the ɺ Page A2 a 20-week semester. ladder.” “We generally have Doshen says the The Level 1 welding more people applying Level 1 program proprogram at BICC fol- than we have room for, vides men and women lows the SIAST applied so we are looking to ex- students with really good welding program and pand with more courses hands-on experience. credits students with and a bigger facility to “It’s over a period of about 850 hours of ap- meet the demands of our five months so they come prenticeship time during partners in the industry,” out of well-rounded,”

he said. “At the end of this program when they graduate they would be able to get on pretty well anywhere as an entry level welder. “It gives them good skills with torch cutting and arc welding and the mig welding which is used quite a bit in the industry. They have a pretty good handle on things when they leave here. “What they need to work on from here is blueprint reading and fabrication skills which we don’t get into too much here. It’s mostly welding and cutting.” BICC also has a carpentry school and provides all trades students with a required course in Construction Safety Training System (CSTS) basics. “All of our clients have to pass the CSTS which is mandatory in Alberta to get on a trade, but not yet here,” said Ironstand. “We want everybody to be safe when they leave our oﬃce before they go to a job.” SIIT and BICC also provide job mentoring and coaching to First Nations placement workers. “Our doors are always open,” said Ironstand, who sometimes works as job coach to new hires at companies like Empire or GLM. “A lot of times the guys were unsure about how to go about doing

Bill Ironstand, left, who administers the Battlefords Industrial Career Centre (BICC), poses with Don McGuire, the general manager of Empire Welding and Machining Ltd. About 30 to 40 per cent of Empire’s welding staff has a First Nations’ heritage.

certain things or what their responsibilities or rights were and we would talk with them and iron out the problems,” explained Ironstand. “We act as an intermediary between the companies and the employees. Seeing a familiar face is always reassuring for the guys. “We help the guys,” he said. “We usually spend some time working on life skills and what it’s like to make the transition into the mainstream workforce. “In the past that has been a huge barrier for the First Nations, but we are slowly overcoming that. Our training is changing every day to meet the needs of the industry.” The First Nations’ apprentices and Empire can rely on SIIT’s career job coach Earl Greyeyes to assist with the integration and skills development issues on the

job. Empire has a nondiscriminatory policy at work, but McGuire says feeling welcome is the key to success. “With the combination of the job coaching and the general spirit of our workers and the welders in the shop welcoming people – it’s a big thing to be welcome. You have to feel part of the organization,” he said. Empire also allows its First Nations’ welders to attach a sticker to the equipment they make that includes the headings “Building a Future Together” and “1st Nations Employment in Saskatchewan.” Empire has worked with BICC to add fabrication skills development to the welding program to meet its employment needs for break and shear operators, people with machining abilities, and people with fabrication skills. Asked if this a good time for First Nations job opportunities, Ironstand said, “Absolutely, the door is open right now, and we are busy training people and knocking on doors and doing interviews to let everyone know that we’re here. “Give us a call and give us a chance. Companies like Empire have given us a chance and I hope we have opened their eyes that we are every bit good as anyone else. “The First Nation workforce is the largest untapped resource in Saskatchewan. We are here, we are trained, we are professionals – we are ready to work. “When all of industry starts to see that, there will be a huge impact here and across Canada.”

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Two Lloyd companies up for ABEX awards

Grit and grin: Grit Industries representatives Janice Van Berkel, Jim Spenrath, Claude Sylvestre and Jason King share a laugh during the 2010 Business Week Awards Gala put on by the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce. Grit is nominated for two Achievement in Business Excellence Awards (ABEX) by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.

ɺ Page A3 “The environment side of it is one of our targets. We wanted to be environmentally friendly. Going into Europe, it has to be in order to be successful.” BAR Engineering BAR Engineering’s ABEX nomination for the Growth and Expansion Award is not surprising given the diversification of the Lloydminster-based company. BAR Engineering’s projects cover everything from heavy oil batteries and gas compression to electrical/instrumentation, municipal and refinery work. “Well I think it’s a great honour for our company, and it shows that our company is growing and expanding in the Alberta and Saskatchewan markets, so we are very honoured to be nominated,” said Jim McCuaig, manager of Building Systems Group. “Our growth is on a number of forefronts chiefly in Saskatchewan. We just started up a

branch office in Weyburn. We have two staff down there, and we just hired a receptionist last week. “We are doing a lot of work with oilfield clients, and we are also doing work in our building systems groups and structural groups down there as well as doing work with municipal markets. “Our latest projects are with the Government of Saskatchewan’s Disaster Assistance Program and doing a number of site inspections down there,” McCuaig said. One of the biggest steps taken by BAR was the purchase two years ago of PFM Engineering, a structural

engineering specialist in Lloydminster. “Peter Miler, the former owner, was retiring and it just made good business sense to purchase that company and bring them into BAR Engineering,” said McCuaig. “We started up the Building Systems Group last year because there was a natural synergy between the structural engineering. We were able to bring in electrical and mechanical engineering to produce a complete building systems package for our clients.” BAR and Grit give a thumbs up to the Lloydminster chamber and they encourage more oil and gas related companies to become mem-

bers. The chamber currently has approximately 530 members. “I would definitely encourage some of our member companies in the area in the oilpatch to go into the branch,” said McCuaig. “The more diversification we have to go into the chamber – it’ s a win-win situation for everybody.” Ditto the enthusiasm from Lloydminster Mayor Jeff Mulligan

who says the chamber has a “pretty good representation of our business in the city,” but he notes there is room for more oil and gas companies. “People think of the chamber as a retail and a services organization, and they don’t extend the thought out to our manufacturing and oilﬁeld service companies,” he said. “The business knowledge that an oil-

field entrepreneur could bring to this chamber – successful oilfield businesses in transportation, exploration and oilfield services – what they could add to the chamber would be immeasurable.” Editor’s note: Results of the Abex awards were not available at press time. Please watch for next month’s Pipeline News to see how BAR Engineering and Grit Industries fared.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Onion Lake to up its stake in By Geoff Lee Onion Lake – Onion Lake Cree Nation is taking its work commitments from Black Pearl Resources and Canadian Natural Resources to the bank to buy into the oilfield service business. The plan to purchase a fleet of service equipment such as vac and pressure trucks follows the successful startup of a band-owned fluid hauling company called Askiy Apoy Hauling.

“We have work commitments from Black Pearl and CNRL so far for the vac and the pressure trucks, ﬂushbys, service rigs and mechanics and stuﬀ – you bet,” said general manager Larry Holman. “We are moving forward on that. We are looking at a big major expansion. It’s going to be good. “It will be a division of Askiy Apoy. We haven’t got a name picked out for it yet. “Depending on funding availability, we are look-

Larry Holman, general manager of Askiy Apoy Hauling owned by Onion Lake Cree Nation, is Áanked by safety Àeld managers Roger Lewis, left, and Wayne Waskewitch at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. The company owns approximately 33 trailers drivens by First Nation owner/operators.

ing at putting up a 14 to 16 bay shop about six kilometres north of Onion Lake just before we get into the heart of all the drilling. “We will get the ‘full meal deal’ out of that shop. It will be fully operational. I would guess there would a dozen employees working,” Holman said. Work commitments are also expected from Nuvista Energy that is drilling on reserve land and fueling optimism about new business and employment opportunities for Onion Lake. When first interviewed at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on Sept. 16, Holman reported that Askiy Apoy has gone into overdrive since he was contracted to start the company for Onion Lake. Holman worked for Standchuck Trucking for eight years in his last job, and was ready for change at the same time the band council was anxious to get into the fluid hauling business. “I talked with the band council and they wanted to hire me,” said Holman. “The impression I get is that Onion Lake isn’t afraid to hire outside to get the help they need. I like it. It’s been good so far. “They hired me on Jan. 5, 2009, and we hauled our first load on April 2 that year. We started out with two trucks and one trailer. “Since that time we’ve just been steadily expanding. We have purchased approximately 33 trailers in a year and a half,” Holman said. The trailers are driven by owner/operator drivers who are First Nations members from Onion Lake and outlying reserves including Frog Lake First Nation that wants to haul fluid from its reserve as well. “We are looking at another 10 trailers over there just hauling fluid,” said Holman from the band office located in the Onion Lake Business Development Corporation building. ɸ Page A9

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

oil¿eld hauling and servicing ɺ Page A8 “I would assume we would push our pressure and our vac work over there too.” Holman says the band has secured funding to train band members in fluid hauling and operating vac and pressure trucks through Lakeland College. Askiy Apoy has also has its in-house training program under the direction of Roger Lewis, band safety field manager, and Wayne Waskewitch, who oversee all safety concerns. Keith Miller is the dispatcher who keeps track of all oilfield trucks operating at Onion Lake on the Alberta and Saskatchewan sides of the reserve. All fluid from oil and gas production at Onion Lake is hauled off reserve. “Water from Black Pearl goes over to a disposal near Tulliby Lake and water from CNRL goes to Tangleflags,” said Holman. “Oil goes to various places. Black Pearl’s oil mostly goes to Husky’s facilities. CNRL’s goes to all CNRL facilities near Lloydminster and Tangleflags.” When asked if he thinks the oil and gas industry on the reserve has given the community an economic boost, Holman said, “You bet. Things are changing every day. “You will see lots of progress at Onion Lake if you drive up there. There’s new buildings going up and new housing. I started in January 2009, and things have changed dramatically since then. “In my opinion it looks good for the band.”

This is the site of Black Pearl Resources’ Àeld ofÀce at Onion Lake Cree Nation. All Áuid from Onion Lake is hauled off reserve by the band’s Askiy Apoy Hauling company and other private oilÀeld companies operating in the area.

Meridian Ring Road Pipeline News reporter Geoff Lee, middle, was presented with a ceremonial cheque for $500 on Oct. 7 for having the winning entry in a “Name That Road” contest involving four municipalities. Lee’s entry, Meridian Ring Road, was chosen by an intermunicipal panel of judges as the ofÀcial name of the ring road that routes oilÀeld and industrial trafÀc through four municipalities. Lee is Áanked on the left by Louis Genest, chief administrator ofÀcer for the RM of Britannia, and by Richard Van Ee, reeve of the County of Vermilion River. On the right is Jeff Mulligan, mayor of Lloydminster and Darren Elder, chief administrative ofÀcer, of the RM of Wilton. The cheque presentation took place at the intersection of 12th St. and Highway 17 that connects part of the Meridian Ring Road.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

No signs of fall in provincial land sales Regina – The leaves have fallen from the trees, but the rose has not fallen from the bloom of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights sales in October. Saskatchewan gained $34.5 million in revenue from the October sale pushing the land sale revenues for 2010 to $406 million. That’s way ahead of the $83 million in revenue at the same time last year. “Our oil and gas industry is on an upswing in 2010, and these latest results show the industry’s conﬁdence not only in our resources but also in our investment climate,” said Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd. “This is only the second time our calendar year total for land sale revenue has topped $400 million, so with one sale to go, 2010 is proving to be a great year indeed for the industry and for the people of Saskatchewan.” The October sale included 19 petroleum and natural gas exploration

licences that sold for $20 million and 183 lease parcels that attracted $14.5 million in bonus bids. The Weyburn-Estevan area topped the province with sales of $25.5 million. The Kindersley-Kerrobert area was next at $4.9 million, followed by the Lloydminster area at $2.4 million, and the Swift Current area at $1.7 million. “The Bakken play continues to grab the headlines, but it’s encouraging to see new activity in emerging plays such as the Birdbear Formation between Moosomin and Carlyle,” Boyd said. “The industry is casting its exploration ‘net’ wider, and is being rewarded for its investments.” The highest price for a single parcel was $7.1 million paid by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. for a 2,562-hectare exploration licence near Moosomin. The highest price on a per-hectare basis was $9,344 while Aldon Oils

Ltd. bid $1.2 million for a 130-hectare lease parcel near Radville. The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas dispositions will be held on Dec. 6, 2010. Land sales summary (all numbers rounded up) Weyburn-Estevan area The total bonus received in the area was approximately $25.5 million, an average of $665/hectare. This compares to $79,328,768 an average of $3,551/hectare at the last sale. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. who spent $17,280,528 to acquire six lease parcels and four licences. The top price paid for a single lease in this area was approximately $1.6 million paid by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. for a 1,036 hectare parcel situated 10-km west of the Amulet Ratcliﬀe Beds Pool, 6-km north of Ogema. The top price paid for a single licence in this area was $7,056,021 paid by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. for a 2,562 hectare block situated 6-km north of the Parkman Souris Valley Beds Pool, 23-km southwest of Moosomin. The highest dollar per hectare in this area was received from Aldon Oils Ltd., who paid $9,344/hectare for a 129.50 hectare parcel located one-km west of the Ceylon Bakken

Pool, 14-km west of Radville. Kindersley-Kerrobert area The total bonus received in the area was approximately $4.9 million, an average of $164 /hectare This compares to $3 million and an average of $339/hectare at the last sale. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Teine Energy Ltd. who spent $2 million to acquire two licences. The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $239,308 paid by Windfall Resources Ltd. for a 777 hectare parcel oﬀering split rights and located within the Luseland Viking Sand Gas Pool, 15-km south of Denzil. The top price paid for a single licence in this area was $1.6 million paid by Teine Energy Ltd. for a 1,101 hectare block situated adjacent to the Dodsland North Viking Gas Pool, 25-km northwest of Rosetown. This is the highest dollar per hectare in this area at $1,479/hectare. Lloydminster area The total bonus received in the area was approximately $2.5 million, an average of $1,165/hectare. This compares to $10.3 million, an average of $378/hectare at the last sale. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Plunkett Resources Ltd. that spent $534,027 to acquire one lease parcel. ɸ Page A11

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Keeping oil and gas shops on a roll Marshall Paxton, general manager of Casterland’s MC Wheels Ltd. store in Edmonton, displays an LE series twin caster with a 5,000 lb. capacity driven on urethane wheels on cast iron.

Lloydminster – Casterland rolled into the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show to build its customer base for its lines of casters, wheels, glides, heavy duty rollers and handling equipment.

Fabrication, welding, manufacturing and material handling shops in the area are the prime customers for Casterland’s MC Wheels Ltd. outlet in Edmonton. Marshall Paxton, the general manager, held court at the Casterland booth Sept. 15-16 eager to answer questions such as, “What brings you here?” “A lot of our customers are here. This is our ﬁrst time at the

Provincial land sales ɺ Page A10

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $534,027 paid by Plunkett Resources Ltd. for a 259 hectare parcel situated threekm east of the Epping Mannville Sands (Oil) Pool, 16-km northeast of Marsden. The highest dollar

per hectare in this area was received from Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. that paid $7,401/hectare for a 16.19 hectare parcel located within the Marsden North Sparky Sand (Oil) Pool, 12-km west of the town of Marsden. Swift Current area The total bonus re-

ceived in the area was approximately $1.7 million, an average of $582/ hectare This compares to $2.5 million, an average of $387/hectare at the last sale. The top purchaser of acreage in this area was Ranger Land Services Ltd. that spent $429,603 to acquire two lease parcels.

The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $390,010 paid by Scott Land & Lease Ltd. for each of two 259 hectare parcels situated adjacent to the Whitemud Shaunavon (Oil) Pool, 15-km southeast of Eastend. This is the highest dollar per hectare in this area at 1,506 /hectare.

show, and we thought we would check and see what we could do for this industry,” said Paxton. “We have not really penetrated the market in Lloydminster, but we will concentrate our marketing eﬀorts more on this area noting they don’t do installations. “We only do sales, but we sell to people who are in the business of installations,” Paxton said. Casterland sells a full range of specialty tires and tubes for lawn and garden vehicles, ATVs, and trailers, but is best known in Western Canada for its wheeled solutions for moving heavy duty loads. “The larger weight capacity – we usually have very good pricing on that kind of thing,” said Paxton. “We can provide a product to move it in almost any application mostly inside on concrete ﬂoors.

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“Anything that needs wheel on it – we can supply any weight capacity from ﬁve pounds to 50,000 pounds.” Hilman rollers allow one person to move up a three-ton load easily and safely, with some models capable of moving up to 100 tons. Paxton says ease of movement is the main selling point of Casterland’s products, followed by concerns for worker safety. “A lot of our equipment is already approved for that so people don’t have to look farther. It’s a no brainer if you want to save your back,” he said. Casterland distributes its products from locations in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. The company is owned by the Reid family in Winnipeg and is celebrating 35 years of service this year.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Decontactor makes a high voltage impact Lloydminster – Roblan Cook Agencies Ltd. generated a high voltage impact at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show with demos of Meltric decontactors that make motor change-outs and electrical maintenance easier and safer. The Calgary-based company is a manufacturing representative agency that sells Meltric Corporation decontactors and other electrical equipment to electrical companies in eastern British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Meltric decontactor is the only plug and receptacle on the market that functions as a CSArated switch. “They are a very well-known product now because a connection can be made and broken under

load without endangering the electrician,” said Roblan Cook Agencies’ owner Delbert Cook, who has been in business for more than 26 years. “It can go onto any type of machinery – everything from motors to power lines. We have done a lot of temporary work up in the Fort Mac area. “This year alone, we have done in the tune of $500,000 to $750,000 of temporary power work on major projects. That’s everywhere from Suncor to Kearl Lake to Syncrude,” said Cook. Meltric decontactors are a plug, receptacle and disconnect switch in the same device, eliminating the need for expensive switch and interlocks required with competing connection devices. The key parts are the male and female ends en-

cased within the body of the unit so there’s no live parts exposed to any electrician installing it. “The main benefit is safety and it’s easy to install,” said Cook. “If you have a previous installation of another product line or one of our competitors, all we have to do is replace their male and female device. We have adapter plates that go on to the existing boxes. “Some of our competitors actually buy our product and put it downstream from their product, so anything from the device down is protected. “We have been promoting the product line to any industry from water treatment plants to oil and gas companies and the coal mining, forestry and food processing sectors,” said Cook. A major selling point of Meltric decontactors is they are the only such products in North American that are arc flash compliant to prevent shock, electrocution and arc flash explosions. “What that means is that no one can access any live parts within our device,” said Cook. You can disconnect it in 15 milliseconds and it’s still locked. You can’t access any of the live parts.” The Meltric decontactors allow users to make and break connections under full load. A quarter turn of the device disconnects the male and female components. When disconnected, the decontactor provides visual verification power is off. “You can lock the female side off and also padlock it off, or you can also do the same thing with the male end because we have a NEMA 4X (National Electrical Manufacturers’ Association) waterproof rated cap that goes over the top of that,” said Cook.

Delbert Cook sells a lot of these Meltric decontactors to electrical companies in Western Canada.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Aircom instruments vital to heavy oil production

Sean Lavin, the Lloydminster territorial sales manager for Aircom Instrumentation Inc., displays a CSA-approved temperature sensor at the Aircom booth during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.

Lloydminster – Aircom Instrumentation Inc. accomplished its goal of increasing its name recognition to heavy oil customers during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16. The strategy of ﬂying the corporate ﬂag at industry exhibits has helped the Edmontonbased specialty manufacturer of temperature

and pressure instruments set another sales revenue record for its ﬁscal yearend on Sept. 30. “The last three years, including the recession year, have been kind of remarkable. We haven’t had a drop in sales. We have actually gone up in sales,” said sales manager Rick Hays, who manned the booth with territory manager Sean Lavin. “We actually sur-

Rick Hays, sales manager for Aircom Instrumentation Inc., holds a CSA-approved pressure transmitter in his hand.

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passed last year’s numbers. We are 1.8 per cent higher than last year. That’s three successive record years in a row.” In the Lloydminster area, Husky Energy is a major buyer of Aircom’s instrumentation products, especially this year with the ongoing maintenance turnaround at the Husky Upgrader. “They have heavy oil applications, gas applications, and a lot of heavy oil well sites have our temperature and pressure products,” said Hays. Aircom also custom manufactures temperature sensors and distributes products such as pressure transmitters, pressure and temperature gauges and temperature transmitters. “The equipment would go into a lot of SCADA or plant environments,” said Hays. “Many times, you are trying to measure temperatures or pressures within a plant or in the ﬁeld – that’s where our products would go.” Aircom Instrumentation Inc. is one of two

divisions of Aircom Industries along with Aircom Specialty Services Ltd. that provides specialty welding services. Those welding services include instrumentation welding and pressure welding on all metal alloys along with overlay and inlay work. Customized manufactured instruments include devices such as thermocouples and RTD sensors and a variety of thermowells and

downhole sensors. “Our typical delivery on a custom manufactured product will be seven to 10 days,” said Hays. “However, more often than not, we can manufacture that product in the same day and have it shipped out the next day. “We do have quite a bit of inventory. We custom inventory a lot of products for speciﬁc customers and we do a

lot of custom manufacturing. We have a lot of the raw materials ready to use up.” Products unique to Aircom include boiler tube block thermocouples, break-to-length RTDs and thermocouples, and an injection quill among others. Aircom has been in business since 1964, and is currently owned by Dan Harcourt with 20-25 employees on the payroll.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Canmet hydrocyclone storms Lloydminster – Dustin Fallscheer scored a quick point about the portability of a Canmet hydrocyclone by holding one aloft to start his presentation of the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium Sept. 15-16. Fallscheer is a staﬀ engineer with BAR Engineering in Lloydminster who spoke about the Canmet hydrocyclone as an emerging technology to treat produced water, slop oil and other oily efﬂuents. It could replace conventional gravity-based free water knockout vessels, API separators and settling tanks that require long retention times to achieve separation. “It’s a tool to recover oil from produced water

and also to treat slop oil to recover as much oil from waste streams as we can,” said Fallscheer, who says the working principle is centrifugal force. “What differentiates the Canmet hydrocyclone from other separator technologies is the large amounts of G-force that is generated with these tubes.” BAR Engineering has the licence to market the hydrocyclone technology developed and patented specifically for heavy oil in Western Canada by Canmet Energy Technology Centre in Devon Alberta. “Canmet designed a hydrocyclone specifically for separating heavy oil,” said Fallscheer. “They have been working on hydrocyclone technology for over 20 years.

“They took the standard hydrocyclone that’s been around since the 1960s, modified it and patented it for use in heavy oil.” The Canmet hydrocyclone produces centrifugal force of 170 Gs compared to just 1G for a conventional water separator and skim tank. The device sits horizontally inside a vessel and has no moving parts ensuring a minimal amount of maintenance is required. Fluid enters the tube though one of four openings or involutes on the Canmet hydrocyclone versus one involute on a standard hydrocyclone. In a nutshell, the way it works is fluid is pumped into a vessel and as it flows through the hydrocyclone centrifugal force speeds up to separate the oil and the water. “It’s based on Stokes’ Law which are the principles for droplet velocity,” said Fallscheer. “If you can increase the G-forces on those droplets, it will speed up the velocity and you will get separation.” Resident time for fluid in a Canmet hydrocyclone is just two seconds compared to hours for conventional gravity based systems. A single tube can handle 50 cubic metres a day. “They are very cost effective and have a small footprint,” said Fallscheer. It is easy to relocate a hydrocyclone system, offering a much higher salvage value. Husky Energy has been using a Canmet hydrocyclone at its Lloydminster oil refinery since 1999 to treat approximately 500 cubic metres a day of desalter effluent. “It can save money by not having to haul produced fluids off site. Trucking waste fluid is very expensive plus you lose your revenue from that oil,” said Fallscheer. The beauty of the technology is that is can be used to separate any two liquids with different densities. “This technology is being used in the Gulf to separate oil from salt water. It’s a worldwide technology that’s not just limited to heavy oil.” The liquid-liquid technology is not without its limitations, most notably, the presence of gas in the emulsion which can have an impact on performance. “There is also reduced efficiency with oil droplets smaller than 10 microns,” said Fallscheer. “When they are that small, they are difficult to remove. “There is also the difficulty of handling the density of oil-wet clays.” Fallscheer says Canmet originally intended the tool for use only in de-oiling, but over the last 10 years they have adapted it for treating slop oil. Testing determined the hydrocyclone works best as a two-stage treatment to produce a stream of overflow oil and a stream of underflow water. The unit is designed with an adjustable overflow orifice to target clean water with a smaller orifice size for the first stage, then clean oil with a larger opening on the second stage. With the Canmet unit, the diameter of the overflow (oil) orifice can be changed during operation to add an element of performance control. Canmet ran field tests for de-oiling with a goal to reduce the amount of oil from a skim tank or a treater to 100 parts per million. The average input feed from 14 tests was 1,700 ppm but after the two-stage treatment, the goal was surpassed with an average of 172 ppm in the first stage and 62 ppm after the second. “That proved the effectiveness of the hydrocyclone,” said Fallscheer. “The test was run with one tube and 50 cubes a day of water.” Canmet also determined the optimal operating feed pressure is 150 psi. Lab tests on treating slop determined the optimal concentration of oil in the hydrocyclone at 20 per cent which is achieved by “conditioning” the feed stream with water. ɸ Page A15

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

A15

into the heavy oil market ɺ Page A14 Fallscheer reported the ﬁrst bench test used a feed of 15 per cent and “we

were able to concentrate that in our outﬂow to 65 per cent oil with 99 per cent recovery with a separation eﬃ-

ciency of 65 per cent.” Other tests ranged from 70 per cent to 40 per cent efficiency. “With the success of this bench test, Canmet was able to complete a field test at a heavy oil site,” said Fallscheer.” The unnamed company was hauling 240 cubes of fluid a month which was costing them money.

Canmet used the two-stage hydrocyclone set up and added conditioned water to the slop to reduce it down to the 20 per oil concentration. “During a month, they treated 236 cubes of slop and not one cube of slop was hauled oﬀ site. It allows the company to treat the oil on site,” said Fallscheer who calculated the saving at $26,000.

BAR Engineering’s Dustin Fallscheer holds up a patented Canmet hydrocyclone designed to treat large volumes of produced water and slop oil quickly and efÀciently.

Petrostar signs $1.3 million deal Petrostar Petroleum Corp. has accepted an offer to purchase its Maidstone and Lashburn heavy oil fields near Lloydminster, from Pavillion Energy Corp. of Richmond, B.C. The offer is for both properties being sold as a package for $1.3 million. The closing date for the deal was Oct. 15. Petrostar said the sale will allow it to focus on the development of the company's Bakken properties in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba. Proceeds of the sale will be used to further develop current holdings in the Bakken properties; look for other possible land acquisition or farm-in

opportunities; and retire debt. In addition, the company announced it has entered into the due diligence phase with Capital Corp. Merchant Banking. This phase is the ﬁnal step in procuring the $5 million previously announced and subsequent additional funding of $15 million upon a successful drill program. Petrostar has created a wholly owned subsidiary, Bakken Oil Resources Inc., to facilitate this joint venture. Twenty-three quarter-sections of leased land in Moosomin and Kirkella areas will be rolled into the venture, and when the funding closes, $5 million will be contributed by CCMB

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

MTM raised in a downturn thrives by diversifying Lloydminster – MTM Energy Services Inc. will be remembered for using their steel BOS storage shed as an outdoor booth, product storage space and weather shelter at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16. Diversification is central to the growth strategy of this Provost, Alta., oilfield service and supply business and its owner Mike Dennehy, who has a shop in Lloydminster too. “We are a relatively new company. We have only been in existence for three years so we don’t know as much about the market as everybody else who has been around from 10 to 20 years,” said Dennehy. “Provost has always benefited from never really having a huge downturn. It’s been slower the last couple of years, but there’s been enough market that it’s kept most of the businesses going. “It’s been a struggle

for a lot of people the last couple of years, but everyone is still moving forward and we are growing,” he said. MTM now has seven employees and offers online shopping for a variety of products from automatic transmission fluid and wrench sets, to bio med wash kits. “The only reason we are still here is that we are innovative and we are trying to diversify into different sectors, and not just sticking with one product or line in mind,” said Dennehy. To that end, MTM provides mobile and shop mechanical services, all types of pipe valves and fittings, and oil, lubricant and chemical supplies. They also operate a picker truck with a 30ft. trailer for hot shot deliveries and take on maintenance work during annual Energy Resources Conservation Board shut ins and suspended well inspections in Alberta.

“We rebuild a lot of used equipment, and we will refurbish it for the oil companies as well. We are diversifying as much as we can,” added Dennehy. “We also sell oil filters, service rig equipment – everything – if somebody needs something, we are going to do our best to find it for them – from soup to nuts.” MTM is a distributor of the BOS storage sheds imported from Germany for use in multiple sectors including the consumer market. “Through the research we’ve done on the buildings, they are a high quality,” said Dennehy, who invited booth visitors inside for a peek. “I think they are a really good fit and a diverse market, not only for the oil and gas industry, but also into the commercial and industrial and mining sectors, and even for storage

components.” The sheds range in size from two metres by two metres, to two metres by six metres with available connector kits to assemble and link other buildings together with quick lock fasteners. “We are utilizing it here to stay out of the weather,” laughed Dennehy, who came to the oil show to gain exposure for this company. “We want to let everybody we are here and we can talk about what we can do, and what services and products we provide. “You get to meet a lot of people who you don’t get to meet that often to keep those relationships alive.” Dennehy also used the oil show to announce MTM has purchased the rights to U-Save Car & Truck Rental in Alberta. In September he noted plans to open a kiosk at the Lloydminster airport with a tentative date of Oct.19,

Mike Dennehy steps out of his MTM Energy Services booth at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. The booth happens to be one of the BOS (Best of Steel) sheds that he imports from Germany and sells to a diverse market. MTM is also launching a U-Save car and truck rental outlet in Lloydminster.

and also operate out of the Lloydminster shop. “There is a need for a car rental in the oil industry,” he said. “There are a lot of trucks being rented out there and people need diﬀerent vehicles at diﬀerent times. I hope to be able to provide that service. “It’s another addon to my business. Also, due to the last two years of tough economic times in the oil and a

gas industry in Alberta, it’s nice to diversify and ﬁnd other markets. This has come along and hopefully, it will work out for us.” “It will be rentals of cars, trucks and vans and you name it – trailers. We also have the rights to resell vehicles so we are actually going to get into the leasing of vehicles as well. It will be long term rentals and leasing.”

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

GDI advocates jobs from Métis labour pool Lloydminster – Oil and gas companies in Saskatchewan looking for new hires are invited by the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatoon to tap into the Métis labour pool. A new federally funded Strategic Partnership Initiative aimed at proactive marketing of GDI labour market programs and services to Métis across the province ends on March 31, 2011. One of those programs is a GDI Oilﬁeld Orientation course for Métis workers to be held at the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre Nov. 22-26. “What we are going to do is run a one week course, and for those Métis people who ﬁt into certain jobs, we are going to place them in those jobs,” said Jason Johnston, program co-ordinator. Johnston estimates there are about 45,000 Métis in the province, many of whom turn to the GDI to upgrade their training, education and job readiness skills. The Strategic Partnership Initiative also enables the GDI to work toward bridging the gap between Métis and employers. "We have a number of companies like Precision Drilling and Enbridge Pipelines that are willing to work with Métis people in Saskatchewan," said Johnston. ɸ Page A19

Jason Johnston from the Gabriel Dumont Institute advocates jobs for Métis workers in Saskatchewan. Johnston was at the Native Friendship Centre in Lloydminster in October to encourage more Aboriginal workers to sign up for an oilÀeld orientation class that will be held Nov. 22-26.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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3R's are learned through experience on the job ɺ Page A18 “Employers tell us students need to be work ready. We tend to think of that as the 3Rs – reliable, responsible and respectful. Respectful means respect for yourself and the employer you are working for. “You need to understand the type of industry you are in – the 12 to 16 hour days and for seven to 10 days at a time. Those (3Rs) are learned through experience on the job.” The Strategic Partnership Imitative aims to enhance and build on existing GDI partnerships and programs including a wage subsidy that can makes hiring a new Métis apprentice affordable. “We have a wage subsidy program where an employer can reach out to us,” said Johnston. “We pay a portion of the salary and that person gets placed. ‘It’s like a mini work experience. It’s had a lot of success with our Crowns (corporations) in Saskatchewan and working with unions.” The oilfield orientation course will help students get their base safety tickets such as H2S Alive and first aid through the Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. “The students will be working in Lloydminster and within a 100-kilometre radius of Lloydminster including the Alberta side,” said Johnston. “With the industry connections we have, there is a need for up-

wards of 500 people in the next four to six months because of the weather – the water. “Companies can’t get out with their service rigs to service wells so a lot of the companies are going to be ramping up here. Once the farmers get done, they are going to want to get back out in the oilfield and provide those services.” Johnston says the oilfield labour market is strong right now, from Lloydminster all the way south to Swift Current. “If you drew a line, there is a lot of activity from the service rig sector and all those services that go with it – 3A licences, hauling water – hauling oil is still a big need,” he said. “Estevan is still an untapped resource, but finding a residence is a problem. You need a

camper trailer. If you can go down there, and ﬁnd a friendly farmer and camp out in his yard, you are going to be working tomorrow. It’s very busy there.” Despite all the training and education programs available through GDI resources and partnerships, Johnston says there are no guarantees of employment for Métis workers. “From our oﬃce, we reach out to employers and steer them in the right direction so they can consider Aboriginal people to break any myths and misconceptions,” he said. “For a company to be Métis friendly or Aboriginal friendly, they need to have a policy that outlines that and says ‘we are Aboriginal friendly’ and says ‘we need you to be reliable, and responsible

and be respectful in the workplace, and you can have a ﬁne career in our company.’ “We will be making public a specific training to making the workplace Métis friendly and/or Ab-

original awareness training for trades and construction companies and oil companies.” The GDI is the only Métis speciﬁc training institute of its kind in Canada, combining university, technical

skills, basic education, publishing and social justice programming. GDI will mark its 30th year of operation during an Anniversary Celebration Culture Conference Nov 18-19 in Saskatoon.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Welltec’s new tools clean and mill on wireline Lloydminster – Welltec Canada Inc. has developed new intervention tools for cleaning debris from oil and gas wells that can be deployed using conventional electric wireline. Those new tools called the Well Cleaner and the Well Miller were the subject of a presentation by Welltec’s Canadian sales manager Jeremy Ray at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium Sept. 15-16. “Over the last several years, some unique intervention techniques have been developed to remove debris using electric wireline,” said Ray in his opening remarks. “The overall objective is to remove the debris to get the well under production sooner and do it cost effectively. “Not only is what you are going to see – the use of some cool tools – but they are here to save you money and help you get your well going sooner. “I will be speaking about reducing your surface access, reducing your intervention personnel on site, increasing your production and reducing you capital expenditures. This technology is adaptable to all well construction designs.” Welltec’s technology can be applied in scaled tubing environments where intervention snubbing is extremely costly, and surface sensitive areas where it’s tough to get equipment on location. Another application of the technology is in vertical, low pressure wells where sand plugs off the perforations. “Often with conventional methods using a service truck and coiled tubing you are pushing the sand back into the perfs,” said Ray. A conventional wireline truck with a single or multi conductor line and a picker with sufficient rig up height is all the equipment needed to deploy the tools that can be handled by just four people on site. ɸ Page A21 Jeremy Ray delivered a presentation at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium about new tools developed by Welltec to remove debris in wellbore.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Getting the well under production ɺ Page A20 “You just need a wireline truck,” Ray told Pipeline News. “There are probably 600 cased hole wireline trucks in Alberta, so using technology that’s available and is low cost is the mandate for what we are doing” A Well Tractor also developed by Welltec enables intervention tools to reach the end of a horizontal or highly deviated well. The Well Cleaner tool says Rays selectively cleans areas of the wellbore deployed on electric wirelines and operates in dry and liquid environments. He said the way it works is like a grain auger with the length of the tools dependent on how much sand you are working with. Early tests showed it can pick up 60 to 80 cubic metres of sand per run. Welltec was challenged a few years ago to use it in a liquid environment in a horizontal SAGD well in the Lloydminster area that had sand issues, high temperature and variable viscosities among other extreme conditions. “Over six days, we pulled out over 300 litres of sand with 22 runs in the hole,” said Ray. “The tools were conveyed on a Well Tractor horizontally. We cleaned down to 638 metres but hit asphaltenes and couldn’t go deeper.” Ray says those early trials led the company to develop the second generation Well Cleaner that he calls a power suction tool. “We basically put a jet pump above the tool and we create an incredible drawdown pressures at the bit. Debris stays contained within the tool. “The best way to describe it is when you turn it on it creates a suction force at the bottom of the tool and pulls debris into the bailer chambers which are then retrieved on this wire. Ray’s next subject was the Well Miller tool designed to remove downhole obstructions such as isolation valves or barriers by milling or drilling on wireline. “It allows you to mill scale while the well is producing,” said Ray, who notes a tractor or a stroker tool or some sort of anchoring tool is used to hold the milling tool in place from reactive torque. “It uses various bits including a reverse circulation bit for cleaning and milling at the same time. Now we able to go in and mill cement plugs, bridge plugs and retrieve the debris at surface. Ray says with the reverse milling technology Welltec could have removed the asphaltenes from that Lloydminster well he spoke about it earlier. “It will bring back any obstructions in the well such as sand debris produc-

tion debris or debris from wellhead maintenance to pipe recovery or fishing operations,” he said. Welltec has its international head office in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it developed heavy oil technology for North Sea oil operation. Its Western Canada head office is Calgary with branch locations in Estevan, Bonnyville and Grande Prairie. “The growth has been phenomenal,” said Ray. “In the last seven years from we have gone from 3 or 4 field employees to well over 80.” “We are getting more into the StackFrac and gas market for milling obstructions from the well so companies can increase their production. “At the same time, for the Lloyd type heavy oil SAGD area, we are working on technology to create more suction to pull more debris from the well in a shorter amount of time.” The company is also working on a tool for lower viscosity oil wells.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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25 years as “the oil¿eld equipment people” Don Cairns, a petroleum engineer for Platinum Energy Services Corp., Àelded a lot of questions about his company’s oil and gas process and production equipment during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.

Lloydminster – Don Cairns, the quarterback of the Platinum Energy Services Corp. booth at Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show, was well prepared for a blitz of media questions. The first question, regarding what Platinum does in Lloydminster, was the easiest to field. “In Lloydminster, we are one of the biggest pump jack maintenance shops and suppliers in Canada,” said Cairns, a petroleum engineer at the head office in Calgary. “We have 23 trucks in Lloyd that go from the maintenance side and installation. We also have service shops in Kindersley, Provost and Medicine Hat for pump jacks. “We carry everything from Americans to Luftkins. We just brought in a new unit called the Oil Boss that has been very well received so far. “It’s only been in the Canadian market for the last six months. We’ve has quite a bit of success with that as well.” Platinum is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and Cairns was eager to load up his media visitor with the latest product literature while commenting the show has been good. “There are a lot of people coming through. It’s been very well re-

ceived,” he said. Platinum markets itself corporately as a one-stop shop for production and process equipment with the Platinum Compressor Services Corp. division. The company sold its Control Technologies Corp. division just days after the oil show held Sept. 15-16. Platinum manufactures and supplies a full range of oil and gas production products including separators, tanks, dehydrators, gas sweeteners, compressors, and treaters and knockouts. “We do everything on the process side. Once the well is drilled – anything to produce it, we can do it,” said Cairns. Platinum operates two fabricating facilities in Calgary where they make products such as separators and treaters. They have a tank manufacturing plant in Redcliﬀ near Medicine Hat Alberta. Platinum Compression Services Corp. supplies new and used compressor packages for all applications and a full range of screw and reciprocating compression packages. The Lloydminster pump jack shop provides pump jack maintenance services such as gear box reconditioning and it stocks parts for all conventional pumping units. Asked if they are

busy in the Lloydminster area, Cairns said, “I was just talking with one gentleman here, and saying this was probably the busiest summer that I’ve had in 10 years with the oil price staying strong. “Husky is one of our bigger clients around here and Talisman around Chauvin. There are lots of companies around here that use Platinum. We have maintenance groups that go out and do pump jack maintenance.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

IntelliView can detect trouble as it happens Lloydminster – IntelliView Technologies Inc. has raised the bar on security with its smart video surveillance solutions for oil and gas companies to keep an eye on their assets and who is onsite in real time 24/7. The Calgary-based technology company combines hardware and software on location to record and analyze video images from installed cameras. Each camera can select and apply up to 10 different pre-set rules or detection parameters such as identifying if an object is taken away from a deﬁned area in camera view. Once a rule has been broken, an automated alarm is sent to the operator using cellular, radio, and satellite or SCADA communications. “Our software is our secret sauce,” said Ray Wil-

derman, a business development rep at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16. “It’s able to take information that’s given, make decisions, and pass those decisions on. It’s making intelligent decisions based on what it’s able to see in real time.” When an alarm has been triggered, operators can also connect to onsite cameras through web access, a BlackBerry application or monitoring stations. Wilderman says one city bylaw unit in Calgary is using an IntelliView system to detect and identify graﬃti artists in the act and report vandalism in real time so the culprit can be apprehended. “It’s unique,” said Wilderman. “It’s the only one of its kind in the world. It’s patented technology. There is nothing to compare it to in terms of its capabilities.

IntelliView surveillance systems can keep an eye on oil and gas assets and personnel for better safety 24/7. Business development rep Ray Wilderman explained the software brain of the system at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.

“You can use it to detect leaks or to detect if a man is down. You can detect when staff are coming in and off remote sites. “It can also help prevent injury by detecting hazardous threats such as sulphur fires that can’t be seen by the human eye.” A standard analytics package comes with up to 10 rules that can be applied to each camera to generate real time event notifications of what’s being detected. The brain of the system is digital video technology. It has plug-and-play functionality that allows a multitude of technology to connect to it such as a weather station, cameras, access systems and remote control systems and a variety of sensors. “We have also incorporated using fuel cells powered by ethanol to allow these systems to be powered remotely for an extended period of time,” said Wilderman. It uses the Global System for Mobile Communications to communicate and SCADA common to the oil and gas industry. “It’s a web-based system,” said Wilderman. “The client logs into their device and is able to manage it. They can manage several hundred of these devices simultaneously. You can attach up to 16 cameras.” Each camera can have its own program rules, so from what it’s seeing, it is able to make decisions based on those rules. “The device is able to ‘make decisions’ and then send those decisions on the applicable party through e-mail, video clip or a static one shot photograph,” added Wilderman. The system can detect if an object is left behind or if someone is loitering within the camera view for a predetermined time. It can also be used to detect faces, count people, detect licence plate numbers, classify sounds and detect oil spills in their early stages among other customized capabilities.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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U of S scientist named to Alberta panel

Lindsay Hancheryk, left, a Àeld supervisor for Sandpiper Truck Service, with his wife Gina at his side, accepts the Community Involvement Award from ATCO Electric rep Dave Evans at this year’s Lloydminster Business Week Awards Gala.

Sandpiper recognized for community involvement Lloydminster – Community service is not a competition, but Sandpiper Truck Services Ltd. edged out nominee Grit Industries for a Community Involvement Award at the 2010 Business Week Awards Gala of the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce. Sandpiper was founded in 1995 by Kim and Lorne Olson as an oilfield truck service company with a commitment to serve the community. The introduction of Sandpiper at the gala on Oct. 13 began by attributing the company’s successful leadership, financial practices and a strong work ethic to “great people and a vibrant, healthy community.” The rest of the introductory text about Sandpiper projected onto a screen at the Stockade Convention Centre read, “Sandpiper’s owners Lorne and Kim Olson have always attributed their success to these critical elements. “It is not only a privilege but an obligation for Sandpiper Truck Services to do its part in making Lloydminster a great place to live, work and play and do business.” That philosophy has helped Sandpiper expand its fleet to more than 50 vehicles including semi

vacs, tandem vacs, pressure trucks, coiled tubing units, steam trucks, flushbys, transport vehicles and slop trailers for the heavy oil market. Choosing Sandpiper for the award made sense based on its lengthy list of donations and employee volunteerism to arts and culture, recreation and amateur sport organizations in Lloydminster. The list includes support for the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation, the MS Society, the SPCA, the Lloydminster Rescue Squad, and the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show and Oilfield Technical Society executive committees. The Olsons were unable to accept their award due to personal commitments, but veteran field supervisor Lindsay Hancheryk spoke on their behalf with his wife Gina at his side. “We would like to thank everyone involved for contributing this award, from the nominators to the selection committee as well as ATCO Electric for the award sponsorship,” said Hancheryk. “We feel honoured to have been nominated alongside Grit Industries whose community contributions are recognized and appreciated. “We believe that we have a social responsi-

A University of Saskatchewan scientist was one of six from across North America will lead a provincial review of water monitoring data collected from Alberta's oilsands region. John Giesy is currently part of the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and was recently elected to the Royal Society of Canada. He is regarded as one of the world's eminent ecotoxicologists (study of toxic effects, caused by natural or synthetic pollutants, to entire ecosystems). The focus of the committee will be to examine monitoring data and methodology of both government and academic research findings. They will also investigate whether data is consistent with historical values in the region and explain the relevance of any differences and gaps that may exist. The process is expected to be completed by February 2011. The scientists bring with them expertise in a variety of areas: metal transportation in fresh water, airborne pollution, effects of toxic chemicals on aquatic organisms, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology and trace metal loading in the environment. Individuals were selected based on recommendations by both Alberta Environment scientists and Dr. David Schindler, a water expert at the University of Alberta.

bility to contribute to the continuance and enhancement of our community by supporting those very organizations that make Lloyd such a great place to live and do business. “Quality health care, good educational services and a wide array of recreation and cultural opportunities make Lloyd an attractive community in which to live, play, and raise our families,” Hancheryk said.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Westcomm adds new pump makers to its lineup

Lloydminster – Westcomm Pump & offer a 24-month warranty. Equipment Ltd. used a cutaway of a Roto Larson says what sets Roto apart from brand pump as a conversation icebreaker at competitors is the reliability of the drive sysits booth during the Lloydminster Heavy tem and the maintenance friendly aspects of Oil Show in September. the pump. There was a lot to talk about as Kyle “You can access and maintain the stuffLarson, a technical sales rep, explained Westing box, whether you have packing or mecomm had just signed sales partnerships with chanical seals,” he said. LEWA Pumps + Systems and Roto Pumps “You can access it from the rotor and Ltd. on Sept. 8. stator end of the pump. That means you don’t “We now actually have a complete prodhave to disturb the alignment of the power uct lineup for pumping equipment across into the motor.” the board,” said Larson, who noted only the Larson took the opportunity to note model of the Roto pump was available in the Westcomm distributes Goulds Pumps for Kyle Larson used a cutaway model of a Roto pump to prime con- any centrifugal applications including fluids time for the show held Sept. 15-16. “If you have an application that you have versations at the Westcomm booth during the Lloydminster Oil such as glycol and light hydrocarbons. to move fluids through pipe, give us a call Show Westcomm also distributes Gormanbecause we have a product that will fit it.” Rupp rotary gear and self-priming pumps The available LEWA pumps to be distributed by Westcomm are process dia- for hydrocarbon applications, and is known for its ITT pump control and moniphragm pumps for high pressure applications up to 17,500 psi for process indus- toring systems. tries. PumpSmart is the control system designed to prevent failures and improve Westcomm is a Calgary-based company that provides reliable pump and pump efficiency. compressor packages to the oil and gas, chemical processing, pulp and paper, and “It is a dedicated system for pieces of rotating equipment that offers protecmunicipal wastewater industries. tion features for the equipment it is controlling,” explained Larson. “The Roto pump is new to the North American market,” said Larson. “They “It’s a variable frequency drive with pump protection features added in.” are a very robust progressive cavity pump. The ProSmart condition monitoring system provides 24/7 real time informa“At the moment, Roto makes a PC pump for surface process facilities only. tion about the health of the equipment that’s running. They don’t offer a PC pump for downhole applications. “It will monitor information such as vibration and temperature and upload “Roto has been well received in Australia, Europe and Asia. We are excited to that by satellite to web-based servers that a maintenance person can access,” said be on the ground floor offering this new product to the oil and gas industry.” Larson. The claim to fame for Roto is its drive design that uses a double pin Cardan “It provides real-time information to the operators of the equipment so they universal joint known to be quite reliable and quite robust, enabling Westcomm to can respond to problems. The two systems are complementary.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Onion Lake mulling new investment ideas Onion Lake – Onion Lake Cree Nation is studying an idea to power its community with energy from its own garbage. Onion Lake Business Development Corporation is working with a California company called Clean Earth Solutions to cost the construction of a biomass generator that would covert municipal solid

waste to electricity. “This is a municipal solid waste (MSW) project,” said BDC director Jeﬀ Ross. “We are looking at developing a pilot project at Onion Lake with ﬁve to 25 tonnes a day of solid waste. “What we would do is take the MSW – we don’t burn or incinerate it – we actually we put it through a steam agitation process, and what

comes out the end is a biomass. “We can convert that biomass to energy to electrical energy and an ethanol fuel. “What we would do is power the homes at Onion Lake. The amount of energy would depend on the amount of MSW we produce a day. With 25 tonnes a day we could probably create energy for the whole community,” Ross said. Currently, Onion Lake’s 3,600 residents produce about six tonnes of household waste each, day but more waste feedstock could be brought in from surrounding areas. Ross says the band has met four or ﬁve times with Clean Earth and has developed a business plan for the project. “We are in the process of reviewing our business plan and decide

Onion Lake Cree Nation has its own gas utility called Onion Lake Gas that is installing service to a new rental housing subdivision. Photo by Geoff Lee

from there where we want to go,” said Ross. A biomass generator would follow several new business and investment opportunities for the band, thanks to revenues from oil and gas production on reserve land.

The BDC operates band-owned utilities and businesses such Onion Lake Gas, Onion Lake Energy and Askiy Apoy Hauling. “From the BDC’s perspective, we would like to take advantage

of the oil and gas play at Onion Lake, but we would also like to diversify out of Onion Lake,” said Ross. “We want to create the right business entities to create wealth for the First Nation.” The BDC is thinking out loud about the possibility of building an MRI clinic on a 65-acre parcel of land the band owns west of Lloydminster and east of the new Thorpe Recovery Centre on Highway 16. “That’s one of the things we are looking at and reviewing right now,” said Ross. “We are also exploring other business ventures for that area too. “We have a lot on the go. Our goal is to be a $200 million business development corporation in the next couple of years.”

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Polycore’s tubular liners ¿t for SAGD wells ton of money. “It reduces their workover costs because it prolongs the life of the tubing and it keeps their production going.” Polycore can install the liner in a customer’s tubing or offer a package price with the coupling, liner and tubing ready to go. “Our product will prolong the life of the well and in essence have a very short return on investment for the customer,” said Davis. “For what they invest – either the liner or the liner and tubing as a package price, they are able to pay that off in a very short period of time and receive the cost benefits.” Polycore is a sister company of Western Falcon

Mathew Davis made umpteen sales pitches about the features and beneÀts of thermoplastic tubular lining during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on behalf of his Calgary-based company Polycore Tubular Linings Corp.

Lloydminster – Mathew Davis, an account manager for Polycore Tubular Linings Corp., came to the Lloydminster Heavy Oil show in September prepared to pitch the benefits of his company’s thermoplastic liners to all comers. Davis accomplished that goal for the Pipeline News with the aid of product samples to get his points across in a quick three-minute interview. “Our liner is basically a thermal plastic liner that is inserted inside of production tubing,” said Davis. “It’s meant to mitigate any sort of rod-ontubing wear or any type of corrosion issues you might have. “Our main applications are injection and disposal wells as well as any sort of rod pumping applications, whether that’s a progressive cavity pump, or a beam pump. “We have been doing quite a bit of work with some of the producers up here for some heavy oil applications. “We will be working in one of our first SADG wells in the Lloydminster area in coming weeks.” Polycore’s thermoplastic liners are extremely abrasion-resistant and chemically inert, eliminating concerns associated with wireline damage, coil tubing mechanical damage, acid treatments, and chemical treatments. Polycore has its head office in Calgary with a manufacturing plant in Bow Island east of Medicine Hat to easily service the Western Canadian oilfield. “Our liners are made from various thermal plastics,” said Davis. “Our first and oldest product line is made from high density polyethylene. We add a proprietary blend that makes it what it is today.” Polycore also makes an Enercore polyolefin liner and an Ultracore polyphenylene sulphide liner for higher temperature applications. “The main purpose of our product is to maintain the life of the tube,” said Davis. “ “If we can maintain the life of the tube and keep that asset rolling for any company, it saves them a

Inc., a U.S. company that developed tubular lining technology with thermoplastic in the 1980s. Polycore has product stocking locations throughout the west from Virden, Man. to Fort. St. John, B.C. Davis says Polycore liners can also be used in gas wells depending on the conditions and presence of sour gas. “We assess every single well. Every well we put our thermal plastic tubing in, we make sure that we talk with the customer and understand the well depth, the well pressure, the temperatures, the concentrations of H2S and CO2,” he said. “We do a very thorough examination of every application we run it in.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Quantum raises the bar in well bore clean-outs department Lloydminster – Steven Winkler, president of Quantum Downhole Systems Inc., will likely to continue to speak positively about his experience at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16. “This is one the best shows, if not the best,” he said at time. “I have been involved in the past and I hope to keep being involved.” Winkler was invited to make a presentation about his new JetVak well bore cleanout and production testing technology for horizontal wells at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium on Sept. 15, and the talk went over well.

“I had quite a few people come over and ask some questions and shake a few hands,” he remarked. “Some people told me they would think of wells a little bit diﬀerently now, and maybe even call and ask us to do some work for them.” Winkler also brought along a specialized coiled tubing unit from Technicoil Corp. in Red Deer as an outdoor exhibit, and stayed in the area for at least two weeks of work for heavy oil customers. Winkler says it’s not hard to prove the technology works to customers even though JetVak is a new technology solution on the market.

Steven Winkler from Quantum Downhole Systems talks with a visitor at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. They are standing beside a Technicoil Corp. coiled tubing unit.

“Through our presentations and the information we’ve got from the other work we’ve done, the proof is there,” he said. “They do believe that it works. They are quite receptive especially in this area.” He described the reaction to it in Lloydminster as “exceptional” and went on to say, “This technology is needed in this area.” What Quantum has done is to combine a specially engineered jet pump with newly designed multiple conduit coiled tubing. The new tubing is called the Flatpak, and it was developed by CJS Coiled Tubing Supply Ltd. in Lloydminster and Source Rock Energy Partners in Calgary. “The pump on the dual coil – part of it jets and fluidizes the sand ahead of it, and part of the pump vacuums out the mixture all in one shot,” explained Winkler. The JetVak allows the operator to remove both solids and/or fluids from a well bore in an underbalanced fashion. “It’s very applicable to heavy oil. We are going to be introducing some chemicals and some solvents to emulsify the fluids downhole so the heavy oil comes out of the well easier and through the coil more efficiently,” said Winkler. The JetVak system is also applicable for post frac cleanouts and produced sand cleanouts among other applications in horizontal wells. Quantum worked with Technicoil to make some minor modifications to the coiled tubing unit used to apply the JetVak tool into deeper wells. “Up until a month ago we have been working in wells up to 1,000 metres, but this rig is allowing us to go over 2,000 metres which covers the majority of wells nowadays, especially with the horizontal types,” said Winkler. “We’ve been doing work primarily in the Kindersley area. The rig has not even been on the road for a month yet. “We have been in Kindersley and Three Hills, and we have two weeks of work in Lloydminster lined up, and maybe even more. Soon we are going to Fort Mac.”

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

B-Section November 2010

Oil and gas funds business independence for Onion Lake Story and photos by Geoff Lee Onion Lake – Oil and gas exploration and development at Onion Lake is helping to put the Cree community on the path of economic prosperity, led by its own business development corporation (BDC). Black Pearl Resources, Canadian Natural Resources and Nuvista Energy Ltd operate more than 100 leases on reserve land under the administration of Onion Lake Energy. Onion Lake Energy is one of several BDC businesses wholly owned by Onion Lake Cree Nation that report to the elected chief and band council who act as corporate board members. “We don’t negotiate leases but we try to keep up to date on what’s happening out there,” said BDC director Jeff Ross who has been on the job for five months. “By doing that, we can identify what parts of the oil and industry we can take advantage of. “Eventually, I would like to see the BDC become a $200 million business development corporation so we can start to flow some of our profits back to Onion Lake. “I guess the catalyst for opportunity is the oil and gas. It gives us the opportunity here at Onion Lake to look at other ventures,” said Ross. “One of our success stories has been Askiy Apoy Hauling (see Onion Lake story on page A8). “When the drilling program came into play, Onion Lake First Nation knew that the fluid and the oil had to be hauled to various batteries and the Husky Upgrader. “We identified a need there – a service which was trailers to deliver the fluid. We created Askiy Apoy that now delivers the majority of oil from the drilling sites to the upgrader.” “We are looking at vacuum trucks, pressure trucks and having mechanics that can go into the field and service rigs. “What we do is find areas in the oil and gas program where we can start secondary businesses,” said Ross. “That

AS &

Jeff Ross, director of Onion Lake Business Development Corp., says oil and gas activities on the reserve are helping the band to create new business and employment opportunities.

could be inside Onion Lake or outside Onion Lake.” The BDC has a number of bandowned businesses under its umbrella such as Meetah Building Supplies, Onion Lake Enterprises, Beretta Pipeline Construction and Makaoo Mall Development. “We are kind of diversiﬁed. We would like to be a bit more diversiﬁed in case one industry takes a bit of tumble. We are using proceeds from oil and gas to fund these entities,” said Ross. “We get a certain percentage from oil and gas and we use that as a leveraging point. We use a combination of

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either our own equity or we look at various financial institutions that we can use a mixture of our own equity and borrow.” In the case of Askiy Apoy, the band purchased trailers and provided equity loans to band members who went to the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation to fully finance new trucks to haul fluid. The plan calls for novice oilfield drivers to ride along with experienced drivers until they are skilled enough to become their own operators. “In the case of the vac and pressure trucks, we are looking at a course at Lakeland College for vac and pres-

sure truck operators,” said Ross. “We will probably follow the same model as Askiy Apoy because it’s already proven successful. “We have brought in a couple of people who have worked in the oil trucking business for a number of years. We have them on three year contracts to set up Askiy Apoy until it’s running smoothly.” The band also met recently with members from the Frog Lake Cree Nation that has members who want to drive for Askiy Apoy. “We said we would be open to working on some sort of arrangement with them,” said Ross. “We own the trailers and the individual operators own their own trucks. “It’s broken into a revenue split, so we are looking at something like that for Frog Lake.” The key to Onion Lake’s business aspirations from oil and gas development on the reserves lies in securing work commitments for band members from oil and gas companies operating on reserve land. “We have met a couple of times with a couple of the oil companies,” said Ross. “What we are trying to get from them is a commitment that there is work for us. “If I have a commitment for work, it makes my job easier to secure those funds. In the last couple of weeks, Black Pearl and CNRL have agreed to that. They gave us commitment letters. “The commitment letter is for everything right down to the mechanics in the field to service rigs and vac trucks and an expansion of Askiy. “We are looking at putting up a building with about 15 bays for maintenance repairs and storage, with a top floor for office leasing. It’s good progress for us.” Ross says the reaction from community members to new BDC initiatives has been positive, but he thinks more support will be forthcoming once BDC fulfils a commitment to publish quarterly progress reports. ɸ Page B2

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

The Onion Lake Business Development Corp. operates several band-owned businesses including the new Makaoo Gas Bar next to the Makaoo Mall.

OilÀeld trafÀc is steady north of the community of Onion Lake within the band’s reserve. The Onion Lake Business Development Corp. has launched its own Áuid hauling company called Askiy Apoy Hauling. A vac and pressure truck business is in the works.

Nuvista Energy has approximately 13 wells at Onion Lake Cree Nation.

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ɺ Page B1 “A lot of it comes down to communication,” said Ross. “Once we communicate what we are doing and our success, we will probably get a lot more support from the community. “From the BDC’s perspective we would like to take advantage of the oil and gas play at Onion Lake, but we would also like to diversify out of Onion Lake.” Ross says band Chief Wally Fox is also thinking out of the box with long-term visions of Onion Lake doing its own drilling. “I also know he wants to get into reﬁning here so we can supply the province of Saskatchewan with gas,” said Ross. “He has mentioned there are about 70 First Nation service stations in Saskatchewan. We would like to be the supplier of fuel for them.” In the meantime, Onion Lake and the BDC want to maximize their business and employment opportunities from continued oil and gas develop-

ment, but not at any cost. “All the shareholders of companies like Black Pearl want to make money and so does the company and so do we,” said Ross. “We are proﬁt-driven too, but we are also community-driven. We want to make our community better and provide better infrastructure. As long as those two goals can come together, it will make it a win-win situation. “Onion Lake is in a position to take advantage of the oil and gas resources, and that could go to improving the roads or houses for members and funding post secondary education costs. “We are looking at building 100-plus homes eventually, and about 60 in 2010. “What we do is look at leveraging that royalty and oil and gas revenues to borrow with a repayment through oil and gas revenues. “We have paved some roads and I know we are looking at a new day care and paving more roads,” Ross said.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Waskada overtakes Sinclair Âżeld Waskada, Man. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A sandy layer of siltstone called the Lower Amaranth, about 900 metres deep, is driving a surge in drilling around Waskada, Man. Not only is it increasing local production, it is having a substantial impact on the overall petroleum production for Manitobaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relatively small oil patch. Keith Lowdon is director of the Manitoba Petroleum Branch, the division of the Department of Innovation, Energy and Mines that looks after the Manitoba oil patch. When Pipeline News ďŹ rst talked to Lowdon in late 2008 and January 2009, he characterized the Waskada ďŹ eld as not having much activity at the time. Things sure have changed since. On Oct. 14, Nickleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rig Locator (www.riglocator.ca) listed nine rigs in the Waskada area. Penn West Energy Trust had three rigs drilling. EOG Resources had two. ARC Resources and Red Beds Resources (a subsidiary of Tundra Oil and Gas) and Surge Energy Inc. all had one rig each. One more rig was listed as down near Waskada. Just west of Waskada at Coulter, Australianbased Molopo Energy Canada Ltd had a rig drilling. A little further to the west, at Pierson, Lyleton Corporation, Molopo and a Saskatchewan numbered company all had a rig apiece. Another rig was listed as down at Pierson. Across the board, of the 21 rigs listed in Manitoba on that day, all active rigs were drilling horizontal wells, and all but one were developmental in nature. Molopoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pierson rig was on a stepout well. Over the past two years, Manitoba typically has had 10 to 12 rigs in the province at any given time.

Manitoba Drilling Well counts up to Oct. 4, 2010

For the past several months, that number has been 20 to 22, with typically more than 18 working at any given time, sometimes as high as 20. It may be small potatoes compared to Alberta numbers, but for Manitoba, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s huge. Lowdon said the entire Waskada ďŹ eld is 100 per cent Amaranth. Near Goodlands, you see Mission Canyon drilling. Waskada â&#x20AC;&#x153;Waskada is this year, so far, moved into the No. 1 spot for drilling activity, but not much further ahead than Sinclair,â&#x20AC;? Lowdon said. For 2010, Manitoba has had 468 wells licensed up to Oct. 4. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a substantial increase from 292 the year before. By that date, 363 had been drilled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be surprised if weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re over 500,â&#x20AC;? he said the referring to the complete year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For Manitoba, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s huge.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can see the emergence of horizontal drilling,â&#x20AC;? Lowdon said. For the same period of time, there were 482,000 metres drilled in 2009, with 672,000 metres drilled in 2010. The vast majority of Manitoba wells are now horizontal. Two years ago, EOG was really developing the horizontal technology around Waskada, according to Lowdon. They developed a monobore technology for Waskada that works, using cemented casing in place all the way town. Packers are not utilized much. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all done with individual fracs. In March 2010, Manitoba saw an all-time high of 32,000 bpd of production for the entire province. É¸ Page B4 â&#x20AC;˘ EOG Resources - 77 â&#x20AC;˘ Penn West â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 49 â&#x20AC;˘ Molopo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 41

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Manitoba sees substantial growth in drilling

Manitoba Petroleum Branch director Keith Lowdon, while touring a Precision Drilling rig near Waskada, Man. The rig was working for Penn West on Sept. 28. Lowdon was part of a ministerial tour of Waskada’s re-ignited oil patch. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

ɺ Page B3 However, the two leading operators in Waskada are looking at production numbers that will match that. Penn West is planning on boosting its sixinch Waskada to Cromer pipeline from a capacity of 7,500 bpd to 15,000 bpd by March, 2011, and up to 23,000 bpd within two years. EOG Resources is planning for production of 10,000 bpd by the end of the year once its eight-inch pipeline, currently under construction, comes on stream. That pipeline will have a capacity of 40,000 bpd. Lowdon noted that production drops oﬀ on new wells pretty rapidly, and is cautious about making projections. “I’d like to see what happens in the long term. We

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know production is going up,” he said. Really busy As for the Petroleum Branch during this period of rapid growth, he said, “We’re really stretched. Everyone says, ‘We’re really busy,’ regardless of department and industry. I think we have the stats to prove it.” The province is looking at going online with well licence applications, and has looked into joining the Alberta Petroleum Registry, as Saskatchewan has done. However, they are looking for feedback from industry on that front. Up until now, gas production wasn’t really much of a factor in Manitoba. The new wells at Waskada are more gassy than previous ones, however. “There’s really no infrastructure to move that gas to market,” Lowdon said. At one point, there was a gas plant at Waskada, but locals point out it was pulled out in the 1990s. It used to truck out natural gas liquids like propane and butane, and then ﬂare oﬀ what was left. There is no serious gas infrastructure in the area, save a sevenkilometre four-inch line EOG is currently building between batteries and

a small line in the Pierson area that runs into Saskatchewan. “We believe there’s an opportunity to capture that solution gas,” Lowdon said. “Realistically, we want them to buy in and have some alternatives.” On the ground Lowdon has personal experience in the Waskada field. “I was in Waskada in the ’80s,” he said, where he worked as a petroleum inspector for the Petroleum Branch. “I lived there in 1982.” The big push in Waskada was in the early 1980s. It had sustained drilling, “but nothing like this,” he said. At the time, there were four restaurants, and two hotels, one of which was trailer-based, by the arena. “The restaurants were so busy back then. The hotel was flooded.” Omega Hydrocarbons discovered the Lower Amaranth formation, he recalled. Currently, the Petroleum Branch has one inspector, Lorne Barsness, and one admin person, Twila Jolly, working out of their Waskada office. Lowdown hopes to expand that. “There’s too much for one person to do. Lorne’s a super inspector. We don’t want him to wear out.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Pursuing Tilston, then Bakken By Brian Zinchuk White Bear First Nation – If everything stays on track, White Bear First Nation should be seeing several wells drilled on its reserve land before the end of the year. These will be the ﬁrst wells drilled on the land in several years, and will mark the First Nation’s third go-around operating an oil producing company. The wells will be part of a joint venture with a startup Calgary-based petroleum producer. At the time of writing, the name of the partner was not yet public. Brent McArthur is the president of Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Ltd., the name of White Bear’s company. It means “White Bear” in Cree. While he may be president, he is very humble about that fact, and indeed, he repeatedly talks about group decision making. McArthur has spent the last several years working on petroleum development for the First Nation. Annette Lonechild is a council member. Much of her work of late has been involved in the oil and gas initiative. She and Francis McArthur are two of the council members who spend a lot of their time on the initiative, as does long-time Chief Brian Standingready. “The big companies are too big. Our interests aren’t important to them,” said Lonechild, when asked why they went with a start-up company as a partner. “Just another asset,” is how Brent McArthur characterized large company’s perspective on their land. “They had the best proposal,” Lonechild said. McArthur added that as a smaller company, they were willing to negotiate. White Bear has 2,346 members in total, of whom approximately 800 live on reserve. The First Nation’s land is in one 47 square-mile block. Unlike many other First Nations in the province, White Bear has not yet resolved its Treaty Land Entitlement additional acres, and has outstanding land claims issues. The reserve is located just a few minutes drive

White Bear First Nation has been working hard on economic development for decades. In the early ’90s, it founded the movement of First-Nations run casinos, such as its Bear Claw Casino, seen here. Now it is getting back into the oil and gas game, and intends on drilling wells shortly. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

north of Carlyle, and is close to the heart of the action in southeast Saskatchewan. Yet while drilling has been taking place all over the region, and especially just north of the reserve in Moose Mountain Provincial Park, there hasn’t been a well drilled on White Bear since 2005. That’s not to say there hasn’t been drilling in the past. “Since the 1950s, we’ve drilled about 135 wells on the First Nation,” McArthur said. Of that, about 115-120 were drilled in the period from 1993 to 2005. In the 1980s, the First Nation owned White Bear Resources Inc. for the purposes of joint venture development. There was a small program with Canadian Hunter in 1987-88, but it wasn’t successful and was uneconomic, according to McArthur. ɸ Page B6

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White Bear First Nation ɺ Page B5 After that, further talks resulted in a 1993 agreement between TriLink Resources Ltd. and the First Nation’s second venture, White Bear Oil and Gas Ltd. This led to the majority of exploration on the First Nation. In 1998-99, the price of oil dropped, and TriLink backed oﬀ development. The last well was drilled in 2005, just before the Bakken rush would sweep the region.

McArthur explained that the level of success for White Bear Oil and Gas wasn’t minimal or outstanding. There was reasonable beneﬁt to the First Nation. A gross overriding royalty is still received from ongoing production. After a number of ownership changes, the existing wells are now operated by Harvest Operations Corp., a subsidiary of Harvest Energy Trust. Harvest has recently been acquired by Korea

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National Oil Corporation. The 1993 agreement had run its course and was allowed to expire. The First Nation began looking into opportunities for a new agreement in 2005. It took several years of work to get things lined up, and the decline of oil prices in 2009 set them back many months. As McArthur put it, there were “many interesting zigzags.” They had an agreement on the table that was “beautiful,” with interesting terms in 2008, but oil bottomed out, and they needed those prices to come back to continue. “It probably set us back 18 months, but it gave us time to focus on other things,” he said. Lonechild pointed out the 10- year cycles the oil patch seems to follow, and that it is These wells were developed as part of a partnership with TriLink Resourccoming out of the bot- es. That agreement expired in 2005, and there has been no further oil detom of one now. velopment on White Bear First Nation since then. That will soon change. ɸ Page B7 Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

launching energy company ɺ Page B6 The First Nation got the feel of the people regarding new development, and a poll received favourable support. A new agreement was signed April 1, 2010, and has a ﬁve-year term. “We’re looking at tapping into the Tilston, which is what we have producing right now,” said McArthur. “We’re not producing Bakken yet,” Lonechild added, but pointed out they will be targeting it in the future. The plan is for approximately 15 initial wells, but that depends on the success of the ﬁrst few wells. “We are doing some step out development right now,” Lonechild said. That will be followed by exploratory drilling in early 2011. “We’re trying to get at least three wells drilled here by year end,” McArthur said. On Oct. 7, a professional archeologist and an

environmental consultant were on site, doing foot surveys of drilling locations and pipeline rights-ofway. The plan is to use pad drilling where possible, in an eﬀort to minimize land disturbance. “For us, that’s number one,” McArthur said, noting the land is used for cultural purposes, tourism and recreation. “We live oﬀ the land,” Lonechild added, saying there were lots of hunters who make use of it. There needs to be a balance of development and conservation, she explained. The block of land is substantial and contiguous. There are certain areas on the north side that are exempt from development due to outstanding historical land claims issues. There are approximately 11,000 hectares, or 27,200 acres available for development. It’s one of the largest blocks available for development in the region. There are certain subsur-

face leases that will need to be worked around. There will also be buffers around certain areas. Asked if they were going to have local driller Eagle Drilling Services doing the work, McArthur noted they were already booked up. The First Nation would prefer to align itself with Aboriginal companies, and has a partnership with Beretta Pipeline Construction, a Lloydminster outfit owned by Onion Lake First Nation. The two First Nations have been working together on a number of fronts, and are among the leaders of First Nations bands who are active in the oil and gas arena. “I think there’s room for a start-up enterprise, right on the First Nation,” McArthur said. “There’s room for business creation.” “This is a different era. Times have changes. We’ve got a lot more willingness in industry and in the corporate arena to have those opportunities.”

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White Bear focused on economic development By Brian Zinchuk White Bear First Nation – When it comes to economic development, White Bear First Nation has been at the forefront for many years. In 1993, it was the First Nation that launched the whole movement that led to legalized First Nationsowned and operated casinos in Saskatchewan. A 36-room hotel has just been re-opened as part of the Bear Claw Casino. There’s a 960 lot resort on site that has been an attraction since

the 19th century. A golf course is nearby. Now the First Nation is embarking on its third venture into the oil and gas industry, with Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Limited, and a joint venture partner about to start drilling wells before the end of the year. White Bear First Nation is an amalgam of four First Nations, Saulteaux, Cree, Nakota and Dakota. About two-thirds of the band’s nearly 2,400 members live oﬀ reserve. Chief Brian Standingready has led the First Nation

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for 24 years now. Economic development is important for Saskatchewan’s fastest growing demographic, Aboriginal young people. About one-third of the First Nation’s membership is youth – people under 35, according to Standingready. “We have a K-12 school on the reserve, and a post secondary institution for skill training,” he said. While they graduate a number of students every year, “a lot of those graduates are still on the reserve.” “The opportunities are out there, but they don’t have access to those opportunities so far,” he said. “We have such a large potential workforce in Saskatchewan in the Aboriginal people, especially young people,” he said. He noted that government caps on postsecondary funding in the early 1990s are still having eﬀects felt today. Standingready is concerned if current

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Brian Standingready, left, and council member Francis McArthur are working on bringing prosperity to White Bear First Nation. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

education grants are converted into a form of student loan, it would make higher education unreachable for many of their young people. “If that’s the case, there’s no way our students can aﬀord to take out loans to go to school,” he said. Economic development is important, he

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not from governmental assistance. Standingready noted their future plans in oil and gas involve development not only on the reserve, but oﬀ reserve as well. He spoke of future maintenance contracts and providing auxiliary services as part of their initiative in the ﬁeld. ɸ Page B9

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Create opportunity for individuals to build homes ɺ Page B8 “We’re in business here not only in oil and gas, but in tourism and gaming. We depend on our patrons. We value their business,” he said. He noted that White Bear did not take part in protests that occurred at the beginning of construction of the Enbridge Alberta Clipper project in 2008. The result of those protests led to some “setaside” contracts for First Nations. Standingready said they would rather “compete on the outside based on our ability to do the job, as opposed to setaside contracts. “We’re looking at joint ventures with some established companies,” he said, referring to the services side of the oil patch. “It’s long term.” Francis McArthur, 69, has been a council member with the First Nation for six year. He noted, “Most of the work is oﬀ reserve. That’s where the action is.” Standingready said the First Nation has the authority to impose or

not impose taxes. “If anyone wants to do business on White Bear, we have the ability to provide tax incentives,” he said. On the day Pipeline News visited White Bear, an archeologist and environmental consultant were surveying potential drilling sites for cultural signiﬁcance. “It is important when you’re going through development,” Standingready explained. “Sometimes, you run into unmarked burial sites. Also, there’s ceremonial sites. They have to be respected. That’s part of our culture and practices.” He said violating that would be akin to building a pipeline through a church. Provisions have to be made to go around sensitive sites. It is important to honour these sites, he explained. “You make every eﬀort not to disturb them.” The First Nation is looking into signing up with Saskatoon-based Westcap Mgt’s BRIDG program. It’s designed

to assist First Nations in improving governance so that they are better able to get into business. In order for business to succeed, you need good corporate governance and training, according to Standingready. “You have to separate the politics from business. Governance is important,” he said. “We haven’t really gotten into it [BRIDG] yet. We still have to sit down and detail it out. Once the full board is in place for Wabimusqua, that will be their decision.” While petroleum revenues from new development will be welcomed, the band does not have direct access to them, and there are restrictions on what it can do with the money. Those revenues are regulated by the Indian Act, McArthur and Standingready explained. Under the Indian Oil and Gas Act, those royalties go into a trust account in Ottawa. McArthur said, “We cannot invest back into the community

any revenues from [our] oil and gas account.” “The use of our revenues is really restricted,” Standingready said. The de facto default position has become general payouts to band members of a certain percentage of revenue in the account, when triggered by a band council resolution. It is generally done before Christmas. “Our people are now expecting annually payouts,” McArthur explained. However, in 2009, a down year in the oil patch, there was no payout. “If there’s no money,

there’s no money,” the chief said. McArthur said per capita payouts are seen by the federal government as a way for all member to get beneﬁts, and to “cover their butt.” These payouts cannot be more than 50 per cent of the revenue. Money in the account can be used for capital initiatives, like housing, or building roads or commercial buildings, or sewer and water. McArthur would like to see some control over new revenue anticipated from new development, and have that focused to

economic development. He noted that Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Ltd. will be able to re-invest into itself. He would like to build infrastructure and provide opportunities for members to have the option to build their own homes, as opposed to living in band-provided housing. “Give people opportunity to have something to work for – build a home of their own, create value for them,” he said. Standingready concluded, “From the company side, we’re open for business.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

IOGC controls O&G development on reserves Ottawa - Many people may not realize that First Nations bands do not have complete control over the development or funds that come

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from oil and gas production on their reserve lands. That’s were Indian Oil and Gas Canada (IOGC), a federal agency, comes in. According the to the IOGC website (www.iogc-pgic.ca), it is “an organization committed to managing and regulating oil and gas resources on First Nation reserve lands. It is a special operating agency within Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. “IOGC is responsible for oil and gas on First Nation reserve lands across Canada, but only a handful of reserves exist north of the 60th parallel. Therefore, practically all of IOGC's work is south of the 60th parallel, with most of that in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. “IOGC's general responsibilities are to: • identify and evaluate oil and gas resource potential on Indian reserve lands; • encourage companies to explore for, drill and produce these resources through leasing activity;

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• ensure equitable production, fair prices and proper collection of royalties on behalf of First Nations; • and secure compliance with and administer the regulatory framework in a fair manner. “IOGC operates pursuant to the Indian Oil and Gas Act and Indian Oil and Gas Regulations, 1995, as well as other relevant legislation and guidelines. Oil and gas activity on First Nation reserve lands depends on agreements involving First Nation band councils, oil and gas companies, and Indian Oil and Gas Canada.”

In the oil business before politics White Bear First Nation – Francis McArthur, 69, was in the oil business before he got into First Nations politics. The six-year member of White Bear First Nation’s council used to work in the service industry. “I was in the oil business before I got into politics,” McArthur said. “Prior to that, I was with the federal government in Alberta with HRDC in Lethbridge.” McArthur was the owner/operator of Geegee Oilﬁeld, based at White Bear First Na-

tion. It was a general oilﬁeld maintenance company, doing this like setting up pumpjacks and working with surface lines. “We did that for about six years until the bottom fell out of the industry,” he recounted. He had ﬁred up in 1995, based on some information put up by TriLink Resources, the company White Bear Oil and Gas Ltd. had partnered with to develop oil properties on the reservation. “I had three trucks with all the tools, gin poles, hydraulic lifts, BobCat and a backhoe.” “We were the odd guys out,” he said when things dried up, resulting in him slowly getting out of the business. Now he is one of a number of people on White Bear working to advance the First Nation’s oil and gas opportunities. “I’m working with her [Annette Lonechild], Brian [Standingready], Brent [McArthur], and Bruce Standingready,” he said. Brian Standingready is the long-serving chief of the First Nation, while Brent McArthur heads up petroleum development and is now director and president of Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Ltd., the First Nation’s new oil and gas company. Bruce Standingready heads up lands and resources for the First Nation.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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EOG builds pipeline from Waskada to Cromer Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Waskada, Man. – Waskada, Man., has seen a substantial boom of drilling this year. The oilpatch first came to the community with a boom in the early 1980s, and that is now being repeated nearly 30 years later. EOG Resources Canada Inc. is one of two producers that are primarily driving this local boom. The company is currently building an eight-inch pipeline from Waskada to the Enbridge Mainline terminal at Cromer, and has several rigs drilling in the area. A large-cap independent producer, EOG Resources is based in Houston, Texas. The company has operations in Canada, the United States, China, Trinidad and Tobago, the East Irish Sea and North Sea around the United Kingdom. Paul Arnott, vicepresident and general manager of EOG Resources Canada Inc., took part in Manitoba Innovation, Energy and Mines Minister Dave Chomiak’s Sept. 28 tour of their Waskada facilities and pipeline construction project. When asked for an interview, EOG’s public relations department referred Pipeline News to its pipeline application filing with the Manitoba government. According to its application to build the pipeline, EOG has been operating in the Waskada area for over 25 years. At the time of filing (March 22, 2010), the company had 329 wells in the area, made up of 272 oil producers and 57 injectors. EOG drilled 10 wells in 2008 and 28 in 2009. As of March, their plans were to drill an additional 100 wells in 2010, another 100 in 2011, and then 50 in 2012. ɸ Page B12

Paul Arnott, EOG Resources Canada Inc. vicepresident and general manager, and Adrian Neumann, pipeline project manager, were on hand Sept. 28 to take the Manitoba minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines on a tour of their facilities and pipeline project around Waskada. This photo was taken at the camp, north of Waskada, which has been necessary to handle the inÁux of workers in the area.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

A Pipeworx crew works northeast of Waskada, building new gas and oil pipelines for EOG Resources.

EOG a driving force behind local boom Éş Page B11 The application noted, â&#x20AC;&#x153;EOG anticipates to ship approximately 10,000 bpd of oil by the end of 2010. EOG is currently trucking oil from the existing EOG

Waskada batteries to the existing Enbridge facility near Cromer. Trucking has signiďŹ cant issues, in addition to contribution to air emissions, which will be eliminated upon installation of a pipeline.

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ties, including the use of bus routes; ongoing road usage and potential impacts to highways; road ban restrictions (i.e. timing, weight and load restrictions) which impact delivery outcomes and access to Cromer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;EOG considered utilizing the existing Penn West pipeline between Waskada and Cromer but deemed this unsuitable as the existing Penn West pipeline does not have the capacity to accommodate EOGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anticipated production. Current capacity of the existing Penn West pipeline is 5,700 bpd at a derated MOP. The proposed pipeline

will have a capacity of 40,000 bpd. The design of the proposed pipeline allows for capacity to be increased in the future with the addition of booster pumps or valve stations. The pipeline design allows for the accommodation of thirdparty production which will further reduce oil trucking on Manitoba highways.â&#x20AC;? They included a chart that showed at 10,000 bpd production, 37,960 total trips per year would be needed with 30 cubic metres per load. The pipeline is designed to sour speciďŹ cations. The routing for the pipeline was designed

to minimize crossings of wetlands, lakes and sloughs. It paralleled existing rights-of-way or linear developments where possible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Waskada to Cromer pipeline will include design features for corrosion control, spill prevention, leak detection and emergency shutdown. Two forms of protection from external corrosion will be utilized: the pipeline will be protected with yellow jacket coating and the pipeline will be cathodically protected. Internal corrosion protection will be accomplished through chemical inhibition,â&#x20AC;? the application noted.

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Most archeological sites in Saskatchewan are Aboriginal

Archeologist Patrick Young performs a foot survey of land planned for oil and gas development on White Bear First Nation. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

White Bear First Nation – Patrick Young, a professional archeologist with Golder Associates in Saskatoon, pointed out one thing in particular while doing a foot survey of potential right of ways and leases on White Bear First Nation. Nearly all of Saskatchewan’s archeological sites are Aboriginal in nature. He was looking for bones, stone flakes, stone tools, any indication of past human activity on Oct. 7. He and environmental consultant Doug Terry were doing preliminary work at White Bear before drilling could start. That drilling is anticipated to have three wells in the ground before the end of the year, and another dozen next year, if all goes according to plan. Earlier in the day, Young and Terry were speaking with band council member Annette Lonechild and Brent McArthur, director and president of Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Ltd. They were seeking elders they could consult with to find out if there was anything of significance in the areas the work was planned for. While on foot, Young performed a series of “shovel tests,” literally walking around with a shovel and digging down into the topsoil, looking for clues. If a test is positive, a grid search is done around it at regular intervals until you get a sterile test. If it is a significant site, it would have to be mitigated somehow, he noted. The first option might be to move the lease or divert the pipeline, he explained. Young worked in heritage consulting for Sas-

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

FSIN can co-ordinate between industry and First Nations

FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild

By Brian Zinchuk Saskatoon – Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Chief Guy Lonechild frequently speaks of a co-ordinating role the FSIN can serve between the petroleum

industry and First Nations. Pipeline News spoke to Lonechild brieﬂy on Oct. 15, during a week when the chief had spent a lot of time with the resource sector on his

mind. Speciﬁcally, the FSIN would like to see a portion of potash resource revenue shared with First Nations. Pipeline News asked about First Nations participation in the oil and gas industry. “I think we have some involvement in the oil patch in Saskatchewan,” Lonechild said. He pointed to successful drilling company president Derrick Big Eagle of Eagle Drilling Services and White Bear First Nation’s eﬀorts in the patch. The Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies has also been working on creating sustainable jobs in the North Battleford area, he added. There are also

First Nations pipeline inspectors. Asked if the FSIN had a similar stance with regards to the oil patch that they were taking with potash, he said, “The oil patch has something to teach of what we’re trying to do with the potash industry.” “The oil and gas sector has some success stories we can build upon.” Lonechild has personal experience in the oil patch. “I was a land administrator for TriLink Resources,” he said, where he worked as a management trainee. He worked with surface and mineral leases. TriLink developed wells on the White Bear First Nation in the 1990s.

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Lonechild is a member of White Bear First Nation. “I believe First Nations people need to know what those opportunities are in the oil patch,” he said, noting that is the ﬁrst step. He said perhaps an annual gathering of operators in the province with First Nations leaders might serve both. He has spoken to two FSIN vice-chiefs about it and suggested something “will spill out quite shortly.” Saskatoon-based Westcap Mgt Ltd. operates the First Nations and Métis Fund which is designed to allow Aboriginal entrepreneurs and organizations access to venture capital. However, there has been a low level of uptake with the fund. Lonechild said the FSIN will take a leading role in bringing Westcap together with interested parties. “We will play a coordinating role,” he said. Sustainable economy “We’re talking about building sustainable economies in the resource sector,” Lonechild said. Asked about the growth of the young First Nations population, he said, “It’s about reaching out to industry to hire these people.” He spoke of the “sheer challenge to inte-

grate First Nations youth into sustainable careers,” and strategies to train them for such jobs. Key to that is the Saskatchewan Indian Training Advisory Group. He also said First Nations and tribal councils will choose courses they will fund. There are opportunities in water hauling, vacuum trucks, and pipeline projects, he offered. “Maybe what we need to focus on is a newsletter to highlight opportunities,” he said. While the start of the Enbridge Alberta Clipper project in 2008 was stalled by First Nations protests, Lonechild said, “There are much better ways to get our voices heard than protest.” There needs to be strategic planning, he said. “We find success when industry realizes it needs to supply advance notice, such as at the National Energy Board stage. Those who do it early find more success.” Regarding the idea of hiring quotas, Lonechild said hiring “needs to be based on merit, the ability to perform.” He hedged that by saying there needs to be an understanding that not all First Nations may have the capacity to compete in these projects. There is a training role. Foresight and collaboration between industry, First Nations and the province is needed, according to Lonechild.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

B15

Fund available for Aboriginal investment By Brian Zinchuk Saskatoon – There’s an investment fund in Saskatchewan targeted speciﬁcally at Aboriginal-owned business creation. It’s been around for three years and has begun to place a portion of the $20 million it has for investment. It’s called the First Nations and Métis Fund, and is managed by Saskatoon-based Westcap Mgt Ltd. Westcap is probably best known as the manager of the Golden Opportunities Fund, a Saskatchewanbased labour-sponsored investment fund. Westcap manages approximately a quarter-billion dollars in funds. “It’s an initiative to recognize the changes going on in First Nations and Métis country,” said Grant Kook, president and CEO of Westcap. “Twenty years ago, we talked about social development with First Nations, then over the last 10 years, we talked about economic development. Today, it’s about wealth creation. As First Nations communities create more wealth, they become more independent and self-suﬃcient.” BRIDG In seeking investment opportunities, the

ﬁrm has found a need to assist many First Nations in sorting out their governance before proceeding, so that the First Nations can make sound investments. Thus the Business Ready Investment Development Gateway was born. It’s known as BRIDG, and focuses on governance, business readiness and strategic planning. “We have to go back and ﬁx the governance to create better clients increasing the probability of business venture success,” Kook said. The fund spawned BRIDG, according to

Kook. “We recognized, early on, that although we’ve only done a few transactions, and they’ve been successful by all accounts, that we needed to go back and put better governance in place for First Nations communities,” he said. To that end, they were able to obtain $8 million from the federal government for the BRIDG program. “Sixteen First Nations communities in the program are saying ‘We want to do better. We want better governance. We want to learn and need mentorship.’”

Kook explained. The program is set to run over three years. Some of the First Nations partnering in BRIDG include Thunderchild, Ahtahkaoop, Birch Narrows, and Carry the Kettle. “We’re working with Carry the Kettle on the next generation of oil and gas ventures,” said Tyler Bradley, an investment analyst with Westcap whose responsibilities include this fund. Kook said they went throughout the province, seeking First Nations that were interested. The idea is to separate business from poli-

tics. Bands cannot be in third party management to apply, and have to have $25,000 “skin in the game,” as Kook put it. They had 30 applications, accounting for almost half of the First Nations bands in the province. Not everyone that was interested got in. “It’s a tremendous story in terms of the First Nations communities that are saying, ‘We want it in, and we want to make change, and we have opportunities that are knocking at the door.’” The ultimate test, he

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said, will be completing a wealth-creating transaction in the future that succeeds. If a First Nation decides not to carry on with the program, that money will be reallocated to another First Nation or Métis participant. Each BRIDG program participant needs a CEO in place, “a champion on the ground,” Kook said. “We mentor the CEOs, and hold regular meetings with them.” That CEO cannot be a chief or councillor of the band. ɸ Page B16

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Governance and investment linked through BRIDG ɺ Page B15 The idea is to set up a development corpora-

tion for the First Nation. The program pays for the legal setup of the

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corporate entities and assists with the early legal infrastructure and governance. Then they

evaluate various business opportunities. “Each participating community is at a dif-

ferent level of development,” Kook said. Many of these participating First Nations

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are in mineral or oil and gas country, according to Kook. Fund Kook talks about the next wave of wealthy First Nations in the province. “There are success stories today. We have to increase those success stories. We have to take those five to 10 communities that are successful and make that 20, then 30, then 40; no different than what we’ve done with Saskatchewan entrepreneurs in the nonFirst Nations sector. “At Westcap, we have a team that is dedicated to running a fund that is $20 million in size to help First Nations participate in the wealth of this province, in terms of managent buyouts, resources, oil and gas, as well as a program like BRIDG that helps with better governance and get them business ready.” That $20 million was funded by the provincial government, and the fund is now three years old. To date, approximately $4 million has been committed while they roll out BRIDG and the governance and infrastructure first. There has been a lot of activity in the Fund as of late, according to Kook, and he expects additional transactions to be announced soon. Oil and gas is one area the fund can invest in, but it is not limited to that sector. ɸ Page B17

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

B17

Improving governance before investment ɺ Page B16 Any First Nation or Métis organization, communities or entrepreneurs can apply for access to the fund. They have to have 51 per cent ownership of the enterprise. “We’ve done a couple transactions, successful by all accounts,” Kook said, but noted they were early on. “We bridge a whole new side,” Kook said. Through Westcap’s experience and connections as one of the leading investment fund managers in the province, they

are able to bring deal ﬂow, management teams, investors and, probably most importantly, business acumen in the acquisition and investment space. It’s possible, for instance, to work with them to develop joint ventures with good management teams, such as the “toptier oil and gas management teams,” Kook likes to refer to. “We can come to the table with them on their behalf,” Kook said. “That’s our business, helping them vet [business opportunities],” he said.

Westcap, he said, has their interests at heart, and can be aligned by investing alongside with them in the venture. “Our deal size is between $1 million to $3 million. If it needs more, we can partner with Golden Opportunities, or other oil and gas partners we know,”Kook explained. That can be leveraged into a $10 million deal. “We’re pretty excited,” he said. “We’re looking at management buyouts, service, manufacturing, value-added ag. We’ll

look at mineral plays.” One of the companies they have partnered with is Eagle Vision Mulching out of Big River. Some companies see opportunities butting up on First Nations lands, Kook noted in reference to oil and gas development. There are some inherent opportunities, not only from a taxation perspective, but through lands that have been accumulated through the Treaty Land Entitlement

process. Whereas historically, the First Nations may not have come to the table with capita, the fund can help them with that now. As fund managers, Westcap can bring advice at the board level. “We know it’s ultimately about management,” Kook said. The two programs – BRIDG and the First Nations and Métis fund, are connected because of what they do at Westcap,

Kook explained. They are driven to see that First Nations are not left behind in creation of wealth and the resource development that’s occurring this province. “The fund’s ﬁrst mandate is to help create wealth for First Nations and Métis. If you’re creating wealth, you’re creating sustainable long term jobs. “It’s about job creation,”he said, noting there are no hiring quotas.

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Waskada, Man. – Spearing Service L.P. is building a shop just south of Waskada to support its burgeoning business in the area. “We bought 20 acres of property there to develop,” said Ken McClement, Spearing’s operations manager based in Oxbow. The company is a subsidiary of Mullen Group Ltd. “We’ll be in our shop within 90 days,” he said on Oct. 19. “They’ve started her now.” The company is building an 8,000 sq.-ft. shop which will include eight doors arranged for drive-through access. A wash bay will be part of the shop. Office space will also be part of the package. The location will have a mechanic as well as office staff. The company will move in some wellsite trailers for temporary accommodations for staff. “We need some lodging for some guys,” McClement said. “We’ve got up to 20 guys there most days now,” he said of the current Waskada workforce. Some are locals, some are staying in locally rented homes, some are trav-

elling from Pipestone, Man. The earlier wet weather meant some changes to the foundation, but otherwise McClement said, “It’s been really good.” In the area it’s pretty common to see Spearing’s horizontal frac trailer tanks on local wellsites during fracturing opera-

tions. “We have over 60 of the frac trailers down there now,” McClement said. The yard will allow for storage, plus a place to clean and restore them. The company has been building up its ﬂeet of frac trailers. “We have 178 altogether now,” he said.

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B18

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Hannah’s been around for both booms Waskada, Man. – Hannah’s Tank Rentals has been through the busy times and the slow

times in Waskada, Man., ﬁring up during the ﬁrst oil rush in the community and now seeing the

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started up, “Oh, about 25 years ago, way back in ’84-’85.” Clayton’s wife, Fran, is the other half of the company, whose role is administrative work. “I started the last time the oil patch was in Waskada,” said Clayton. At the time, he was an agent for Circle D Tanks. “When they left, I bought a couple tanks and started building if from there,” he said. The company is pretty focused. They handle tank rentals, and only tank rentals. Of that, you can have any size you want, as long as its 400 barrels. “That’s all I rent,” Clayton said. “It’s my main thing.

I’m retired from farming. It’s a full-time job for me,” he said of the rental business. The company now has 35 tanks, slowly building up in number over the years. Over the past year, Hannah said, “It’s been busy. This week, it could have been busier. There are six tanks in the yard. “Last week, there weren’t any,” he said on Oct. 6. Those tanks could be seen lined up along the west side of a yard that could best be described as park-like, something Clayton attributes to Fran. He’s also pretty conscientious about having drivers keep the place

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neat and orderly. As tanks come in, they are cleaned by an outfit brought in, then aligned on the row ready to go out. “It was so quiet here, I actually subleased my tanks to an outfit in Saskatchewan in the early ’90s. Things have been a steady increase for me,” Clayton said. “The last two years, it’s really picked up.” “They’ve been good to support us and the local companies,” Fran added. “It takes a lot of time to expand,” Clayton said. “Tanks are not available at a drop of a hat. It takes four to six weeks to make one. We try to add two to four a year,” he said. In the early days, they had a truck to haul tanks. He decided to get rid of it, and let others worry about hauling them. “If my boy decides to come home, and someday, he might,” Clayton responded when asked about hauling their own tanks. “It’s a young man’s game, rolling 16 hours a day. “Right now, it’s tough to find a good man to work for you,” he said. Clayton said they hope to get about 10 to 12 years of life out of a tank, but that depends on what they are used for. “These wells have more gas. We’re starting to epoxy coat them. We hope to get an extra three to five years,” he said.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

B19

Rider fan maybe? Saskatchewan Roughriders fan Michael “Huge” Blair paid $200 for the custom paint job on his hardhat. The Rider Pride motorhand could be found working on Precision Drilling’s Rig 205 near Waskada, Man. on Sept. 28. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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Waskada, Man. – There are a lot of new faces working in and around Waskada, Man., these days. One of those new people, for a short time at least, was Daryl Schienbein, relief chef at PTI Group’s Waskada Lodge, while another is Weyme Teeter, first chef. Schienbein had just arrived at the camp when Pipeline News visited on Sept. 28. “I was up in Baffin Island, doing DEW Line cleanup,” he said, referring to the continuing decommissioning process of the cold-war era Distant Early Warning line of radar stations in the high arctic. Schienbein was filling in for Terry Kluke, the regular camp cook. PTI cooks typically work three weeks on and one off, requiring a relief cook to fill in during the off week. “I’m a bit of a Gypsy right now, but I guess Vancouver was where I was raised,” said Teeter while making the final preparations for lunch. “I’m kind of a Gypsy, too,” added Schienbein. “I was born in Saskatchewan, and I’m a Riders fan. Does that count?” His family moved to British Columbia when he was two. The camp has recently doubled its capacity, and will soon have nearly 200 people staying there. “Right now, we’re at 100. That’s 300 meals a day,” he said.

The camp allows walk-in traﬃc for meals. With a ﬂat rate for each meal, a person has access to everything on that menu. Asked how he factors for that variability, Schienbein said, “I will calculate 1.5 pork chops per person,” he cited as an example. Orders are done weekly, and as the camp population climes, they order accordingly. Schienbein attended Vancouver Community College, and has his Red Seal chef papers. While chef training may focus on fancy French cuisine, Schienbein said, “Out here, you’re doing mom and pop cooking – comfort food.” Teeter, 27, said she

fell into cooking after high school. “Here I am, 10 years later.” Schienbein, 44, has been with PTI for six years. He had worked in hotels and restaurants on the West Coast, and had been a sous chef on Vancouver Island before joining PTI. “I always wanted to check into camp life. I called a friend, and it was ‘When can you be here?’” He’s found it’s better money than working on the island. “This has worked out well. The pay’s good, job’s good. Camp life’s not for everybody, but I don’t mind it.” Much of his work has been around Fort St. John, B.C. “It’s really pick and

choose. Go where the jobs are. Wherever they have work, they send you.”

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B20

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

CE Franklin has re-established its presence in Waskada, Man. On the left is Jason Wickham, who looks after the Waskada store, and Scott Wilson, who manages the Virden location.

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ing all the necessities to get the job done. After a long hiatus, the company is now back in Waskada, Man., taking part in the local boom that is occurring around the small village. “We set up midApril, and opened the start of May,” said Scott Wilson, 35, manager of the CE Franklin’s Virden, Man., location. “We were here once before, in the ﬁrst boom in the early 1980s.”

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At that time, the company operated out of ATCO trailers. “I used to work here in those trailers,” he said. The Waskada branch closed in December 1998, during a low time for the oil patch. As Wilson explained, “Oil was $11 a barrel and there was nothing going on. We needed a new building and there was no maintenance [going on]. “When we closed Waskada, I went to Fort St. John for eight years, then Calgary for three and a half years.” He has since ended up looking after the Virden location. Wilson noted they didn’t want to close in 1998, and when he returned to the region, he was consistently asked to set up a supply

store at Waskada. Now he’s assisting Virdenlocal Jason Wickham get the store up and running. Wickham, 37, started in April, and has ﬁve years previous experience with a local oilﬁeld maintenance crews. His father, Don, owned the building they are now set up in. It used to be an agriculture supply store and at one point a lumber yard. “They even used to sell curling equipment here for a little while,” Wilson said. Living three miles from Waskada, Wickham tried his hand at farming, but it didn’t work out. Like many others, that’s how he found himself working in the oil patch.

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“I was a plumber by trade,” he said, but found himself working on water drilling rigs for low wages. As a local, he’s seen the ups and downs in the patch. His father used to be an operator. “When the oilfield died, Waskada died with it. Houses sold for cheap. We probably had eight good homes moved out of town,” Wickham said. “Guys would buy a house and lot for 1,000 bucks. That’s changed now, with activity levels causing a recently established camp to double in size to 200 beds. It’s been driven by some of the local players in the Waskada area including ARC Resources, PetroBakken, Molopo, Red Beds (a subsidiary of Manitoba’s biggest oil producer, Tundra Oil and Gas), Penn West and EOG Resources. The last two are definitely the largest operators in the area. In early October, there were six rigs active within just a few miles of town. Regarding the local activity level, Wilson said, “I can see 1,200 to 1,600 wells within five years in the Waskada area, and possibly more.” ɸ Page B21

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B21

Rope, soap and dope supplied ɺ Page B20 There is talk of a gas plant in the area. “It’s the price of oil and new technologies. Then years ago, they abandoned a tonne of wells. New drilling and fracking technologies have surged in this area.” For their business, he said, “It’s improving every month. We’re getting used to customer requirements, building inventory according to local needs.”

Being in Waskada, just a few minutes drive from a lot of the action, makes a big difference, according to Wilson. “If an operator needs a $2 fitting, it saves them an hour running there and back,” he said of the next closest supply store. “Most of the drilling activity is within 25 minutes of Waskada.” Wilson explained the company has five building blocks of its business. They include

artiﬁcial lift; maintenance, repair and operations supply, or MRO (also known colloquially as “rope, soap and dope”); actuation and automation; tubular; and major projects. Locally, artiﬁcial lift and MRO are the main focus at Waskada. They also have some tubulars outside the building. The company has also locally partnered with Virden-based Safety Source, a safety sup-

ply store (see story page C16). The partnership provides them with personal protective equipment to oﬀer. Wickham noted they will be carrying air pack systems as clients call for them. One thing they both point out is the diﬃculties of logistics for the Manitoba oil patch. Even though Virden is not far away and on the TransCanada Highway, overnight service does not occur, especially for

products coming out of Edmonton. “It’ll drive right past us on the way to Winnipeg,” Wilson said, pointing out there is no trucking depot in Virden. While they are working on it, he acknowledged, “Freight is one of our biggest expenses and problems.” “I’m a home boy

through and through,” Wickham said. In the ’80s, it was such a quick little boom. Everybody made their money and left. I hope some day this isn’t just a one man store,” Wickham said. He wants jobs in town, and besides, they need more kids to play hockey with his kids.

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Jason Wickham, left, and Scott Wilson, can be found at the Waskada CE Franklin location. Wilson is the the manager for Virden, while Wickham operates the Waskada location. Wilson used to work in Waskada several years before.

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B22

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Onion Lake grows its own building supplies business Onion Lake – When opportunity knocks, the Onion Lake Cree Nation’s Business Development Corporation (BDC) is ready to open new businesses under its administrative umbrella. Meetah Building Supplies is the latest in a growing list of companies managed and operated by the Onion Lake BDC. The new venture is one that general manager Jim Chisholm says currently employs eight band members and meets the needs of a booming housing

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market. “For 2010, we have 59 new houses being built at Onion Lake and another 50 renovations,” he said. “The business is supplying building materials. We have a very active housing business here in Onion Lake. We build a lot of houses here.” Construction is under way on a new 10,000 sq. ft. building behind the BDC office to house building supplies such as all types of lumber, drywall, roofing and siding materials. The old hockey arena adjacent to the BDC office is currently being used to store product inventory until the Meetah Building Supplies centre is complete. The new steel frame building will share space with an existing glass shop in Onion Lake that could morph into a manufacturing centre for sealed windows. “We do other things as well and we have widened our product group,” said Chisholm. “We supply furniture, appliances and all that sort of thing to our new houses and to our social assistance group here. “There’s a lot of potential there.” Chisholm says Meetah Building Supplies was created in 2009, but didn’t really get going until the beginning of December. “The idea came up that rather than give the profits in building materials to people outside the community, that we would create our own building supply company and keep the profit within this community,” he said. ɸ Page B23

Cliff Keller, a contract driver for Askiy Apoy Hauling, takes a break along with dispatcher Keith Miller, and Jim Chisholm, the general manager of Meetah Building Supplies. The band’s Business Development Corporation ofÀce is shared by several Onion Lake businesses.

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B23

Progressive attitude helps business get started “We have only been in operation for roughly 10 months, and in those 10 months we have done quite a bit of business outside of Onion Lake. “We are supplying materials for houses being built at Saddle Lake First Nation (Alberta) and we have also supplied some lumber products to the Paul band outside of Edmonton.” While Chisholm is delighted with the early success of the new business, he cautions the BDC doesn’t want it to grow too quickly. “Our takeoﬀ has been excellent. We are very happy with the progress that we’ve made,” he said. “In the building supply business, everyone sells supplies. We have to sell service. “We can’t take on more than we can comfortably handle. Building a reputation is really important.”

HUTT’S TRUCKING LTD. Jim Chisholm points to a display of all the businesses managed by the Onion Lake Cree Nation Business Development Corporation.

ɺ Page B22 Chisholm also credits the progressive attitude of the BDC as well as band Chief Wally Fox and his band council for helping to get Meetah Building Supplies oﬀ the ground. “We have a very business-driven community, and we are always looking for opportunities,” he said. “The longer term vision is to widen the economic base of this community and not be so dependent on oil and gas. The plan is to diversify and spread our wings and try to create businesses.” Other BDC companies include, Makaoo Mall

14th l nia n e i B

Development, Onion Lake Gas, Askiy Apoy Fluid Hauling, KRP Radio, Onion Lake Energy and Onion Lake Enterprise. “Our business development group that Meetah Building Supplies is part of is owned by Onion Lake,” said Chisholm. Onion Lake also owns Beretta Construction, based in Lloydminster. “The ultimate objective is as Meetah Building grows is to expand the business outside of Onion Lake to other First Nations in and around Onion Lake,” said Chisholm.

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C-Section

PIPELINE NEWS

November 2010

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

Penn West massively ramping up Waskada production Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Waskada, Man. – Penn West Energy Trust is one of two of the most active companies on a major push to increase production around the small village of Waskada, Manitoba. Their oil production at Waskada has quintupled in one year, from 500 bpd to 2,500 bpd. But the company is planning to ramp that production up by almost a full order of magnitude within the next two years, to 23,000 bpd. Put in perspective, the Manitoba Petroleum Branch’s website notes, “The month of March 2007 had the highest production on record 120,087 m3 (755,740 bbls) or 24,379 bpd.” In other words, Penn West expects to nearly match the entire province’s peak oil production of nearly four years ago by itself within two years. Manitoba’s all time high for production was in March, 2010, at 32,000 bpd, according to Petroleum Branch director Keith Lowdon. Penn West’s company-wide average production at the end of the second quarter was 164,141 boepd. At Waskada, their gas production went from 100,000 cubic feet per day to one million. However, due to a lack of collection infrastructure, at present, it is all being flared off. “Right now it is all being flared because there is no infrastructure in the area,” said Tim Buchanan, Penn Penn West Energy Trust has been using pad drilling to minimize surface West’s local production foreman in disturbance. This was their Àrst Àve-well pad in the area. Waskada. Currently Penn West has the only oil sales pipeline in the Waskada area the reasons EOG is building its own then will ramp up to 15,000 bpd by which connects to the Enbridge Main- eight-inch oil pipeline from Waskada March 2011, and eventually 23,000 line system at Cromer, Man. It’s a six- with a maximum capacity of 40,000 bpd within two years. This will be acinch line, with a 7,500 bpd capacity. bpd. A seven-kilometre four-inch gas complished by adding booster stations Much of that capacity is currently be- pipeline is also under construction for to the pipeline to max out its capacity. The company is also looking at using used by EOG Resources, accord- EOG. Penn West projects it will have ing natural gas for electrical co-gening to Buchanan. However, Penn West is soon going to need all of that capac- production to completely use up the eration, which may help alleviate the ity for itself, plus more. That’s one of 7,500 bpd capacity of its pipeline, and pressure on the power infrastructure

Penn West is currently spending approximately $800,000 to $1 million per day in the Waskada region. locally. A battery a few kilometres south of Waskada is currently being substantially expanded to 7,500 bpd, and will have a second phased added in short order which will bring it up to 15,000 bpd. Phoenix Industrial is doing the construction work. Buchanan said, “We’re looking at $28 million at this facility alone to get ready for the production for the next two years.” Penn West is currently spending approximately $800,000 to $1 million per day in the Waskada region, according to Buchanan. They currently have three rigs working around Waskada, two doubles from Ensign Big Sky, Rigs 37 and 89, and a super single from Precision Drilling. When Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Choniak visited on Sept. 28, Precision’s Rig 205 was working just a few kilometres southwest of the community. ɸ Page C2

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Production expected to rise 9 fold in two years ɺ Page C1 The rig was working on the company’s first five-well pad in the area, with several wells already completed. At the time, it was typically drilling a hole 900 metres deep in an average of 2.8 days. With the rig move included, they were averaging about five days per horizontal hole. The company has just under 180 producing wells in the area. They drilled 13 horizontal wells in 2009, and in 2010, had put in approximately 50 horizontal wells by the end of September. About 70 are planned for the whole year. Ten of those new wells were ready for fracking at the time of the ministerial visit. Kelvin Luedtke, Penn West’s production superintendent for southeast Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakoka, said of the super single rig, “They are very efficient to move. The top drive makes them more efficient while drilling.” They also have features that improve safety.

There is no monkeyboard that the derrickhand has to work on. Hydraulic equipment does nearly all of the pipe handling. He noted the Waskada wells are relatively shallow, at 900 metres into the Amarath formation. “We’re drilling right in the middle of it. You get two wells here for almost the price of one at Estevan,” Luedtke said, primarily due to depth. With a large number of existing vertical wells, there is an opportunity to convert some of those into horizontals. Indeed, three have already been re-entered and had horizontal legs drilled, according to Don Van De Sype, who heads up completions in the area for Penn West. “We’re in the frac mode with them now,” he said. Their completion strategy is to use a packer system with an abrasive jet-cutting tool, he said. B.J. Services has been handling the company’s hydraulic fracturing. “We usually book in eight to 10 fracs,” Van de Sype said. That results

in about 22 to 25 people with 12 hour shifts. A week after the ministerial visit, several frac operations could be seen in various stages at Penn West locations west of Waskada. Each had numerous horizontal frac tanks neatly aligned, supplied by Spearing Service L.P. of Oxbow. Spearing is currently building a location just south of the community. Van De Sype said he prefers the wheeled, horizontal form of tank. “I’ve got 43 here,” he said. They are cost effective for moving, and more portable, he explained. “We’re hauling anywhere from 800 to 1,000 cubic metres of water per well,” he said. That water is coming from the town on a temporary basis. They plan to use produced water soon. “A lot of farmers want to sell their water,” he added. “The town is good with us, we’re good with the town,” he said. The company has trailers set up in the northwest corner of town for staﬀ.

Waskada Genesis Inn

Kelvin Luedtke, production superintendent for Penn West Energy Trust for southeast Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota, talks to Twila Jolly during a rig tour. Jolly does the paperwork for the Manitoba Petroleum Branch in Waskada.

Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak, left, is shown Penn West’s new battery, under construction, south of Waskada.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

From Above Waskada, Man. – Fast Trucking of Cardnuff had its helicopter in the Waskada area on Oct. 6. The company was kind enough to provide Pipeline News editor Brian Zinchuk, Waskada Mayor Gary Williams, and Manitoba Petroleum Branch administrative secretary Twila Jolly for an airborne tour of some of the action happening around the southern Manitoba boomtown. Photos by Brian Zinchuk

Fast Trucking of Carnduff now has a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter, seen here at Waskada.

Left: Ensign Big Sky Drilling Rig 37 could be found northeast of Waskada.

Right: A very small community, Waskada is now in the middle of a boom. You can see evidence of its previous boom in the ’80s, with a blue pumpjack on the right side of the park. On the top left corner, wellsite trailers provide lodging for Penn West workers. The little blips in the Àelds to the north are pumpjacks.

BJ Services conducts a fracking operation on a Penn West well west of Waskada. The blue horizontal frac tanks, supplied by Spearing Service L.P., have become popular in the area.

EOG Resource’s pipeline project is in the process of lowering in and backÀll as seen here. If you look closely, you can see both the eight-inch oil pipeline, and a four-inch local gas pipeline in the ditch.

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Riding the new wave of drilling

His store is an eclectic assortment. In one corner you can buy gifts, another a notepad, with insurance in the third corner and a bottle to keep you happy in the fourth. Waskada Mayor Gary Williams is seeing his town boom following a rebirth of the local oil patch due to new drilling and completion technologies.

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Waskada, Man. – It’s not every day that a helicopter lands in the clearing across the street from his store, but Waskada Mayor Gary Williams saw just that on Oct. 6. Fast Trucking was working in the area, and management had taken the company helicopter from their base in Carnduﬀ earlier that day. They were kind enough to give the mayor, an oﬃcial with the Manitoba Petroleum Branch, and Pipeline News a ride around the community in the chopper. “There’s something you won’t see everyday,” Williams said, pointing to the helicopter. Things are looking up for Williams and his town, in this case, quite literally.

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On that flight, Williams had a chance to over fly two drilling rigs and several frac operations going on within just a few kilometres of the small village of about 200 souls. A pipeline right-of-way running along the east side and off to the northwest buzzed with activity. “It’s an exciting time,” Williams said earlier that morning. He recounted having lunch with a friend at the local restaurant. The friend asked if Williams knew the man sitting by himself at a table. It turned out, the mayor didn’t know any of the customers. “I looked around. I never say anyone here before. That’s not something I’m used to. “There aren’t many empty houses in town, and some of them, we don’t know how many people are in them,” he said. “Anything that goes on the market is being snapped up.” Housing prices are much stronger, he said. Things have been turning around for the past five years, with a trend of people moving out of the city. The last year, however, is when some serious fuel has been added to the fire. “Of all reports, it’s going to become more active,” he said. EOG Resources is currently building an eight-inch pipeline to Enbridge’s terminal in Cromer, Man. That will complement the existing Penn West Energy Trust six-inch line that will be upgraded from 7,500 bpd to 15,000 bpd, and eventually 23,000 bpd. “This pipeline will remove a bottleneck for production,” Williams said of EOG’s new line. “It’s challenging for a small village council to address this and meet the needs of the people,” Williams said. He spoke of developing infrastructure – water, sewer and roads – to handle development. He is looking to when production levels out. “People will hopefully raise their families here,” he said. ɸ Page C5

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Second boom revives once-Àagging village ɺ Page C4 Indeed, like many town in rural Canada, Waskada has struggled. There was an oil boom in the early 1980s, but that petered out substantially, and much of the added economic activity dried up. The rail line was pulled out about a decade ago. The restaurant had closed for several years, until a local couple decided to purchase it and re-open it. Williams pointed out the K-12 school, the smallest of its type in Manitoba, wasn’t always a foregone conclusion. The community coughed up extra funds to add 0.5 of a position, so that they could retain one more staff member. However, enrolment is up 15 per cent for the school that had 75 kids last year. The oil industry is why they still have a school, he said. Two oil patch safety companies that are providing mobile treatment units in the area have come forward and offered their services to assist in case of medical emergencies until the regular ambulance arrives. Williams said that came into play during the previous week, with a collision near the community. There’s a huge reduction in response time as a result, he said. Bob Radcliffe, a councillor for the RM of Brenda that surrounds Waskada, walked into Williams’ store, Griffith Agencies. It’s an eclectic place where you can get your licence plates renewed, pick up a notepad, a gift, and a bottle of whisky. “It’s exciting. Everything is going full bore,” Radcliffe said. At one point he counted 88 vehicles going past a point near the town in 45 minutes. That’s easily a 10fold increase from last year, he added. “You should have been here at quarter to seven,” he said. In addition to the drilling going on in the area, Spearing Service is building a new shop south of town. PTI Group doubled the size of its camp, established last spring, to 200 beds. The camp is now as big

Bob Radcliffe, a councillor the Manitoba RM of Brenda, has been counting vehicles due to the inÁux of oil business in the area. In one place, the trafÀc is 10 times what it was a year ago. The RM of Brenda surrounds the village of Waskada.

as the village. Campers can be seen near the edge of the south side park, and wellsite trailers occupy the northwest corner of town. Radcliffe had seen the boom of the ’80s, but said, “Now it’s on a large scale. They’re spending a fair bit.” He has heard 10 new operators are going to be needed in the area, and that there is an extreme housing shortage. Another man, this one in fire-retardant coveralls, walked into the store. “That fellow worked here in the first boom, went to Alberta, and is now back as a consultant,” Radcliffe said. In the Waskada area, as is common throughout Manitoba, there is a high percentage of freehold mineral rights. Williams pointed out that quite often, those rights are not held by the current owners of the land, however, and may have been passed down within families and spread out to descendents. Williams said, “We have a pretty vibrant ag economy. The farmland here is as good as any. A little on the dry side, famers have generally done well here.” A hemp processing plant is under construction on the south side of town. The former rail land in the centre of Waskada is now open for development. A camp company had expressed interest in it, but Williams noted a preference for more permanent buildings. “We’re trying to steer this ship through waters that are pretty uncharted. In 10 years, if we can grow our population by 25 per cent, and maintain a store, post office, hotel and credit union, we will have done as well as we can.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Manitoba minister tours Waskada area Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk Waskada, Man. – Dave Chomiak was on a mission in late September, visiting Manitoba’s two most prominent oil plays. On Sept. 28, he, along with several of his ministerial staﬀ, visited the hot Waskada area. Chomiak is Manitoba’s minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines. While having a lunch at the PTI Waskada Stan Keyowski, right, of Penn West, describes the operation of the Precision Drilling super single rig to Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak on Sept. 28.

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Lodge camp set up this past March just north of the community, Chomiak told Pipeline News it was his first “mission like this in this part of the country.” “Yesterday, we spent the day with Tundra at the Sinclair field,” he said. Tundra Oil and Gas is the largest oil producer in the province, with significant operations near Sinclair, Man. While there, he visited the company’s carbon dioxide flood pilot project. “We still see potential,” he said of it. At Waskada, the minister saw construction of EOG Resources’ new pipeline from Waskada to Cromer, Man., where it joins with the Enbridge mainline system. He discussed their operation and plans for the future. “They’re pretty bullish,” Chomiak said of EOG. “It is amazing. There’s a lot of things going on in Manitoba nobody knows anything about,” he said. In the afternoon, Chomiak was taken to Precision Drilling’s Rig 205, a super single doing a five-well pad for Penn West Energy Trust. Before heading out, he and the ministry staff were given a brief safety orientation at the local

town hall. They were told of Penn West’s five-fold expansion in production in the past 12 months, and plans to go up by almost another order of magnitude over the next two years, to 23,000 bpd production. “By March, we’ll match our production here to the whole Williston Basin,” Tim Buchanan, Penn West’s local production foreman, told the minister later in the day. At the rig they were shown how the rig uses a hydraulic arm to handle pipe. They were also shown how the rig utilized a mechanical connection device, known as “power wrench,” a form of iron roughneck. Later they were taken into the geologist’s shack and shown drill cuttings. After a quick stop at some completed well sites, they next visited the Penn West battery that is under construction. Phoenix Industrial, the company working on the site, stressed the importance of having a local workforce with the proper oilfield training, including items like first aid and H2SAlive, and their difficulties in finding people with those qualifications. They were also being challenged by strain with local utilities, particularly for hydro and telecommunications. ɸ Page C7

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Workforce and infrastructure needs highlighted Prairie who had no idea of what was going on in the area. He personally had started with Penn West in March, after two years with Tundra. “Like every trip, I learned a lot. Until you’re on the ground, you don’t

Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak, second from left, is shown a graphic representation of the well being drilled by Penn West just west of Waskada on Sept. 28. On the left is Twila Jolly, who works in the ministry’s ofÀce in Waskada. Stan Keyowski, right, of Penn West, offers an explanation.

ɺ Page C6 On the plus side, the minister heard they were being welcomed by the community and local service providers were being very accommodating. “You know where my 19-year-old is going now,” the minister joked, implying he was going to send him to Waskada to ﬁnd work. “When I come out here and see all the pumps going, it’s mindboggling,” Chomiak said. Penn West gathered much of its local workforce to meet with the minister at the hall at the end of the day. “This oil patch is a little jewel. There’s real energy in it, no pun intended.” Several things were pointed out to the minister in terms of infrastructure needs. Cellphone coverage was top of the list. Nearly everyone Pipeline News spoke to brought up the poor cell phone coverage. Many people use boosters in their trucks, but that is useless outside of

the truck. Lack of cell coverage is a safety concern as well. Indeed, a voicemail and text message Pipeline News left for a ministry official at 10 a.m. was not received by that person until several hours later. The message was both sent and received on Blackberry devices. Line locates were another issue. The battery builders noted it can take several weeks to get a line located, as opposed to 48 hours in Saskatchewan or Alberta, a significant issue when doing construction work. As well, hydro installation and capacity were brought up. Chomiak acknowledged the issues and he would be bringing them up in the future. “They’ll get the hydro,” he said. Assistant Deputy Minister John Fox said they are looking into having well licences addressed in a timely manner, and were looking at additional staff for approvals and inspection. He noted next year will likely be as busy as this

year or even busier. Troy Phillips, a ﬁeld operator with Penn West, told the minister he had spoken to someone from Portage la

have any comprehension of how dynamic the ﬁeld is,” Chomiak told Pipeline News at the end of the day. “Just about everything is happening in Manitoba, but we don’t talk about it. We don’t

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Business is great. Can we retire now? By Brian Zinchuk Waskada, Man. – When Keith and Margie Hannah bought the Waskada Genesis Inn three years ago, it had been closed for several years. The ﬁrst year and a half were tough, and the next year and a half have been extremely busy. Now, they’re hoping some younger people will come along and take over the business.

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Keith and Margie Hannah have retired from farming, and would like to retire from the hotel and restaurant business. Their restaurant, the only one within the village of Waskada, Man., is a hopping place these days due to the inÁux of people and the local oil boom.

The Genesis Inn is a diﬀerent sort of building. At one end, the local credit union has its branch. At the other end are four hotel rooms. In the middle is a restaurant and bar. Margie was a teacher long before she became a restaurant and hotel owner. “I taught in a one room country school, then a two-room school.” However, a family meant an end to her teaching career. “Back then, there was no such thing as maturnity. leave, and there were oodles of teachers.” “We farmed. We have a century farm on

the edge of Waskada,” said Keith, who has lived there his whole life. They rented the farm out two years ago and started another company called Farm Genesis, owned by 32 farmers. It’s an initiative to process hemp into a variety of products. Their food processing plant is being built on the south side of town. It will handle eight diﬀerent products, including protein powder, hemp milk, toasted hemp seed, hulled seed and energy bars. They hope to be in operation by the spring, after having started construction last April. Indeed, Keith was speaking to processing hardware suppliers just before meeting with Pipeline News. ɸ Page C9

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Restaurant going strong ɺ Page C8 The company has spent the last two and a half years developing a market. Initially it looked into biodiesel. “We found out it wasn’t going to work,” Keith said. “We will employ around 20 people,” Keith said with confidence. That’s a tall order in a community of 200 when all the other business people talk of extreme labour pressures. Yet Keith is a very strong booster of the community, noting it’s crime-free, and has a school you can get a Grade 12 education in. “We’re sitting in a great location – 90 miles from Brandon, Minot; 200 miles from Winnipeg and Regina.” Margie, head of the local chamber of commerce, piped up regarding children, “This is the place to raise them.” “We’ve got to have a positive attitude, or we’re going nowhere,” Keith stressed. Indeed, it was this spirit of civic pride that inspired the couple to buy the This hemp processing plant should be completed by spring time. Keith defunct restaurant and hotel three years ago. Hannah has been one of the prime promoters of the business, which “We bought this place. It was closed for two years. The town was dying,” should employ 20 people once in full operation. Finding that many workers in a village stretched for labour is another story. Margie said. Smorgs, smorgs and more smorgs Now their restaurant is the only place to eat in the small village, excluding The oil people have been great to work with. “The bar scene is picking up. If we promoted it, it would be tremendously the new camp several miles north of town. “She’s a busy spot here,” said Keith. Things are so busy now, smorgasbords are the order of the day in the restau- busy. They guys wanted a karaoke, but we don’t have the staff to do it.” rant until further notice. They simply can’t get the staff to handle individual orders for all customers right now. It’s hard to compete against oil patch salaries. An effort to bring in three Filipino workers was flummoxed at the airport. “We had three Filipinos waiting at the airport in Manila to come. The pro(306) 421-5995 vincial government okayed it, the federal government turned it down,” Keith explained. • 10m3 Compartment Pressure Truck 5000 PSI (steel line) That was a $2,500 expense down the tubes. Due to the housing shortage, • 6m3, 2 Compartment Pressure Truck • 2 - 15m3 Acid Trucks & 30m3 Acid Wagon the Hannahs, like other business people in Waskada, have a house in town for • Sour Sealed 407 Crude Trailers workers. • Fresh Water Trucks • Vac Trucks Margie is putting in long hours in the restaurant, so long that she said, “I • End Dump Service Available haven’t been in my house for three years. I want to spend time with my grand• All Equipment is Modern & children and elderly mother.” G.P.S. Equip. “We’ve got it so it’s a good business. We’d like to see younger people take it • Fresh Water over,” Keith said. Available “[Before,] we wished people would come in. Now we’re very busy,” Margie added. In the early days, they had to try special meals like seniors’ meals or smorgs, or a band, something to pay the bills, to keep things going. The whole commu“Where Experience and Dependability nity would come on those special days. Unfortunately, you can’t have a special Are Just a Phone Call Away” day every day. #3 Breeze Street, Estevan, SK Oil has been the saving grace. OfÀce: 306-634-0070 • Fax: 306-634-0071 “This place lost money for the first 18 months we were here, until the oil Estevan and Weyburn locations activity got going,” Margie said. “Our local people have treated us wonderfully.

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Onion Lake janitorial service Onion Lake – Onion Lake Enterprises has been cleaning up in more ways than one during the Lloydminster Husky maintenance turnaround that is under the administrative eye of Sylvia Carter. Carter is the general manager of Onion

Lake Enterprises, the company that has the janitorial contract for Husky Energy facilities in Lloydminster and the Northern Blizzard oﬃce formerly occupied by Nexen Inc. Onion Lake Enterprises bids on the contract every three years

and that includes all turnaround work. The 2010 Husky turnaround, expected to be over by the end of October, has swelled the ranks of Carter’s janitorial troops from 43 regulars to an army of approximately 160 workers, mostly all from the Onion Lake Cree Nation. The expanded crews work two 10-hours shifts throughout the turnaround and revert to an eight-hour afternoon shift with the regular workforce when the turnaround ends. “We go through all of the oﬃce buildings and all of the plants,” said Carter. “It’s a daily task. “Right now, we have the major turnaround, and we are cleaning maybe 160 work trailers. It’s detailed work.” Workers travel to the job site on an Onion Lake shuttle van or arrange their own transportation. “We have crews working seven days a week and nights right

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through the turnaround. “The turnaround is supposed to last until the 15th of October, but I don’t know – with the rain and all that, it kind of puts it back,” Carter said during an interview on Oct. 5. There is no extra money during the turnaround for Carter as a salaried employee, but as

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a safety co-ordinator she feels a need to be onsite. “I also make sure everybody is there and trained,” said Carter. “Workers have to have H2S awareness, WHMIS – whatever the requirements are,” she said. “It’s kind of a high risk place that we work in at so we have to make sure employees are aware especially with H2S. We all wear H2S monitors at the plant. “Our workers are

covered by the WCB. So far, it’s been pretty good as far as keeping our workers safe. “Safety is a big priority. I am in the oﬃce doing my paper work in the morning and the rest of the afternoon I spend with my staﬀ. I try to make myself visible at all the sites. “Right now, I have been really been focusing on the turnaround, so I spend a lot of time there,” said Carter. ɸ Page C11

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booms during Husky turnaround new janitorial contacts at Onion Lake with a couple of schools, the building development corporation building, the band oﬃce and the community maintenance building. “Since I came on, we have extended our contracts to our own community which was not there before,” said Carter. “There is a lot of work in the community. We still have a lot more to get. There are about ﬁve more buildings we would like to get. “I do try and get other contracts. We take contracts for clean-up jobs – like we did the

Frog Lake band office. We did the initial cleanup. We do big contracts to make it worthwhile for our time.” Carter describes her job roles as hiring, firing, co-ordinating, staff invoicing and controlling spending. “It’s steady work and we are always needing workers,” she said. “It’s a hard job to fill – janitorial. People get tired of it because all they do is clean. “I have a high turnover of staff. Sometimes transportation is a big problem for some workers and some have problems supporting their families with sitters.”

Carter’s own workload just got deeper as all business managers at the BDC office have a new mandate to find other business opportunities and create employment for band members. “So my task – I will be renovating one of the local restaurants Kihteyak (Elders) here at the Makaoo Mall,” said Carter. “That is one of my tasks to get that restaurant going. It’s going right now, but I have to renovate it and bring in new management and new staff and make it better. We will be having a grand opening November 1.”

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Sylvia Carter holds an H2S monitor that she and her janitorial staff wear for safety while cleaning at Husky facilities.

ɺ Page C10 Carter’s assistant manager Sylvia Pahtayken holds the fort in Onion Lake during her absence. “You have to be out there and work as if the company were your own,” said Carter. “That’s why it’s a success, because I care about what happens to Onion Lake Enterprises. “Husky is a very important contract and I will do anything to keep it. When the turnaround is over, we go back to our regular contract. The deal calls for

Onion Lake Enterprises to provide its own cleaning materials while Husky provides all of the paper products such as toilet paper and hand towels. “We have scrubbing machines and buﬀers, and all of our cleaning supplies are environmentally friendly,” said Carter. “We don’t use harsh chemicals. We think about our people, who we work for, and ensure employees are not inhaling chemicals. We try and think safety and provide environmentally friendly work.”

: r u

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During the last ﬁve years as a general manager, Carter has helped the company to land

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

Shaun Kozak, Mineral Manager 306-790-4352 Chad Morris, Surface Manager 306-790-4363 Laurie Bielka, Assistant Branch Manager 306-790-4360 Crown Sale Inquiries 403-261-6580 Main Line 306-359-9000

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C12

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Pipeline contractor running at 130 per cent

Pipe is strung out for a eight-inch oil pipeline near an EOG Resources battery, northeast of Waskada. A short four-inch gas pipeline is also under construction.

JACK!

IT’S ABOUT TIME

Waskada, Man. – Drive around Waskada, Man., and you’ll come across signs along the road indicating pipeline contractor Pipeworx Ltd. is busy in the area. “We’ve got two projects on the go: a 100 well tie-in, all oil lines, and the mainline, 105 km of eight –inch, and a shorter stretch of four-inch,” according to Kelly Gillam, owner and president of Pipeworx Ltd., the contractor doing the work for EOG Resources. Pipeworx is based in Acheson, Alta, west of Edmonton. The company came about through the merger of Gillam Pipelines and Horseman Energy Services, two players of approximately equal size. Pipeworx then purchased Wolf Projects in 2008. As of Oct. 4, the company had about 70 people working on the projects, with subcontractors bringing the total between 75 and 80. All were staying locally in the area, but the company was not making use of the camp north of town, he noted. “It’s more economic to stay in town,” he said. At that time, the company was ditching and lowering-in the pipeline. Additional crew were dispatched to assist the right of way and lowering-in crews and get the pipe in the ground. “We want to get it in before freeze-up,” Kellam said. “We want to beef up the right-of-way and lowering-in. Stringing, bending and welding make good time.” Four excavators and a wheel ditcher were added just a few days before. “We’ve been battling rain all year, everywhere, actually,” he said, noting that wet weather had been an issue on their Alberta projects as well. The company has been active in Saskatchewan in the past, but not at the present time. Gillam said they have done a lot of work for PetroBakken and Crescent Point in the past, and had just submitted a bid for another project. “We’re currently running 14 spreads. We have 400 people going right now,” according to Gillam, who said they do a lot of work in northeastern British Columbia, in addition to current work in Alberta and Manitoba. Some of their major clients include Talisman, Conoco, Cenovus, Encana and EOG Resources. ɸ Page 13

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C13

Stretching out capacity Éş Page C12 With depressed natural gas prices, â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the tank,â&#x20AC;? as Gillam put it, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s odd that they should be so busy on gas projects. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t explain why weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re so busy right now,â&#x20AC;? he said. A lot of that work is on gas projects in the Horn River and Montney plays of British Columbia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We own 65 pieces of heavy equipment. We probably have another 30 rented now.â&#x20AC;?. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s running about 130 per cent of their usual capacity, he added. That rented equipment includes iron from North Battleford-based Spence Equipment and Regina-based Kramer Ltd. In early October, they were in the clean-up phase of 24 km of 18-inch pipe, an oddball size, he said. Usually pipelines jump from 16 inches to 20 inches, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite rare to have an in-between size. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We specialize in anything from two-inch to 16-inch," he said.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

PTI Waskada Lodge doubles in size Waskada, Man. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; PTI Group Inc. opened its Waskada Lodge, 10 km north of the community, in March with two dorms. In September, it doubled its capacity, adding another two dorms, bringing its capacity to 200 people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a 200-man camp today. Pretty soon, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be full. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got 130 clients now,â&#x20AC;? said, Laurelie McMahon, camp manager. McMahon lives in Edmonton, but used to live in Winnipeg. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

The camp staff at PTI Group Inc.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Waskada Lodge are, from left: Weyme Teeter, Lee Bridge, Nasir Ali, Mark Lura, Laurelie McMahon, and Daryl Schienbein. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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been with PTI for six years, having worked at the Kinosis and Anzac open camps near Fort McMurray prior to being the inaugural manager for Waskada Lodge. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going great. PTI is a great company to work for,â&#x20AC;? she noted. At first, business was slow, but it got steady. There was a rush to add the additional dorms, which had initially been planned for the winter. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We would be jampacked, if it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t for the weather,â&#x20AC;? she said. To add impact to her claim, outside the kitchen, a man who sells matting was working on his diesel truck, absolutely coated in mud. A large puddle was present on site nearby. The clients are primarily â&#x20AC;&#x153;pipeliners

and riggers,â&#x20AC;? she said, including drilling and service rigs, frac crews and the like. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anything to do with the rigs, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here.â&#x20AC;? The camp is an â&#x20AC;&#x153;open camp.â&#x20AC;? McMahon explained, â&#x20AC;&#x153;An open camp is like a hotel. If you come in off the street, you can stay for the night. You pay all at once, not separately at the restaurant.â&#x20AC;? Indeed, anyone can come in for a meal, which is a flat rate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will not refuse anyone for a meal,â&#x20AC;? she said. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best to call in ahead if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re coming in, but they take people on the spur of the moment, too. The locals have taken advantage of this, particularly at supper time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We give tours if you want to see what the camp is like.â&#x20AC;?

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Earthmover in high demand Waskada, Man. – Jolly Construction is a long-established family earthmoving business that has been operating out of Waskada, Man. for decades. Now in the middle of a strong local oil boom, the company is in high demand for its services. Sterling Jolly runs the business with his sister, Sherry Louttit. The patriarch of the family, Jack Jolly, passed away this past summer. The earthmoving company was started in 1946. Jolly’s wife, Twila, works as the administrative person in the two-person Manitoba Petroleum Branch office on Waskada’s main street. Sterling Jolly is extremely busy these days. Pipeline News collared him for an interview during a quick lunch before he had to head out on a backhoe for the afternoon. This past year has been very busy, according to Jolly. “That sums it up. Very, very busy. “We’ve increased our size, added a few more dozers, hoes and employees. We’ve gotten quite a bit bigger.” Lease construction is a major component of Jolly Construction’s operation. They also do earthmoving and gravel hauling. Jolly notes that they just can’t keep up with the demand. There are a few other contractors in the area, too. “They’ve all been very obliging. I’ve had hundreds of calls I’ve had to turn away because I had no more men or equipment. “We always just worked in our area. I was comfortably busy. Today, with all the work, the costs are higher, you’ve got more men, and are paying more for fuel.” Jolly is community focused. “I like to keep as much of my business local as I can,” he said. “At this point, I’m just going to hold my own, but there is a possibility I will be getting bigger again,” he said, adding, “it’s tough to get workers. We advertise all over. I’ve got people working for me from all over.” In other industries, it’s enough for a company to offer someone a job. But Jolly has found, as have a lot of contractors in southeast Saskatchewan, you have to provide housing as well if you need workers. “I’ve got some in a house in town. The rest are driving the distance.” They have put some in the camp north of town. The camp, established in the spring of 2010, has been beneficial. “It’s helped us out. It’s taken the worry out if we do find workers.” In addition to the extra iron added this year, the company has also picked up a new technology, a frost cutter. “That’s been good for us,” he said, noting he’s considering adding a second. The deciding factor, he said, “is that thing called money.” You’ll find Jolly out there, pulling levers himself quite often. “Every day and most nights,” he said. “If someone doesn’t show up, I’m the man that will fill the seat.” Asked if he was concerned over a boom and bust cycle, he responded, “I never look at it that way. We’ve been through two booms. We’ve always made it work.” Jolly added he is trying not to overextend himself, something many of the operators have cautioned him about. Oil could drop, he noted. “If you worry about too much stuff, it’ll put you in the hospital,” he said. “It could be here three to 10 years, but if the price of oil changes, that can all change.”

Sterling Jolly’s pretty busy these days, with high demand for Jolly Construction’s services.

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C16

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Safety Source sets up satellite SURFACE BIT RENTAL QUALITY RERUN & RETIP 24 HR SERVICE CELL: 306-421-3726 RES: 306-634-7538 OFFICE: 306-388-2941

CHAD FROESE

er Service Ltd. Curly’s Pick Mark T. (Curly) Hirsch These are some of the safety products Safety Source is now offering at its satellite location in Waskada, Man.

1595 Dieppe Cres. Estevan, Sask. S4A 1W8

24 Hour Service Cell: (306) 461-5898 Fax: (306) 634-6690

Waskada, Man. – Virden, Man.-based Safety Source has set up a satellite operation in Waskada, Man. It is the third location, after Redvers and the base of Virden, that the company has established in recent years.

Complete Rod Pumping Design, Supply, Optimization & Field Services

The company is setting up shop in an area that has become a hotbed of drilling in Manitoba’s oilpatch. While small compared to Saskatchewan or Alberta, what’s happening in Waskada is big news for the province. In the next couple of years, the area’s production is expected to match what the entire province puts out today. “We’ve set up an agreement with CE Franklin,” said Dale Lewis, one of the own-

ers of Safety Source. “It looked like a good fit for both of us. So far, it’s been working out.” They began offering their product in Waskada in the latter half of July, carrying a full line of safety gear. That includes clothing, gloves and gas monitors as a partial list. “Our plan is to hold some training sessions down there as well,” Lewis said. Those courses will include H2SAlive, confined space, ground

- Specializing in Rod Pumping System Design—Directional, Horizontal & Vertical - Full line of API, High Strength Steel & Fiberglass Sucker Rods - Complete Dynamometer & Fluid Level Services including Optimization Proposals - Automation Services including SAM Well Managers, Wermac/Yaskawa VFDs, Xspoc Web Based SCADA Packages Phone: (306) 634-7399 Fax: (306) 634-6989 E-Mail: Estevan@pentarods.com 58 Devonian Street Estevan, Saskatchewan PO Box 667 S4A 2A6

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disturbance, and standard first aid. He said they would try to service the need as best as they can. That need is pronounced. On Sept. 28, the builders of a battery for Penn West just south of town told Manitoba’s Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak that they had a hard time finding local workers who had the requisite safety training, and had a hard time getting people to offer training. “The plan is to increase our training presence there,” he said, noting they need to get the word out they are available for training. Asked if they will they plan to establish their own stand-alone store at Waskada, Lewis responded that business has been promising in the few months they’ve been there.

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

C17

Council member trained in land administration White Bear First Nation – Annette Lonechild has spent the last several years working on advancing White Bear First Nation’s oil and gas development opportunities. She is one of 12 members on the First Nation’s band council, and works on a task team to co-ordinate oil and gas initiatives. Lonechild has been working on that front three years. Currently they are in the process of putting together a professional board for Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Ltd., the First Nation’s new production company that is just getting off the ground as part of a joint venture with a startup producer. “Depoliticizing is very important to ensure long term success,” she said. Lonechild attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1994, and has a certificate in land administration. “I did some training with the partners we had at the time, but not directly with industry,” she explained. “Prior to that, I was trained in the INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) land management program.” Lonechild has been involved with dealing with the First Nations Oil and Gas Moneys Management Act, which according to INAC, is “an optional legislation that allows a First Nation to opt out of the moneys management provisions of the Indian Act and provide for the release of capital and revenue moneys under the management and control of the First Nation.” She took part in a meeting with the Indian Resource Council of Canada. “At the time, we managed to convince the minister, through his special advisers, it was important to have decision making at the community. Prior to that, it had been with Indian Oil and Gas Canada,” she said. Lonechild stepped up to run for the band council after her father retired. “My dad was a councillor for 22 years,” she said. “I believe in collective decision making. We have a team. No one goes outside the collective plan,” she

Environmental consultant Doug Terry of MWH, left, professional archeologist Patrick Young, and White Bear Council Member Annette Lonechild discuss plans for archeological surveys of proposed drilling locations and pipeline rights-of-ways on Oct. 7. Terry and Young asked to be referred to elders they could work with to ensure protection of cultural sites. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

said. Noting the vigilance needed to keep things on track with the new oil and gas company the First

Nation has set up, Lonechild said, “It’s important for this initiative to succeed. In the long term, it’s important there be a business focus.”

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C18

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Fifteen years in oil and gas Brent McArthur is heading up efforts to get White Bear First Nation back in the oil production game. However, he’s quite humble about that fact.

White Bear First Nation – Brent McArthur jokes about flying under the radar. Indeed, only after two hours talking with him does one realize he is acting as director and president for Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Limited, White Bear First Nation’s third venture over the past 25 years into the oil and gas exploration and production sector. He stresses he prefers to be humble, and believes in collective decision-making. McArthur spent several years in White Bear’s Petroleum Land Administration department, both as a surface landman, and during the last three years, as the manager. Now he’s working on getting Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Limited off the ground, with a depoliticized board, and focused on development. “I’ve been involved in the oil and gas sector in various capacities since 1994,” McArthur said. He used to be a production operator during his first five years in the business. In 2000, he started working for the First Nation’s petroleum land administration. While with the nation’s Petroleum Land Administration department he has taken part in the co-management of the White Bear First Nation’s resources alongside Indian Oil and Gas Canada. He has been involved in First Nations oil and gas regulatory and administrative change in that capacity. In 2009 he became director of Wabimusqua Oil and Gas Limited. “I think the outlook is very optimistic in the current times,” he said. “Our immediate area is considered to be underdeveloped. Is there room for growth? Of course there is. I believe our opportunity is much greater now than it was ten years ago.”

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

C19

The team Brent Gedak Welding held its grand opening of its new facility on Oct. 6. The shop was built on the west side of Estevan, in the RM of Estevan, and opened early this year. Skid packages are the company's main bread and butter product, but they offer more such as vessels, headers and pressure piping systems, mobile rig repairs, casing bowls, mobile airless painting, pipeline Àeld service, sandblasting and coating, insulated buildings and spray foam. From left: Brent Gedak, Janelle Gedak, Joanne Schulte, Dustin Tangjerd, Jarett Mosley, Jarred Dumain, Chris GrifÀn, Harold Karren, Britt Gedak and Bill Curtis. Two men in the back are Jayden Doan and Nathaniel Dumaine. Photo by Norm Park, Estevan Mercury

Resources Guide

lancew@aspentrailer.com www.aspentrailer.com Aspen Custom Trailers 6017-84th Street S.E. Calgary, AB T2C 4S1

Maintenance

Cell numbers: 483-8024, 483-7024, 483-8148 Home: 486-2143 • Fax: 486-4855

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Lance Wotherspoon Regional Sales Manager

[T] 403 236 2244 [F] 403 236 8829 [C] 403 813 6319 [Toll Free] 877 236 2244

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Cordell Janssen District Manager Downhole

93 Panteluk Street, Kensington Avenue N Estevan, Saskatchewan PHONE: 306-634-8828 • FAX: 306-634-7747 cordell.janssen@nov.com • www.nov.com

LECLAIR TRANSPORT Lyle Leclair - Cell: 306-421-7060 Larry - Cell: 306-421-7131 General Oilfield Hauling

TERRY DODDS (24 hrs.) (306) 634-7599 Cell. (306) 421-0316

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

M.E.T. OILFIELD CONST. LTD. “All Your Construction and Maintenance Needs” 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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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

C20

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Resources Guide Box 208

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â&#x20AC;˘ HYDROVAC & VACUUM TRUCKS â&#x20AC;˘ HOT OIL & PRESSURE SERVICE â&#x20AC;˘ SANDBLASTING & PAINTING WE DO IT ALL! IN SHOP OR MOBILE

â&#x20AC;˘ TANK & VESSEL, CLEANING AND LINING â&#x20AC;˘ 4WD DRYSTEAM AND PRESSURE WASHING TRUCK

FOR SERVICE YOU CAN DEPEND ON CALL 204-727-0555

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

1404 SCARTH ST., REGINA, SASK. website. www.continentalengine.ca FAX 525-8222

continentaleng@sasktel.net

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.

Needed Immediately: Box 609 Carlyle, SK S0C 0R0

â&#x20AC;˘ Picker Operators

Bus: (306) 634-8084 Cell: (306) 577-8833 Fax: (306) 453-6478

Must have all required tickets related to positions. Must be experienced at building leases, lease cleanups and road building. Competitive salary negotiable with experience.

Fax resume to 634-6949 or email to: kpachal@supremeoil.ca

Career Opportunities

Wanted Winch Truck Driver Must have valid class 1A & H2S & First Aid CertiĂ&#x20AC;cates 2 years experience Send resumes to Connor Kirby Trucking Ltd.

Box 298 Torquay, SK S0C 2L0

CONNOR KIRBY Trucking Ltd.

Transport Company in South Eastern Saskatchewan requires a

Full time certiĂ&#x20AC;ed diesel mechanic. â&#x20AC;˘ The Ă eet of 20 trucks and trailers are involved in moving of Ă uids, experience in Ă uid pumping systems is an asset. â&#x20AC;˘ Must be able to work unsupervised and take directions from superiors. â&#x20AC;˘ Responsibilites include maintenance of a Ă eet of 20 trucks, and trailers. â&#x20AC;˘ Record keeping of schedule maintenance, of each unit, and part installation. â&#x20AC;˘ Competitive wages, depending on experience, Health plan.

Interested applicants can apply in person, e-mail, fax or phone cell:

Forget, SK Cell: 306-577-8553 Fax: 306-457-2735 E-mail: r.frenchtransport@yourlink.ca

Boom Truck Class A Operator Required

Needed Immediately:

Must have Class 1A Licence and Safety Tickets. We offer a beneĂ&#x20AC;t plan & top wages.

Fax resume to 634-6949 or email to: kpachal@supremeoil.ca

Submit resume to: Box 730 H Estevan, SK S4A 2A6 or fax 306-634-3934

â&#x20AC;˘ CAT Operators Must have all required tickets related to positions. Must be experienced at building leases, lease cleanups and road building. Competitive salary negotiable with experience.

3A & 1A Drivers/ Owner Operators/ Mechanics

Brady Oilfield Services LP. Weyburn, Halbrite and surrounding area. OilĂ&#x20AC;eld Safety CertiĂ&#x20AC;cates an asset but not necessary. BeneĂ&#x20AC;ts package available.

Mail or Fax Resume and Drivers Abstract P.O. Box 271 Midale, Sask. S0C 1S0 Fax: (306) 458-2768

Picker Operators Wanted For Full Time Position â&#x20AC;˘ Class B or A licence required â&#x20AC;˘ beneĂ&#x20AC;t package offered to qualiĂ&#x20AC;ed applicants â&#x20AC;˘ wages negotiable based on experience â&#x20AC;˘ Safety tickets an asset

Fax resumes to 306-634-2123

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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Career Opportunities

Fax: (780) 872-5239

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

for Tank Truck Operators Bulk Plant Personnel and Shop Hand Nitrogen Operators Heavy Duty Mechanics Parts Person

E-mail resumes to: dlesage@equaltransport.ca or fax them to

306-453-4404

5-1

Our People Make the Difference! Do you want to work for a progressive company who takes safety seriously and who uses today’s newest technologically-advanced equipment? If your answer is “yes”, we are interested in talking to you! We are currently seeking EXPERIENCED FIELD PROFESSIONALS (Weyburn Area) Well Servicing Division (Class 3A or Class 1) -

Rig Managers Drillers Derrickhands Floorhands

All applicants must have a valid driver’s license as well as all of the required industry training for the position they are applying for. We offer higher than industry standard wages, an exceptional employee benefits package, several employee incentive programs and unlimited opportunity for advancement. If you want to grow with a company where you are known by your name and not your employee number, please forward your resume to: Box 427 th 405 – 19 Avenue Weyburn, SK S4H 2K3 Phone: 306-842-4360 Fax: 306-842-4369 E-mail: perrypelchat@cawsc.com Quality People Delivering Quality Service

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Employment Opportunity

is an industry leader in Safety Services and is currently seeking

Safety Personnel to keep up with increasing customer demands.

If you are interested in becoming part of the Target Team and enjoying our growth with us, let us know!

Please forward resume with copies of tickets to: resumes@targetsafety.ca or fax to 780-870-5359

Are you looking for a great opportunity to join a rapidly

growing, innovative energy services company? Do you want www.savannaenergy.com to join a team with room for personal and professional growth? Then look no further!

Savanna Energy Services Corp. is a premiere contract drilling and well servicing company operating in the oil and gas sector internationally and throughout Western Canada. Our goal is to demonstrate a values-based culture through our people, innovation and technology. Join Savanna’s team and let our successes become yours! We are looking for great team members to join our Drilling and Well Servicing divisions. Opportunities are available for the following positions: RIG MANAGERS, DRILLERS, DERRICKHANDS, MOTORHANDS, FLOORHANDS & LEASEHANDS

Energy Services Flint is an industry leader in facility and pipeline construction and maintenance providing the highest level of safety and quality in the oil and gas sector. From more than 60 locations across North America, Flint’s 10,000 employees plan, fabricate, transport, build, and maintain customer projects from well tie-ins to the complete construction of major infrastructure projects. We are currently seeking applicants for the following positions in Estevan: • Supervisors • Labourers • Heavy Equipment Operators • Labour Foremen • PipeÀtters • Portable Welders • Apprentices (PipeÀtting / Welding) Flint offers a competitive and comprehensive pay and beneÀts package. If you are interested in one of the above positions, please call Nick Steinke at 461-4148. All inquiries will be kept conÀdential.

Motor Mechanic * Experience an asset but will train. * Must have mechanical abilities. * Permanent full time position * Competitive wages, full beneÀt package

Savanna offers competitive rates and a comprehensive benefits package effective on your first day of work. Search jobs and submit your resume Online at: http://savanna.appone.com Email to: savannacareers@savannaenergy.com

S a v a n n a

Permanent Full-Time Penta Completions requires a

HEAVY-DUTY MECHANIC Frontier Peterbilt Sales Ltd is looking for full-time Service Technicians in Estevan to work on the premier product in the industry and the newest dealership in the city. We have opportunities for Service Technicians, from 3rd year apprentices to Journeymen. Skilled Journeyman Technicians will earn the top dealership wage in Southern Saskatchewan ranging from $32.00 to $39.00 per hour. We require people that are meticulous, results-driven and customer service oriented. We offer excellent pay as well as an extensive employee beneÀt package and the opportunity to progress within the Company. QualiÀed applicants are encouraged to apply in person at the dealership to Jerrod Tedford, Shop Foreman or by email or fax to: Mark Thompson Human Resources Manager E-Mail mthompson@frontierpeterbilt.com Fax 306-664-3386

Service Tech Trainee for our Estevan operation.

Duties Include • Field installation of Àberglass & steel rod strings • Pump off controllers + VFD’s • Dynamometer data collection • Shipping & Receiving • Inventory control • Invoicing • Some on call work is required

Requirements • Valid Class 5 drivers licence • Computer experience would be an asset • Successful candidate will earn applicable safety tickets

Submit resume including references to: Penta Completions Supply & Services Ltd. 58 Devonian Street P.O. Box 667 Estevan, Sk. S4A 2A6 Fax: 1-306-634-6989 or Email: lhaukeness@pentarods.com

Pump Unit Mechanics * Experience necessary * Must be able to work with little or no supervision * First Aid, H2S, WHMIS & TDG certiÀcates an asset * Valid driver’s license required * Competitive wages, full beneÀt package

Safety Co-ordinator * Duties include all aspects of preparing and maintaining our safety program for all personnel & ensuring all employees have required safety classes. Co-ordinator must schedule classes & truck maintenance, and keep complete records. * Experience in the safety Àeld would be an asset. * Working hours are 7:00 am to 4:00 pm with some overtime required. * Hank’s offers very competitive wages and full beneÀt package. * Must be able to work with little or no supervision - would report to key management.

Apply in person or fax resume to 306 634-7090

Hank’s Maintenance & Service Co. Ltd. 410 Mississippian Drive Estevan, Sask. S4A 2H7 No Phone Calls Please!

Growing Calgary based services industry company seeks a sales engineer with 5 to 10 years experience in PCP and top drive speciÀcation and sales. The successful candidate will have experience with progressive cavity pumps and top drive sizing, selection, installation and troubleshooting. Experience with VFD driven units and SCADA systems will be a deÀnite asset. Must be able to travel throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and internationally. Equal Opportunity Employer. M/F/D/V are encouraged to apply. No phone calls from agencies or applicants. We thank you for applying, only the most suited for the position will be contacted.

Please send resumes to: josh@stawowskimcgill.ca

PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

Make up lost time, and save money while doing it! Specify and install Red Thread® II and Star® Anhydride 8-rd line pipe from an authorized NOV Fiber Glass Systems distributor. You’ll be glad you did.

Fibreglass Solutions…. Because Rust Never Sleeps! Red Thread® II (2”-24”) pipe and fittings can be used for produced water, salt water, hydrocarbon and H2S vapours. Other sizes & ratings are available in the Green Thread® product line. Star® Fibreglass standard & API design high pressure anhydride cured epoxy line pipe, fittings, and flanges are on hand to meet the delivery requirements of any project, large or small.

Star® anhydride cured epoxy line pipe has the highest long term hydrostatic strength of any FRP product on the market. Call to discuss installer training (API / ASME B31.3), new taper tools, and general design or installation questions. Calgary Sales

Product data, support details, installation literature, and design software are all available for download at our website.

Tel: (403) 801-2009 John Kohlman

Field Service & QC Tel: (403) 861 9801 Allen Routh

Edmonton 14505—130 Ave Tel: (866) 243-2298 Jared MacKinnon Tony White

Regina 205 Hodsman Tel: (306) 525 8881 Justin MacMillan

Estevan 294 Kensington Tel: (306) 636 2002 Tim Beatty

Authorized Distributor

STAR • SMITH • FIBERCAST Please contact us for friendly service, fair pricing, and technical support & training that is beyond comparison!

www.frpsolutions.com

Check out the new Model 2306 electric taper tool. Get consistent tapers on 2”,3”,4”, & even 6” Green Thread® & Red Thread® II pipe in seconds!!!

Woodstock Burlington Estevan Regina Calgary Edmonton

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PIPELINE NEWS November 2010

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

Specializing in Non Damaging Biodegradable Drilling Fluids Designed for Horizontal Drilling

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

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

Supplementing both the Drilling and Production sectors of the Oilfield Industry around the clock safely and efficiently. We specialize in transporting Salt Water, Crude Oil, Completions, Contaminated Mud, & Fresh Water!

Our Full Commercial Truck Wash & Service Centre is NOW OPEN Office 1-306-453-4470 Fax 1-306-453-4404 Toll Free 1-888-453-4470 dlesage@equaltransport.ca

Donnie Lesage 1-306-577-9960 Blaine Dahl 1-306-577-9801