pipeline news may 2013

PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly Canada Post Publication No. 40069240

May 2013 FREE Volume 5 Issue 12

This wind turbine, and the white metal boxes containing large lithium-ion ba eries could be a harbinger of things to come for wind energy produc- on. Back row, from le : Juan Cor ez, Sa , Jacksonville, Fl.; Wayne Powell, Sa , Jacksonville, Fl.; Ryan Bunge, Sa , Jacksonville, Fl.; Javier Men-

doza, ABB, Montreal; Olivier Gaugain, Sa , Bordeaux, Fr.; Kirk Simonson, Pentec, Saskatoon; Ryan Jansen, SRC, Saskatoon.Front row, from le : Rod Neufeld, Willms Engineering, Saskatoon; Mike Sula sky, SRC, Saskatoon. See story Page A3. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

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INSIDEA2 PIPELINE NEWS May 2013

PIPELINE NEWSNEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

June 2013 FocusContact your Sales Rep

to be a part of the focus edition

SE & NW SK and SW Manitoba • Phone: 306.634.2654

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SECTION A5 CanGas conver ng rigs to burn natural gas

6 Editorial

7-8 Opinion

16 Irish arrivals spawned by 2012 job fair

17 Alterna ve energy has to make sense: SaskPower CEO

23 Bonnyville show catering to exhibitors

SECTION B1 Sun powered doghouses worth a howl

4 New NDP leader Q&A

9 Small Meota upgrader planned

10 NRGreen builds new cogen plant

SECTION C1 Cenovus open house

4 Sask. resource credit reduced

10 SETI job fair

16 Estevan OTS bonspiel

19 Jim Arthurs on natural gas engines

22 Land sale results

PIPELINE NEWS May 2013 A3

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By Brian ZinchukPipeline News

Cowessess First Nation – “If you truly want to

change the world, solve storage,” said Scott Tinker,

the man behind the documentary Switch, during

the 2012 Williston Basin Petroleum conference in

Bismarck, N.D.

Th is is the message the man with PhD in

geological sciences and the Edwin Allday Endowed

Chair in Subsurface Geology tells young people

when talking about energy production and specifi -

cally renewable energy like wind and solar. Storage

of energy for intermittent power sources like wind

and solar is the key challenge for alternative energy.

Now, an endeavouring Saskatchewan First

Nation is seeking to do just that – solve storage.

Cowessess First Nation launched a unique proj-

ect just east of Regina in early April. While a tall,

gleaming light-grey wind turbine may not seem

like a big deal, what it is connected to is. Th is wind

turbine is connected to likely the biggest battery

you will likely ever come across. Th e idea is to cap-

ture energy when the wind is blowing, and release it

when it is calm.

Chief Grady Lerat spoke with Pipeline News on April 9th about the project, one that has taken

several years to get off the ground.

“We’re trying to prove out a battery system.

Th e wind blows, but it’s intermittent. One turbine

doesn’t aff ect the (electrical) grid, but 50 to 100

does,” he said.

Lerat has been chief for three years and on the

band council for nine prior to that. Band elections

on April 27, after press time, will determine if he

stays on in that capacity.

Th e band has approximately 3,800 members,

with approximately 750 residents on it reserve.

Th e First Nation community worked with nu-

merous agencies to make the wind project happen,

the most important of which is the Saskatchewan

Research Council. SaskPower was also a key player

as the purchaser of the power generated.

Th e wind turbine is made by Germany-based

Enercon. Th e hub height is 76 metres, and its ro-

tors are 48 metres in diameter. Th e height allows

the turbine to capture high winds, not just surface

winds. Th e turbine was chosen in part due to its

simplicity of design. With no gearbox, there is very

little maintenance.

But wind turbines are by-and-large proven,

mainstream technology now. Th e important thing is

the battery system, and it’s a big one. Lerat said it is

approximately six feet wide, 12 feet long and seven

feet tall.

“We got two, in case something should ever

happen,” he said.

Batteries to store wind power on the Prairies

are not new by a long shot. Decades ago, lead acid

batteries in glass vessels were used to store energy

on Saskatchewan farms before electrifi cation. But

batteries these days are much more advanced, and

have much more storage capacity. Th e batteries

Cowessess chose are lithium-ion, the same type of

composition used in modern cellphones and digital

cameras. Th ey have high energy density compared

to other battery compositions. Th ey also don’t have

a “memory eff ect,” which is why Tesla Motors uses

them for their high-end performance electric cars.

One of the reasons lithium ion was chosen was

it is believed to be safer environmentally, according

to Lerat.

As for the amount of energy that can be stored,

Lerat said they were shooting for 20 per cent, but

might be able to go as high as 40 per cent.

Th ere’s a fi ve year testing period planned. Th e

battery is expected to last up to 20 years.

Site selectionIn choosing the site, the First Nation decided

to go with land it had just outside of Regina, as

opposed to its primary reserve in the Qu’Appelle

Valley, north of Broadview. Th e project is between

Highways 1 and 33, just east of the Queen City.

“We have three quarters in a row,” said Lerat,

noting seven acres were used for the project.

“We could probably put another nine turbines

with the same capacity,” he said of the site.

Th ere was a conscious decision to not put it in

the valley for esthetic reasons. Plus, putting it on

the open prairie near Regina results in a better wind

resource. Th e visibility of the project is important

too, and perhaps a bit inspiring for band members.

One doesn’t just put up a wind turbine and

hope it’s going to blow enough to make the proj-

ect economical. Wind resource studies are done to

ensure there’s enough oomph in the air at the site

before a turbine ever goes up. An 18 month wind

study was done to ensure the location was right.

Lerat said, “We found the wind resources were

conducive to doing more, maybe to do a wind

farm.”

Th e First Nation had been actively working on

developing a wind farm, partnering with TransAlta.

Sites around Willow Bunch and Swift Current

were considered. Th ey missed out on recent larger

scale wind project contracts with SaskPower, how-

ever. Algonquin Power was the successful bidder.

Lerat mentioned initial talks about wind de-

velopment as far back as 2004. It began in earnest

several years later.

“We started in 2008. Nothing but good things

to say about all those involved,” he said.

Th ere were many organizations involved,

including Natural Resources Canada, Aborigi-

nal Aff airs and Northern Development Canada,

Saskatchewan Research Council, SaskPower, and a

multitude of others.

Natural Resources Canada contributed $2.8

million, while the provincial Go Green Fund put

in $1.4 million. Cowessess First Nation paid $1.8

million. Aboriginal Aff airs and Northern Develop-

ment Canada contributed approximately $236,000

and another $180,000 came from the Saskatchewan

Research Council. Page A9

These two white containers are actually very, very large lithium-ion ba ery systems. Combined, they have a us-able output of about 600 kilowa -hours. They are the key to the new wind project Cowessess First Na on has embarked upon.

Cowesses First Nation launches its High Wind and Storage Project

A4 PIPELINE NEWS May 2013

BRIEFS

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

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By Brian ZinchukRegina – Th is April Cowessess First Nation began opera-

tions of its High Wind and Storage Project just a few kilome-

tres east of Regina, between Highways 1 and 33. Th e innovative

project uses massive lithium-ion batteries to supply power to the

grid when the wind dies down. Th e First Nation’s key collabora-

tor on the project is the Saskatchewan Research Council.

Sheldon Hill is business unit manager of the alternative

energy business unit with the Saskatchewan Research Council

(SRC). He explained what their role has been, and some of the

technical details.

SRC has a role as project manager, service provider and col-

laborator, according to Hill. Th e technical support side is key.

Th ey have been involved from the very beginning, conducting

the fi rst wind study for Cowessess a number of years ago. SRC’s

fi rst involvement was in 2004, doing wind resource assessment.

“Th e Saskatchewan Research Council was responsible for

the design and project management,” Hill said.

SRC focused on setting the performance specifi cations for

the wind turbine and battery system as part of their involve-

ment.

While wind power generation is proven technology, the

battery system used to bolster power output when the wind dies

down is fresh.

“It is very unique. Th ere’s been a lot of talk and interest

about how energy storage can tie-in with variable energy re-

sources like wind and solar,” Hill said. “It’s one of the fi rst large-

scale projects demonstrating the combination.

“It’s a pilot project. Th ere’s certainly hope it will go forward

with replication and going ahead on a larger scale.

“We will know a lot in about one year’s time,” he said. Af-

ter that, remaining questions will focus on items like long-term

durability of the battery.

Lithium-ion batteries were chosen as a “multiple best

choice.” Th ose factors included life of the battery, the number of

charge and discharge cycles and the depth of discharge, cost of

batteries and “round-trip effi ciency.”

Hill said, “Several of the battery systems pose more of an

environmental risk. (Cowessess First Nation) didn’t have a lot of

tolerance of environmental risk. Taking care of the environment

was very near to their hearts.

Lead acid batteries, those used for automotive batteries,

have been used on submarines ever since the invention of sub-

marines over 100 years ago. In diesel-electric submarines, diesel

generators charge the batteries while operating near the surface,

and then the boats operate on electrical power deep under wa-

ter. However, this type of battery was not a contender for this

project.

“When you use it on a daily basis, and discharge signifi -

cantly, you don’t get any life out of them.”

He explained that for a backup power generation system,

lead-acid works work fi ne, but not for discharging on a daily

basis.

Other battery compositions discounted included nickel-

cadmium and nickel-metal hydride. Sodium-sulphur was the

leading contender with lithium-ion, but Hill noted that one of

the factors to consider was the maturity of the technology and

availability of product.

“It might be good on paper, but how mature is the technol-

ogy? How commercially proven is it? What is the product avail-

ability? Can you get it in the size and quantities that’s needed.”

Page A10

The technical side of Cowessess’ wind project

The Regina re nery can be seen in the distance, several kilometres northwest of the new wind turbine belonging to Cowessess First Na on.

PetroBakken Energy

Ltd.’s board of directors is

proposing to change the name

of the company to Light-

stream Resources Ltd.

In an April 23 press re-

lease, the company explained

that PetroBakken was initial-

ly chosen to refl ect the focus

of its asset base in the Bakken

and the ownership structure

within the Petrobank Energy

and Resources Ltd. group of

companies.

Since that time, although

the Bakken continues to be a

core part of its strategy, the

company has diversifi ed its

asset base to include other

signifi cant operating areas,

such as the Cardium busi-

ness unit, which is focused on

central Alberta assets.

“Th e company also is

no longer majority owned

by Petrobank following the

distribution of Petrobank's

ownership interest to its

shareholders at the end of

2012. Given the changes to

our asset base and owner-

ship structure, the company

believes that the adoption of

this new name is appropriate

to accurately refl ect our busi-

ness,” PetroBakken said in

the release.

“Th e name Lightstream

Resources Ltd. was chosen

to refl ect our commitment to

the innovative development

of long life, light oil plays

which deliver growth and a

stable dividend to our share-

holders.”

Th e name change is sub-

ject to shareholder approval

and will be voted on at the

company’s annual and special

meeting of shareholders to be

held at May 22, 2013, at the

Telus Convention Centre in

Calgary.

PetroBakkenname change


BRIEFS

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

Longview Oil

Corp. drilled 29 (19 net)

wells with 100 per cent suc-

cess in 2012, adding initial

30-day production produc-

tion of about 1,591 boepd

(90 per cent crude oil and

natural gas liquids) repre-

senting an onstream cost of

around $28,000 per boepd.

Output was fl at with

2011, however, and the com-

pany recorded a net loss.

During 2012, Longview

recognized an impairment

of oil and gas properties of

$31.9 million (Dec. 31, 2011

- nil) related to crude oil and

natural gas producing assets

in west-central Alberta.

Crude oil prices were

challenging during much of

2012 due to weakened WTI

pricing, and wide diff erentials

between WTI and Canadian

realized pricing that resulted

in lower funds from opera-

tions compared to the prior

year, the company wrote in a

release.

Due to weaker-than-an-

ticipated commodity prices

and higher diff erentials, the

company reduced the year’s

capital expenditure program

in the second quarter of 2012

to $46 million from $73 mil-

lion.

Th e company spent

$44.49 million on property,

plant and equipment and ex-

ploration and evaluation as-

sets, which included spending

of $24.2 million in Saskatch-

ewan, $8.1 million at Nevis,

$5.2 million at Westerose,

$3.4 million at Brazeau and

$2.1 million at Sunset, with

the remaining spending for

miscellaneous projects.

Longview bit by prices

By Brian ZinchukCalgary – It’s hard to wrap your head around it, but one of

the key areas for greenhouse gas emissions improvements in the

oilpatch could end up being drilling rigs.

CanGas Solutions, a division of CanElson Drilling, has been

developing a system to convert drilling rigs to use both diesel

and natural gas as fuel. Th eir intention is to capture fl are gas and

use it to fuel drilling rigs. Th e result is taking a waste product,

fl are gas, and using a cleaner-burning fuel in high consumption

scenarios. While there may be environmental benefi ts, the most

important factor is another form of green – as in dollars.

A drilling rig can use up 4,500 litres of diesel or more on a

cold winter’s day, when boilers are running to keep everything

at the proper operating temperature.

CanElson is in the process of converting the majority of its

Canadian rigs to burn both diesel and natural gas, a confi gura-

tion they refer to as “bi-fuel.” Four of its 14 Saskatchewan rigs

have already been converted, and they are in process of switching

over the rest. Four more are undergoing conversion this spring.

Rob Logan is president and CEO of Calgary-based Can-

Gas, while Greg Loewen is vice-president of operations. Th e

company was founded in 2006, Loewen and Fraser got things

going in earnest in 2009. Logan came over recently from

CanElson.

Fraser, business development manager with CanGas, said

the company initially focused on trucking captured fl are gas.

Th ey came up with a process to capture gas that would other-

wise be fl ared, compress it, and store it on semi-trailers.

Th eir fi rst project was south of Estevan, at a location that

could not be connected by pipeline to a gas gathering system

due to the coal mines. Th ey’ve since captured gas at other loca-

tions in Saskatchewan and then Alberta.

Th e company’s fi rst project was with PetroBakken. “Th ey’ve

helped us out tremendously,” Loewen said. “We have taken that

success and multiplied it with other producers and in other ap-

plications.”

Images on the CanGas website show a compressed natural

gas trailer on a PetroBakken lease near the coal mines southeast

of Estevan.

“We look to design and implement innovative solutions to

optimize raw and compressed natural gas to displace diesel in a

variety of applications,” Logan said.

Liked it so much, they bought the companyCanElson talked to CanGas about trucking gas. It ended

up being a situation where they liked the idea so much, they

bought the company in May 2012.

Th e conversion cost varies per rig, according to Logan. “Th e

Saskatchewan rigs are more of a kit,” he said.

A Saskatchewan rig is about $100,000 to $120,000 for the

mud motor and generator, and another $30,000 for the boiler,

for $150,000 all-in. Alberta rigs will have two mud pumps and

two generators, so there is more work involved.

“With these conversion kits, we can displace up to 70 per

cent (of the diesel that would otherwise be used). Th e average

displacement is about 50 per cent,” Fraser said.

Boilers are converted such that they can be switched over to

100 per cent natural gas.

Natural gas is considerably cheaper that diesel, with an

eight-to-one spread for raw gas to diesel. In other words, the

fuel alone, not counting operating costs and equipment, is

roughly one-eighth the cost of diesel. Th is system can displace

1,500 to 3,000 litres of diesel per operating day. Th at adds up to

a lot of dollars down the road.

Th e concept is designed to take gas that might be otherwise

fl ared 10 miles down the road, and use it for drilling.

Th e irony of the situation is that if the gas is fl ared, no roy-

alties are paid on it and it’s essentially free. But if you capture it

and use it, you have to pay for it.

“It’s a funny conundrum,” Fraser said. “When they burn it,

you don’t pay royalties. But if you conserve it, you may have to

pay royalties. As soon as it leaves the lease, you have to pay.”

SaskEnergy siteSaskEnergy has installed a compressed natural gas station

at its site just north of Weyburn on Highway 35. CanGas will

be trucking gas from that site for now. In mid-April, fi nal work

was being done on the fuelling site. Page A12

John Kadar, opera ons manager for CanGas Solu ons, is overseeing the conversion of four more CanElson Drilling rigs to a bi-fuel arrangement. This will allow the rigs to supplement their diesel consump on with much less expensive compressed natural gas. Here Kadar shows the compressed natural gas system for the mud pump motor.

Converting rigs to burn natural gas


Publisher: Brant Kersey - Estevan

Ph: 1.306.634.2654

Editorial Contributions: SOUTHEAST

Brian Zinchuk - Estevan 1.306.461.5599

SOUTHWEST

Swift Current 1.306.461.5599

NORTHWEST

Geoff Lee - Lloydminster 1.780.875.5865

Associate Advertising Consultants:

SOUTHEAST & NORTHWEST

• Estevan 1.306.634.2654

Cindy Beaulieu

Candace Wheeler

Kristen O’Handley

Deanna Tarnes

Teresa Hrywkiw

• Carlyle 1.306.453.2525

Alison Dunning

CENTRAL

Al Guthro 1.306.715.5078

[email protected]

SOUTHWEST

• Swift Current 1.306.773.8260

Stacey Powell

MANITOBA

• Virden - Dianne Hanson 1.204.748.3931

• Estevan - Cindy Beaulieu 1.306.634.2654

CONTRIBUTORS

• Estevan - Nadine Elson

• Saskatoon - Josh Schaefer

• Virden - Harley McCormick

To submit a stories or ideas:

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NEWSPIPELINE

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

EDITORIAL

Some of our loyal readers might wonder why our

front page this month features a wind turbine. After

all, this is Pipeline News. Shouldn’t there be a drilling

rig, service rig, or maybe a pipeline on the cover?

One might think that, but in reality, this new

wind turbine, just outside Regina, may be the harbin-

ger of things to come, and could indeed lead to more

work for those drilling rigs, service rigs, and pipelin-

ers.

Cowessess First Nation, in April, brought into

operation the culmination of nearly a decade of work

trying to get a wind project going. While the blades

are now spinning, this project is far from over. It’s just

beginning.

Instead of just putting up a wind turbine and

selling power, the forward-thinking First Nation has

partnered with the Saskatchewan Research Council

and several other agencies to address one of the most

signifi cant questions in the energy mix – how do you

make variable power sources like wind and solar work

in a grid that needs predictability? What happens

when the wind stops, or the sun goes behind a cloud?

Can you level out the power production curves with

large batteries?

Th eir project uses two giant batteries to store en-

ergy when the turbine is turning, and release it when

the power generated by the wind drops off . It’s not a

total solution. It won’t fi ll in for a whole night. Th e

batteries will only give a few hours replacement at full

output. But, if successful, it will make it much easier

for utilities like SaskPower to integrate more wind

What’s up with the wind turbine?

into their grids.

Th is is where the relationship to the petroleum

sector comes in. Utilities need to backstop wind power

generation with dispatchable power generation for the

times when the wind is not blowing. Th e natural fi t is

natural gas turbines. Th ey can be spun up and down

as needed, addressing not only peak power demands,

but also replacing variable sources like wind when they

aren’t putting out.

Th at, in turn, means more markets for Saskatchewan

natural gas. In recent years, SaskPower has built several

gas turbines throughout the province. Additionally, it

contracted power that will be generated by Northlands

Power’s new North Battleford natural gas power station.

More gas burned here hopefully means more drill

bits turning, and more pipelines connecting the new

holes. Saskatchewan’s natural gas industry has been de-

scribed by at least one offi cial as “fl atlined,” so any new

market is welcomed.

Alternative energy, our focus this month, isn’t an

enviro-nut conspiracy. Mankind’s energy sources have

continued to evolve – from wood to whale oil to coal to

oil. Th e resurgence of natural gas may be the next step

in that continuum. When paired with wind, it could

have a profound impact on our world. It will never

totally replace oil, but it may give us more options for

the future.

So think of it this way – for every wind turbine that

goes up, they’re probably going to have to drill a few

holes to back it up with fossil fuels. One way or another,

it’s all related.


OPINIONFrom the Top of The Pile

By Brian Zinchuk

I’m in McCarran International Airport in Las

Vegas, looking for a magazine for the fl ight home,

when I see the distinctive yellow border of my old

favourite – National Geographic.Th e front page photo is a fl are pit, with the text

saying, “America Strikes Oil – the Promise and Risk

of Fracking.” Th is looks promising. Th e photo is near-

ly identical to one I shot several years ago on my way

back from the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference

in Bismarck.

Opening it, that promise withered.

Th e story starts by telling the tale of Susan Con-

nell, a produced water hauler. She’s from Montana,

but lack of construction work there for both she and

her husband meant they were about to lose their

house, so she went to fi nd truck driving work in

North Dakota.

At fi rst no one would hire her because she was

a woman, so she found work hauling grain. A little

later, she got her chance and started hauling produced

water, substantially increasing her income.

Th e second paragraph of the story, however,

brought a chill to my spine. It read:

“Just don’t pass out on me,” Connell says, half in jest. We’ve scaled a steep stairway to a narrow steel catwalk 30 feet above the ground, but she’s not referring to the height. She says that one of the fi rst times she opened the hatch atop a dirty water tank, she was overcome by fumes. “I fell to my knees.” No one had warned her about the dozens of chemicals in the water, including hydrogen sulphide, H2S, it’s rotten egg odor created by bacteria growing inside wells. In high enough concentrations, it can be poisonous, even lethal.

Ironically, the gas poses the greatest risk when it deadens your sense of smell, another safety lesson Connell

had to learn on her own. Eventually someone gave her an H2S detector, which she clipped to her collar whenever she approached a well that turned “sour” enough to be hazard-ous. Once she was pumping dirty water from her tanker truck when the detector sounded. She scrambled away, thinking she’d escaped harm. But hours later, she felt stab-bing pains in her stomach, the prelude to a weeklong bout of vomiting. Her next purchase was a gas mask.

Th is account made me sick to my stomach. If this

is how the American oil and gas industry is operat-

ing, no wonder people are protesting pipelines in the

streets.

Th e above account could, and should, be used as

an Enform case study of exactly how not to operate in

the oilfi eld. Last year Enform trained 149,000 people

in H2SAlive in Canada. It was clear she had no prior

safety training. Her employer failed miserably on that

front. She was not provided with the proper safety

training, nor the personal protective equipment such

as a gas detector or self-contained breathing appara-

tus. I doubt a “gas mask” would do her much good.

She suff ered two knock down events and still the

company did nothing? Did she report these events?

Did the oil producer know about this?

I read this account to Chris Neitling, who is a

professional HSE consultant, specializing in oil and

gas pipelines and facilities. A Preeceville boy, he’s ap-

peared in Pipeline News several times. Neitling said,

“Given the level of inaccuracy in the story, it is no

wonder the American people are becoming progres-

sively anti-oil. I am further perplexed why National Geographic would not have taken the time to verify

the validity of such an account, as that account direct-

ly indicates violations at the local, state and national

level, labour laws, requirements and responsibilities

and regulations.”

He added, “From an OH&S perspective, Canada

is 10 years behind Europe, and America is 10-15 years

behind Canada.”

Th ere’s no question of that from the article. Th e

photos tell the tale. First, there are the fl are pits, which

have been gone from Saskatchewan for many years.

Th ree years ago, when I last reported on them, nearly

all have since been cleaned up.

Th en there’s the giant dug pit with a liner to

store “rainwater and borehole waste.” Where are the

tanks?

Th e two-page photo of a service rig has the rough-

necks in jeans. I highly doubt they’re fi re retardant.

While the article says Connell, herself, wears

fi re retardant coveralls, the photo of her loading her

truck puts lie to that statement. Her FRs are hanging

around her waist. Nice ball cap, by the way, and such

nice eyes without pesky safety glasses.

I’m not saying Canadians are perfect. Far from it.

A lot of people get lax, and smarten up as soon as they

see me show up on the lease with a big camera. But

on the whole, Canadian operations are tremendous-

ly further advanced than what National Geographic showed in North Dakota. If nothing else, we would

expect everyone setting foot on a lease would have

had their H2S training.

And one would expect they wouldn’t be buying

their own “gas mask.” Proper self-contained breathing

apparatus should be on site.

Th e magazine may have had a yellow border, but

the article was a big black mark for our industry.

Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].

Two knockdowns and no training. Just lovely

One Woman’s Perspective on Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Land Locations By Nadine Elson

Shifting Shifting GearsGears

Spring in the oilpatch is all about training, tak-

ing advantage of the annual road bans to renew var-

ious safety courses. My friend Leanne, who works

in the patch in the area of pipe inspections, and I

had done that. We were now attending training of

a diff erent type - motivational training.

We were laughing and chatting when we fi rst

heard the sound. It was a muffl ed roar, swelling in

intensity. Soon, vibrations could be felt underfoot.

I was nervous.

Leanne looked around incredulously. “Th e

building is actually moving,” she said in awe. I

looked up at the ceiling. Would the roof hold? Th e

province had seen more than a 150 roofs collapse

this winter due to snow.

Th e building in question was Saskatoon’s Cred-

it Union Centre. Leanne and I had driven up to

Saskatoon to spend “An Evening with Oprah Win-

frey.” We weren’t alone. Th e building was packed

with a sold out crowd of 14,000 women and 50

men who had come to see Oprah in person and

hear her inspirational message. It was the last stop

on her eight-city Canadian tour. Th e building was

literally vibrating with the stomping of female feet

and the applause that greeted Oprah when she fi rst

entered the arena.

“Why are you here?” Oprah asked the crowd.

“You know I don’t dance and sing, right?”

Collectively, we laughed. But it was a philo-

sophical question, as the queen of talk asked us

to consider our purpose in life. She was easily the

most glamorous motivational speaker I had ever

seen, wearing a fl oor-length sequinned gown and

killer high heels.

“I am here,” she said, “to share parts of my life

with you so that when you leave here tonight, you

will live more forcefully and turn up the volume on

your life. Turn it up so loud, so loud, so that you will

know what you were called to do and be about the

business of doing it. Because the ultimate question

for all of us is - Why are you here?”

She told us that every day we get to express

ourselves through our work and through our life

experiences much like a painter adding shadows, or

erasing by painting over things, or adding more vi-

brancy to the canvas of our life.

“I say - why are you here? You are here because

you’ve been called!” Oprah told us and for the next

two hours she talked. Biographical in part, the

main point of the evening was that we were “wast-

ing time” if we did not know our calling in life, our

purpose, something she has sometimes struggled to

know herself.

We clapped, we cheered, and some wept as

she told both personal stories and life lessons. At

the end of the evening, Leanne and I fought the

crowds, got back into the van and drove the fi ve

hours home, arriving around 3 a.m. It had been a

long day for a once in a lifetime opportunity. No

problem, though, for an off -duty hotshot driver!

Several days after returning from Saskatoon,

I entered an oil company building. “Why are you

here?” the receptionist asked. I looked at her sharp-

ly. Did she know that I had been considering that

question for days since the evening with Oprah?

“Now that is an excellent question,” I respond-

ed and paused before I replied. “I have been called,”

I answered simply and smiled.

Nadine lives in Estevan with her husband and family, and shifted gears a few years ago, becoming a hot shot driver for the oil patch. Her people skills are put to good use in the patch as she delivers the goods quickly and effi ciently. Contact her at [email protected] with comments or questions.

Why are you here?


Are You Covered?By Harley McCormick

Alternative or renewable energy, while still a

small player, has increased its presence in the Prairie

provinces over the past few of years. A variety of

alternatives are available, including but not limited

to: wind, solar (PV and thermal), biofuel plants,

waste to energy, landfi ll gas recovery, algae, geo-

thermal, and tidal power.

Because we don’t have a great number of

commercial alternative energy projects, I am

going to discuss a few of the diff erent options

available to homeowners. Th ere are several types

of renewable electricity generating projects you can

install at your home: solar, wind and water power

projects. To date, solar panels have proven to be the

most popular with homeowners, although geother-

mal (water) heating and cooling has increased in

popularity.

Solar energy is the energy developed by har-

nessing the radiant light and heat of the sun. Th is

can be done through both solar photovoltaics or

PV (electricity production) and solar thermal (heat

energy) technologies.

PV starts with a module that is comprised

of multiple solar cells assembled in a protective

weather enclosure (the solar panel). Th ese panels are

linked together into an array and typically mounted

on the roof of your home with or without a tracker

that can tilt panels to the most ideal angle to the

sun. Next, an inverter will convert the DC current

to an AC current allowing the electricity to be used

in your home.

Th ermal cells are similar to that of PV. Th e sys-

tem itself does not create direct electricity though;

instead the energy is collected through the heating

of water or glycol circulating through the panels

that can then be converted to electricity.

Costs for solar energy installation can start for

as little as $1,500 for a very small system and can

quickly increase to $30,000 or more for equipment

and labor for larger systems.

Geothermal systems rely on an energy ex-

change between the air above ground and the

ground itself. Below 10 feet the ground tempera-

ture is fairly constant. During the summer, when

the temperature of the building exceeds that of the

ground, heat pumps are used to pump heat from

the building into the water or glycol, and then

pumped through pipes into the ground. In the win-

ter the process is the reverse, heat pumps extract

heat from the ground and bring it into your home.

Th e installation of a geothermal heat pump can

reduce a home’s annual heating use by 50 to 70 per

cent. Th e system is also capable of reducing cool-

ing costs upwards of 40 per cent and water heat-

ing costs up to 25 per cent. Th e costs to install a

geothermal system typically run $20,000 - $30,000

depending on if, and how many, water wells need

to be drilled. Typically, a geothermal system will

pay for itself in 6-10 years.

No matter what option you choose, each has its

own special insurance considerations. For example,

you may need coverage for the following scenarios:

Loss or damage to any solar panels, geothermal

pumps, or wind equipment on your property due to

theft, fi re, wind or other perils;

Loss of income due to the interruption of the

generation and sale of energy caused by loss or

damage to your property (sometimes income is

derived if the owner has developed their own wind

power generation);

Liability for any potential loss or damage to a

third party, such as a solar developer or renewable

energy installer, or the local energy distribution

company.

Renewable energy projects add signifi cant

value to your property, and this has additional

insurance implications. Most comprehensive home

policies require reporting any renovations or up-

grades that impact the value of your property. It is

important to speak to your broker before construc-

tion begins to make sure that you are adequately

protected in the event that you suff er loss or dam-

age to your home.

Harley McCormick is a Virden, Manitoba based insurance broker with 10 years in the industry. He can be reached at [email protected].

What happens if your alternative energy power system goes out?

PIPELINE NEWS INVITES OPPOSING VIEW POINTS. EDITORIALS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME.Email to: [email protected]

Lee Side of LloydBy Geoff Lee

Publicly-funded

colleges and universities

are bearing the wrath of

a $6.2 billion reduction in revenue during Alberta’s

2013-14 budget year, mainly due to the so-called

bitumen bubble.

Th e bubble means bitumen is selling for a dis-

counted price, compared to North American and

global benchmark prices, resulting in a huge loss in

projected royalties.

Total revenues for 2013-14 are estimated at

$38.6 billion, $5.4 billion lower than the budget

forecast in 2012.

To help balance the books, the government has

cut $147 million from base operating grants of col-

leges and universities from this year’s budget.

Instead of a two per cent increase in operating

grants promised in the 2012 budget over the next

three years, publicly-funded colleges and universi-

ties are looking at 7.3 per cent cut to their grants

this year.

For institutions such as Lakeland College in

Lloydminster and Vermilion, that means 30 to 40

employees will be losing their jobs to make up for a

$3 million shortfall in revenue.

At a time when the federal government is

making job training a priority to fi ll needed posi-

tions in the oil and gas industry in Alberta and

Saskatchewan, any cuts to education don’t make

sense.

Lakeland College, for instance, is the only

post-secondary institution with heavy oil pro-

gramming developed by industry to train the next

generation of power engineers and specialists that

are in short supply in Alberta.

Th e cuts might impair the ability of Lakeland

to proceed with its $17.5 million Petroleum Centre

expansion as rising construction costs stay ahead of

private fundraising.

Th e Petroleum Human Resources Council

of Canada has repeatedly issued well researched

labour market information reports indicating as

many as 9,500 oilfi eld workers are needed by 2015

to fi ll positions due to industry growth and retire-

ments.

Cutting operational grants will also lead to

program reductions as educators scramble to keep

the lights on and their heads above water.

At the same time as the government is cutting

back on operational grants, they have committed

$500 million over the next three years to build new

schools and modernize a slew of others.

Why not properly fund existing colleges and

universities today and prevent hundreds of valued

employees – voters – from being laid off through

no fault of their own?

Under the leadership of Premier Alison Red-

ford, Alberta teachers won’t get any pay increase

this year. Th ey are not in the same camp as public

servants, doctors, and other health care workers

who are hardly punished by the salary freeze.

Some austerity program eh? It’s on all the

backs of colleges and universities where companies

from all sectors look to hire graduates to meet their

recruiting needs in a competitive job market.

To add insult to injury, Alberta plans to bor-

row $4.3 billion in the 2013-14 budget to pay for

infrastructure projects.

How about a couple of extra mere million

for Lakeland so they can fi nally build that Petro-

leum Centre that trains the workers who feed the

economy and the coff ers of Alberta?

What is pathetic about the budget is the

feigned surprise of the government, dating back at

least a year, to widening price diff erentials due in

part to well-publicized pipeline access issues and a

growing U.S. supply of oil.

Th e 2013 forecast price for conventional oil

(West Texas Intermediate) is $92.50 a barrel and

$68.21 a barrel for bitumen (Western Canada

Select).

Th e Redford government also needs to share

the pain of its mismanaging the province’s fi nances.

Here are other free pointers for the premier:

How about cutting the salaries of our well-paid

civil servants, but do it without layoff s?

How about diversifying the economy and stop

counting your chickens before they hatch on pro-

jected oil and gas royalties? How about an aff ord-

able tax hike on corporations?

How about the premier and elected MPs quit

wasting million of dollars on overseas travel jun-

kets? Invite the world here instead.

How about not fi nancing the province on a

credit card if you can’t aff ord operational grants to

colleges and universities?

Redford’s budget axe misses target


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POWDER COATINGPOWDER COATING

Jacksonville, FL. – Saft, a leading

designer and manufacturer of high

technology batteries for industry, has

been selected by Cowessess First Na-

tion (CFN) to design, produce and

install a battery energy storage system

(ESS) including two Intensium Max

20E lithium-ion battery containers as

part of the High Wind and Storage

Project near Regina.

Th e French company’s lithium-

ion batteries are used in applications

from weather satellites and U.S. Army

ground combat vehicles to “smart grid”

applications in train stations.

Th e Regina project is the fi rst

wind power application for Saft in

North America. Th e grid-connected

ESS system will help optimize re-

newable wind power performance by

increasing reliability and decreasing

volatility by as much as 70 per cent

over the 15-year lifespan of the system.

Each Li-ion ESS includes a state-of-

the-art, 400kW power conditioning

system for use in conjunction with an

800kW utility scale wind turbine.

“Th is project builds on Saft’s

earlier successes integrating energy

storage batteries with wind generation

and will demonstrate the benefi ts of

lithium-ion energy storage in enhanc-

ing the value of wind energy,” said

Jim McDowall, business development

manager at Saft’s Energy Storage Sys-

tems Business Unit in Jacksonville, Fla.

in a Nov. 7, 2012 press release.

Th e system is designed to harness

intermittent wind power and provide

a more continuous and predictable

output for both on-grid and off -grid

applications. Th e High Wind and

Storage Project will also reduce green-

house gas emissions, reduce electrical

production costs, provide more renew-

able power to the grid and potentially

lower electrical rates since the battery

can be charged during off -peak periods

and dispatched during periods of peak

usage.

“Th is is an extremely important

project that will increase the amount

of renewable generation we can deploy

on the grid,” said Cowessess Chief

Grady Lerat. “It’s critical tohave Saft

providing state-of-the-art technology

to make the High Wind and Storage

Project successful.”

Saft has demonstrated that

this base system can perform wind

smoothing and achieve a maximum

ramp rate of ten percent per minute of

the rated power output of the 800kW

wind turbine while also providing up

to 400kwh of peak shaving capability.

Th e fl exibility and scalability of Saft’s

solution also allows the energy content

to be increased in 124kwh increments

up to 992kwh if additional peak shav-

ing capability is desired.

Th e installation began operations

in April 2013.

Page A3About half the cost

is the battery system,

and the other half is

the wind turbine. Lerat

said it was about “$4.6

million in iron, if you

will,” Th e rest was in

engineering and other

expenses.

Cowessess First Na-

tion is the 100 per cent

owner of the project.

Cutting edgeLerat said they want

to prove out a system,

carving out a niche in

fi nding a sustainable

way to make more wind

power available. Th is is

by smoothing out the

power production cycle

and storing energy.

“It’s on demand, if

we have enough stor-

age,” he said.

“It’s cutting edge.

Th is is the fi rst of its

kind in North America,”

Lerat said.

He sees promise in

such technology helping

northern communi-

ties which used diesel

generators for backup

power.

Lerat keeps things

in perspective, noting,

“Th is may or may not

be the system that can

work.”

“Down the road

we’re hoping it will lead

to better things,” Lerat

said.

“Th e future’s there.

We have to go out and

get it.”

Saft lithium-ion battery energy storage system

“The future’s there. We have to go out and get it.”

- Chief Grady Lerat, Cowessess First Nation


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Page A4“We wanted one of the leading technologies to

get the package in the size needed, from a reputable

company, meeting all the performance requirements

we established.

Th e potential for lithium-ion batteries costs to

go down in the future due to mass production was

another consideration.

“Th ere may actually be a market for the batter-

ies for hybrid vehicles.”

Th e idea is that in the future, batteries from

hybrid vehicles that no longer meet the capability

of the vehicle could be repurposed in this sort of

less-demanding application.

“It’s not necessarily about picking the leading,

or best, battery technology. Th ey’re all in a state

of development. What looks like it was best last

year might not look like it’s the best choice next

year. What’s more important for us is moving the

benefi ts of energy storage, combined with variable

energy resources like wind, and the integration

strategy and power strategy to make them work

eff ectively together.”

Solving the riddle of bulk energy storage is

dear to Hill’s heart, storing many megawatt-hours

of energy storage. One of the projects the SRC

is working on includes using compressed air for

energy storage.

“Th e most important thing is to prove the ben-

efi ts of energy storage.”

Th e wind turbine is rated at 800 kilowatts.

Th e “name plate capacity” of the battery system is

775 kilowatt hours. Hill said, “We have 600 useful

kilowatt-hours under that system.”

“Th is is a very good depth of discharge com-

pared to most batteries.

“You can produce 600 kilowatts of power for

one hour only. Th at’s not producing 800 kilowatts

of its potential. But if it was averaging 260 kilowatts

from the wind turbine, in that case, we would be

able to run two-and-a-quarter hours at the average

output capacity of the wind turbine.”

Page A11A large crane li s the blades in place.

Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Reseach Council

SRC acts as project manager, service provider and collaborator


Page A10Th at’s not enough to make up for the lull overnight, when the wind typi-

cally dies down. “Th is battery does not fi rm up the wind energy and turn it

into something that looks like a base load. It won’t turn it into a continuous

output. What it does is it makes this variable energy source

something that can be very manageable by utilities in

terms of the generation they have to manage. It improves

the predictability of the power output. If you have a wind

farm, and you have some energy storage tied to it, and the

wind dies off , you can all of a sudden notify the utility, ‘Hey,

we’re giving you advance notice our system is coming offl ine

in 30 minutes, or one hour, or whatever it is. We’re going to be

ramping down our power at a controlled ramp rate so we don’t

mess up your grid.’

“It makes it manageable. It gives the utility time to bring on oth-

er generation sources to fi ll that gap. It removes the

volatility and it makes it easier

to schedule

and manage your entire power generation mix.”

“We’re trying to establish there are benefi ts to tying this to variable en-

ergy resources like wind. Otherwise, you become very limited in how much

your energy generation mix can absorb in terms of wind and solar.”

SaskPower is aiming for 8.5 per cent wind power. In Europe, wind

power generation is has high as 20 to 25 per cent.

“Even that tends to be a real challenge when they get there,” Hill said.

“A common number (for percentage of wind) is around 15 per cent (where)

it starts to become a real management issue, because your loads are variable.

If you get power generation that’s also variable, things can go badly for you

in terms of matching generation to load.”

Large scale energy storage combined with wind generation allows for

higher penetration of variable energy resources like wind and solar, Hill

explained.

“Th ere may be other benefi ts to the utility beyond simply provid-

ing a more manageable generation mix. We want to explore some of

those things as well,” he said.

In a province that has long, cold winters without a lot of sun-

light, is solar power an option? Hill thinks so.

“Th e cost of photovoltaic (solar) has dropped sub-

stantially, and we do have a lot of sun. We are seeing a

major increase of photovoltaic projects. Th e people who

have typically viewed photovoltaic as something that’s not

going to be viable here, that may not be true. It may be

viable in Saskatchewan.”

“It’s a great story of what Cowessess First Na-

tion is accomplishing. Th ey really have tremendous

leadership, commitment and vision from their

leaders, and support from their entire First Na-

tion,” Hill said.

“As much as we are interested in the

technology development side of things, we

are also excited to be involved in a project

that has potential for economic develop-

ment in Saskatchewan.”

Th e project did have contributions from the provincial and federal

governments. Th e replication model would be diff erent, with multiple

turbines and batteries. Th ey haven’t determined what model is best yet.

This 800 kilowa wind turbine re-cently went up just east of Regina. It is owned by Cowessess First Na on.


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Page A5 SaskEnergy has compressed natural gas refi lling stations

throughout the province, but the one in Weyburn will be a more substantial.

“We’re going to be trucking gas from that station,” Fraser said.

“Th is is a lot bigger. It’s the fi rst large-scale station that’s being put in,” Fraser

said, noting it will be able to fi ll a large semi-trailer with compressed natural gas

in less than three hours. It would take 12 hours at a conventional station.

“We can turn these trucks around very quickly.

Th e company has more than 20 trailers. “We’re building them all the time.

It’s a continual process,” he said.

Th ey are planning to build 30 trailers to run the 14 CanElson rigs in Sas-

katchewan. Logan noted they are going to have 50 modules in service by the end

of the year.

Compresses natural gas station at WeyburnEach loaded trailer has the energy equivalent of thousands of litres of diesel.

Th ere’s a variety of sizes.

CanGas has projects in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Th ese trailers can also be used as a gas supply in situations where the normal

gas supply may be cut off due to items like maintenance. Th ey can be used as a

pipeline backup to feed gas plants or fi eld compressors.

“We did three of those last fall with SaskEnergy, Fraser said. Th ey main-

tained gas supply during maintenance, he noted.

Similar work has been done in Alberta as well, and CanGas has supplement-

ed a pipeline network in B.C.

Flare gasYou can’t just put any gas in a trailer and then hook it up to a rig to run the

engines, at least not in southeast Saskatchewan.

“Th e issue with gas in southeastern Saskatchewan, particularly the Bakken

gas, is it’s very rich, with heavier hydrocarbons in it. Very rich gas is very diffi cult

to use directly in an engine without some processing to reduce the heavy hydro-

carbons,” Loewen said. “We are in the process of looking at that, but we don’t

have anything in place right now.

In some areas of Saskatchewan, like the west-central area, it’s possible to take

gas directly from the wellhead and use it. Not so in southeast Saskatchewan.

Page A13

Don Baran with IMW In-dustries does some nal prepara on work for the new industrial-sized com-pressed natural gas com-pressor for SaskEnergy north of Weyburn. CanGas Solu ons will use it as its fuelling point to provide compressed natural gas for drilling rigs. This site will hopefully be the rst of many CanGas can draw upon.


One Call Will Supply It All

Page A12 CanGas has captured fl are gas in Saskatchewan. Th at

gas was taken to a gathering system, however, not directly to a rig engine to be

burned.

“We’re hoping this spring to try out a system we’re developing right now,”

Loewen said. Th ey are still fi nalizing equipment for drying the gas.

Some “light conditioning” is needed at certain locations.

Th e ultimate goal is to capture gas at a wellhead, do some light condition-

ing at the wellhead, compress it into a truck and bring it to a rig for consump-

tion.

Loewen said, “In an ideal world, that’s what will happen.”

Looking beyondAsked about plans to off er natural gas conversions to drilling companies

beyond CanElson, Loewen said, “As long as they have the right motivation,

we’re very interested in bi-fueling the rig. Our plan of attack is to go to the

producers and convince them of the benefi ts, and have the producers suggest

strongly to the contractors they would prefer bi-fuel rigs and these are the guys

to work with.”

Logan said, “As an early adopter of bi-fuel CanElson currently holds an

advantage. Ultimately drillers will be judged based on their comparative ability

to cost-eff ectively maximize the amount of diesel displaced by natural gas.”

But as for CanGas, the senior management of CanElson have directed

Logan to build CanGas as a stand-alone business.

“We have a great opportunity to use CanElson as a beta test site, and we’ve

learned a tremendous amount about what works and doesn’t work, and refi ning

our business model. Now, post-breakup, we’re going to start coming out and

doing business with other people under terms that will be mutually benefi cial.”

Ideally, they would like to see new rig engine packages built with their

bi-fuel system. So far, they’ve been converting operating rigs in the middle of

winter. Logan said, “We’re saddle training running horses. It’s not optimal.”

Since the rigs have been busy, he noted, “We’ve been kitting them up on

the fl y, trying to be as minimally invasive as we can.”

So far, seven rigs have been converted, including the four already done in

Saskatchewan.

Th ey see bi-fuel rigs as a selling feature for drillers.

“CanElson got a nice new contract based on bi-fueling a four-rig package,”

Logan said.

In other words, bi-fuelling their rigs has already shown results for CanEl-

son.

“We’ve lined up two contracts for CanElson, and potentially a third, in a

pretty diffi cult environment right now,” Logan said.

Explaining the diffi cult environment, Logan said, “It’s tough to get long-

term commitments from producers for new rigs. Th e fact they have bi-fuel

capabilities and a bi-fuel culture has allowed them to win contracts.”

Who gets the savings from substantially less expensive natural gas as fuel?

“Th e whole idea is to generate savings. Right now, In the CanElson model,

it’s shared between the producer and CanElson. When we start working

outside of CanElson, it will be shared between ourselves (CanGas) and the

producer. We think that’s the model that has legs.

“Th at way the producer is incented to do two things: maximize displace-

ment, and minimize trucking costs, all sorts of ancillary costs that we can help

manage and they can help manage together. If we don’t work together, there’s

no savings.” Page A14

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Page A13 A producer with their own gas could use it to partially

fuel rigs drilling for them, displacing much-more expensive refi ned diesel. Ironi-

cally, it’s a model not far off from the 100-mile diet, consuming locally produced

food, except in this case, producers would be using locally produced gas.

“We’d love to talk to them about creating an industrial gas CNG station at

the tail end of their gas plant, and we’ll sell gas to anyone and everyone in the

region as well,” Loewen said.

Logan said, “We’ve been refi ning our in-the-fi eld model with CanElson to

be sure we can deliver profi tably. In the next couple months, we’ll be putting our

marketing hats on.”

Loewen said they do have a natural gas source now at Weyburn. Th ey would

like other sites in Saskatchewan. In the southeast, he noted they would need at

least two or three sites, and possibly as many as four or fi ve, but not much more

than that. Weyburn is a good site, but at the very western edge of the Bakken

development and high-activity area, it’s a long ways from Redvers, for instance.

Trucking costs are an important factor, they note. “If you mismanage it, it

will sink you,” Logan said.

Th e other critical factor is volume – using as much of the fuel on a trailer as

possible without running out, all the while you don’t want to return trailers for

refuelling that still have a lot of compressed natural gas on board.

“Part of our business is the logistics side – trading out that trailer when it’s

near-empty, and you’re not leaving too much gas on it, and you’re not leaving the

rig burning 100 per cent diesel because the new trailer hasn’t been able to get

there,” Loewen said.

In late 2011, the industry saw diesel shortages due to a fi re at the Regina

refi nery. Having diversity of fuels somewhat lessens the dependency on diesel.

However, while natural gas usage will reduce diesel consumption, a bi-fuel rig’s

engines cannot run on natural gas alone. “You need diesel in the mix,” Logan

said.

Loewen said probably at least 30 rigs in Canada and another 50 rigs in the

United States have been converted to run in bi-fuel setups with natural gas. But

they are usually connected to pipelines. Loewen said, “What’s unique about what

we’re doing is all the other rigs in Canada are pipeline connected. Th ey don’t have

the gas trucked into their rig. Th ey’re taking it off a pipeline. Th at’s great if you’re

on a pad site where the rig’s going to be there for six months. But for 95 per cent

of the drilling done in Western Canada, you can’t do that. Th e only alternative is

trucking gas in.”

One other benefi t of having an infrastructure set up to compress natural gas

for rig usage is that it will allow producers to convert their fi eld vehicles to run

on natural gas as well. From producers whose fi eld operators will typically put

hundreds of kilometres on their pickups each day, this can be a real savings. In

this case, 100 per cent displacement is possible. All the major manufacturers are

coming out with CNG trucks that can run 100 per cent gasoline or 100 per cent

natural gas.

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Carlyle – John Kadar, operations manager for CanGas Solutions, has his

work cut out for him during this spring’s breakup. He’s overseeing the conver-

sion of four CanElson Drilling rigs in Carlyle to burn both diesel and natural

gas.

“We tie into the engine central control system. We talk to it via our com-

puter system and we monitor the engine exhaust temperatures, vibration and

high and low temps,” he said.

Th e engines, originally confi gured to run on just diesel, will use a diesel-

only fuel mixture at both the low and high ends of the power band. In the

middle, it runs a mixture of diesel and natural gas.

“Diesel has a higher BTU than natural gas,” Kadar said, explaining why

diesel is needed at higher RPMs.

“Th is kit is a dual fuel bank. It’s a V-engine, and we have to control both

sides.

Th e mud pump engine on the rig in question is a V-2000 Detroit. Th ey

convert the mud pump and generator engines on the rigs, but not the fl oor

engine.

“We don’t do the drawworks engine. It’s not a big consumer of fuel,” he

said. Much of the time the drawworks engine is running at idle.

“We’re doing gen sets, and pumps, and in the future, top drives as well. Rig

10 has a top drive.

Rigs have diesel tanks as part of their design. Th e compressed natural gas,

however, is stored on a semi-trailer. It has to be connected by an overland hose,

protected by a drive-over ramp. If the lease is too muddy and it’s not matted,

there may be times when running natural gas is not an option. One doesn’t

want to take a chance with the connecting hose being damaged due to soft ter-

rain. So far, it hasn’t been an issue.

Converting a drilling rig to burn natural gasTypically the trailer will be 50 metres from the well.

Th e natural gas fuel line enters the mud pump shack. From there, another

line goes overhead to the gen set in another shack.

“We have to meter all the gas that comes in,” Kadar said.

Th eir system reduces the pressure of the natural gas substantially before it

reaches the engines.

Th e gen set confi guration is already in its second generation, with more

computerized controls and improved electrical harness.

Th e system is designed for wireless control. “We can monitor our system

through cell or satellite and control it from a chair,” Kadar said.

It takes two to three days to do an installation per engine, about a week to

do both the mud pump and gen set with three people working on it. One is a

pipefi tter, the other two are technicians.

“It’s better for the environment. It’s cleaner burning fuel. It’s the responsi-

bility of big business to improve how we do business. How do we get natural

gas prices back up? Either we put it in a boat, or come up with new ways to use

it.”


Carlyle – In March 2012, 27 Saskatchewan employers took part in recruit-

ment fairs in Dublin and Cork, Ireland. A substantial number of those busi-

nesses were in the Saskatchewan oilpatch. Th e employer-driven mission that

included both Premier Brad Wall and Advanced Education, Employment and

Immigration Minister Rob Norris, is still seeing results.

On April 15, two more Irish tradesmen came over to Canada for work.

Pipeline News encountered them on April 19, in the muddy yard of CanElson

Drilling in Carlyle, assisting in the conversion of drilling rigs to run on both

diesel and natural gas.

Tommy Owens and Aodhan Brown both left

jobs in Ireland to come to Canada.

“I’m going to be a roughneck. Originally I was

a mechanical design engineer, designing medical

devices,” said Owens. “I wanted a change, a change

of scenery.

“I left a good job at Randox Laboratories of

four years.”

Owens has his professional certifi cation as

engineer, but he has chosen to now work with his

hands.

“I feel like putting it on the back burner for a

while. I can always go back to it,” he said.

Unattached, the 30-year-old Owens came to

Canada on a two-year work visa with his friend,

Brown. Th ey came over the pond at the same time,

and are now staying at Moose Mountain.

Brown, 22, said, “I’m a hydraulic fi tter, a diesel

mechanic.”

He has his trade certifi cation, having completed

his apprenticeship two years ago.

“At home you stay on and go to college, or you

go to work. Th e status is not good for apprentice-

ships,” he said.

Asked why, Brown said, “Th e recession. Th ere’s

no jobs. It’s the whole of Europe.”

He attended one of the job fairs Saskatchewan

took part in.

“It was brilliant,” he said, but then found disap-

pointment in the follow-up. He had no replies from

job inquiries, not hearing back from the prospective

employers. However, they found another way.

Owen’s brother was already in Calgary, where

he met someone from CanElson Drilling.

“At home, there’s a lot of people out of work,”

Brown said.

Having been in Canada for less than a week,

he noted, “Th e country is very friendly. We’ve been

looked after since getting here.

His personal drive was evident. Brown noted

how a person in Ireland could remain in a stagnant

position for a career. He wants to work and advance.

“We’re not here for a party. If you come to

Canada, you can make something out of it.”

Irish arrivals Irish arrivals spawned by 2012 spawned by 2012 job fairjob fair

Seen in red, Aodhan Brown is only 22 years old, and he’s already completed his mechanic appren ceship two years ago. Brown is now working with CanElson Drilling. Here, he’s learning how to install natural gas conversion kits onto drill-ing rig generators and mud pump engines. Brad Jones, eld technician with Can-

Gas Solu ons, assists.

Tommy Owens’ brother met a se-nior person with CanElson Drilling, and now he and his friend, Aodhan Brown, have come to Canada to work on drilling rigs. Owens has put his career as an engineer on hold to be-come a roughneck.


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Alternative energy has to make sense

By Brian ZinchukRegina – While “alternative energy” has become a global buzzword, in Saskatch-

ewan the reality is, if SaskPower isn’t doing it, it’s not going to happen. However, for many years the Crown corporation, which relies primarily on coal, hydro and natural gas for its power generation, has been adding alternative energy sources to the mix. We now have wind turbines and cogeneration plants scattered throughout the prov-ince. Additionally, one of its most signifi cant eff orts is to turn “dirty coal” into “clean coal,” being the fi rst power utility in the world to use carbon capture technology on a commercial scale.

On April 4, SaskPower President and CEO Robert Watson spoke with Pipeline News regarding the Crown’s alternative energy initiatives. His key message: Sask-Power wants alternative energy, but it has to make economic sense.

Pipeline News: How important is alternative energy to SaskPower’s plans?

Robert Watson: It’s important to SaskPower and it’s important to our

customers. We have growth in the province over the next 10 to 40 years and

it’s going to be unprecedented. We need to fi nd energy that we can supply on

a reliable, aff ordable basis to our people. We have the traditional energy that

we’re looking to maximize. We do have some hydro in the north – true run-of-

the-river – with less environmental impact, that we’re looking at and want to

develop.

We will be adding wind power to the system as our baseload increases.

We want to get to the 8.5 per cent level, which is the industry best practice for

wind power.

Biomass – we have the 36 megawatt Meadow Lake facility that we’re

looking forward to coming online (valued at approximately $160 million). And

we’re looking at any sort of biomass, although it becomes limited because of

the fi bre you need to do that.

Another thing we are very encouraged about is geothermal in the south-

ern part of the province, with anywhere from two to fi ve megawatt facilities

throughout the southern part of the province. We’re looking at an initial test

site for that. Page A18

SaskPower president and CEO Robert Watson explains that SaskPower wants alterna- ve energy, but it has to make economic sense. File photo


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You build the plant, we buy its power Page A17

Last but not least, for alternate energy. Th ere’s

no real solar capacity in the province yet, however,

as the technology advances, it would probably

become more advantageous for us to have a look at

it. Right now we’re still at a winter high-load for

the province. Unfortunately, it gets real cold and not

too light in the wintertime here and therefore solar

would be diffi cult as a main baseload for us. It could

be something possibly in the future for comple-

mentary supply.

PN: How much of your total generation capacity do you see from alternative energy in our power mix over the next 10 years?

RW: Th at’s a real good question. Right now,

The Boundary Dam clean coal project was announced in April 2011. This year, the project will be commissioned. SaskPower president and CEO answered ques ons at the ini al announcements. File Photo

we’re about 55, 54 per cent comes from coal, about

20 per cent from hydro, about 20 per cent from gas,

and the rest is a mixture. Over the next 10 years we

won’t be adding much more new capacity because

we’ve already got new capacity lined up. We’re

adding 260 megawatts of gas generation. We will

be adding more wind power into the grid to get it

up to the 8.5 per cent. And we will be adding more

hydro to the grid. We’ve got a 50 megawatt facility

at Elizabeth Falls that we will be looking at devel-

oping. It’s a fair-sized run-of-the-river.

We’ll be adding on a marginal basis over the

next 10 years. We’ve already got lined up all our

capacity right now.

PN: What projects are you doing in this re-

gard? What’s next on the agenda?RW: For the longer-term aspect, part of our

alternate energy capacity is our Boundary Dam

carbon capture facility, where we’ll be capturing 90

per cent of the CO2. It’s the world’s fi rst full-pro-

duction carbon capture facility. Th at’s the equivalent

of taking approximately 250,000 cars off the road.

Th at’s our banner, fl agship facility that we plan on

making successful and showing the world you can

be responsible in burning coal and to make it as

clean as possible.

PN: Can you tell us about the Red Lily project at Moosomin, how is that working out?

RW: Th e Red Lily project is in co-operation

with Algonquin Power. It’s a fantastic facility. It’s a

wind facility and a great one.

PN: What about SaskPower wind projects? Or are you going to pursue a model of purchas-ing power rather than in-house when it comes to alternative energy?

RW: Our next big one is Chaplin, with 170

megawatts coming on, a wind farm near Chaplin.

Th at was done in an open, competitive bid. We will

look at doing one or two open competitive bids in

the future.

(Chaplin’s) to be up and running in 2017.

Chaplin’s between Regina and Swift Current.

It’s a great wind area, down there, a sustainable

wind area.

It’s a private project. A private company is

building it, and we’ve signed a long term power

purchase agreement with it.

We have a model right now where, essen-

tially any new power generation, we’re looking for

partners. If it’s something we’re rebuilding on one

of our existing plants, or adding onto one of our

existing plants, then we’ll do that ourselves. We

don’t build anything. Everything’s done by outside

parties. We just become project managers. We don’t

have contractors we employ, all of it’s done by pri-

vate contractors.

For wind, we decided to do that entirely by

third parties, by RFQ and third party bids. We’ll

agree to a long-term purchase agreement with

them, and they go out and fi nance the wind farms.

With gas plants, we’ve done the same. We’ll

look for private partnerships for gas plants. Either

a private company builds it, and we’ll sign a long-

term contract, or we will be the project manage-

ment and build it with SaskPower. Page A19


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Page A18Th e last wind RFQ we did was an excellent

model. We’re looking for this much capacity, tell us

where you want to build it. We give them guide-

lines, of course, because we want them fairly close

to our transmission facilities. You tell us how much

you want to charge us per megawatt-hour on a

long-term contract, and we’ll sign with you. Th ey

build it. Th ey fi nance it, and we sign a long term

contract.

PN: Th is is all on competitive rates? You’re not doing feed-in-tariff s, like Ontario did?

RW: No feed-in. It’s competitive rates. It’s a

completely open and transparent bidding model.

We’re not suggesting we follow Ontario’s

model, no. We fi nd that an open and competitive

process for gas plants, wind farms and geothermal

and most of those projects can get good, long-term

pricing for it.

PN: Regarding geothermal, what are you talk-ing about?

RW: It’s still in its infancy stage. We’re talking

about doing a test for a geothermal site somewhere

in southern Saskatchewan. Th e geology in the

southern part of the province is supposed to be very

good for geothermal. We’re interested in trying a

test site down there to test that out, quite frankly.

PN: Can you tell us about the recent Cow-essess First Nation wind project?

RW: Th e Cowessess First Nation is doing wind

power with storage. We’re supporting it, of course.

It’s their project. It’s better for them to talk to

you about it. It’s a good project. We said we would

take the power from them.

PN: Alliance Pipeline’s NRGreen cogen is one recent source of additional power for Sas-kPower. Do you see more co-gen opportunities coming like this in the future? What about small scale co-gen, such as SAGD projects or fl are gas?

RW: We’re quite open to all that, absolutely.

Our model is, we’ve got to be very responsible do-

ing price comparisons. We’ve got to be looking for

the most reasonable price to purchase, build-to-buy,

or build-to-own power as we possibly can. It’s got

to be responsible. Th at’s why we don’t do feed-in-

tariff . Th at’s why we don’t supplement any power re-

quirements. We look for competitive power to have

built for us, or to have somebody build and we buy

as competitive as possible. Th at’s our base model. So

fl are gas, cogen, cogen in a facility like potash, we’re

completely open to that stuff .

PN: When buying bulk power, what are we looking at, ballpark, for kilowatt hours?

RW: We go for a range. Th ere are two things

we look at.

First of all, we look at, do you need power right

now? You don’t want to buy power too far ahead

of time, because then you’re paying for it and not

using it. One of the aspects of that is unfortunately,

when you’re building a plant, it comes on in lumpy

stages. You add 300 megawatts on in a lump. But

you need to have it over the next two years, so you

have to do it that way.

We look for, in the future, to de-risk our supply.

Gas, we’re going to add to the fl eet to protect our

coal fl eet. We’re going to add hydro to the fl eet.

We’re going to add geothermal, small amounts, and

run of the river.

We look at both aspects, diversifying the fl eet,

and cost aspects.

We have North Battleford (Northland Power)

coming in in the next couple of months. We like to

run about 15 per cent extra capacity into the grid

for emergency reasons, for peaking and stuff like

that. When Northland comes on, it will take us up

to 20 per cent, but it will quickly come down to

what our target is.

Th ere’s requirements. We belong to the North

American Energy Group, which has very specifi c

requirements that you have to have to interact with

other jurisdictions. It’s very strict, so we have to pay

attention to that.

January 2013 we had another peak, about 3,400

(3,379 MW to be exact) megawatts peak.

PN: Is there anything else you would like to add?

RW: We have a good plan for at least the next

10 years, and we’re putting together our thoughts

for what we need for the next 40 years. We will be

looking at all options in order to ensure we have the

power at an aff ordable price for the province.

SaskPower president and CEO Robert Watson


A larger Kramer Cat to prowl in Battleford

By Geoff LeePipeline News

Battleford – It’s too early to order a grand opening cake, but Kramer Ltd.

president and CEO Tim Kramer is celebrating the ongoing construction of the

new Kramer Caterpillar dealership in Battleford.

Th e 40,000 sq. ft. complex is expected to be completed this fall and will

replace the existing dealership located on Highway 4 in North Battleford.

“We’ve always had high expectations when we do buildings. Hopefully,

we’ll be there by the fall,” said Kramer by phone from Regina.

Th e existing location acquired in 2006 has already run out of room to

handle growth in Kramer’s parts, sales and service operations.

“We’re growing. Th at whole northwest has been fantastic,” said Kramer.

“We’ve been very lucky. Oil and gas has been part of it, and agriculture is

also strong.”

Kramer Ltd. operates seven Caterpillar dealership locations in Saskatch-

ewan that sell and service a range of equipment for the agriculture, lift, energy,

truck, heavy construction, mining, and compact construction markets.

Th e company also operates Kramer Rents – the Cat Rental Store in Saska-

toon and Regina.

Th e North Battleford dealership was initially

acquired to serve the agriculture market, but as

soon as the sign went up, so did the demand for the

Caterpillar line of construction equipment.

It’s the same story told at some of Kramer’s

other locations in Saskatchewan, as the province’s

economy is fi ring on all cylinders.

“Th e Kramer Kindersley branch was originally

opened as an agriculture store, and the fi rst thing

that comes rolling in is a D8,” said Kramer.

“Th at’s just how it is. As soon as we put a sign

up, people just start bringing in their equipment.

Th ey show up because we’re available.”

Kramer has benefi ted from strong growth in

construction activity in the Battlefords.

Page A21

Ledcor Construc on Ltd. is building this new Kramer Cat dealership in Ba leford along Highway 16. The new 40,000 sq. . facility will be an economic generator with new high skilled employees in demand for sales, parts and service opera ons. It will have service road access from Highway 4 in Ba leford.

The Kramer Cat dealership in North Ba leford sold and serviced a ton of Cat motor graders for snow removal and construc on jobs this past winter. Heavy construc- on sales consultant, Jim Barks is looking forward to

reloca ng this fall to a newer and larger facility in Bat-tleford.

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Page A20Th at growth is refl ected in building permits valued at nearly $6 million

that were issued by March 2013 in North Battleford. Th is compares to approxi-

mately $7 million for the same period in 2012.

Also helping to drive sales of Cat equipment is robust oil and gas construc-

tion activity in the region.

Husky Energy, for example, is constructing a 10,000-barrel per day steam

assisted gravity drainage project at Rush Lake, just north of Paynton about 70

kilometres to the east.

Th e strong regional economy is supported by a population gain of 10.3 per

cent for Battleford in the last census in 2011 and a 6.3 per cent increase for

North Battleford from the previous population count in 2006.

“We should have been there 25 years ago,” said Kramer about the Battl-

eford area.

“We’ve been really fortunate. We’ve got a really fantastic team there.

Th ey’ve adapted well from agriculture to heavy construction.

“Our employees are looking forward to the new facility. It’s a real boost for

morale, and it’s a real boost for the morale of our customers.

“Th ey’re the ones who are going to win with our new Battleford facility.

Customers have to win every time,” added Kramer.

Th e new dealership will be ideally located to attract agricultural and indus-

trial traffi c from all points on the compass serving the Battlefords.

Th e facility is being built by Ledcor Construction Ltd. on a 153-acre parcel

of land with Highway 16 frontage, north of the Battleford West subdivision.

“I’m a land developer now and I don’t want to be,” said Kramer with a

laugh.

“I only need about 30 acres, but I had to buy the whole thing to get the

piece that I wanted.”

Th e site will be accessed from Highway 16 from the west or from a new

service road that will connect the facility to Highway 4 in Battleford.

“We’re developing it. We put the road in and the water. We’re going to

make it into an industrial park,” said Kramer.

Th e project is well timed with the completion

last August of the twinning of Highway 4 through

Battleford, south of Highway 16 to the Battle River

Bridge.

Th at highway accommodates upward of 7,100

vehicles per day.

Kramer borrowed from the real estate mantra

of location, location, location to explain the reasons

for selecting the Battleford property for the new

dealership.

“Exposure, exposure, exposure,” said Kramer.

“You can’t beat the location.

“Th e new Kramer Cat dealership will be the

fi rst thing people see coming in from the west.”

Th e new facility will include a huge service

department, a parts department and some offi ce

space along plenty of room outdoors to display and

park equipment.

“We’re not much for showrooms. Our products

are sold from the dirt,” said Kramer.

Kramer Caterpillar owes a lot of its success to

servicing what it sells including to local customers

such as Strike Energy Services Inc. in Battleford

which operates a fl eet of Cat construction equip-

ment.

“Parts and service sell everything. Without

service you can’t go anywhere,” said Kramer.

“Customers are demanding more and more. As

the equipment evolves and becomes more sophisti-

cated, the local guys won’t be able to fi x it. Custom-

ers will have to bring their equipment to a dealer.”

Kramer Ltd. doubled the size of their Estevan

dealership in 2012 and their Swift Current facility

in 2010. Page A21

These Cat skid steers are popular sellers among the construc on and industrial equip-ment o erings at the Kramer dealership in North Ba leford. The dealership is relocat-ing this fall to a new 40,000 sq . facility in Ba leford.

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Page A21In 2010, Kramer built a 35,000 sq. ft. addition to its Regina service facility

where they provide environmentally friendly air fi ltration cleaning and indus-

trial radiator services.

Kramer Ltd. represents numerous other product brands and manufacturers

including Agco (RoGator, TerraGator and SpraCoupe application equipment

plus Challenger tractors) and Bourgault (precision seeding systems).

Th ey also sell Mitsubishi, JLG, Lexion, and Master Craft equipment in a

diverse product mix.

“Th e market is moving. If you don’t move with the market you die,” said

Kramer.

“Whatever our customers tell us to do, that’s we do.”

Kramer anticipates the new Battleford dealership will help to boost the

local economy.

“Absolutely, we’re going to have a huge impact. I am sure we will do our bit.

Battleford has been very good to work with,” said Kramer.

Kramer Ltd. bought the land in 2011 when Chris Odishaw was the town’s

mayor and a leader who Kramer called “an interesting young man.”

“He was a real promoter,” said Kramer in reference to a pro business at-

titude that sold him on the decision to acquire the land in Battleford.

“We’re fortunate. Everything’s humming along like it’s supposed to be.

We’re lucky. It’s all luck,” said Kramer about being to grow along with the

region.

“Now that we’re there, business has really picked up. Everybody’s expand-

ing. With all the oil and gas business going in that area, it’s humming.”

Th e new dealership will also be hiring a lot of new employees in a com-

petitive market for skilled labour.

“Th at’s a challenge for us. We’re growing so darned fast. Acquiring the

people we need and developing the footprint to match – it’s really a struggle

sometimes,” said Kramer.

“Our company is always on the lookout for certifi ed journeyperson techni-

cians. We also partner with SIAST through their apprenticeship program.

“Our recruitment eff orts have taken us around the world in search of

the highly skilled workers needed to continue to build our qualifi ed team at

Kramer.

“Our ‘Huge Careers’ campaign and our new employment website will help

us with that challenge.

“Expansion of our facilities and team members will continue to play a part

in the overall well-being of the communities in which we live and work. Th e

future looks bright for all of us,” Kramer said.

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By Geoff LeeBonnyville, Alta. – It’s not often you get to

make a second fi rst impression, especially if the

original one still works in your favour.

Bonnyville show catering to exhibitorsOliver who is also the executive director of the

chamber.

“We learned there are so many people that

travel to see the show.”

At the 2011 show, more than 68 per cent of

exhibitors also originated from another region.

“We have electronic ‘invites’ for our exhibitors

that are going to be customized for them. Th ey can

send them to their customers to invite them to at-

tend the show as well,” said Oliver.

Page A24

Co-chairs of the 2013 Bonnyville & District Oil and Gas Show, Tanya Oliver, le , and Robyn Ducharme, are ca-tering to exhibitors’ needs based on feedback from the 2011 show. This year’s show will be held June 19-20 at the Centennial Centre in Bonnyville.

Th at’s the challenge for organizers of the 2013

Bonnyville & District Oil and Gas Show who are

going all out to provide exhibitors with an even

bigger bang for their buck based on feedback from

2011.

“We’ve got high expectations. We did, I think,

a fantastic job in 2011. It was our fi rst show. We

defi nitely got a lot of great feedback,” said event co-

chair Robyn Ducharme who is also president of the

Bonnyville & District Chamber of Commerce.

“We are taking care of the areas our exhibitors

and attendees told us we need to focus on.”

Th is year’s show will take place June 19-20

inside and outside the Centennial Centre in

Bonnyville with lots of improvements in store.

Tweaks are being made to everything from

registration, networking opportunities and shuttle

services to increasing the number of quality visitors.

“We are absolutely taking care of all of those

concerns,” said Ducharme.

“We will defi nitely be looking for feedback

again this year to see how all of that ended up

working out.

“I think our biggest focus is absolutely getting

the number of attendees increased. Last time, we

had just over 1,200 attendees. Our goal this year is

to double that to 2,400 attendees.”

One of the visitors could be Albert Energy

Minister Ken Hughes, who has been invited to at-

tend the show and banquet.

Organizers are partnering with the JuneWar-

ren-Nickle’s Energy Group to advertise the show in

their print and online energy publications.

“We’ve also expanded our radio campaigns

to cover most of the province rather than just the

immediate surrounding area,” said co-chair Tanya

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All potential visitors who pre-register online at the oil and gas show website will have a chance to win a $3,500 travel voucher.

Organizers have also contracted the services of Conexsys, an event reg-

istration provider of lead retrieval systems, to enable exhibitors to track their

networking contacts.

Exhibitors can pay to use a hand-held scanner to capture unique customer

information from a barcode on identifi cation badges worn by all registered

showgoers.

“Th e bar code is unique to each person and exhibitors can just scan it on

the badge,” said Oliver.

“Instead of having to collect business cards, they can just scan. At the end

of the show, they will get the database of the people they met.”

Th e information will include the person’s name, their company, their posi-

tion, and contact information number among other data.

Changes have also been made to the popular Oilmen’s Room Reverse

Tradeshow.

Th e reverse tradeshow allows exhibitors to discuss business opportunities in

private with representatives from companies such as Canadian Natural Re-

sources, Devon Energy, Husky Energy Ltd., Osum Oil Sands Corp., and Shell

Canada with heavy oil operations in the region.

“We found a lot of exhibitors didn’t know it was happening in 2011. We

are expanding it to two days,” said Oliver.

“Exhibitors will be able to pre-register and pre-schedule their appoint-

ments.”

More booth space is available this year inside the Centennial Centre with

many fi rst time exhibitors onboard that will give a fresh look to this year’s

show.

“We are expanding

on our reach with dif-

ferent companies. Word

of mouth helped a lot

last time,” said Ducha-

rme.

“Just having the

second show, you are

going to have that

much more exposure

and that many more

people talking about it.

Page A25

Osum Oil Sands Corp. will host an evening barbecue recep on for exhibitors, a endees and the media at Moose Lake on June 18, the night before the start of the Bonnyville and District Oil and Gas Show to be held June 19-20.

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Page A24

“I think that’s why we are getting new exhibitors as well.”

Th e show will kick off like it did last time, with an evening barbecue and

social on June 18 sponsored by Osum Oil Sands at Shaw House on the shore

of Moose Lake.

Th e event is open to exhibitors, show visitors and the media with shuttle

bus service provided.

“It was a fantastic barbecue last time. It’s really showcasing the beautiful

Lakeland District that we have here,” said Ducharme.

“It’s a great place to live and raise a family. It enables us to showcase to

these exhibitors from all over the province. What a beautiful area we have.”

Bonnyville is also a good place to do business these days with companies

such as Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil Ltd, and Osum Oil Sands construct-

ing and expanding heavy oil thermal projects in the region.

Th e show is well timed as the increased oil and gas activity in the area

continues to trigger growth since the last show in 2011.

“We actually had a quite a few success stories from the last show, people

attributing contacts that they made at the show as the reasons why they de-

cided to open new branches in our area,” said Ducharme.

“Th at’s what we’re there to do. We are the chamber of commerce. We are

there to spur economic growth in our area.

“If we get a couple of good stories from a show this size, then absolutely

it’s all worth our ef-

forts.”

Visitors can also

expect to hear up to

four speakers during

two breakfast sessions

and two luncheons

inside the Centennial

Centre.

“Th at’s going to

be something new this

year rather than having

it in the theatre,” said

Oliver.

Exhibitors will also

be encouraged to make use of a new on-demand shuttle service to and from

hotels to allow more visitors to drive and park at the show to boost atten-

dance.

“We did have shuttles last time that were running on a loop that were

very underutilized,” said Oliver.

“Th is year, we have some larger shuttles fi rst thing in the morning. At any

point, an exhibitor can call us for a ride to the Centennial Centre and we will

be there to pick them up right away.”

Oliver and Ducharme both burst into laughter when asked if there was

much work left for their committee to do done before the doors open.

“Th ere’s still lots of details to be worked out. We are still working on get-

ting sponsorships,” said Oliver who interrupted her maternity leave to pitch

in.

“We have opportunities available and we’re working on our programs. It’s

a really big show. Th ere’s lot of stuff to do. Th at’s why I came back early.”

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Lloydminster – Who needs a men’s green jacket when you can play golf for

diamonds as a woman?

Diamonds on the Green is the alluring slogan of the 8th annual PWM

Steel Petroleum Golf Classic organized by the Ladies of the Patch committee.

Th e event will once again be played at the 18-hole Rolling Green Fairways

in Lloydminster on May 24. Th ere will be sponsored diamond earrings at each

hole up for grabs.

Th ose fabulous prizes will be contested by up to 288 women this year com-

pared to 156 a year ago, thanks to a new par 3 format that should put an end to

the perennial waiting list.

“A par-3 allowed to us to include more golfers in the tournament because

we’ve got such a long waiting list each year,” said lead organizer Debbie Hor-

bach.

“We thought we’d try that to see if we could accommodate more golfers.”

Th e count was just over 240 and rising when Horbach was contacted on

April 15.

“We knew that was going to happen because we’ve had such an extensive

waiting list every year and now everybody’s happy that they can get in,” she

added.

Unlike last year, when Horbach headed into the event fresh from a golfi ng

vacation, she admits she will be coming in cold this time around.

“I haven’t had a stick in my hand since last fall. We didn’t go golfi ng this

year, unfortunately,” she joked.

Scores and skill are secondary for all of the players who are motivated to

support the event as a charity fundraiser for the Lloydminster Sexual Assault

Centre that received $25,000 in 2012.

Even more money could be raised this year thanks to a $10 hike in regis-

tration fees to $160 per player and the usual strong sponsorship support for the

cause from oil and gas companies that comes as no surprise to Horbach.

“I think the big reason is that this is the only event that is held for women

that work in the oilpatch,” she said.

“I think that they understand the value that women contribute to the

oilpatch. Th ey are more than happy to contribute and make sure this event is a

success.”

Th e switch to the par-3 format is well timed with the off -season construc-

tion of a new banquet hall at the golf club that can accommodate up to 350

people for large functions such as weddings.

“We couldn’t get more girls before because nobody had a big enough build-

ing to house us for the supper,” said Horbach.

“Th ey put up a new structure out there this year to accommodate that

many people. Everything just worked in our favour.”

Fingers are also crossed that offi cials will have the course ready in time –

weather permitting.

“Th ey can only promise what they can promise. Th ey have to wait for

Mother Nature and hope like heck she co-operates,” said Horbach.

“Last year, there was lots of water, but the weather was warm. We’ve had

snow, we’ve had sleet, we’ve had rain, we’ve had everything.

“Let’s hope for some sunshine for a change.”

Flower power worked for these golfers at the 2012 PWM Petroleum Golf Classic at Roll-ing Green Fairways in Lloydminster. Pictured from le to right are Lana Thiessen, Ten-nille Tiedeman, Katherine Hemsworth and Danielle Morgan. This year’s event will be a par-3 with up to 288 women golfers taking part compared to 156 last year. Everyone is hoping for a repeat of warm, sunny weather for the May 24 toruney. File photo

Diamonds in the rough for women golfers

Lloydminster – Are you as safe as you think? Th at’s the theme of the 2013

North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 5-11.

It’s also a question for employees, employers and the public to ask them-

selves during NAOSH week with the focus on the importance of preventing

injury and illness in the workplace and at home.

According to the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, 145 workers in

the province died as a result of workplace injury or illness in 2012.

WorkSafe Saskatchewan recorded 60 workplace deaths in 2012.

NAOSH week follows the annual global Day of Mourning held on April

28 for all workers who have been injured or killed at their place of work.

Th e City of Lloydminster chose to pay tribute to injured or fallen work-

ers during a Day of Mourning ceremony at City Hall on April 26 with fl ags

lowered at half mast and a moment of silence.

NAOSH activities in Lloydminster will be led by Atco Electric and the

Lakeland Regional Safety Committee that are providing workplace safety

information during an open house and free barbecue for the public.

Th e event will be held at the new Atco building at 6202-63 Street on May

10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Any local organization or company is invited to participate and set up a

table promoting awareness, products, services and safety related messages.

NAOSH week is now into its 17th year and is celebrated in Canada, the

United States and Mexico to highlight the importance of reducing injuries and

illness in the workplace, at home and in the community.

Th e event is managed by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, the

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, the labour program of

Human Resources & Skills Development Canada, and the American Society

of Safety Engineers.

Atco Electric to host NAOSH BBQ


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Brent Ma ce, general manager and owner of Northern Truck & Industrial Supplies Ltd. an associate Napa Auto Parts store in Bonnyville, has teamed up with local entrepreneur Eugene Prochinsky to launch B.E. Solar Solu ons Ltd. dur-ing the Bonnyville & District Oil and Gas Show June 19-20. Ma ce stands in front of an Aurora 1530 solar powered LED ligh ng system for o -grid oil eld sites. On the le , is the pole for an EnerGen 1720 solar ligh ng unit for residen- al use. Both units are made by Carmanah Technologies Corpora on.

By Geoff LeeBonnyville – Visitors to the Bonnyville &

District Oil and Gas Show June 19-20 can watch a

new business launch taking place at Booths 534 and

535.

Entrepreneurs Brent Mattice and Eugene

Prochinsky are counting down the days to offi cially

lift off their B.E. Solar Solutions Ltd. their product

utilizes solar energy to power doghouses, outdoor

safety lighting and security trailers.

“We think the product we have is something

that’s going to be looked at quite seriously by many

companies, not only for safety concerns, but for

lighting situations in areas that are impossible to

run grid lighting to,” said Mattice.

“Th e oil show is going to be a good thermom-

eter to feel where we can take this company to. I

have no doubt this is going to be a strong viable

company in the area.”

B.E. Solar will be a separate business for Mat-

tice, the general manager and owner of Northern

Truck & Industrial Supplies Ltd., which oper-

ates as an associate Napa Auto Parts store, and for

Prochinsky, who owns Breday Trucking Inc.

“We want to walk before we run and see what

kind of interest the oil show generates for the com-

pany and really use it as our launch,” said Mattice.

Mattice has been selling solar systems for

recreational vehicles at Northern Trucking while

Prochinksy has the equipment to haul doghouses

into the shop where those initial installations have

taken place.

“We work with Ensign Rockwell and we are

working with some other local service rig compa-

nies,” said Mattice.

Th e idea for a separate business was born after a

service rig manager from Rockwell wanted to know

if Mattice could install a solar panel that would just

run his laptop.

“Th at’s when I suggested ‘why don’t we try to

put a solar system on the doghouse?’ We were suc-

cessful in doing the fi rst one, and we have done 11

so far,” he said.

“When we laid out the benefi ts we thought we

could produce, that became a smart business deci-

sion for them as well.”

Th e solar system generates 450 watts of contin-

uous power to run the lights, coff ee pot, microwave

and a computer, saving the client about $1,500

a month in fuel and maintenance costs to run a

generator.

Page B2

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Page B1

“We just felt we could put a solar

system on a doghouse to eliminate the

use of running the big generator,” said

Mattice.

A typical doghouse will burn

about 250 gallons of diesel fuel a

month, while solar can be used for

six to seven months a year before the

generator is needed for heat.

“Th ere’s huge savings for a com-

pany, both on the wear and tear of the

generator, and there is also the quiet-

ness of the unit,” said Mattice.

“You can go in the doghouse and

have lunch and not have the roar of

the generator.”

A doghouse solar package in-

cludes three solar panels installed on

the roof, and they are hooked to three

batteries, a solar charge controller and

an inverter similar to an RV installa-

tion.

“We install the system in our

automotive shop so we can bring the

whole unit inside and put it together

in about a day. It’s an eight hour

install,” said Mattice.

“We put an automatic generator

start in the doghouse. With the in-

verter, we tie into the electrical panel

in the doghouse. Everything looks

like a factory install.”

Th e complete system costs about

$9,000, with a payback period over

the fi rst six to eight months of use.

“Th ere are a lot of service rig

companies out there that run dog-

houses. Once they see what we can

do, I’m pretty sure that we’ll probably

get a phone call,” said Mattice about

the sales potential.

Page B3

The yellow components in this solar-powered doghouse include, le , an automa c generator starter and on the right, a charge controller on top of an inverter and three 12V AGM ba eries. On the roof are three solar panels. Photo submi ed

Why run a gen set to power a coffee pot

PIPELINE NEWS May 2013 B3

Page B2All of the solar products to be sold by B.E. Solar are powered by new

AGM (absorbed glass mat) sealed batteries.

An AGM battery has the electrolyte absorbed in a fi breglass mat separator

and no silica gel is necessary.

Th e glass mat absorbs and immobilizes the acid while still keeping the acid

available to the plates. Th is allows a fast reaction between acid and plate mate-

rial.

Th e batteries are perfect for the company’s solar-powered oilfi eld safety

lights that are equipped with motion sensors. Called the Aurora 1530 or the

1720 EnerGen residential light is made by Carmanah Technologies Corpora-

tion.

Th e 1530 is ideal to light up lease sites or disposal sites or any remote

facility off the power grid. Th e solar panels and LED lights are optimized for

northern latitudes.

“We can put a light in the middle of nowhere. You’ve got a place to work

without having to use a fl ashlight,” said Mattice.

“It’s a safety tool and a comfort to have light.”

Lighting for farms and acreages are other potential applications for the

1530 solar system.

Th e solar panels and batteries are mounted on a pole that attaches to a

screw pile anchor base that can be easily uninstalled when operations relocate

with minimal ground disturbance.

Th e 1730 solar powered LED light can be used for a variety of applica-

tions such as parking lots and walking trails – anywhere grid power become too

expensive to consider.

B.E. Solar can’t fi t a doghouse into their oil show booth, but a mobile solar

powered surveillance, lighting and communication system from Ensol Systems

will be the attention getter.

“Solar security trailers are an innovative product for the oilpatch that have

not been seen in this part of the county yet,” said Mattice.

“We have mobile security trailers that are run 100 per cent solar. Th ey are

compact trailers that we can move anywhere because we have both cellular and

satellite communications.”

Th e units come with a high defi nition IP (Internet protocol) camera with

pan, tilt and zoom capability, high intensity LED lighting and remote viewing

capability by smart phones and computers.

“Vandalism and theft in the oilpatch is at a point now where, in a lot of

cases if a rig fi nishes a well and there is no a job for that rig for a week or two,

they can’t leave it on the site because of vandalism,” said Mattice.

“We can put a trailer in front of that rig and it’s being watched 24/7 with-

out the expense of having to move that rig to a secure location.”

Th e trailer, itself, can’t be taken easily by thieves since it has a GPS system

and the wheels can be locked.

“It would take them longer to fi gure out how to hook up the trailer to the

truck before security got there,” said Mattice.

Mattice has owned Northern Trucking for 16 years. Northern Trucking is

where he and Prochinsky will operate B.E Solar this fall as a standalone shop –

if their launch hits the target market.

“I think Alberta has been a little behind the rest of the world in regards to

solar energy because of the abundance of natural gas and fuel that realistically,

until the last few years, have been pretty easy to aff ord,” said Mattice.

“I think the world is looking more to the green side, and I think we have a

really good solution for the oilpatch to look at.”

This solar-powered doghouse was installed at Northern Trucking & Industrial Supplies Ltd., an associate Napa Auto Parts store in Bonnyville. A complete installed system costs about $9,000, with a quick payback up to eight months if installed in April to get the maximum use from it during the rst year. The system can save up to $1,500 a month in generator fuel and maintenance costs.

Photo submi ed


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Strength In Our Resources

By Brian Zinchuk

Regina – On March 10, Saskatoon MLA Cam Broten was elected leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party. Broten replaces previous leader Dwain Lin-genfelter and interim leader John Nilson.

At 35 years of age, Broten represents a generational change for the NDP. All the competitors for the leadership were similarly aged. Broten won over Ryan Meili by 44 votes. MLA Trent Wotherspoon also ran for the leadership, while economist Erin Weir dropped out of the race prior to the fi nal convention.

While Lingenfelter was an executive with Nexen between his many years in elected offi ce, Broten does not have similar experience with the oilpatch.

Twelve years younger than Premier Brad Wall and with likely a long political career ahead of him, Broten is in a special position. Only one permanent leader of the Saskatchewan NDP prior to him has not become premier at some point. Th at was Dwain Lingenfelter.

Pipeline News met with Broten in his offi ce at the legislature on April 11 to discuss his energy policy plans for the future.

Pipeline News: Where are you from and what do you do? What riding do you represent?

Cam Broten: I’m Cam Broten. My home is in Saskatoon. I represent the

constituency of Saskatoon-Massey Place. Born in Regina, I grew up in north-

ern Saskatchewan and in Saskatoon. I went away for school out of province for

a while. I came back to Saskatchewan and did schooling here too. I’m married,

and my wife is from the Swift Current area, a family farm. Her parents still

farm, and so we get down to the southwest corner regularly.

PN: Do you have any energy sector experience?

CB: No. I think the best experts in the energy sector are the individuals

who are working in the energy sector every day. Th e approach to leadership I

bring is listening to experts and listening to good ideas wherever they come

from. Th at’s the approach I’ll be bringing as leader. I look forward to learning

more and listening more, and having a really constructive relationship.

PN: What is your plan for Saskatchewan’s energy policy?CB: My approach to politics is where things are working, not to change

them. Th at’s an important point.

If we look at the success the energy sector has had over the last years, for

the most part, it’s from the royalties put in place by the NDP prior to 2007,

and I think generally it’s served the province quite well.

Page B5

New NDP leader discusses energy policy

Cam Broten is the new permanent leader of the Saskatchewan NDP. All of his predeces-sors, save one, eventually occupied the premier’s o ce in the Legislature.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk


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Page B4Th at’s an important point to make. Th ere are places where the government

can be doing better, doing more. We look at innovation, and the necessity to

do more R&D. Obviously the private sector is best at doing R&D, but there’s

a role for government to facilitate that, to foster that, to ensure carbon capture

projects are successful over the long term.

As well as investments in training; we looked at more support for appren-

ticeship and trades programs so that companies have the ability to expand as

they need to, to create the jobs they need to create, and to allow the sector to

do well.

For policy on energy, Saskatchewan people want, and I support this, they

want a better long-term plan when it comes to energy, actually meaning a

green and better future – taking real action on climate change, and ensuring

we are being as responsible as we can. A lot of that will be through R&D, as I

mentioned. It’s also working with industry on improvements that can be made

– reducing fl aring and venting, things that industry also sees the benefi t in do-

ing. Th ese are things the government can work together with industry to ensure

we’re taking constructive steps.

PN: Former leader Dwain Lingenfelter expressed a desire for the prov-ince of Saskatchewan to get back into the oil and gas industries a la SaskOil, especially with regards to gas production. What is your take on this?

CB: Th at’s not a proposal I’m advancing. I think the private sector, last

year, did a good job in developing our resources and bringing benefi ts to Sas-

katchewan people, creating jobs. Th at’s very important. It’s necessary to contin-

ue to support that work. I believe in a strong private sector in the energy sector,

that’s very, very important.

And I believe in strong Crown corporations, too. I think the Crowns that

we have should be strengthened, and improved. It’s about striking the right

balance.

Tied to the second question, it’s about a long-term, sustainable plan.

PN: In the fi rst nine months of 2012, Saskatchewan drilled all of nine natural gas wells, down from over 2,700 fi ve years before. What, if anything can, or should, the province do about these low numbers?

CB: I think the decrease in drilling is largely tied to the world price for

natural gas. As we see a change in price, we’ll inevitably see a change in the

activity. Th at’s a positive thing. I have an open ear and open door to listening

to good ideas, wherever they come from. If there are good ideas that we should

be considering, I’m looking forward to having those discussions, listening and

seeing how those plans could improve the situation.

I haven’t had explicit recommendations on this, but I’ve also had this job

for about one month, and have many more people to meet and talk to and

build relationships with. We’ll see what happens.

PN: What is your take on federal NDP leader Th omas Mulcair’s asser-tions that Western Canada’s strong energy sector has resulted in a case of “Dutch Disease?” What impact does this have on Saskatchewan, if any, and is there anything you would do about it?

CB: I’ll let economists have the economic debates about jargon and sort

that out. What I want, and what Saskatchewan people want, is sustainable de-

velopment of our resources. We recognize they bring benefi ts, bring jobs, bring

profi ts to our province, and recognizing we need to do better when it comes

to a long-term plan for sustainability and actually improving the environment.

Th ose are the realities.

Let the economists sort out the debates, but the energy sector is hugely

important to Saskatchewan, and to the entire country, bringing positive out-

comes all over Canada. I think that’s very important to recognize.

PN: Now that Cenovus has bought Oilsands Quest’s assets, Saskatch-ewan oilsands development seems much more likely. What is your stand on this?

Page B6


Page B5

CB: We need to develop our resources in a

sustainable, responsible way. Th at obviously applies

to oilsands as well.

Th e exploration permits were actually done

under the NDP government in 2005. Th is is some-

thing we have supported. In 2010, I chaired our

policy review process as a party. We discussed oil-

sands. What people in the party have said, and what

I have said, is if you develop the resource, you need

to do it right. You have one chance to do it right.

You need to avoid some of the missteps Alberta

has made. We need to do a better job of it. It needs

to be done with the most stringent regulations,

the best triple-bottom line, in ensuring the overall

strategy, the overall discussion of hour we’re creat-

ing a greener future, how we’re going to address

climate change and greenhouse gases.

Th e Saskatchewan situation is unique, and

for that reason, we need a unique Saskatchewan

response. Th e take-home message, and the predom-

inant message that I have and the Saskatchewan

people have had, is we have one chance to develop

our resources and we need to do it right. We need

to be thinking long-term. We need to have respon-

sible development, keeping the environment in

mind, and also ensuring we’re bringing good ben-

efi ts to Saskatchewan and we’re using the benefi ts

of the wealth created in a responsible way.

Page B7

No return of SaskOil considered; supports private sector

Cam Broten is the new permanent leader of the Saskatchewan NDP. All of his predecessors, save one, eventually oc-cupied the premier’s o ce in the Legislature. Photo by Brian Zinchuk


Page B6Something the party supports and I support is

the creation of a Bright Futures Fund, a sovereign

wealth fund similar to Norway, so that we’re think-

ing long term. We’re ensuring that Saskatchewan

people now and for generations to come will benefi t

for the resource.

PN: In regards to a sovereign wealth fund, do you have any specifi c ideas? What is your vision?

CB: We need to start with the process. It’s not

something that can be entered into lightly. We need

a good plan, because, yes, it has eff ects on debt pay-

ment, on the provincial situation. But if we look at

jurisdictions where it has worked well, like Norway,

they took early action. Th ey had a clear plan of

where they wanted to go. It’s brought huge benefi ts

to the country, and has allowed them to have the

type of education, health care and roads that they

want.

We’re continuing to do work as a party on this.

I want to do more work myself. I think it needs to

be a priority. Th e predominant message I hear from

Saskatchewan families is we need a smart growth

plan. We need long-term, sustainable thinking.

PN: Th e Saskatchewan Party has essentially said, “We need to pay the mortgage fi rst, then we’ll put stuff in savings.” Do you think a sover-eign wealth fund should wait until Saskatchewan’s debt has been retired, or do you think we should start doing something now?

CB: I think we should start looking at earlier

options in a constructive way. Good habits with

spending are started earlier on. We need to ensure

we’re making the right decisions. We’ll be doing

more work as a party, we’ll be talking to many more

people in the province and determine the best way

forward. I keep hearing from Saskatchewan people

this is a priority.

It’s a key model (Norway) that we’re looking at

for lessons learned. It’s not the only example. But

as with every situation, I’ll listen to ideas wherever

they come from, and that’s the approach we’ll be

taking.

PN: Where do you stand on the proposed Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines?

CB: On Keystone, the longstanding caucus

position we have is that we support Keystone. We

think there’s a responsibility in our province to

have the highest return for our resources. We think

Keystone would help us receive more for what we’re

producing, and the fact there has been a triple-

bottom line assessment. Th at’s absolutely vital to

highlight. Based on that, our position is we support

Keystone because it will bring great benefi ts to the

province.

Gateway is a very diff erent situation. In my

view, there are too many unanswered questions

about the pipeline, and especially about the ship-

ping, along the precarious West Coast. Th ere hasn’t

been the assessment that’s required. Th ere are too

many reservations I have to support Gateway.

Th e reservations I have, based on environmental

concerns, are too great to support it at this time.

Th ere are too many unanswered questions.

Th is isn’t a Saskatchewan pipeline. It goes

across other provinces, and we need to talk to those

provinces as well and (they will) make the best

decision for them.

PN: But if Cenovus develops the Saskatch-ewan oilsands, that will have to go into a pipeline, Keystone, or Alberta Clipper or Enbridge main-line or one of the others.

CB: Th e Gateway situation is diff erent, with

respect to environment, the assessments that oc-

curred, and with respect to the destination of the

product and how it can be safely shipped. It’s a very

diff erent situation.

PN: Right now the TransCanada natural gas mainline is running half-empty. Th ey’re looking at converting one of those pipelines to oil usage to ship to Eastern Canada. What do you think of that prospect?

CB: Th e west-east pipeline is something we

support in principle, recognizing that the rigorous,

triple-bottom line assessment needs to occur. In the

same way we think Keystone can bring benefi ts, a

west-east pipeline could as well. But there needs to

be the proper environmental control. We need the

highest assessments in place.

Th ere’s the added benefi t of value-added jobs in

Canada, which is a possibility to recognize also.

Page B8


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Page B7PN: You’ve mentioned triple-bottom line several times. How do you

defi ne a triple-bottom line?Environmental, economic and social. When we look at projects, there’s a

good economic basis for them, and that it brings a net benefi t to the economy.

Environmental; recognizing that the right controls are in place, the right

regulation, and the right plan to ensure that it’s safe and done in a responsible

way.

Social; the fact we need jobs in our communities and there needs to be

benefi ts for people.

PN: All four leadership candidates represented a substantial genera-tional shift for the Saskatchewan NDP. What does that mean from your perspective?

CB: It’s a new generation of NDP leadership. It’s really exciting because,

when we went through the leadership process, we had tons of young people

come into the party and be active. Young people, combined with the veter-

ans that have been around for a while, is a great mix for the party. I think it’s

exciting. Th ere’s a feeling, a mood within the party, that we’re on the move, that

positive things are happening. We want what’s best for this province, develop-

ing it so that it brings benefi ts to people, that families can do well, and that

we’re responsible to the environment.

PN: Do you have any alternative energy policies?CB: Th is is part of the overall plan for sustainable thinking and a long-

term strategy. We need to do better as a province in ensuring we have a greener

future, in addressing climate change, in reducing greenhouse gas emission. In

an earlier question, talking about a strong private sector and a strong Crown

sector, I think there are things we can do with Crowns, where SaskPower can

provide a stronger leadership with respect to expansion into renewables.

Doing things like fi xing the net metering program, so there’s a better

incentive for individuals to feed into the grid – those are some of the steps we

could be taking, SaskPower could be taking.

PN: What is your take on the recent budget and oil revenue assump-tions?

CB: When we talk about a policy on energy, the important thing is to have

an approach with no surprises. It’s a problem when there are signifi cant chang-

es introduced in the budget, without the proper communication and relation-

ship with the industry.

What the industry needs to do well is stability and predictability so a com-

pany can operate its business, plan for expansion, create new jobs, plan for the

development of our resources and do the R&D that is needed. When there’s a

change to the royalty structure is a surprises to industry (referring to the Sas-

katchewan Resource Credit), it causes concerns. Th at’s not predictable. Th at’s

not stable. We need to run the correct, no surprises approach.

It speaks to an approach. Th e approach that is needed is one of no sur-

prises, one of communication and allowing for the proper communication to

occur.

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By Geoff LeeCalgary – Bayshore

Petroleum expects to

complete a 350-barrel

per day heavy oil facility

near Meota Saskatche-

wan this year to convert

heavy oil into light oil

products.

Th e US$9.5 to $10

million pilot project

will utilize a proprietary

catalyst developed by

CCC CanSino Corp., a

Canadian research and

development company

in Calgary.

Th e catalyst can

work to convert heavy

oil to diesel quality light

oil as fuel products or as

diluents.

Calgary-based Bay-

shore anticipates that

due to its simple design,

the pilot upgrader could

be in operation by late

summer or early fall.

Th e company has

signed a Memorandum

of Understanding with

CanSino for a 10-year

licence agreement to use

their catalyst in oilsands

applications to upgrade

bitumen to diesel qual-

ity light oil, synthetic

gas and clean sand/coke.

If the catalyst works

in Meota as planned,

it will help Bayshore

achieve its strategy to

acquire and operate an

oilsands property in

Alberta in conjunction

with a state owned or

private Chinese investor.

Bayshore currently

has conventional and

unconventional oil and

gas prospects in West-

ern Canadian.

Th e laboratory tests

on the catalyst that were

conducted in China on

Athabasca oilsands and

other oilsands in the

world, delivered excel-

lent oil and gas yield

according to the report.

Tests show the cold

catalytic cracking pro-

cess can be operated at

normal pressure through

low temperature heating

and leaves only clean

residue sand, in addi-

tion to the light oil and

synthetic gas after the

upgrading process.

CanSino said

the low temperature

catalytic process does

not require hydrogen

addition and is a simple

pyrolysis process with

reaction time less than

three hours.

Th at company also

reports the catalytic re-

torting process can yield

10 barrels of diesel qual-

ity light oil treating with

a 0.2 ton of catalyst per

10 tons of oilsand.

CanSino believes

that high yield of the

diesel quality light oil

which has a higher

economic value, and

the low catalyst cost,

makes the process a very

profi table and aff ordable

technology for oilsands

applications.

In addition, they

believe the catalytic

process can be used

to replace diluents to

upgrade the bitumen/

heavy oil into valuable

fuel oil on site.

Th e fuel oil, in turn,

can replace more expen-

sive commercial diesel

fuel. Th e processed

diesel can also be used

as a diluent in the heavy

oil industry.

Th e process can also

provide a source of dry

synthetic gas onsite for

future steam-assisted

gravity drainage or

SAGD thermal opera-

tions in the oilsands.

At Meota, Bay-

shore has an MOU

from a private Saskatch-

ewan heavy oil producer

to purchase heavy oil

from them and process

it into diesel fuel quality

product oil.

Bayshore will

construct the upgrad-

ing facility to permit

capacity expansion to

1,000 barrels of heavy

oil (10 API) per day in

conjunction with the

operator’s fi eld develop-

ment plan.

Th e company also

has until July 31 to

purchase up to 50 per

cent of the heavy oil

lands that total 9,600

acres.

The cost of the

full build-out is $50

million according to

Bayshore’s project cost

estimates for 2013-14.

The total cost

would include acquir-

ing existing reserves

and land from the pri-

vate operator and the

cost of participating

in exploratory drilling

with the operator.

Bayshore began

the first quarter of

2013 with one drilled

and cased light oil

well near Radvillle in

southeastern Saskatch-

ewan and had plans to

drill four more wells in

the area by July.

Each well will

have the potential

productivity of 75-80

barrels per day.

In December, the

company also an-

nounced plans to

acquire some medium

oil properties from a

private company in the

Manitou Lake area.

Bayshore Petroleum plans to use a cold cataly c cracking catalyst to convert heavy oil produced near Meota, Sask. into diesel quality light oil.

Catalyst to turn heavy Catalyst to turn heavy oil to light oiloil to light oil Photo

submi ed


By Brian Zinchuk

Calgary – Lessons learned in Saskatchewan are

being implemented in Alberta as NRGreen Power

implements another heat recovery power generation

system, this time at Alliance Pipeline’s Windfall

compressor station, near Whitecourt.

Alliance is the pipeline system, while NRGreen

is an independent power producer that handles

power generation created from its co-generation

installations on Alliance compressor facilities.

In 2009, NRGreen Power built its fi rst heat re-

covery power plant at Alliance’s Kerrobert compres-

sor station in response to a SaskPower green energy

program. Over 2010 and 2011, that program was

expanded to the three other Alliance compressor

stations in Saskatchewan at Loreburn, Estlin and

Alameda. NRGreen built all four heat-into-power

units using Israeli technology, and each is capable of

generating fi ve megawatts of power.

“All told, we make 20 megawatts of green

power,” said Jim Walsh, vice-president of operations

for NRGreen and vice-president of system optimi-

zation for Alliance.

Alliance requires approximately 400 kilowatts

per compressor station site, with a total draw in

Saskatchewan of 1.5 to 1.6 megawatts. Th at means

nearly all the power NRGreen generates more than

off sets Alliance’s needs and is available for sale.

Walsh explained that the heat from the com-

pressors is what drives the system. “All (compres-

sors) utilize gas turbines and generate a consider-

able amount of heat in exhaust,” he said.

A gas turbine is essentially a jet engine. Th is

form of engine is not only used in planes and heli-

copters, but also in compressors and M-1 Abrams

main battle tanks. As one can imagine, the heat

coming off the exhaust is intense.

A 2007 SaskPower request for proposals for

green energy got the ball rolling for the Kerrobert

project.

While the system is now running well, provid-

ing “good baseload power” with 99 per cent utiliza-

tion rate in the fi rst quarter of 2013, it wasn’t always

that way.

“We had some lining-out issues,” Walsh said,

adding such issues are normal.

Th e Israeli technology, from Ormat Technolo-

gies, was primarily used for geothermal applications

in warmer climates, drawing hot water from the

ground, and feeding heat exchangers with a pentane

loop. Some companies had used the system to re-

cover heat energy from gas turbines. Th ere was little

cold weather experience. Page B11

Environmental regulations drive NRGreen cogen project

Construc on is underway at the Alliance Pipeline Windfall compressor sta on near Whitecourt, Alta. Alliance is im-plemen ng it’s h heat recovery power genera on system on its mainline, with NRGreen Power as the operator.

Photo submi ed


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Page B10Th e primary components are exposed to the elements in the Saskatchewan

installations. Th ey ended up with premature failures of some components,

including seals, bearings and disks.

Colder air is also denser air, which means a turbine can produce more

power because it essentially has more fuel. Th is is why a helicopter can carry a

heavier load in a cold weather environment than over a hot desert. Th e result

was the possibility of overpowering the turbines in the compressor stations.

Th e system used to recover heat from turbine exhaust is based on the or-

ganic Rankin cycle, eff ectively the same system used in refrigerators. A closed

loop pentane cycle brings heat out of the exhaust and then runs through a large

heat exchanger, supplying heat to a thermal oil cycle. Th is, in turn, powers the

electricity-producing generator.

“In cold months, you have a lot of condenser power,” Walsh said. Th ey have

since implemented condenser controls.

“We have all this behind us,” Walsh said.

Alberta installationNow in Alberta, NRGreen is installing a much larger power generation

system at Windfall. Th at site is key, because it’s the point in the Alliance Pipe-

line where much of the gathering system comes together, and the compressed

natural gas is sent down the mainline to Aux Sable, near Chicago. Th ree pipes

come into the station, the largest being 42 inches across. Th ey are combined

into one, and the gas leaves the station in a 36-inch diameter pipe at a much

higher pressure. Gas coming into the plant is at 700 psi suction pressure, and is

discharged at 1,740 psi.

Page B12

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Th e Windfall project is a few months from

commencing operations. It is expected to be in

service in July. Th is time, NRGreen went with a

General Electric system. Th e three units being in-

stalled at Windfall will generate a total of 14 MW

of electricity per hour, enough power for 14,000

average homes, with no new emissions or water use.

Th e Alliance Pipeline was designed with much

thicker and tougher steel than a typical mainline

gas transmission line. Th is means it normally runs

at 1.325 bcf/d, but can handle much more than

that. If market conditions warrant, additional com-

pressor stations can be added at the half-way points

between each of the existing compressor stations.

Th ey were built 120 miles apart, with the system

designed for option of adding compressor stations

so that they would be spaced 60 miles apart. Th at

would bring the capacity of the system up to over

two bcf/d.

Additional stations would also mean the pos-

sibility of additional power generation. If they are

to ever be built, Walsh said, “We would defi nitely

look into that.”

Simple things can be done during initial con-

struction of new faciltiies that would facilitate more

co-generation power opportunities. But with the

depressed price of natural gas, and a strong push to

ship additional production to the West Coast for

liquefi ed natural gas exports, such expansions are

unlikely at this time.

Th e main driver for the Windfall installation is

not so much making money from the sale of elec-

tricity as it is addressing greenhouse gas emissions

regulations and concerns. Such projects are “very

capital intensive,” according to Walsh. Th e Windfall

project is pegged at approximately $70 million.

Some of that money is coming back to

NRGreen however, in the form of a program de-

signed to encourage greenhouse gas reductions. Th e

Alberta government, over the past several years, has

required large greenhouse gas emitters to pay into

the Climate Change and Emissions Management

Fund. Payments are based on their level of emis-

sions and how much improvement they have made

to their system to address emissions.

Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource

Development’s web page notes, “Companies that

are required to meet the provincial reduction target

for greenhouse gas emissions can choose to pay $15

a tonne into the fund for emissions over the target.

Th e Alberta government is responsible for collect-

ing this money for each compliance year.”

Since the Alliance Pipeline only went online

in 2000, its technology is relatively new and there

isn’t much room for optimization. As a result, the

company has been paying about $1 million into the

fund a year for the past seven years.

Th e Windfall project will allow NRGreen to

extract its previous payments and use it for the

development of the clean energy project.

Alberta’s power system is very diff erent from

Saskatchewan’s, in that its deregulated system

means companies can buy or sell power to anyone

they want on the grid. NRGreen has entered into a

10-year power purchase agreement for most of the

power to be generated at Windfall, with the re-

mainder to be sold on the open market.

Saskatchewan lessons used in Alberta cogen projects


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Th e report notes that from 2011 to 2102, solar voltaic and wind technolo-

gies grew by a whopping 42 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

Th e trend is in keeping with sales of RV solar kits in Alberta manufactured

by Carmanah, which distributes them to installers such as Northern Truck &

Industrial Supplies Ltd., an associate Napa store in Bonnyville.

Carmanah’s mobile solar systems division makes a complete line of solar

chargers, inverters, controllers and power accessories to deliver electricity where

grid-power is inaccessible or unavailable.

“Within fi ve years there are going to be more registered RVs in Alberta

than from Saskatchewan to the Bay of Fundy,” said Doug Grafton, sales man-

ager for Carmanah who was reached at the Bonnyville store.

Page B14

Carmanah’s oil eld solar re ects global trend

This three ba ery hybrid solar system designed by Doug Gra on, a sales manager for Carmanah Technologies Corp., features an automa c generator starter to recharge the ba eries and provide extra power to work the compost toilet.

Photo submi ed


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Page B13“In Alberta, there is no cottage country. Ev-

erybody goes camping here. Everybody has trailers

but less than 10 per cent of places have plug-ins, so

there has always been a very popular demand for

solar energy.”

Grafton sees a potentially even bigger market

for a hybrid solar system that he designed for an

Ensign Rockwell doghouse that, he says, is essen-

tially an RV.

Th e fi rst system for Rockwell was designed and

commissioned in September 2011.

“Each one of these doghouses has a 20,000 or

25,000 watt diesel generator,” said Grafton.

“Th ey run this 25,000 watt generator to heat

lunches up for the guys on the rig and to run a

laptop and a coff ee maker.”

A typical monthly consumption of diesel fuel

for the doghouse generator was 1,000 litres of fuel.

“I designed a solar and an inverter system, so

there will be three solar panels on the roof and an

inverter and a transfer switch,” said Grafton.

“Between May and September, they can shut

that generator off . Solar is charging the batteries

and the batteries run the inverter, so now they run

the microwave and heat up all the lunches. Th ey can

use the laptop all day long.”

One of the major selling points of the hybrid

system is the quick return on investment as the

return is realized over one short season.

“Just based on the cost of diesel fuel with the

unit installed, the return is less than one summer

season,” said Grafton.

“Also, generators that typically had to be

replaced because their life duty cycle was every

three years – we’re now doubling the lifespan of the

generator because it’s not getting run during the

summertime.

“I designed an automatic generator starter for

a 25,000 watt generator, so if crews are on the rig

and out working, and there is 25 to 30 per cent of

battery life remaining, it automatically starts the

generator.

“It runs for three hours until the batteries are

replenished and shuts itself off . Th e system is turn-

key.

“It’s nice and quiet, it’s green power, and it’s

extending the life of the generator. Th ey’re saving

fuel. In less than one season, it’s paid for, so the cost

savings over the next few years are incredible.”

Carmanah has gone on to sell approximately

12 hybrid systems to Rockwell. It is hoped sales to

other companies set to soar thanks to the upcom-

ing launch of B.E. Solar Solutions Ltd. during

the Bonnyville & District Oil and Gas Show June

19-20.

Grafton will be at the B.E. Solar booth to pro-

mote the benefi ts of solar to a widening oil and gas

market that includes RV owners who need solar at

oilfi eld work sites and off grid camping.

“People who have RVs and know how solar is

going to enhance their camping experience – they

can translate it now from working in that dog-

house,” said Grafton. Page B15

Using solar to save fuel


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Carmanah Technologies Corp., a manufacturer of solar power products, is tapping into a poten ally lucra ve market with a hybrid solar system for doghouses.

Photo submi ed Page B14

B.E. Solar is owned by Northern Truck & Industrial Supplies owner Brent

Mattice and by Eugene Prochinsky, who owns Breday Trucking Inc.

Th eir new solar company will sell and install Carmanah solar products for

safety lighting, security trailers and for doghouses.

Th e doghouse installations will be done at the B.E shop that is to be

located at Northern Truck & Industrial Supplies, where RV installations have

been taking place for over 15 years.

With solar there are no worries about running out of power after a few

overnight stays where there are no electrical plug-ins.

“Th e addition of a single solar panel would double or triple your time there

without any battery worries,” said Grafton.

Grafton said Carmanah will be looking at expanding the doghouse solar

market to other distributors in Western Canada, including the Grande Prairie

and Fort McMurray areas.

“Th is year is going to be the breakthrough year spreading out to diff erent

companies.”

Carmanah also makes a variety of solar products to run remote SCADA

equipment and instruments in the oilfi eld.


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Battleford – Corey Chmelnyk is a gung-ho

member of a special strike force of cyclists called

the Benevolent Bikers on a mission to conquer

cancer this summer in a 200-kilometre ride.

Chmelnyk is the area manager for Strike

Energy Services Inc. in Battleford. He will cycle

with the Benevolent Bikers in the Enbridge Ride to

Conquer Cancer in Calgary June 22-23.

Joining Chmelnyk on the team will be Megan

Gerber, Geoff Adams, Char Irani, Dustin Moore,

Almereau, Prollius, Deanna Ripley and Michael

Tumback – representing Strike’s 14 locations in

Western Canada.

Th e eight-person team had raised nearly

$20,000 by the beginning of April toward their goal

of $29,600 for the cancer ride.

Th is year’s ride to conquer cancer is billed as

an epic two-day bike ride on new course through

the foothills from Calgary to Okotoks that will

have a life-changing impact for cancer survivors in

Alberta.

Page B17

Strike force to beat cancer on bikes

High ves, st pumps and smiles. This is the type of scene that a team of cyclists from Strike Energy Services Inc. will experience at the end of their 200-kilometer ride in the 2013 Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in Calgary June 22-23. These cyclists pictured in 2012 were among 1,854 par cipants in the two-day event that raised more than $8 million for cancer research and treatment. Strike has an eight person team called the Benevolent Bikers with a fundraising goal of $29,600. Photo submi ed


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In 2012, 1854 cyclists and crew members took

part in the ride raising more than $8 million for

the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

Chmelnyk said event caught the imagination

of Strike Energy who put out an invitation to

managers to hop onboard for a good cause.

“I thought to myself, ‘Geez it would be a darn

good thing for me to go into something like that,’”

said Chmelnyk.

“For one thing, it helps out your health and it’s

a good thing for everyone. Cancer is a bad thing.

Anything I can do to help – I want to help out as

much as I can.

“It’s my fi rst year. It’s new to me. Everyone

gets jerseys and you have to have a good bike of

course. It’s going to be an overall good weekend.”

Chmelnyk owns a mountain bike but he may

rent a road bike instead of buying one for the two-

day ride.

Cyclists will camp overnight in Okotoks on

the fi rst day of the ride then bike back to Calgary.

Enbridge is the national title sponsor of the

event that has raised more than $88 million for

cancer research treatment and care facilities across

Canada.

Chmelnyk is on track to raise the minimum

$2,500 in donations that each rider commits to

when they register for the ride.

“I’m sitting at around $2,000. I’m pretty close.

I have still have three months to go. I’m going to

get it pretty easy. It’ll be no problem,” he said on

March 27.

Readers can contribute to Chmelnyk or any of

his teammates by logging onto the website (con-

quercancer.ca) and clicking the donations page for

further links.

“I’ve got donations from some inspection

companies and I’ve asked a couple of our clients,”

said Chmelnyk.

“It sounds like they going to be giving me

something. It’s kind of from everyone – clients

and third party people.

“Th e donation thing is pretty easy – it’s the

training that comes with it.”

“It’s a 200-kilometre bike ride and it’s not go-

ing to be the easiest.”

Weather permitting, Chmelnyk may be able

to squeeze in two months of outdoor rides on his

mountain bike before the event, but until then he’s

training on a spin bike and a race bike indoors.

“I’ve been keeping up with it as much as I

can. Trying to do it around work and stuff , it’s

been a challenge, but I am managing to get by,”

he said.

Corey Chmelnyk, area manager of Strike Energy Services in Ba leford, is training on an indoor spin bike and race bike to get in shape to join seven other corporate em-ployees in the 200-kilometre Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer event in Calgary June 22-23. His team is called the Benevolent Bikers.


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By Brian ZinchukEstevan – If the turbine and generator are the heart of a power station,

then Boundary Dam is getting a heart transplant, at least for Unit 3.

In the main gallery, one can see the guts of what used to be the “power

island” for Unit 3 – the rotor portion of the turbine. From an angle, it looks

like a fi sh skeleton, with a spine and thin bones sticking out. Th ose “bones” are

actually the blades of the turbine that kept the lights running in Saskatchewan

for over half a century.

Its replacement will keep the lights burning for another half century.

On April 12, Pipeline News had a chance to tour the Boundary Dam Power

Station and carbon capture facility, one of a series of tours documenting the

progress of the $1.24 billion project. Th e last time was in late December, just

before the workers had gone home for Christmas. A lot has changed since

then.

“Right now, on the power island side, the demolition started the fi rst week

of March for the old turbine and generator,” said Mike Zeleny, project man-

ager, clean coal transition to operations. Zeleny had been the plant manager

for Boundary Dam Power Station until late last year. Now the nearly-40-year

SaskPower veteran’ job is to get the Carbon Capture project up and running.

Th at demolition is nearing completion. Th at area is now being prepped for

fi nal placement of the new turbine and generator. Th ey’ve already lifted it into

place to make fi nal measurements, before moving it aside again to make adjust-

ments. Th e lift required both of the large overhead cranes that run along the

ceiling of the building. Page B20

A heart transplant for a power plantA heart transplant for a power plantA welder adjusts his hardhat before pu ng it back on. This maze of pipes picks up heat from the inside of the boiler, to the le .

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Page B19A lot of action is taking place within and around the boiler. Holes are opened

up in the corners, and large slabs of ganged-together piping are being installed.

“We’re starting to install new steam headers on the boiler,” Zeleny said.

Th e massive 14 story boiler has been divided into two levels, so that work can

take place in both at the same time. A massive red crane positioned on the south

side of the building has been lifting components in and out of the roof. On the

north side, another crane lifts pieces up to the south wall, where a large hole has

been made to allow the large components of the old power island to be lifted out

and new components to be brought it.

“On the capture island, the last phases of construction are occurring,”

Zeleny said. “Most of the work is electrical apparatus and fi nishing pipe work.

Th ere are two buildings that make up the capture island. Th e main building,

to the south, has seen extensive additions to it. Th is is the fl ue gas cooler that

will receive the hot gases from the boiler via the massive duct works that were

manufactured by SaskArc of Oxbow. Th e new vent pipe is also in place on top

of the carbon dioxide absorber.

A series of struts are in place between the main power station building

and the main capture building. A large, rectangular duct has been built along

the southeast corner of the power station. Th e struts will enable this ducting to

continue to the capture building. Essentially, it’s the exhaust pipe for Unit 3,

much in the way your truck has an exhaust pipe leading from the engine to the

back of the vehicle.

Inside the main capture building, it doesn’t appear a lot has changed since

December, even if in fact, it has. Most of the major components were in place

by that time, now the work is putting it all together. Many of the process areas

are considered proprietary secrets, and photos are not allowed.

Th e north building was but a shell in December. Th at has changed consid-

erably. A large compressor sits atop a massive network of piping. Th ere are eight

stages of compression, and between each stage one fi nds intercooling apparatus.

A two-storey electrical room houses the transformers necessary to power the

facility. Th e compressor and other large components draw upon 13,800 volt

power, while the rest of the plant uses 480 volt.

“Virtually all the components are in place. A few left are in the heat rejec-

tion building,” he said. Th e heat rejection building contains the new cooling

tower, necessary to deal with the large amounts of heat generated and used by

the capture process.

“Along with the formal construction completion, a lot of other processes

are underway so we can start up the facility in time,” Zeleny said. “Our train-

ing program has been up since February. A large segment of staff training

is underway – process training and safety training, and later, environmental

training.

“Every aspect that needs to be done has been worked on for a while.”

Two organizations are being put in place to handle the commissioning –

one for the power island, another for the capture island. Th ey are composed

primarily of SaskPower personnel, but also include vendor staff .

Staffi ng peakTh e crunch is on right now, with manpower at its peak. “We’ve had to

build a lot of parking lots,” he said. New lots stretch to the north towards the

access highway coming into the plant. Lunchrooms made of the same sort of

shacks seen on lease sites have been hoisted to the roof of the east end of the

power station, allowing workers to have a lunchroom without leaving their

work area.

“We’re still between 1,100 and 1,200 contractors on site.”

Th ey’re running two shifts now, mostly 10 hours long.

SaskPower has resorted to running a large ad in the Estevan Mercury,

seeking housing for its permanent staff .

“We knew it would be a challenge for a while, with pressure from the oil

industry. We booked rooms at the ATCO camp and a number of hotels.

“Th ey (contractor employees) seem to have found a place to stay. A lot of

people took in boarders. A lot of local people have been willing to step up and

take in people and let them stay. Th at’s the only way this was accomplished.”

PTI Group is currently constructing a large lodge northeast of the city.

Th ey were not, however, contracted by SaskPower. “Th ey’re coming on their

own volition,” he said, adding PTI did receive communication about construc-

tion numbers and timeframes. “Th ey were free to bid earlier on (the) accommo-

dations proposal. Page B21

The boiler is so tall, they divided it in half ver cally so that work could take place on two levels. When opera ng, the large volume inside this boiler is probably the closest thing to hell re on earth, with coal ground as ne as our being injected along with air to create heat.

Unit 1 retired, Unit 2 next to goUnit 1 retired, Unit 2 next to go The compressor building por on of the capture plant is nearing comple on.

The salmon-coloured cylinder on the le is the new generator for Unit 3. The rotor from the old Unit 3 turbine is in the lower right.

Photos by Brian Zinchuk


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Page B21Zeleny expects that in May and June, activities will start to conclude on the

capture side. In July or early August, there will be a sharp decline in personnel

working on the power island.

SaskPower is still looking for people for permanent positions. Since Dec.

1, they have hired over 50 new, permanent employees for the carbon capture

project as well as replacements due to normal attrition like retirements.

Still on time, budget“We’re still on time and the projected start up is still the same as it was for

the last year. And we’re still on budget,” Zeleny said.

“Unit 3 will start up in mid-September.”

A few weeks are expected to be needed for tuning and testing. He expects

fl ue gas to be sent to the capture island in mid- to late-October.

Th e large smokestack will remain. Large dampers will divert Unit 3’s

exhaust from going up the smokestack into the large, horizontal ducting previ-

ously mentioned, taking it to the capture island.

“Th e stack will still be required for times of outage for the capture island,

or if Cenovus can’t take captured CO2.

SaskPower’s approach would be to use Aquistore if Cenovus for some rea-

son is unable to receive the CO2. Should neither of those options be available

then the stack would be used. However, this is not the project’s intentions, but

rather a last resort. Th e plan is to capture CO2 all the time, once operational.

With two suppliers of CO2, Cenovus will have more fl exibility should there be

any interrupts with either.

Older unit being retiredOn May 1, Unit 1 will be retired.

“Unit 1 was commissioned in 1960. We did an assessment if it could be

converted to carbon capture,” Zeleny said. Th e conclusion: it was too small to

retrofi t.

Under recently implemented federal environmental regulations, coal-fi red

units have to retire after 50 years. SaskPower would have had to spend a lot of

money to keep it running. At 66 megawatts, it wasn’t worth it.

Unit 2, which had a major overhaul two years later than Unit’s 1’s last

major overhaul, has slightly longer to go. It will be retired July 1, 2015. It is also

66 megawatts.

Since it would be very costly to rip these older units out. Th erefore they

will be decommissioned, disconnected, and made safe for people and the envi-

ronment. Th en they will just sit there.

SaskPower has in recent years added natural gas turbine capacity, including

a plant of its own in North Battleford, and another contracted from Northland

Power, also near North Battleford. Th ey will, in part, make up for reduction in

generating capacity.

On time, budgetOn time, budget

David Pruden wears a face mask while working in the boiler area.


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Estevan – When

your business is exca-

vation and concrete,

your new shop should

show off some of your

work. So when you walk

through the offi ces of

the new location for

Turnbull Excavating

and Turnbull Redi-

Mix, you soon notice

the gleaming polished

concrete fl oors.

“You see it in big

stores now, saw cut and

polished. Why would

you put tile on this? It

catches everyone’s eye.

It’s a real selling tool,”

said Ed Turnbull, owner.

Th e Turnbull opera-

tion moved into their

new location east of

Estevan last September,

shortly after the new

concrete plant got go-

ing. Th ey hit the ground

running, because the

new concrete plant had

to supply the continu-

ous pour for the new

Pioneer elevator that

was under construction.

Th ey also had work at

the clean coal project at

Boundary Dam Power

Station in short order.

Th at plant went up

quickly. “We didn’t start

until April 1. In four

months, we were up

and running,” he said.

Th e concrete plant was

working by August 1. A

grand opening was held

March 28.

Even though Turn-

bull Redi-Mix still had

its old plant on the west

side of Estevan last fall,

he said, “We used the

new one for everything.

It can load a truck in

four minutes. We can

push out 15 trucks an

hour. Th ere (the old

plant), we were barely

getting six.

“It allows us to

have a fairly big pour

on the go and look after

the little guy doing a

driveway.”

“Every load, we

can change the blend,”

Turnbull said. “It’s all

computerized. Th e new

system is as up-to-date

as we can fi nd. If the

computer goes down, we

can still manually oper-

ate. On the old plant,

if the computer went

down, you were done.”

Th e new concrete

plant has been very

reliable, running “pretty

much 100 per cent.”

Th ey only had one

hiccup all last fall, and

that was only for an

hour.

“Life has been a lot

easier as far as the stress

level for everyone with

the new plant,” he said.

Moving to the other

side of Estevan makes

a big diff erence for the

company’s operations.

Most of their ag-

gregates, for instance,

originate east and north

of the city.

“Th is eliminates

truck traffi c through the

city. Any traffi c through

town now is to a job.

“It’s a few miles, but

close to 15 minutes site

to site.”

When you add up

those 15 minutes times

dozens of truck trips

each day, it amounts to

substantial savings.

“It was a huge im-

provement in effi ciency.

Th at was the whole mo-

tive to move here.”

Th e new location is

also just off the planned

new truck bypass for

Estevan, which is still

several years from

fruition despite being

announced in 2008.

“We’re excited

about the bypass, for

sure,” Turnbull said.

Need more space, again“We were cramped

for space at the old

facility,” he added. “We

have a 22-acre site here.

“We’re selling the

(old) plant. It’s out of

the building and on the

market for sale. Th e ce-

ment building is being

renovated and will be

used by a local trucking

company.

Page B24

Ed Turnbull visits with guests during the grand opening of the new Turnbull Redi-Mix plant.

Turnbull Excavating moves to new, larger shop, again


Hydrovac

Moving to east side reduces truck traf c through Estevan

Page B23Th e offi ce and shop building took a bit lon-

ger to move into, as the focus was on the concrete

plant. Th ey have 4,200 square feet of offi ce space

and 15,000 square feet of shop space in the primary

building, and another 6,000 square feet in an addi-

tional building that is used as heated storage space

to keep equipment warm. Th ey like to keep most of

the fl eet indoors during the winter.

“Th e fl eet has almost doubled in the last three

years,” Turnbull said. “We employ three full-time

mechanics. We hired our third when we moved

here. We have our fourth coming from Ireland. Last

summer we had 10 Irish people working here.

Another 16 are coming from the Emerald Isle

between April and May.

“We’re going to grow from the low 40s to

around 60 people by the middle of May,” Turnbull

said.

“Our operations are managed by a team of

people with Rob Gatecliff as concrete plant man-

ager, Dave Mack as operations manager, Christa

Morhart as controller, Chloe Sands in reception,

Tyson Turnbull as manager of day to day operations

and Jim Neufeld as maintenance manager.”

With 27 years in business, Turnbull Excavat-

ing has made a habit of outgrowing facilities. Th is

is their seventh relocation over that time. Th eir fi rst

location is currently occupied by Penta Comple-

tions. Th ey did some work for Penta’s recent expan-

sion.

“My fi rst two full-time employees are still here,”

he said.

Over the years, the strategy has been simple –

sustainable growth. “We’ve never bought anyone

out. A lot of companies buy out their competition.”

Page B25

Pat Boyle pokes his hand into the sand, warmed by a “dry steam” sys-tem. Hea ng the sand makes a big di erence when making concrete in the winter.


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Th ere’s something diff erent about this pile of aggregate – on a cool late-

March day, with lots of snow around, putting your hand in the sand is like

burying it on a warm Florida beach.

Steam-heated aggregate is one of the key features of the new Turnbull

Redi-Mix plant which held its grand opening on March 28.

“It costs some money, but it really works well,” said Ed Turnbull, owner.

Th ey’ve also included a chiller for water to lower the concrete temperature

during hot weather. Th at feature will be installed in June.

Pat Boyle, project manager for the new concrete plant, was guiding tours

during the grand opening.

“Th is is a state of the art facility. It’s a brand new plant from Quadra in

Vancouver. It’s fully automated. You’ve got indoor aggregate storage. Diff erent

aggregates are loaded from the outside onto conveyors.

“Everything has a backup support. Th ere’s overhead storage for rock and

sand. Th ere’s enough indoor storage to do 130 cubic metres of concrete without

refi lling – about 16 trucks. We load those trucks in four minutes,” he said.

On a platform one fi nds tanks for initial water storage for batching. Th ere’s

a large boiler for hot water, necessary for winter-time production. Without it,

the concrete won’t cure, Boyle said. Th e water system has a weight measuring

system as well.

Indoor bins feed a weight hopper equipped with a government-regulated

meter. Th e product is loaded into the truck outdoors on the west side of the

building.

Concrete has four components – sand, rock, water, and cement powered –

all of which are measured precisely.

Th e cement powder is stored in three 150 tonne bins. Th ey have two types

of cement powder in addition to fl y ash.

Automation makes the process greatly simplifi ed for the operator, accord-

ing to Boyle.

Rob Gatecliff , plant manager for Turnbull Redi-Mix, has a commanding

view from his offi ce. From the window beside the operator’s desk, one can peer

down directly to the cement trucks as they are loaded. “I can tell by the sound

of the product going it if it’s going to plug or run smoothly,” he said.

Outside, the steam system pumps “dry steam,” with 60 per cent of the

moisture content of regular steam, into the sand storage. Th at way it provides

heat, but less moisture than regular steam.

“It’ll hold heat for two weeks,” Boyle said. Th ey will run the heating system

for a weekend, and the sand stays warm for half a month.

Page B24

“Th ere’s no real

guarantee in this busi-

ness beyond maybe the

year ahead. You can’t ask

for much better, with

SaskPower, coal and

oil, and farming at your

doorstep. In years where

the oilpatch was slow,

we still had stability

from the coal and power

plants to keep our

economy moving.”

Heating aggregate makes for better concrete

Rob Gatecli , plant manager for Turnbull Redi-Mix, has a commanding view from his o ce. The window beside the operator’s desk allows a person to peer down directly to the cement trucks as they are loaded. The new Turnbull Redi-Mix plant can load a cement truck in four minutes.


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Bonnyville – It won’t be long before heavy duty AGM sealed lead acid

truck batteries outsell regular fl ooded lead acid batteries in the oilfi eld trans-

portation market.

Th at’s the belief of Michael Aspinwall who works for the electrical sales

group at Napa Auto Parts distribution centre in Edmonton. He sees the para-

digm shift taking hold in the market.

“A lot of the manufacturers are switching over now. Th ere are European-

made vehicles that have been using AGM battery technology since 2004,” said

Aspinwall.

“Nothing’s going to happen overnight, but as we are seeing more and more

vehicles coming with AGM batteries, it’s going to be natural changer.”

AGM stands for absorbed glass mat, which is a battery with the electrolyte

absorbed in a fi breglass mat separator between positive and negative plates.

Th e glass fi bre immobilizes the electrolyte, preventing it from spilling if the

battery is tipped over.

“It’s like a gel cell variant type of battery. It’s spill-proof and leak-proof. It’s

basically a gelled electrolyte,” said Aspinwall.

“It’s better for the environment, absolutely.”

During April sales visit to the Northern Truck & Industrial Supplies Ltd.,

an associate Napa store in Bonnyville, Aspinwall spoke about how AGM tech-

nology is turning the battery industry on its head.

He said the word is spreading quickly throughout the oilpatch that AGM

batteries are more resistant to freezing or cracking than standard lead acid bat-

teries.

AGM battery use trends upward

“It’s basically a dual purpose battery that allows the cold cranking amps

that customers need to start their vehicles,” said Aspinwall.

“It also gives them the beauty of a deep cycling type battery so that they

can run all of their electronics.

“Th is is why the manufacturers are switching, because of all the electronics

that are on the newer vehicles. Th e regular leaded batteries just can’t up with

the draw.”

East Penn Canada distributes more than 35 diff erent models of AGM

batteries to Napa, including versions of the 12-V Extreme FX with 925 cold

cranking amps (CCA) that are used by heavy duty trucks.

Th e deep cycle battery is designed to provide a steady amount of current

over a long period of time.

Th e True North Trail Off Highway Club in Grande Prairie recently posted

a testimonial from a member about the charging abilities of his new Extreme

FX battery on a club forum.

Page B27

Michael Aspinwall from Napa Auto Parts electrical sales group in Edmonton shows o the heavy duty Group 31 Extreme FX 925 AGM ba ery in stock at Northern Truck & In-dustrial Supplies Ltd., an associate Napa store in Bonnyville. AGM ba eries are catching on in the oil eld with their dual purpose ability to provide plenty of cold cranking amps while func oning as a deep cycling type of ba ery. Photos by Geo Lee


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Page B26“Picked up a Group 34 Napa Extreme FX

today,” wrote the member under the user name

Northernmedic.

“Tired of having to keep charging the Jeep ...

may as well have been a hybrid – 950 CCA, and

120 amp reserve capacity.

“Not cheap, but should work better than the

stocker for winching and the extra lights I have.”

He bought that AGM battery after reading an

earlier endorsement on the forum by a person with

the user name of HMFI.

“Napa has a new battery that they sold me for

my one-ton for the high current demand and rough

roads,” wrote HMFI.

“Night and day diff erence compared to factory

and AC Delco one I had in there. Th ey were $250

each with club discount, but they seem to be good.”

Aside from being resistant to vibrations, AGM

batteries don’t give off any gas during recharging.

Th e batteries also have a higher charge accep-

tance during recharges and have a longer service

life.

Aspinwall also noted more and more vehicle

manufacturers are off ering start-stop engines for

improved fuel economy and they require an AGM

battery to make them work effi ciently.

Th e start-stop technology popular in hybrids

idles the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop

and restarts the engine when the driver releases the

brake or engages the clutch.

“Because the manufacturers are not aware of

who is going to be driving where, and how many

times they’re going to stop, then an AGM is stan-

dard under the hood,” he said.

“It will also have a smaller AGM, maybe side-

ways underneath the left or right fender, to supple-

ment the starter and help all the electronics that are

in these vehicles.”

In Bonnyville, the Northern Truck Napa store is

also selling a variety of solar-powered products using

AGM batteries sourced from Carmanah Technologies

Corporation.

“We spec’d a little higher capacity AGM batteries

because they have much more resistance to the cold,”

said Aspinwall.

“When we put those batteries in, they take the

charge a little bit quicker so the solar panel doesn’t

have to be nearly as large to maintain AGM batteries.”

Driven by the demand by the oil and gas indus-

try, batteries of all types are the number one seller in

Canada for Napa’s electrical sales group

“In Fort McMurray, where temperatures are a wee

bit colder, the cold aff ects the batteries,” said Aspin-

wall.

“Our business in batteries up there has been

growing steadily every year for 10 years. It’s a double

digit increase every year.

“Bonnyville is the same thing. Th ere is a lot of

industry that requires good heavy duty batteries. Our

store in Bonnyville has a great stock of all the heavy

duty batteries that they require.”

Th e AGM batteries sold at Napa have a lead acid

base electrolyte so they are recycled to keep them out

of the landfi lls.

“Most of the distributors in the automotive mar-

ket have core recycling programs. We went to that in

October 2008,” said Aspinwall.

“It’s good for everyone all the way around because

the more lead we can return to our manufacturers, the

less they have to buy in the marketplace. It keeps the

price of batteries reasonable.”

“Th e batteries are collected by East Penn at all

Napa store locations on a regular scheduled route.

“We stock them in the store on proper pallets

with the proper separators.

“We’re only allowed to have so many in storage,

so East Penn does a really great job for us making

sure that they pick them up in a timely fashion,”

said Aspinwall.

Michael Aspinwall from Napa Auto Parts electrical sales group in Edmonton talks with Brent Ma ce about new AGM ba eries for solar-powered applica ons.


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Moosomin – You may not have heard of Algon-

quin Power Co., but your light switch has. Th at’s be-

cause a small fraction of the juice running through

it is coming from wind turbines operated by Al-

gonquin. In the future, even more of your everyday

electricity will come from them by way of long-term

power purchase agreements.

Algonquin runs the Red Lily Wind Farm near

Moosomin. Homer Lensink, director of energy proj-

ects in their business development group. He looks

after new power generation.

In 2010, they built the Red Lily project. In the

coming years, they will be building Saskatchewan’s

next two wind projects, substantially adding to our

provincial wind power generation.

Asked of the origins of Red Lily, Lensink said

in 2007 SaskPower ran a renewable power program,

soliciting bids. About a half-dozen contracts were

signed, including one wind contract.

“We were successful in winning a 25-year power

purchasing agreement, for a 25-megawatt power

project near Moosomin, just north of Highway 1,”

Lensink said.

Th ere was a slight revision to the contract with

the change of Saskatchewan’s government. In 2009,

they had their environment, zoning approval from

the municipality, and interconnection issues with

SaskPower resolved.

“We began building the summer of 2010,” he

said.

Th ere are 16 turbines, each 80 metres tall to cen-

treline of the rotor. Th e top dead centre of the rotor

is 121 metres tall.

Each unit is a Vestas V82, manufactured in Den-

mark in 2008. Lensink said, “Th ey came to the port

of Houston, Texas. Th ey came north to Saskatch-

ewan on a combination of rail and truck.”

Construction took place in the second half of

2012. “We went online, delivering electricity Febru-

ary 2011,” Lensink said.

“Each turbine has a rating of 1,650 kilowatts,”

he said. Th e result is just over 26 megawatts in total.

Twenty-fi ve megawatts is roughly equal to 35,000

horsepower. Th at power is generated “When the

wind is blowing strong, i.e. 10 metres per second or

35 kilometres per hour, then the needles on those

16 turbines pinned at the max and we’re making 26

megawatts.”

Page B29

Red Lily Wind Farm rst of several projects for AlgonquinRed Lily Wind Farm rst of several projects for Algonquin

This is the St. Leon wind farm in late summer. File photo


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Page B28Capacity factor

One of the criticisms of wind power genera-

tion is the variability of wind strength. While they

don’t always get that much wind, Lensink noted,

“In Saskatchewan, it blows very well, thank you very

much.”

Th e capacity factor describes how much ca-

pacity is produced on an annual basis. Th is factor

depends on location. He explained, “In Ontario,

we say the average capacity factor is 30 per cent. In

Saskatchewan, the number is actually 40 per cent

capacity factor. Sixteen megawatts is the average

output for the year.”

Lensink noted that technology is now fi ve years

old, and there have been continual improvements.

“Th e capacity factor for wind turbines is get-

ting better and better. Th e rotors are getting bigger

and bigger, the towers are getting bigger. Th e swept

area is increasing, and we’re seeing generally better

capacity factors,” Lensink said.

New turbines for 2014 might see a capacity fac-

tor of 42 to 45 per cent.

“Wind power is very much an evolving tech-

nology,” he noted. Coal-fi red plants, in contrast, get

100 per cent capacity, in that they always put out

power when turned on.

Manitoba experience calms worriesAlgonquin owns and operates the St. Leon

Wind Farm southwest of Winnipeg on the Pem-

bina Escarpment. It was developed in 2005. It uses

exactly the same turbines as the Moosomin project.

It had 100 megawatts worth of turbines built in

2005, and a further 20 megawatts added in 2012.

Th ey also see a 40 per cent net capacity.

Asked if they would be adding more turbines

in at Moosomin or St. Leon, Lensink said, “If the

market conditions are favourable, certainly.”

It was very helpful to have a similar wind farm

a few hours drive down the road from Moosomin

when they proposed the Red Lily project. Initially

they had some concerns expressed. “We organized

some three-hour bus rides to St. Leon. Th e durum

farmers from Moosomin went to see the canola

farmers in southern Manitoba and said, ‘How’s it

going?”

“Th ey were the best ambassadors for our proj-

ect, because they lived with it for four years. Th ere

wasn’t a peep.”

Th e Saskatchewan people spoke to the people

in St. Leon, which has a turbine just outside the

small community.

“Some even apologized to us,” Lensink said

after the tours were complete.

Two more projects coming in Sask.

“We have two more wind projects in Saskatch-

ewan,” Lensink said.

Th e fi rst is being done under GOPP – Green

Options Partners Program – with SaskPower. Th e

program used a lottery system to award a number of

contracts for hydro, solar and wind projects.

Th e next one will be another 25 megawatt

project near Morse. “It will look and feel almost

exactly like Red Lily at Moosomin. It will be spread

out like that. It will be just south of Highway 1,

between Moose Jaw and Swift Current.” he said.

Construction at Morse will begin to take place

in July or August of 2014.

Th e next project is the big one, at Chaplin.

“SaskPower ran another RFP (request for propos-

als) for 175 megawatts of wind.”

SaskPower has been taking heat for burning a

lot of coal, he noted.

Th is project will run fi ve to six kilometres north

of Highway 1 near Chaplin near where SaskPower

will be building a big new transmission line in 2015

It’s just east of the Morse project, and is scheduled

to come online in late 2016.

ConstructionWith such tall, narrow structures and massive,

spinning rotors, foundation construction is very im-

portant. Th ere are three kinds of foundations used.

Th e fi rst is a spread foundation, similar to the foot-

ings of a house, with a wide footprint. It’s 20 feet

deep and 65 to 75 feet across. It’s a combination of

rebar, cement and embedded anchor bolts.

Th e second type is used where bedrock is close

to the surface. It uses 80- to 90-foot long post-

tension anchors. Th at works in Ontario and south-

east Manitoba, but not in Saskatchewan, where the

bedrock is several kilometres deep.

Th e third kind was used at St. Leon and for

parts of Red Lily. Lensink described it as a “big

pop can,” giant pile 40 feet deep and 18 feet across.

Concrete is used to fi ll the inside.

Page B30

The Vestas V82 wind turbines at Moosomin were built with technology that was current ve years ago. In the me since, the capacity factor of wind turbines has grown several percentage points for new wind turbines. This turbine, an iden cal model, is at St. Leon, Man. File photo


Page B29 It takes three to four days to dig a foundation, and

then they must install forms and pour the cement. Classic Portland cement

takes 28 days to cure to full strength. On day 14, they can start putting on the

fi rst of four 20 metre tall sections of the tower. Th e next few sections can go up

between days 14 and 28. After the fourth week, it can go full height. Generally

it takes fi ve to six weeks from start to fi nish, and connection to SaskPower oc-

curs about two-and-a-half months in.

Co-ordinating all this over numerous sites spread over many miles, all with

curing schedules, can be a challenge.

“Th e whole construction cycle is a bit of a dance,” Lensink said.

Moosomin tipped out at about 85 workers, including tradespeople, su-

pervision, quality assurance and safety. Th ey used one massive erection crane.

Chaplin will likely require three erection cranes.

How long will they last?

Th e power purchase agreements have been signed for 25 years. But what

happens next?

“Nobody’s casting a vision of what they’re going to be like in 20, 25 years,”

Lensink said.

In that time period, the industry may have turned to hydrogen or fuel cells.

In year 26, they may need to do gearbox replacement, blade repair or replace-

ment. “It’s like managing any other long-term asset. Th e engineer says those

things have a certain life. Be prepared to put more money in.

“Th ere will be some revenue stream from that asset. It’s not like it’s going

to fall over.

“Someone’s going to want our power.”

Lensink looks back at past experience. In the early 1980s, three locations

had numerous sub-megawatt wind turbines installed, running 50 to 60 metres

high, with lattice towers. Th ose towers, 30 years later, “are done,” he said.

Th e industry is now “repowering,” taking old turbines down and replacing

them with new, fewer, larger and more effi cient machines. Lensink said, “Th at

is happening now.”

Factbox:

On March 21, Algonquin Power Co. announced it had acquired from

Kineticor Renewables Inc. all of the assets related to two proposed adjacent 10

MW wind energy development projects in Saskatchewan. In addition, a further

adjacent 5 MW was developed by Algonquin independently, bringing the total

development to 25 MW.

Th e projects will be developed with support from Kineticor during the

development phase, which is expected to be completed in late 2013.

Th e total annual energy production for the projects is estimated to be

93,000 megawatt-hours, and they are to be constructed near Morse, Sask., ap-

proximately 180 km west of Regina and 400 km west of the Phase I Red Lily

Wind Project. It is contemplated that the projects will be situated on 1,120

acres of private lands, with additional land under lease or option in order to

facilitate future expansion of the projects.

Acquisition grows Algonquin’s wind energy footprint in Saskatchewan

Red Lily (Moosomin)

Size: 16 turbines

Power: 25 megawatts

Cost: $70 million

Morse (2014)

Size: 10 turbines

Power: 25 megawatts

Cost: $70 million

Chaplin (2016)

Size: 77 turbines

Power: 177 megawatts

Cost: $355 million

Constructing a wind farm can be like a dance


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Edmonton – Th e governments of Alberta and

Colorado will head to the Western Governors sum-

mer meeting in Utah on a “Rocky Mountain High”

over the prospect of a cleaner energy future.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall could join his

peers from Alberta and Colorado in Park City UT

June 28-30 as he has done in previous years.

Th e Alberta and Colorado governments aim to

strike a working group between provinces and states

at that meeting to pursue clean energy initiatives.

Th e two jurisdictions skirting the Rockies

agreed to work together after Colorado Governor

John Hickenlooper and Alberta International and

Intergovernmental Relations Minister Cal Dallas

toured the oilsands in late March.

“We welcomed the opportunity to explore eco-

nomic development opportunities for Colorado and

see fi rst-hand the operations in Alberta’s oilsands,”

said Governor Hickenlooper.

“Expectations are high for North American

energy producers and governments to continue to

raise the bar on environmental management.

“Colorado looks forward to building a co-op-

erative relationship with Alberta that will see both

jurisdictions excel as continental leaders in respon-

sible energy development.”

More than 28 Colorado companies provide

equipment, parts and services to the oilsands.

Th e Colorado delegation of more than 30

people also toured Edmonton’s world-class Waste

Management Centre and met with several business

leaders.

Alberta exports approximately $2.27 billion in

products yearly to Colorado. Th e state’s economy is

driven by the energy and agriculture sectors similar

to Alberta’s.

Dallas commended Hickenlooper for recently

spearheading an initiative between a number of

American states to increase the use of natural

gas vehicles in an eff ort to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions and increase fuel effi ciency, which would

result in a lower cost to consumers.

A company called Pioneer Natural Resources

in Denver, Colorado, for instance, plans to com-

plete the transformation of its entire fl eet of oilfi eld

trucks and pickups that number over 2,000 to

natural gas by 2015.

Th eir Peterbilt trucks are powered by natural

gas engines developed by Cummins Westport in

Vancouver, B.C.

Dallas said it’s worth a serious look to see

whether under the Canadian Energy Strategy,

Alberta and other provinces can forge a similar

agreement using natural gas.

“We applaud Governor Hickenlooper’s vision

and eff ort to address emissions,” he said.

“Colorado and Alberta have similar goals and

show leadership on environmental actions. Alberta

is very proud of its leading environmental actions.

However, we are fully committed to push the bar

higher.”

Alberta is currently waiting for feedback from

carbon emitting industries in the province about a

plan being fl oated to increase the carbon tax to $40

from $15.

Currently, large industrial polluters must reduce

carbon emissions intensity by 12 per cent or pay a

$15-per-tonne tax.

Under the proposed plan, they would have to

reduce emissions intensity by 40 per cent or pay a

$40-per-tonne tax.

Th e so-called 40/40 plan is led by Alberta

Environment Minister Diana McQueen who con-

siders it to be a compliance tool since companies

always have the option to reduce carbon emissions

or trade credits.

Th e carbon tax has generated $312 million for

Alberta’s clean technology fund. A total of $181

million has already been committed to 49 clean

energy projects.

Th e fund is in addition to a $1.3-billion invest-

ment in carbon capture and storage projects in the

province.

Colorado, Alberta shake on clean energy


East sideThere are plenty of racked rigs on both sides of Carndu .

Photo by Brian Zinchuk


Calgary – An oil tank terminal will be built in Saskatchewan if TransCan-

ada Corporation gets the support it needs to build its 4,400 kilometre Energy

East pipeline to carry crude oil from Western Canada to Eastern Canada.

Right now, the Calgary-based company is holding an open season to

obtain commitments from potential crude oil shippers to use the pipeline that

would transport up to 850,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta and Sas-

katchewan.

“At this point, we know that this project is technically and economically

feasible,” said the company in an April 2 announcement.

“Our discussions with prospective shippers have been very positive and

lead us to believe that there is suffi cient demand for this project in the market.

“Th is open season is to secure the commercial underpinning from our cus-

tomers that will allow us to proceed with developing the pipeline.”

Th e season began April 15 and runs to June 17 and, if it’s successful,

TransCanada will proceed with regulatory applications to construct and

operate the pipeline with a potential in-service date of late 2017.

Th e Energy East pipeline proposal involves converting natural gas pipeline

capacity in approximately 3,000 kilometres of TranCanada’s existing Canadian

Mainline to crude oil service.

It also involves the construction up to 1,400 kilometres of new pipeline in

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Eastern Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick, along

with associated facilities.

Pump stations, tank terminals and marine facilities will be constructed in

order to successfully move the crude oil from Alberta to New Brunswick and

beyond.

Th e oil tank terminal in Saskatchewan will be one of three terminals built

along the line including one in Québec City and one in the Saint John, N.

B.area.

Th e terminals in the Québec City and Saint John areas will include facili-

ties for marine tanker loading.

Th e project will also include delivery to existing Québec refi neries in Mon-

tréal and near Québec City as well as the refi nery in Saint John.

Page B35

Saskatchewan to feed Energy East pipeline


Page B34

A new tank terminal will also be built in

Hardisty, Alta. where the pipeline will begin.

TransCanada said the project will benefi t Ca-

nadians economically across the country by creating

jobs and ensuring a stable, secure supply of oil.

Th e Energy East pipeline has the support of

politicians across the country who view it as a mar-

ket for Western producers.

Many leaders also see it as a way to eliminate

Canada’s reliance on higher priced crude oil cur-

rently being imported.

In 2012, Canada imported more than 600,000

barrels per day to supply its Eastern refi neries

On his Facebook page, Saskatchewan Premier

Brad Wall called it “a positive development” after

hearing the news on CTV.

New Brunswick Premier David Alward said on

CTV news: “Th is is a critically important project

that will benefi t all Canadians.”

Joe Oliver, Canada’s minister of Natural

Resources held a briefi ng for reporters in Ottawa

when TransCanada broke the news that it had

enough support to proceed with the open season.

“Our government strongly supports initia-

tives to construct energy infrastructure to transport

Western Canadian oil to the east,” said Oliver.

“It is in the national interest to replace higher-

cost foreign crude with lower-cost Canadian crude

to consumers and refi neries in Québec and Atlantic

Canada.”

Reducingdependence on imported oil

Watch that sledDeer in Carndu watch one of the many snowmobile rides of the season on April 19. Photo by Brian Zinchuk


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Calgary – Th e Canadian Association of Oilwell

Drilling Contractors was quick off the mark to

commend Finance Minister Jim Flaherty for giv-

ing skilled trades training a priority in the federal

government’s 2013 budget.

CAODC president Mark Scholz issued a same

day news release as Flaherty’s budget speech on

March 21 in support of a Canada Jobs Grant next

year and $241 million over fi ve years for First Na-

tions’ skills training.

“CAODC members welcome the federal gov-

ernment’s choice to promote the trades in its Eco-

nomic Action Plan 2013,” said Schultz on behalf of

Canada’s drilling and service rig industry.

Th e Canada Jobs Grant will replace the current

labour market agreements in the 2014-2015 fi scal

year and will provide up to $15,000 per person for

short-term jobs training.

Only $5,000 will be contributed by the federal

government, with matching contributions from

province and employers.

It’s the federal government’s way of dealing

with the growing number of jobs that are going

unfi lled, despite unemployment remaining around

seven per cent.

COADC pumped by training budget

Tempco Drilling in Nisku is a member of CAODC represent-ing Canada’s drilling and service rig industry. The organi-za on has voiced its support of the federal government’s 2013 budget focus on training skilled workers needed in the oil eld. Pictured is Tempco’s Rig 2 that underwent a retro t in 2011. File photo

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Th e training, which is projected to help 130,000

people, will be delivered through colleges and union

organizations including CAODC rig technicians or

motorhands who operate oil and gas drilling rigs.

Rig technicians maintain drilling rig engines,

transmissions, heating systems, diesel electric

generators and motors, hydraulic systems and other

mechanical equipment.

Th e drilling industry’s rig technician trade is

standardized across provinces, a feature that the

2013 budget aims to encourage in more trades.

CAODC said employers in the industry have

also been challenged in attracting under-represent-

ed groups such as aboriginals and newcomers.

Scholz welcomes the federal government’s

$241 million investment to help First Nation youth

across Canada access skills and training they need

to participate in the industry.

“Th e budget off ers some good bridging op-

portunities between jobseekers and industry,” said

Scholz.

“We support the reallocation of $19 million

over the next two years to inform young people

about the trade opportunities within the drilling

and service rig industry.

“Th is is an important demographic to educate

and attract into the industry as our labour demands

continue to grow.”


Calgary – Husky Energy Inc. has contracted

MicroSeismic Inc. to provide real time monitoring

and mapping of its hydraulic fracture operations

in its unconventional oil and gas and shale plays in

Western Canada.

MicroSeismic, based in Calgary, will install its

40th BuriedArray surface microseismic monitoring

program for Husky for an unspecifi ed application

or location.

“Th is is another milestone for MicroSeismic as

we celebrate our 10th year in business,” said Peter

Duncan, founder and CEO of MicroSeismic in a

March 21 news release.

“We were the fi rst to commercialize near

surface microseismic acquisition in 2009 with the

BuriedArray.”

MicroSeismic pioneered the use of surface

microseismic monitoring to listen to the naturally

occurring, low-energy seismic noise emitted from a

reservoir during hydraulic fracturing stimulation.

Utilizing surface and near-surface arrays, Mi-

croSeismic helps oil and gas companies understand

how the reservoir responds to stimulation and its

impact on economics.

“Th e rapid adoption of the solution by custom-

ers helps demonstrate its value,” said Duncan.

“It is an excellent solution for companies who

want to cost eff ectively improve fi eld development

plans and not extrapolate from single well results.

“We are pleased to work with Husky to assist

them in achieving their production goals.”

More than 95 per cent of the wells drilled by

Husky in Western Canada in 2012 targeted oil.

Drilling and well completions were optimized

to increase productivity and reduce costs.

Th e company is also continuing to advance it

liquids-rich resource portfolio in the multi-zone

Ansell and Kaybob areas of west central Alberta.

Th e BuriedArray service is ideal for operators

like Husky that need to monitor multiple wells or

require monitoring through the life-of-fi eld.

MicroSeismic’s BuriedArray data acquisition

service deploys a permanent array of geophone

strings installed in the near surface and can monitor

areas of more than 500 square miles.

Th e BuriedArray monitoring service uses pat-

ented passive seismic emission tomography (PSET)

technology to provide results that show how frac-

tures are propagating during the well treatment.

In addition, by determining source mechanisms,

PSET processing provides a greater understanding

of the eff ectiveness of the stimulation treatment.

Th e wide area coverage provides economies of

scale. As more wells are monitored under the same

array, costs decline relative to other microseismic

acquisition techniques.

MicroSeismic said the ability to monitor large

areas repeatedly with the same equipment leads to

more strategic fi eld planning and development and

the ability to monitor re-fracs.

U.S. based MicroSeismic Inc. expanded to Calgary several years ago and has grown in sync with hydraulic fracking primarily in shale oil and gas plays in Western Canada. The company has secured a contract with Husky Energy using BuriedArray technology to provide real me monitoring and mapping of Husky’s hydraulic fracture opera ons. This is a le photo taken during MicroSeismic’s presenta ons at a Society of Petroleum Engineers’ annual Technical Confer-ence and Exhibi on in Denver, Colo. in October 2011.

Real time mapping of hydraulic fracturing


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NEWSPIPELINE SECTION C

May 2013

By Brian ZinchukTorquay – It’s literally the missing link when it

comes to the carbon capture and storage plan for

Saskatchewan, but it’s a link that is soon to be built.

Th is summer, Cenovus will build a 10-inch

pipeline from Boundary Dam Power Station, 65 ki-

lometres to its CO2 manifold just east of its main

Goodwater facility.

Th e new pipeline will do several things, includ-

ing providing SaskPower with an outlet for it soon-

to-be captured carbon dioxide other than the Aqui-

store injection well adjacent to the Boundary Dam

Power Station. While the price for the CO2 is being

kept private, it will mean a revenue stream for Sask-

Power from the sale of CO2.

For Cenovus, it will give the company a diversity

of sources for carbon dioxide. If it encounters any

supply issues with its up-until-now only supplier,

Dakota Gasifi cation in Beulah, N.D., it won’t be left

high and dry until the CO2 can begin fl owing again.

But there’s one more thing that hasn’t, until recently,

been explicitly said to the public. Th e addition of the

new SaskPower-sourced CO2 will allow Cenovus to

dramatically expand its CO2 fl ood enhanced oil re-

covery operation in the south Weyburn fi eld.

Right now, Cenovus takes delivery of approxi-

mately two million tonnes of CO2 per year from Da-

kota Gasifi cation. SaskPower’s planned one-million

tonnes per year will be close to a 50 per cent boost.

Rhona DelFrari, Cenovus director of media re-

lations, spoke to Pipeline News at a open house held

in Torquay on April 9. Attendance was light, with

roughly 30 people in total present, including several

representatives from Cenovus and SaskPower.

“It’s an opportunity for people in the area to

learn more about the new carbon dioxide pipeline

that we have planned,” she said of the open house.

“At our Weyburn operation in Saskatchewan,

we’ve been injecting CO2 to enhance our oil recov-

ery. Since 2000, we’ve been getting all our CO2 from

Beulah, North Dakota, from a coal gasifi cation plant

there. When SaskPower created the opportunity

to have CO2 with their new capture project at the

Boundary Dam Power Station, they off ered us the

opportunity to purchase the CO2 that they are cap-

turing there.”

Th e agreement to purchase was announced just

before Christmas 2012.

“What this does for Cenovus is provide us two

sources of CO2. Th at reduces the risk. For example, if

one of the sources had to be down for maintenance

for awhile, we have another source, so our operation

can keep open.

“It gives us more options for expansion of our

CO2 fl ood. Currently we have about 60 per cent of

our Weyburn operation under CO2 fl ood, and we

would be looking at in the future potentially expand-

ing that.

“Th at’s always been part of our plans. We’ve al-

ways known there was great potential across the res-

ervoir at our Weyburn operation for additional CO2.

Potentially in the future we would move our CO2

fl ood out to diff erent areas, beyond that 60 per cent

that it’s currently covering.

“One other thing we would use that CO2 for is

to optimize our current fl ood. Our reservoir engi-

neers took a good look at the reservoir; they sug-

gested injecting more CO2 into certain areas of the

current fl ood area that we might be able to get a little

more oil out of the ground there. ”

Th e current fl ood is seeing a recovery factor of

40 per cent or more. When asked how much of an

increase this could mean to recovery factors, she said,

“We don’t know yet. Th at’s what they want to check

out by injecting more CO2.

DelFrari stressed the main reason for the pur-

chase of CO2 from SaskPower was diversifi cation of

supply.

“Right now our plans is to take from both sourc-

es. We think we can handle that right now.”

Page C2

Cenovus spokesperson Rhona DelFrari explained the details of the new pipeline.

Cenovus to expand CO2 ood by almost 50%Pipeline to connect Boundary Dam project to CO2 ood

C2 PIPELINE NEWS May 2013

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Page C1“It gives us more options for expanding the

fl ood and for putting more into the current area for

optimizing.”

Th e pipeline will run 65 kilometres from a

custody transfer station at the edge of SaskPower’s

property surrounding the Boundary Dam Power

Station. SaskPower will have its own pipeline run-

ning a few kilometres from the power station to the

transfer point. Th at route had not been fi nalized as

of early April.

According to Doug Nixon, associate manager

for integrated carbon capture and storage project

Boundary Dam Unit 3, two routes were being

considered. One runs south of the capture plant and

to the west, hooking northwest past the Aquistore

well to transfer point. However, this route would

cross a lot of existing infrastructure and could be

problematic if plans for future additional carbon

capture capacity go ahead. Th e other route takes the

line straight north and then due west, parallel to

Highway 18. A spur line would run to the Aquis-

tore well.

Th e Aquistore injection and observation wells

were drilled last summer and fall. Th e deepest wells

in Saskatchewan, they make up a research project

administered by the Petroleum Technology Re-

search Centre. Th ey will be used for deep saline

aquifer storage of carbon dioxide. Th e injection well

will see a lot of action during the commissioning

of the carbon capture plant, and again whenever

CO2 is being captured, but Cenovus is not able to

receive it. Th is could happen during maintenance

operations, for instance. Otherwise it is SaskPower’s

intention to deliver all its captured CO2 down this

new pipeline to Cenovus.

Roughly two-thirds the new pipeline will fol-

low the route of the existing Souris Valley Pipeline

that is currently supplying CO2from Beulah. Th at

line is owned by Dakota Gasifi cation, but the new

line will be owned by Cenovus.

“We’ve been talking to landowners along the

way.”

About 65 landowners are aff ected.

Th e diff erence between the two sources is the

gas from Dakota Gasifi cation is sour with several

per cent H2S, but the gas from SaskPower will not

be.

“Other than that it has the same amount of

purity,” she said.

Twila Walkeden, also of Cenovus, said there

has been no opposition to the new line, and noted

that there’s a level of comfort due to the fact there’s

an existing line in place.

“I think the people of this community should

be pleased to see Cenovus is investing even more

into this community. We have a great amount of

confi dence in our operations here in that we’re

planning for the future,” DelFrari said.

“Initially we said injecting CO2 into the fi eld

would extend its life 20 to 30 years. Now we say,

‘Who knows?’ As technology develops, in any kind

of oil industry we’re able to get more oil out of the

ground and keep operating longer. So who knows?

“It’ll be a few decades, for sure.

GOODWATER

TORQUAY

Cenovus UnitBoundary

Grid

Roa

d #6

06

Long Creek Railway

Highway #18

Rafferty CO2 Pipeline Route

Proposed Interconnect Pipeline Route

Boun

dary

Res

ervo

ir

MAINPRIZE PARK

CENTRALRECEIVINGTERMINAL

BLOCKVALVE

CUSTODY

STATIONTRANSFER

AQUISTOREWELLS

SPCPOWER

STATION

TABLELANDRAFFERTYOUTRAM

ESTEVAN

Highway #39

Rafferty Reservoir

ISSUEDMAR.12/130

REVISIONSDESCRIPTIONDATENo.

Altus Geomatics

Rafferty CO2 Pipeline Route12-12-2-9 W2M to 06-34-5-13 W2M

Scale 1: 50,000

= Rafferty CO2 Pipeline Route

RGE 10 RGE 9 RGE 8RGE 11

RGE 12RGE 13

TWP

1TW

P 2

TWP

4TW

P 5

TWP 3TWP 2

TWP 3

TWP 2TWP 1

TWP

3

TWP 4TWP 3

TWP 5TWP 4

RG

E 1

2R

GE

11

RG

E 1

3R

GE

12

RG

E 1

1R

GE

10

RG

E 1

0R

GE

9

RG

E 9

RG

E 1

1

= Proposed Interconnect Pipeline Route= Primary Roads= Cenovus Unit Boundary

LEGEND

= Railway

RGE 8

Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki, le , discuss-es the new CO2 pipeline with Trevor Bors, manager, facil-ity engineering, with Cenovus.

Grid

Roa

d 60

6

EstevanTorquay

Goodwater

Weyburn unit

SaskPower Boundary Dam station

Highway 18

Cenovus Energy proposed Rafferty CO2 pipeline project

Proposed pipeline is expected to be approximately 66 kilometres long

Open house held in Torquay for CO2 pipeline project

PIPELINE NEWS May 2013 C3

Reeve of the RM of Cambria Darwin Daae (le ) and Torquay Mayor Michael Strachan checked out the Ceno-vus open house.

Lorne Hanson, centre, already has one CO2 pipeline on his property. He will soon have two.

Filling the gymnasium of Torquay’s defunct

school, now a community centre, Cenovus had

numerous displays at its open house on April 7

detailing its planned CO2 pipeline from Boundary

Dam Power Station to its Goodwater plant.

While there wasn’t a large turnout, many elect-

ed offi cials were present. Souris-Moose Mountain

MP Ed Komarnicki was present almost the entire

evening. Komarnicki was a player in getting federal

funding for the carbon capture project.

Torquay Mayor Mike Strachan was one of

those checking out the project, along with Darwin

Daae, Reeve of the RM of Cambria.

“I think it’s good for the area,” said Strachan,

who works as a coal miner.

“Any growth is good,” said Daae.

Strachan referred to recent changes in green-

house gas emissions regulations, saying, “With new

environmental regulations, this is the way to go.”

His biggest concern was housing workers for

the project.

For the RM, Daae said, “We talked to Cenovus.

It was just minor little things.”

Cenovus is meeting all the rural municipalities’

concerns, he said.

Lorne Hanson is one of the landowners af-

fected. He already has the existing Souris Valley

Pipeline crossing his land, taking CO2 from Beulah,

N.D., to Goodwater.

“It’s good for cleaning up the old oilfi eld and

jobs, and cleans the air at the power plant,” Hanson

said.

“It’s the consumer that pays the cost of it all;

farmers buy fuel at one hell of a price.”

Th e only concern he raised was drainage. Once

a pipeline is in the ground, you can’t dig a ditch

across it. “A few years ago when it was wet, we

couldn’t trench deep enough.”

He added, “We probably could be paid better

for it.”

Local reaction to CO2 pipeline


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[email protected][email protected]

By Brian ZinchukRegina – It didn’t get a lot of attention when announced as part of the

2013 provincial budget, but there was one line item that has indicated a change

in policy for the Saskatchewan Party government.

Ever since they were elected in 2007, the Saskatchewan Party, through

speeches by either Premier Brad Wall or his ministers, has said time and time

again they would not touch the royalty regime brought in by the predecessor

NDP government. Yet on page 10 of the Budget Summary, it was noted the

Saskatchewan resource credit (SRC) would be reduced by a quarter point.

Th e change is small, relatively speaking, on a very distinct set of criteria.

For oil and gas, it doesn’t aff ect any wells newer than 2002. But it is a change.

Th is reduction of a tax credit is, in eff ect, an increase in the taxes collected

on natural resources. It did not receive mention during Finance Minister Ken

Krawetz’s budget address delivered in the legislature on March 20.

He noted, “Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, this budget is a balanced budget.

At a time when most other jurisdictions continue to struggle with large defi cits

and mounting debt, Saskatchewan’s fi nances remain sound.

Page C5

Is a reduction of a resource credit a change in royalties?

Kent Cambell, deputy minister of the economy, explained changes to the Saskatchewan resource credit. File photo


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Th e strip price for natural gas over the next fi ve

years that the provincial budget forecast in March is

pretty dismal. Th at will have implications on natural

gas drilling, according to Deputy Minister of the

Economy Kent Campbell.

“We think if prices remain as low as we’re

expecting, we’re not going to see a lot of natural gas

drilling in Saskatchewan. It’s just not competitive –

minimal drilling and production – almost nothing.

“In terms of number of wells, less than 50, and

those are probably to hold onto properties.”

Prospects for natural gas drilling very poor

Page C4“Th at said, it’s no secret that resource revenues

are down. So in order to achieve that balance, our

government has to control spending.”

Kent Campbell, deputy minister of the econ-

omy, explained the change to the Saskatchewan

resource credit to Pipeline News by phone.

“It’s not a royalty in itself. It is a credit against

Crown royalties and production taxes payable on

the production of oil, natural gas, potash, uranium

and coal. It’s really meant to compensate for the

resource surcharge, which is a tax – three per cent,

on the value of sales, on all mineral and resource

production. Th ree per cent of your sales, you pay in

a resource surcharge to Finance,” he said.

“Th at’s been in place in various levels since

1988. Th e Saskatchewan resource credit is a credit

against that in the royalty system. You pay the re-

source surcharge, and you deduct the credit against

your royalties payable.”

It was part of the corporate capital tax, but it

now just applies to resource sectors.

“Th e change that was made as part of this

budget was reducing the value of the credit by 0.25

percentage points. When it comes to oil and gas,

the value of the credit was either one per cent or 2.5

per cent of the value of production, depending upon

the type of well and when it was drilled.

“Any production after September 2002 doesn’t

receive credit at all. We made some royalty changes

back in 2002 and got rid of the credit altogether

and worked it into the royalty curves.”

It will have no implications for future drilling

or anything drilled after 2002.

Wells drilled prior to 1998 that fi t the criteria

had a one per cent credit, and those drilled from

1998 to 2002 had a 2.5 per cent credit. A 0.25 per

cent reduction of the credit in fact means wells

drilled prior to 1998 will see a one-quarter reduc-

tion in the credit, and those drilled from 1998 to

2002 will see a one-tenth reduction in value of the

credit.

“It’s not a lot,” Campbell said. Th e increase

to the provincial revenue is expected to be $22.3

million, of which $7.4 million is from the oil sector

and $300,000 from the gas sector. Th e remainder

will come from potash, uranium and coal.

Overall, the province is expecting royalty

revenue and projected land sales to come in at $1.5

billion for the 2013 fi scal year. Th at’s down from

the $1.9 billion that had been projected for the

2012 fi scal year.

Last year’s budget set oil’s expected price at

$100.50/bbl. for WTI. Th is year, that number is

down to $92.50, based on at least 10 private sector

forecasts. Natural gas is done the same way.

“It was a very tight budget, and one of the

priorities was a balanced budget. Th at’s very impor-

tant,” Campbell said regarding the adjustment to

the SRC.

In the same budget, the ethanol grant was

scaled back by a third. Th at grant will eventually be

phased out entirely. But there was no interested in

adjusting royalties rates themselves, he said.

While there was no consultation with industry

regarding the change to SRC, Campbell said sig-

nifi cant changes in royalties would have extensive

consultations.


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Regina – Deep in the March 20 provincial budget is a reduction of one-

quarter of a percentage point of the Saskatchewan resource credit. It’s an

obscure tax credit that, in the oil and gas sector, only aff ects wells drilled prior

to 2002. Th e change will result in the oil and gas sector paying an additional

$7.7 million to the province, pocket change on $1.5 billion in natural resource

revenues. But the New Democratic Party opposition has picked up on it, espe-

cially the symbolism.

Energy and Resources critic Buckley Belanger, MLA for Athabasca, was a

minister when the current royalty regime was put into place, having formerly

held the positions of minister of Environment, Northern Aff airs, Community

Resources and Highways and Transportation.

“(Premier Brad) Wall has said on numerous occasions, probably a thousand

times, they wouldn’t touch royalties at all. ”

With no prior signals to the industry, Belanger said, “We’re surprised at

this. Page C7

Wall said they wouldn’t touch royalties, NDP point out

Buckley Belanger, MLA for Athabasca, is the NDP cri c for energy and resources. Photo submi ed


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Page C6“We have to see the math on this.

“Th e process has to be more transparent. We need to know these things.

Th ese kinds of surprises are quite frankly a shock.

“From our perspective, even though it’s an obscure move by the Saskatch-

ewan Party, consultation is always the fi rst step.

“We need to see them coming.”

Th e change did not see a lot of reporting in the media in the immediate

aftermath of the budget.

“Our research team found this after after a number of hours,” Belanger

said.

“It’s a really a mixed signal. You need to know these things. You can’t be

surprised by things of this sort.”

“Th e whole issue is, generally you should be able to count on the word of

the premier when he makes statements on a continual basis. He’s indicated this

time after time.

“It is prior to 2002, and the changes are going down .25 of a percentage

point,” he said, ackowledging the changes were relatively small.

NDP values oil sector“Th e NDP knows the oil sector is very valuable. We understand that 100

per cent. We’ve always been supportive of Keystone XL pipeline.

“Th e NDP is supporting the Keystone XL pipeline.”

“We know the value to the province as a whole.

“We know how valuable a booming economy is to the province. People are

going to work, they are moving to the province, they’re making investments in

the province.

“It’s all common sense. Th e oilpatch provides opportunity not only for the

working man and woman, but also for the economy as well. We need to be very

clear on that front,” Belanger said.

“Th e industry is the fi rst player you would consult. ‘Look folks, we’re going

to do this.’ I’m sure this surprised the industry overall.

“December is when the budget is determined. It’s still a signal to industry.

At the very least, industry should have been consulted before the budget is

drafted. Th is way, there’s no surprises,” he said.

Does this open the door for more changes in royalties?

Belanger responded, “Th e main thing is the process needs to be transpar-

ent. I can appreciate the industry wanting to invest in the province. Without

industry, Saskatchewan can’t do it alone. Th at’s why important for people, not

just in the oilfi eld sector, but in potash, coal and uranium. All these big oppor-

tunities we have as a province – we know, and we embrace the private sector’s

role in this. When we talk about, is this the opening for a new era, one of the

fi rst things we would say is consultation is always the fi rst step. It’s a respectful

step to take.

“Th e second thing, from my perspective, when I look at the oilpatch as

an NDPer, I feel there’s incredible economic opportunity. I’m not just talking

about the jobs, and the injection to government coff ers. Th ere’s a real, solid

value in the oilpatch. Th e only thing I think we get a bit criticized for is when

we look at the environmental challenges attached. We can fi x those together.

Th e fi rst thing we should do as a party and a province and a government is

consult with the impacted parties.

West-east pipelineBelanger is strongly in favour of the plan to convert part of the TransCana-

da mainline system from gas to oil service, shipping crude to Eastern Canada.

“If there’s some way we can work together with the industry, I know we’re

losing millions of dollars shipping our crude to the States, and it’s quite a ways

with the Keystone XL pipeline. If we can somehow look at the west-east con-

nect, we’re looking at billions of dollars, I’m not exaggerating, billions of dollars

in revenue for the oil and gas companies and the government as well. As we in-

crease the coff ers for the companies, we increase it for the government as well.

“Not only are you not sending raw product to the States, you’re prepar-

ing for what happens if the U.S. stops taking our crude oil. And start look-

ing at your own source of oil – you can add value to your crude oil. With our

own eastern-based companies, that can do a lot of the value-added,” Belanger

concluded.


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Estevan – Th e Desk and Derrick of Southeast Saskatchewan members got

a chance to see how the other side lives on April 15, when they toured Estevan

Wellsite Trailer Rentals.

Estevan Wellsite is owned in part by Desk and Derrick member Brenda

Noble. She and her husband Virgil, along with Randy and Susan Olney, are

partners in the rental outfi t that has been around for 18 years.

“We incorporated in 1995. We bought two trailers,” said Noble prior to the

tour.

Th e company would buy a few at a time to build up the fl eet over the years.

“In the last year, we bought six. We’ve sold four already.”

“I’ve never spent one night in a trailer,” Noble told her compatriots, but

added that Randy Olney will spend much of a year in one in his capacity as a

wellsite drilling consultant. “He knows what the industry requires,” she said.

“We have four types of trailers,” Noble said.

One design is the 50/50, which is often used for engineers and consultants

or geologists. Th e geologist side has a heated sink.

Th ey have several four-bed units, with four separate bedrooms. Each has its

own entrance, bed, TV and bathroom. Th ere’s a common laundry area.

A command centre, she said, is “all offi ce.”

Finally they have a few “super singles,” which are used primarily by wellsite

consultants. “Randy lives in one 300 days a year,” she said.

Access to television is important to the clients. Noble said, “We have 10

trailers and 24 satellites.” Th at engendered a lot of laughs from the women in

attendance.

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Insitute’s (SETI) fi rst job fair was well received by

the companies in attendance, but several wished the

timing had been a little diff erent.

Th e event was held on April 3 during the Eas-

ter break, meaning high school students were not in

class. Th at, in turn, meant a lower turnout, as those

students were scattered to the winds.

Classes were on at SETI, however, and those

outside the education system came in as well. Th e

number of people who attended each booth varied.

“My count was around 70,” said Susan Mack of

Canyon Technical Services towards the end of the

day.

SETI holds its rst job fairSETI holds its rst job fair“We got quite a few prospects.”

“A lot of our men are on rotation. We want to

hire as many locals as we can,” said Shawn Maclean,

base manager for Canyon, adding they will return if

the event is repeated.

Shayne Fenrick, a motorhand on Panther Drill-

ing Rig 1, talked to many of the interested people.

His counterpart, Shannon Leas, who does human

resources and safety work for Panther, said, “It

helped having someone to talk to.”

She added it was a slow day and they would

have preferred the event had been held during

school days.

Jodie Pratt with PetroBakken said they got a

few resumes. Some people went directly to their

offi ce to drop off resumes. Th ey are looking for

operators and administration staff .

Chris Mack, manager of production systems

division with Weatherford in Estevan, said, “Expe-

rienced people are hard to fi nd. We’re pretty much

fully staff ed in my division. We’ve got some good

people, and we do what we can to keep them.”

Damon Vincent spoke to Macey Menzies and

Sandra Chadney with CanElson Drilling. He said,

“I’m seeing what’s available. I just moved here from

Moose Jaw.”

Originally from Oxbow,Vincent said, “Th ere’s

lots of opportunity here. I’m 21. I have experience

in construction, not so much in the oilfi eld.”

Sherritt Coal’s Monty Blomberg said they are

looking for at least 10 equipment operators, plus

tradespeople like electricians and welders.

Mike Waldner, general foreman with Sherritt,

said they’re also looking for administrative staff .

“We never turn down if the right person walks

in the door and the credentials are there.”

SETI campus manager Sheen Onrait said,

“SaskPower came in and hired our power engineer-

ing class, all that weren’t already hired.”

Konstantin Toroshchin spoke to Onrait about

educational opportunities. “I moved here two years

ago from St. Petersburg (Russia).”

He fi nished a hotel management program, and

was working at the Hilton in Niagara Falls, but he

was making only $11 an hour. He moved to Este-

van last August, and has since worked on service

rigs and on wireline. Now he’s looking to pick up a

trade.

Onrait said, “Th is is our fi rst attempt at a job

fair. We had an advisory meeting in December.

Companies asked for it.”

Th ey wrestled with the timing – should it be

during a school break or not?

Upwards of 100 people attended. Companies

were charged a nominal fee for a booth.

Will there be another job fair at SETI next

year? “Absolutely,” Onrait said.

Damon Vincent, right, spoke to Macey Menzies, le , and Sandra Chadney with CanElson Drilling.


Montreal – How much wind power can our grid take? Th at’s a good ques-

tion, according to Jean-François Nolet who is vice-president, policy and gov-

ernment aff airs, with the Montreal-based Canadian Wind Energy Association

(CanWEA). He said utilities are conservative, and that’s a good thing.

“We ask them to be conservative.

“I think we’re learning. Wind is very new in Canada. We’re seeing coun-

tries in Europe with penetrations of 20, 25, 35 per cent. We can increase our

wind penetration in Canada. Currently we have two to three per cent total

electricity consumption in Canada. Clearly wind can grow.”

Provinces like British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec can tolerate a lot

of wind, because they can use their large hydro assets to back stop the turbines

when the wind doesn’t blow. “Th e dams act as a battery,” he said. “When the

wind doesn’t blow, you release water.”

Provinces that rely more on coal have more of a challenge.

Prince Edward Island has 11 to 12 per cent penetration. Quebec will hit

between fi ve and six per cent by 2016. British Columbia, on the other hand,

only has 390 megawatts installed capacity. Saskatchewan is aiming for 8.5 per

cent wind.

“Saskatchewan is clearly a leader on that front. Ontario will be around four

to fi ve per cent.

Th e optimal wind penetration in Canada is a question that will be ad-

dressed over the next two or three years, he noted. Work is underway in the

United States to integrate up to 20 per cent wind.

To increase wind usage, however, provinces will need to invest billions into

their grids, upgrading old infrastructure.

Wind power generation in Saskatchewan has hardly had a whisper of

resistance, compared to Ontario, where the provincial government has pushed

hard to develop wind power generation.

“It’s a completely diff erent experience,” Nolet said of Ontario, pointing out

that province has thousands of megawatts of wind turbines being developed.

Ontario has a great wind resource in the north. But where projects are being

developed in the southwest, there’s a “fairly high level of population density.”

Ontario has had a controversial feed-in tariff for wind development, mean-

ing that a premium will be paid for wind-generated energy. But SaskPower

does not have such a tariff for current wind projects.

In Ontario, he said, “Our industry has learned a great deal.”

Do you have to have a feed-in tariff to make wind competitive?

“No, it’s a very simple answer. Feed-in tariff is an eff ective way to procure

renewable energy,” Nolet said, citing Germany, Denmark and Ontario. But

other than a small project in Nova Scotia, feed-in-tariff s are not being used in

the rest of Canada. Over 1,500 megawatts of wind power generating capacity is

installed in Quebec, and it will reach a 4,000 megawatt target, without a feed-

in-tariff .

Canada currently only generates two to three per cent of its power from wind.

Photo courtesy SaskPower.

How much wind power generation can we use?

“Wind can compete on its own,” Nolet said, adding, “currently, it’s cheaper

than coal. Th e only source that is cheaper to develop is combined cycle gas, due to

the historical low prices in North America. We don’t know what’s going to be the

price of gas in 10, 15, 20, 25 years.”

Wind generation is procured by call for tenders for wind specifi cally, or for

renewable energy, he said.

SaskPower has developed several natural gas turbine plants, either its own,

or contracted out to third parties, to backstop wind turbines for times when the

wind doesn’t blow.

“Gas and wind are a very, very good match. Th e same thing for large hydro.

Wind alone is not an option,” he said.


Battleford – If area manager Corey Chmelnyk could train his new shop

dog, Finn, how to drive a dozer or a BobCat, it would be on the payroll at

Strike Energy Services Inc.

Th at’s how busy it has recently been lately for Strike Energy in Battleford

which has seen a lot of two legged help hired to keep up with the demand for a

growing volume of pipeline construction and facilities work in the area.

“We actually ramped right up this winter and had a fair amount of staff

going,” said Chmelnyk.

“We had some really good crews out there – some good manpower and

some good experienced guys.

“Th at’s the key, is having those types of guys. Your jobs go a lot better and,

of course, they are safe. At the end of the job you turn over some profi t.”

Th e Strike Battleford branch is coming off a strong fi rst quarter in 2013

and a record year in 2012 for the corporation with 14 locations in Western

Canada.

“It’s been excellent. Basically, we doubled our sales budget for the fi rst

quarter already,” said Chmelnyk as Finn’s tail wagged in approval.

“Th ings are looking really good for the rest of the year as well.

“We had an excellent January, February and March. We’re very happy and

hopefully, it continues like that through the rest of the year.

“In talking with all our clients, everyone’s pretty positive they’re going to be

doing a lot of work.”

Most of Strike’s workload this year is being driven by the need for pipe-

lines for water disposal and water injection sites by

clients including Husky Energy, Canadian Natural

Resources and Northern Blizzard.

Most of their pipeline and facilities work is tak-

ing place in the busy Vawn, Edam, Turtleford, and

Maidstone areas, about 70 kilometres west of the

Battlefords.

Cat dozers and excavators are used to trench

composite pipe such as fl ex steel or fl ex pipe along

with some steel pipe lined with high density poly-

ethylene.

“A lot of times we are running dual lines, so

they’ll run a water line along with a fuel gas line,”

said Chmelnyk.

“We have been ditching it all in the past – not

much plowing going on.”

Page C13

Strike hits the ground running in 2013Strike hits the ground running in 2013

Corey Chmelnyk, area manager for Strike Energy Services in Ba leford, takes a phone call. Strike is o to a ying start in 2013 with loads of composite pipeline work for water disposal and water injec on facili es.


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Page C12 Strike is also doing a lot of work for at Husky’s staged

10,000 barrels per day steam-assisted gravity drainage or SAGD project at

Rush Lake, north of Payton, where with fi rst oil is expected in 2015.

A second well pair is being advanced to production in the second quarter

of 2013 following the 1,000 bpd performance from the initial single well-pair

pilot in 2012.

Water for the steam project is being sourced from water wells near the

North Saskatchewan River.

“We tied in a whole of bunch of water wells just recently for Husky, just

west of Edam down at the river. All that water is going to feed the Rush Lake

SADG project,” said Chemlnyk.

“Th ere’s a 12-inch pipeline coming up. We’re hoping to get that this sum-

mer. Th ere’s a big facility job with it. We’re hoping to get a bunch of people to

work on that project.

“Some of our other projects in that area have been with Northern Blizzard

and CNRL, so it’s looking really positive.”

“I think we have enough work with our main clients. Just from talking

with their engineers and their project managers, they have enough for us to

keep us going throughout the year.

“We’re going to concentrate on keeping some good guys working with

them and keeping them happy.”

Strike can also draw from its other locations and services such as electrical

and instrumentation, fabrication, major project construction, module assembly

and maintenance and turnarounds.

“We are able to do the whole project right

from the ground up,” said Chmelnyk.

“Being a company like Strike, you can pull

guys from other districts to help out when you

shorthanded. It works out very well for us.”

Chmelnyk said his long-term plan for sustain-

able growth is to work with their main clients and

to also “grab some of these smaller type compa-

nies that are coming up” and are and are not so

junior anymore.

“We want to work for everyone. We like to

keep everyone happy and do a little bit for every-

one. Th at way all of our eggs aren’t in one basket,”

he said.

Back in 2011, Strike was focused on oil and

gas pipeline construction in the area, but new oil

recovery methods led by SAGD and commodity

prices have opened new doors in the Battlefords.

Page C14

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Page C13 “Th e majority of it is all water and water disposal, and

water injection, and you name it,” said Chmelnyk.

“Th ere hasn’t been a whole of gas. Th e shallow gas stuff has kind of crashed

out. Gas prices haven’t been too strong.”

Snow was also a commodity this winter and it helped to keep Strike’s

workforce busy with contract plowing for 24/7 heavy oil operators in the area

such as Baytex Energy Corp., Husky and CNRL.

During a freak blizzard that swept through the northwest on March 20-

21, Strike deployed eight dozers to clear roads and leases for those companies

and others in the region.

“Th ey were happy with how we did it and the quick response we had to

get their production levels going again,” said Chmelnyk on a cold, late March

morning when there was still plenty of snow still on the ground.

“Th e breakup this year, I think, is going to be very challenging.

“I think with all this snow, we are going to see a lot of wet areas. It could

be one of our longer breakups than anticipated.”

Looking ahead, Strike hopes to secure some facility and fabrication work

for the construction of a 350 barrel a day pilot project being carried out by

Bayshore Petroleum. It will convert heavy oil to diesel-quality light oil as fuel

products or as diluents.

Bayshore has entered into a 30-year agreement with the China Foreign

Economic Cooperation Centre to license the catalytic upgrading technology to

convert heavy oil into light oil in Canada.

Th eir fi rst facility will be located in Meota,

about 43 kilometres northwest of North Battleford

on Highway 26.

“Th at’s within a half hour of us. We are really

looking forward to what they’re going to have for

us,” said Chmelnyk.

“We’ve been back and forth with their engi-

neers and stuff . I think it looks pretty promising to

start pretty quick.

Page C15

Welder Blair Lauinger dry ts another sec on of a new rail for a welding deck before drilling some pilot holes into the piece prior to the nal assembly.

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Page C14“Th e way it sounds right now, it would be

facility work and a lot of fabrication work and in-

shop welding. Th ere might be a little bit of pipe-

line with it.”

Th ere is a lot of economic growth and pros-

perity on the minds of area business managers

like Chmelnyk this year as North Battleford holds

their centennial birthday party on May 1.

“It’s been good. Th ere’s lots of good positive

attitude. North Battleford has been expanding –

lots of developments going on here,” said Chmel-

nyk.

Th e entire $60 million Credit Union CUplex

in North Battleford which features a performing

arts centre, an aquatic centre, a curling rink and a

fi eld house, was up and running by the fi rst week

in March.

“Th ey’ve got the new multiplex (CUplex) so

it’s been pretty exciting, especially it being their

Strike Energy expects there will be plenty of me for maintenance and repairs during what could an extended spring breakup period due to lots of snow this winter and early spring.

100th year and us been situated here – it’s pretty

good,” said Chemlnyk.

Strike plans to expand the Battleford shop to

accommodate more fabrication work and to make

room for module assembly currently focused at

Strike’s Crossfi eld and Bonnyville locations in

Alberta.

“We’re thinking we could set up a shop here

and do the same thing and keep about 40 guys

working all winter long just on those things,” he

said.

Every which you look, there are new houses

and buildings under construction in the area.

“It’s starting to boom. You can see it all

around. We’re trying to grow with it and like I say,

we’re going to expand,” said Chmelnyk.

“Th ere are other businesses that are doing

the same. We’re looking forward to growing with

them.”

PIPELINE NEWS May 2013 C17C16 PIPELINE NEWS May 2013

The winners of the A-Event were Brent Gedak Welding. From le are lead Jare Mosley, second Brad Orsted, third Jessie Rosengren and skip Brent Gedak. Brent Gedak Welding beat out Southern Corrosion 5-3 in the nal on March 24.

The B-Event went to Ep-ping Energy, a team of fathers and daughters. The team was made up of, from le , lead Shelby Dunnigan, second Chael-ynn Kitz, third Brent Dun-nigan, and skip Shane Kitz.

Estevan Meter took the C-Event. From le are lead Kyle Skuce, second Jarrad Skuce, third Carey Eagles and skip Trent Walter.

Top: Jamie Holitzki with Enerplus curled with C&N Oil eld. Photo by Katrina Zinchuk

Right: Greg Kallis, centre, nishes up as his rock enters the house.

Top: Logan Skuce, le , Ty Eagles, Rex Eagles and Zoe Eagles, front, were some of the shorter spectators at the bonspiel.

Right: From le , Terry Houst, Murry Fulkerth, Norm Mack and Aaron Pahl put in a team e ort.


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Regina – Th ere

comes a time when

every little birdie has to

leave the nest. Th at was

essentially the conclu-

sion of the provincial

government after a

mandated review of the

$24 million grant paid

out to ethanol blenders

each year. In the 2013

budget announced on

March 20, the grant

was cut by a third, from

15 cents per litre to 10

cents per litre.

Th at cut brings it

in line with our neigh-

bouring provinces,

Alberta and Manitoba,

which have also charted

courses for ending their

per litre subsidies to the

ethanol industry, ac-

cording to Kent Camp-

bell, deputy minister

for the Saskatchewan

Ministry of the Econ-

omy. Manitoba is on a

path to eliminate theirs

by 2015, and Alberta

in 2016. Saskatchewan

is now on a similar

path, winding down the

program, but Campbell

said he is not sure when

that will be.

Th e reduction in

the grant will result in

an $8 million per year

savings to the province,

bringing the grant paid

out down to $16 mil-

lion in the 2013 fi scal

year.

Asked if the

industry will be able

to survive without the

subsidy, he said, “I

think they can,” but

added there are other

factors in the econom-

ics of the business,

including high wheat

prices.

Th e Lorne Calvert

NDP government

sought to expand its

ethanol industry. Th e

provincial government

mandated that a per-

centage of all gasoline

sold in Saskatchewan

be ethanol. Initially

it was two per cent in

early 2005, but that

rate rose to 7.5 per cent

six months later. At

the time, the grant was

brought in to encourage

growth of the industry

in the province.

Th e ethanol fuel

grant provided dis-

tributors with a 15

cent per litre grant for

ethanol purchased from

Saskatchewan ethanol

producers and blended

in automotive fuels

distributed within the

province.

In 2005, then-

Industry and Resources

minister Eric Cline

said, “Ethanol is only

one piece of a much

larger puzzle. Ethanol

and other biofuels are

21st century fuels. Eth-

anol use is increasing

across North America

and around the world.

Alternative fuel sources

are only going to grow

in importance over the

long term."

Saskatchewan now

has six blenders and

fi ve ethanol producing

facilities.

Th e mandated eth-

anol content percentage

will remain, Campbell

explained.

It was never the

intent for the program

to be “lifelong,” he

noted. “I guess we’ll see

how these companies

fare.”

Fly little birdie, y!Ethanol grant cut by a third, more cuts to come


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Vancouver – An abundant supply of low cost natural gas in North American

from shale gas discoveries is cranking up sales and interest in natural gas truck

engines of all sizes.

Vancouver-based Cummins Westport Inc., 50 per cent owned by Cummins

Inc. and Westport Innovations Inc., introduced its newest 12-litre natural gas

engine in April for the commercial truck market.

“Th ere are a lot of economic benefi ts driven by the shale gas revolution. We

have an engine that burns a lower cost fuel,” said Jim Arthurs, president of Cum-

mins Westport.

Full production of the new ISX12 G engine is scheduled to start in August

in the United States.

Th e ISX12 G natural gas engine is based on the Cummins Westport ISX12

diesel engine platform and it runs on compressed natural gas or liquefi ed natural

gas, both of which are cheaper than diesel. Page C20

Cheap fuel drives natural gas enginesJim Arthurs, president of Cummins Westport in Van-couver, is stoked by the sales poten al of his com-pany’s new 12-litre natural gas engine for Class 8 re-gional truck hauling mar-ket. A Class 8 truck has a gross vehicle weight above 33,000 pounds. A larger 15-litre engine is produced by Westport Innova ons Inc., a 50 per cent owner of Cummins Westport. Sales are being driven by the low cost of natural gas and the introduc on of LNG refuelling sta ons in North America. Photo sub-mi ed

Trucks powered by natural engines made by Cummins Westport and their 50 per cent owner, Westport Innova ons Inc. got a boost in Western Canada in March when Shell Canada opened Canada’s rst public LNG refuelling sta on at the Shell Flying J truck stop in Calgary. Two more refueling sta ons are planned in 2013 in Red Deer and Ed-monton. Photo submi ed


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Page C19 Both new model engine

types meet North American greenhouse gas emis-

sions standards for 2014 but sales and the develop-

ment of natural gas engines are motivated by the

lower price of natural gas.

“We don’t have a huge environmental benefi t

against a brand new diesel anymore,” said Arthurs.

“Most people today who are buying a natural

gas vehicle are really doing it because of the cost

savings associated with the fuel. Th at’s the big deal.

“What we see is the heavy duty trucking indus-

try burns a lot of fuel.

“Typically, over the life cycle of a class 8 truck,

80 per cent of the cost is fuel versus the truck itself.

If you have a $125,000 truck, it will go through

$600,000 to $700,000 worth of fuel.

“If truckers can take a big bite out of the fuel

costs, that’s very attractive.”

Westport Innovations produces a 15-litre natu-

ral gas engine for the heavy haul truck market and

estimates customers can expect savings of US$1 to

$2 per diesel equivalent gallons.

Th e new Cummins Westport ISX12 G natural

gas engine utilizes their proprietary spark-ignited

stoichiometric combustion with cooled exhaust gas

recirculation technology.

Th e so-called SEGR technology was intro-

duced with their ISL G 9-litre natural gas engine

that has gained an approximate 20 per cent market

share of the continental transit bus market.

“More recently, we’ve got between a 40 and 50

per cent share of garbage collection trucks. Th at was

where the 9-litre engine really made sense,” said

Arthurs.

Larger engines like the new ISX12 G will help

Cummins Westport improve its share of the class 8

truck market that is less than one percent today.

In 2012, Cummins Westport and Westport

Innovation combined sold 1,500 9-litre and 15-litre

natural gas engines in a market of 200,000 class 8

trucks sold in North America.

Th eir total natural gas engine sales in North

American were around 5,000 and have nowhere to

go but up.

“Bringing out this 12-litre engine is really

opening up the heavy duty trucking for us,” said

Arthurs.

“It’s really one of these things that are relatively

new for them to have larger engines that are avail-

able.”

Wesport is introducing a new 120 gallon LNG

tank system to U.S. customers on a trial basis with a

350 to 450 mile refueling range.

A company called Clean Energy in the U.S.

has installed 70 natural gas refueling stations across

that country as more fl eets switch to cold or warm

LNG.

“LNG fueling station networks will be estab-

lished in response to market demand in Canada,”

said Arthurs.

“Investments in natural gas liquefaction facili-

ties are required to bring LNG into the trucking

market.” Page C21

Ian J. Sco , execu ve vice president at Westport, has oversight of Westport’s market development ac- vi es in North America.

Sco spoke at a public event held at the Westport Kentucky Integra on Cen-tre on March 19.

Photo submi ed

Heavy duty trucks


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Page C20 Shell Canada opened the fi rst public LNG refueling station for heavy duty

haulers in Canada on March 7 at its Flying J truck stop in Calgary with two

more stations to open this year in Red Deer and Edmonton.

Shell is also building Canada’s fi rst non-utility LNG production facility

west of Calgary to serve the growing market.

As many as fi ve new LNG processing plants could be in production by

2020 in British Columbia from shale gas production in the northeast part of

the province.

“We are fi nding all this shale gas now at relatively low cost, so it off ers the

North American economy the opportunity to reduce the cost of transportation

by using a lower cost fuel and becoming much more energy independent,” said

Arthurs.

“Historically, the interest in natural gas 10 years ago was around emissions

reduction.

“Now it’s really about the economic benefi ts – the lower cost of fuel and to

some extent energy independence.

“We do hear people, especially in the U.S. say, that they like burning do-

mestic natural gas versus imported diesel fuel. Th at comes up.

“Th e commercial trucking industry is all about the dollars and cents.”

Cummins Westport 9-litre and 12-litre natural gas engines and natural gas

engine are available in Kenworth, Freigthliner, Mack, Navistar, Peterbilt and

Volvo trucks used in oilfi eld.

Westport’s large 15-litre engine is only available on Peterbilt and Ken-

worth trucks.

“We do see oilpatch and oilfi eld companies move in this direction,” said

Arthurs.

“We do think we will see pretty good growth in the business in the next

numbers of years.

“We expect to see it across the whole class 8 truck market where we’ll go

from less from 1 per cent share to anywhere from 10 to 50 per cent of the

market share.”

Sales may also benefi t from new harmonized environmental standards for

Canada and the United States that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by

23 per cent for 2018 model year heavy duty trucks.

“Natural gas is inherently cleaner burning,” said Arthurs which helps with

maintenance of the after treatment system.

“With the SEGR system, we don’t need a heavy duty after treatment to do

the remaining cleaning up of the exhaust.

“A diesel engine these days will use a selective catalytic reduction system

and a diesel particulate fi lter, so they are quite complex to clean up the diesel

emissions.”

Because the ISX12 G natural gas engine is based on the Cummins ISX12

diesel engine, 80 per cent of the parts are identical.

“We basically make a version of that engine that runs on natural gas rather

than diesel,” said Arthurs.

“We change the fuel system and we add a spark ignition system to the

engine and we change the after treatment and a few things.

“Most of the maintenance requirements are very similar. We do try to

change the oil a little more frequently with natural gas.

“We have spark plugs that you need to change every once and a while

too.”


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Forget, Saskatchewan

The Safety Association for Candada’s

Upstream Oil and Gas Industry

Regina – Energy and Resources Minister Tim

McMillan reached back to 2008 to explain why the

latest April sale of petroleum and natural gas rights

generated just $7.7 million for the province.

“While land sale activity has been compara-

tively quiet over the past year, if you consider the

all-time record set back in 2008, it is to be expected

as industry concentrates on drilling the huge inven-

tory of land that has been acquired,” said McMillan.

“Th ere are a signifi cant number of leases up for

renewal in the next few years, and we expect that

much of that land will revert back to the Crown

and, as a result, there could be increased land sale

revenue.”

Th e April sale in 2012 contributed $16.4 mil-

lion in revenue for Saskatchewan, but it’s costing

more to acquire lands, with prices averaging more

than $900 per hectare at this year’s sale.

Th e Weyburn-Estevan area received the most

bids with sales of $5 million followed by the Lloyd-

minster area at $1.1 million.

Th e Swift Current area generated $1 million,

while the Kindersley and Kerrobert area brought in

$623,103.

Th e April land sale boosted the total revenue

for the year to $19.7 million as oil and gas compa-

nies continue to tap into their existing lands at a

steady pace.

“Drilling activity is steady, and with major

investments by industry in secondary recovery

projects that have the potential to increase produc-

tion from the Bakken, the future looks bright for

Saskatchewan’s oilpatch,” added McMillan.

Th e highest price paid for a single parcel of

land in April was $3.1 million.

Federated Co-operatives Limited acquired this

807-hectare exploration licence near Corning.

Th e highest price on a per-hectare basis was

$25,525, paid by Scott Land & Lease Ltd. that bid

$826,252 for a 32-hectare lease parcel located west

of Shaunavon.

Th e next sale of Crown petroleum and natural

gas dispositions will be held on June 3 2013.

Weyburn-Estevan area (numbers rounded off )Th e top purchaser of acreage in this area was

Federated Co-operatives Limited which spent $3.8

million to acquire one lease parcel and one explora-

tion licence.

Th e top price for a single lease in this area was

$678,182 paid by Federated Co-operatives Ltd.

for a 259 hectare parcel situated three kilometres

east of the Wauchope Alida-Tilston Beds Pool, 13

kilometres west of Redvers.

Th e highest price paid for a single licence was

$3.1 million, paid by Federated Co-operatives Ltd.

for a 807 hectare block located partially within the

Viewfi eld Bakken Sand Oil Pool, three kilometres

southwest of Corning.

Th e highest dollar per hectare in this area

was received from MinRich Energy Ltd., which

paid $4,463 per hectare for a 16.19 hectare parcel

located within the Ingoldsby Frobisher-Alida Beds

Pool, 13 kilometres north of Carievale.

Lloydminster areaTh e top purchaser of acreage in this area was

Husky Oil Operations Limited that spent $308,480

to acquire three lease parcels.

Th e top price paid for a single lease in this area

was $183,561, by Husky Oil Operations Ltd. for a

80.94 hectare parcel situated within the Marsden

South Sparky Sand Oil Pool, 5 kilometres south-

west of Neilburg.

Th e highest dollar per hectare in this area was

received from Ranger Land Services Ltd., which

paid $8,132 for a 16.19 hectare parcel located

within the Mervin South Waseca Sand Oil Pool, 15

kilometres southeast of Turtleford.

Th e highest dollar per hectare in this area was

received from Plunkett Resources Ltd., which paid

$403 for a 64.75 hectare parcel located 20 kilome-

tres southwest of the Verendrye Viking Sand Oil

Pool, four kilometres southeast of Eatonia.

Swift Current areaTh e top purchaser of acreage in this area was

Scott Land & Lease Ltd., which spent $826,252 to

acquire one lease parcel. Th is 32.37 hectare parcel

is situated within the Clintonville Shaunavon Oil

Pool, seven kilometres west of the town of Shau-

navon.

Th is is the highest dollar per hectare in this area

at $25,525.

Kindersley-Kerrobert area Th e top purchaser of acreage in this area was

Standard Land Company Inc., that spent $161,331

to acquire 3 lease parcels.

Th e highest price paid for a single lease in this

area was $92,538 by Standard Land Company Inc.

for a 259 hectare parcel situated 3 kilometres west

of the Onward North Basal Mannville Sand Oil

Pool, 15 kilometres west of Kerrobert.

Land sale weak but set to rebound


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By Geoff LeeNorth Battleford –

You ain’t seen nothing

yet.

Th e title of that

’70s song by Bachman-

Turner Overdrive could

be a theme for the city

of North Battleford

as it celebrates growth

and a bright future

during its offi cial 100th

anniversary bash on

May 1.

Th e day will be

marked by a free public

romp in Central Park

in the downtown core,

complete with enter-

tainment and cake

followed by a formal

evening gala at the new

Dekker Centre for the

performing arts.

No doubt there will

be a round of applause

that night for the cen-

tre itself that is part of

the $60 million Credit

Union CUplex centen-

nial project that also

includes a standalone

aquatic centre, fi eld

house and curling rink.

“A $60 million

investment is defi nitely

something that has

doesn’t happen every

day in Saskatchewan,

especially for a commu-

nity of this size,” said

Denis Lavertu, director

of business develop-

ment for the City.

“Th ose facilities

are going to be around

for another 60 to 100

years.”

Th at project is in-

dicative of the growth

and investment taking

place in the area that

is putting everyone is a

party mood throughout

the 2013 centennial

celebrations.

“Th e committee

has done a great job in

providing some events

in the community,” said

Lavertu.

“We have busi-

nesses here, especially

in our downtown, that

have celebrated gen-

erations of family

business.

“I think it’s a good

sign that in our centen-

nial year we’re continu-

ing to grow and we are

a still a very vital and

vibrant community.

“All of the auto

dealerships over the

last couple of years

have invested in their

facilities. Th at goes to

show there is growth

in the region,” added

Lavertu.

Today, North Bat-

tleford is a city with an

increasing and diverse

population, renewing

infrastructure, massive

capital projects, rising

interest in business and

residential investment

and increasing eco-

nomic participation by

First Nations.

In April, city

council passed a bylaw

designating the historic

downtown core as a

business improvement

district to help mer-

chants attract business

and customers to the

revived shopping area.

Th e city is also

planning to form a new

regional Greater Battl-

efords Marketing Alli-

ance in 2013 to pro-

mote the city and the

region for new tourism

and business marketing

opportunities.

Th e availability

of labour in the area

prompted Grit Indus-

tries Inc. to move its

manufacturing base

from Lloydminster to

North Battleford in

2012.

“Th e labour force

in Lloydminster was

such that we were

competing constantly

with the oilpatch for

every tradesperson

and labourer,” said Jim

Spenrath, Grit’s chief

operating offi cer.

“In North Battle-

ford, what we’re fi nding

is the number of avail-

able people is signifi -

cantly better for us.

“We are being con-

tacted by a lot of peo-

ple that were originally

from North Battleford

or who have family in

North Battleford and

were working away.

Th ey were quite anx-

ious to return to stable

employment right in

North Battleford.

“We’ve had quite a

bit of success recruit-

ing those types of folks.

Th ese are people with

roots in North Battle-

ford and are very happy

to be there.”

Grit currently em-

ploys over 60 workers

in the manufacture of

natural gas line heaters

and secondary contain-

ment systems.

“Business has been

really strong. Our

backlog of orders will

keep us busy well into

the future,” said Spen-

rath.

“We anticipated a

high level of activity,

and we’re certainly see-

ing it here.”

Th e City of North

Battleford went out

of its way to woo Grit

to its location in the

Parsons Industrial Park,

off ering certain tax ex-

emptions to help off set

the capital cost of new

equipment and renova-

tions.

“Th at’s going to

help them make those

further investments in

that facility and contin-

ue to grow out there,”

said Lavertu.

“It is really a

phenomenal company –

just the innovation and

their forward thinking.

Th ey’re always look-

ing at what’s the next

innovation for their

company.”

Page C25

North Battleford to kick up its heels May 1North Battleford to kick up its heels May 1

Wayne King, president of Grit Industries Inc., added this Panasonic Mig robo c welder to his new manufacturing shop in North Ba leford. The City of North Ba leford provided Grit with tax exemp ons to o set the cost of reloca ng their manufacturing facili es to Parson’s In-dustrial Park from Lloydminster. Grit has found available labour in North Ba leford, along with a ordable housing for new employees. File photo


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Page C24

Other large indus-

trial companies such as

Mifab Manufacturing, G

& C Asphalt (LaFarge),

Kindersley Transport,

EnviroSafe Chemicals,

Anderson Pumphouse

and Unicon Pipeline

have set up shop in

North Battleford.

Th e city is also home

to Cargill Ltd. and other

major grain handling

companies that oper-

ate inland terminals to

support the strong grain

industry in the area.

“Defi nitely agri-

culture is still a huge

industry for us here and

the off sets from that as

well,” said Lavertu.

Th e Canadian Feed

Technology Research

Facility, owned by the

University of Saskatch-

ewan, was issued a $4.8

million building permit

in February to construct

an addition and do some

renovating.

Increased heavy oil

and gas activity in the

region is adding to the

industrial mix, creating

new investment op-

portunities to an already

diverse economy.

“Oil and gas is

defi nitely picking up and

getting closer. Th ere are

investments both north

and south of us,” said

Lavertu.

Earlier this year,

Husky Energy sanc-

tioned a 10,000 barrel

per steam assisted grav-

ity drainage project at

Rush Lake near Payn-

ton, which is about 70

kilometres west of the

Battlefords.

Bayshore Petroleum

Corp plans to construct

a $9.5 to $10 million

pilot plant near Meota,

35 kilometres northwest

of the city, to turn heavy

oil into diesel quality

light oil.

In response to those

projects, Grit is using

North Battleford as a

secondary location for

its Lloydminster-based

A-Fire division heavy oil

products.

“We do a lot of work

down in the Kindersley

area. To the north is the

Edam and Turtleford

area where there has

been a lot of activity,”

said Spenrath.

With these develop-

ments in mind, Lavertu

went out on a limb to

predict North Battleford

will double or triple its

current size by the time

the city turns 200.

“Our strategy is to

be the regional centre for

northwest Saskatchewan

– a centre of service,

health and agriculture

and oil and gas and

transportation,” he said.

His crystal ball

statement contained in

the 2013 city budget also

points to a rosy future

for the city.

“Our future looks

bright, with forecasts

for strong retail growth

and development of

our abundant resources

and agriculture in the

region,” he said.

“Th is plan sets a

path for North Bat-

tleford to adapt and

respond to the needs of a

growing, more complex

community and region

we serve.

“Th e city will deliver

on its plan to invest in

our commercial and

industrial neighborhoods

and build a thriving

future for business.

Th e next centen-

nial celebration will take

place during Canada

Day, which will double

as another call for home-

coming.

“It’s bringing back

people from across

Canada. We’ve had

people from B.C. say-

ing they are coming

home for July 1 cele-

brations,” said Lavertu.

“We’ve had some

other seniors that have

come home for the

seniors’ tea from out of

province.”

Th e all-year cen-

tennial party will come

to an end with a clos-

ing ceremony on Dec.

31.

North Ba leford is holding a centennial gala on May 1 at the new Dekker Centre for the performing arts. The centre is part of a $60 million Credit Union CUplex centennial project that includes separate aqua c centre, eld house and curling rink. File photo


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FULL TIME HEAVY DUTY MECHANIC for our Carlyle Shop. Experience on oil eld equipment an asset, but not necessary. Bonuses paid on performance.

SHOP FOREMANDuties include managing mechanicals, eet services & parts.

Wages negotiable on experience. Bene t package available.

For further info please contact Randy at either 453-2226 or [email protected]

EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIES

Applied Industrial Technologies LP. a group of industrial distribution companies located throughout Canada, and we are currently seeking qualified individuals to fill the position of:

Customer Service RepresentativeEstevan, Saskatchewan

Responsibilities include but may not be limited to:

• Providing service to branch customers and managing assigned product lines or customers. • Active involvement in company’s Quality Management process as evidenced by continuous improvement in processes directed toward reducing costs, increasing sales/gross profit and customer satisfaction. • Carries out policies and procedures as defined in the company policy manual. • Continuous development through reading, seminars and on the job training. • Provide a high level of customer service to branch customers including timely, accurate responses to inquiries. • Cross train to assist or fill in when fellow team-mates are absent or their workload volume is high • Work with distribution centre to expedite special requests as necessary • Engage in direct sales actives • Provide telephone support for outside sales force • Meet or exceed sales performance targets • Ensure accurate, timely order processing through the computerized order processing system • Maintain cooperative and productive inter-departmental relationships • Attend branch meetings as required • Take personal responsibility for and actively engage in product systems and skills training and development • Maintain highest regard for safety and housekeeping • Perform other similar or related duties as assigned by the branch manager or supervisor.

Preference will be given to candidates with the following qualifications and attributes:

• High School or equivalent • Related industry experience or 3-5 years industrial inside sales experience preferred • Bearing and power transmission experience is a definite asset • Proficient computer skills, experience with SAP is an asset • Sales and customer service experienced • Mechanically inclined • Ability to work independently • Analytical and problem solving capability • Enthusiastic and exhibits a positive attitude and desire to succeed

Applied Industrial Technologies offers competitive salary, comprehensive group benefit plan, company sponsored RRSP/DPSP, ongoing opportunity for training and development and promotion within the company. Send your resume to [email protected] or fax attn.. Chris Babyak 403-214-1423.

Calgary – Oilfi eld

safety and careers go

hand in hand and now

they will be thanks to

a decision by Enform

Canada to take the Pe-

troleum HR Council of

Canada (Council) under

its organizational wing.

Th e merger went

into eff ect on Apri1 1

and consolidates the

safety and training ser-

vices of Enform and the

human resources ser-

vices of the Council into

one integrated national

entity serving Canada’s

oil and gas industry.

“Th is is a positive

initiative for Canada’s

oil and gas industry,”

said Cheryl Knight,

executive director and

CEO of the Council in

a March 25 announce-

ment.

“It will re-organize

important industry

services within one or-

ganization, and provide

new opportunities to

meet industry needs”,

she said.

Th e move is de-

scribed by Enform as

an acquisition made

on March 31 with the

merger of the Council

taking eff ect the follow-

ing day.

“We are looking

forward to this new

relationship with our

Council colleagues,” said

Cameron MacGillivray,

president and CEO of

Enform.

“Th is move will be

good for both orga-

nizations and for our

industry.”

Th e Council has a

long-standing close re-

lationship with Enform,

which supports and pro-

motes the highest safety

standards in Canada’s

upstream oil and gas

industry through inno-

vative training, certi-

fi cations, services and

resources.

Both organizations

share many of the same

core relationships with

industry associations,

leaders and enterprises,

as well as with govern-

ment organizations.

Th e two organiza-

tions have worked side-

by-side for many years

out of the same offi ce

facilities.

“Th is move just

makes sense and the

time is right,” said

Knight.

Th e main programs

and services of the

Council will continue,

primarily focusing on

two key areas of priority.

“Th e most impor-

tant of these are our

Labour Market Infor-

mation and Careers in

Oil and Gas programs,”

said Knight.

“Industry has been

clear about the ongo-

ing importance of this

work.”

Th e consolidation

should also enable En-

form to better service its

members in the oil and

gas industry with safety

training and careers

information.

“Th e acquisition

gives us access to valu-

able information and

expertise to better align

our training and safety

services to industry

workforce issues,” said

MacGillvray.

With the acquisi-

tion some unfunded

work of the Council will

be dropped in response

to funding shifts and

operating as part of

Enform.

“We are becoming a

more-focused organiza-

tion,” said Knight who

noted all active pre-ac-

quisition projects would

be completed.

“Over the spring

and summer of this year,

we and our colleagues

at Enform will work

together with industry

and other stakeholders

to review our programs

and structures as one

integrated entity,” she

said.

“Our standard will

always be how to best

meet the needs of Cana-

da’s oil and gas industry.

“Over the years,

the Council has ac-

complished many great

things for Canada’s oil

and gas industry. We

look forward to con-

tinuing these contri-

butions from within

Enform,” added Knight.

Enform merges with industry HR body


CAREER Gu de

CONSTRUCTION LTD.EXCAVATING, SAND AND GRAVEL • REDI-MIX CONCRETE

Glen Peterson Construction Ltd.

314 - 6th Street, Estevan, SK S4A-2V7

Ph: 306•634•2741 Fax: 306•634•4643

E-mail: [email protected]

Wanted for outdoor work in the oilfield,

combination of walking, standing and bending.

Attention to detail, hand-eye coordination and

willingness to learn are definite assets.

H2S and First Aid/CPR required, employer

willing to train.

Apply in person to:

Quest Line Locators Ltd.104C Perkins Street or email

[email protected]

101 Supreme St. (Shand access road)

Class 1A & 3A PreferredAbove Industry Wages

Benefits PackagesOpportunity for Advancement

Email: [email protected]

Fax 306 634 1200 • Cell 306 421 3418

SERVICE RIG PERSONNEL


Applied Industrial Technologies LP. a group of industrial distribution companies located throughout Canada, and we are currently seeking qualified individuals to fill the position of:

Shipper ReceiverEstevan, Saskatchewan

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Receiving and shipping all branch product in an accurate and timely manner • Sort material, stock shelves, pick orders, package and label materials • Handle lost shipments as an enhancement to customer service • Organize and maintain all applicable records and files • Maintain up to date knowledge of the company’s service offerings • Maintain cooperative and productive inter-departmental relationships to deliver exceptional customer service • Take personal responsibility for and actively engage in product, systems and skill training and development

Preference will be given to candidates who possess the following qualifications:

• Customer service driven • Experience in shipping and receiving • Forklift operation experience • Proficient computer skills • Detail oriented • Organized • Basic mathematical aptitude • Self-motivated • Can work independently or in a team environment

Applied Industrial Technologies offers competitive salary, company sponsored RRSP/DPSP, career development opportunities and a full benefit package. Please submit resume in confidence via email to [email protected] or fax to 403-214-1423 attn. Chris Babyak.

Field Service TechnicianCanGas Solutions Inc. is an Alberta based oilfield service company and a wholly owned subsidiary of CanElson Drilling Inc. The two main services provided by CanGas are capturing and monetizing raw natural gas that is currently being flared or vented by the energy industry and transporting processed natural gas for use as a fuel to displace diesel or propane.You will be responsible for the support and maintenance of bi-fuel conversion kits on diesel engines used in field based equipment including drilling rigs and generators. CanGas is currently hiring for field based positions in both Alberta and southeastern Saskatchewan.

Duties and Responsibilities-Troubleshooting and maintenance of bi-fuel conversion kits on diesel engines.- Move and setup unloading equipment from well to well as the drilling rig moves.- Coordinate natural gas trailer deliveries to the drilling rigs and other locations contracted for gas supply. - Ensure that Company and government safety, policy and regulatory standards are met.

Qualifications- Minimum of 5 years strong technical expertise in the maintenance and operation of natural gas piping and distribution equipment.- Preference will be given to applications who also possess experience with repairing and maintaining diesel engines.- Hold valid oilfield tickets — H2S, First Aid, CPR certificates.- As a minimum, hold a valid Class 5 drivers licence with preference for applicants having a Class 1 licence.- Proficient in the use of computer based programs.- Ability to work in a team environment and possess excellent communication skills to deal with customers and field staff.

Other InformationSalary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Please forward your cover letter and resume, in confidence, to:

Human Resources DepartmentCanGas Solutions Inc.2010, 444 - 5th Ave. SWCalgary, Alberta T2P 2T8Email: [email protected]

Please visit our web site at www.cangassolutions.com for additional information about our company. We thank all applicants, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Peace ofmind knowingwork is steady

and secure

Worry aboutnot being ableto pay your billsA girlfriend/wife

who is happy andthinks you rock!

Brochure forreally cool stuffthat you can’tafford to buy

A thin walletand stretchedbank account

Envy for theother guy’s

happy girlfriend

Really coolstuff you canafford to buy

A fullwallet and

healthy bankaccount

A job at vs. the other guys

Where would yourather be working?

Eagle operates thenewest fleet of rigs, hassafe operations, and offerssteady work – that meansmore cash in your pocket,and a whole lot more!

Phone: (306) 634-8235, Fax: (306) 634-8238, Email: [email protected]

www.eaglerigjobs.com

ELECTRICIANS &INSTRUMENTTECHNICIANS

Carlyle and Estevan, SKSouth East Electric LTD. is looking for trade certified Electricians and Instrument

Technicians to provide a complete range of electrical services to our oilfield,

commercial and agricultural cutomers. Strong troubleshooting skills, excellent

communication, customer service skills and the ability to work independently

and well under pressure are essential.

We offer competitive wages and benefits. Valid drivers license is required.

Interested candidates should submit their resume via email to the attention of

[email protected]


Your best choice Your best choice for accommodations

in Carlyle, Sk.in Carlyle, Sk.

• Full kitchen and upscale extended stay• Complimentary continental hot breakfast

• Free high speed internet• Meeting room

Reservations: 306-453-2686

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

RICK CORMIERManager

Box 609 Bus: (306) 453-6111Carlyle, SK Cell: (306) 577-8833S0C 0R0 Fax: (306) 453-6102www.truetorq.ca [email protected]

JUSTIN WAPPEL - Division Manager

401 Hwy. #4 S. Biggar, SaskatchewanPO Box 879 S0K 0M0Ph (306) 948-5262 Fax (306) 948-5263Cell (306) 441-4402 Toll Free 1-800-746-6646Email: [email protected]

Dwight G. Blomander, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., CHS• Life Insurance• Disability Insurance• Critical Illness Insurance• Employee Bene t Plans

Tel: (306) 359-2015 • Fax: (306) 359-3034E-mail: [email protected]

Toll Free: 1-855-359-2015 • Cellular: (306) 421-1935Life Licence sponsored by The

Great-West LifeASSURANCE COMPANY

105, 335 Hoffer Drive, Regina, SK. S4N 6E2LECLAIRTRANSPORT

Lyle LeclairCell: 306-421-7060

General Oilfi eld Hauling

Cordell JanssenCordell JanssenDistrict ManagerDistrict Manager

DownholeDownhole

93 Panteluk Street, Kensington Avenue N93 Panteluk Street, Kensington Avenue NEstevan, SaskatchewanEstevan, Saskatchewan

PHONE:PHONE: 306-634-8828 • 306-634-8828 • FAX:FAX: 306-634-7747 [email protected] • www.nov.com

Lloyd Lavigne • Kirk ClarksonOwners/Managers

6506 - 50th AvenueLloydminster, AB

Phone: (780) 875-6880

5315 - 37th StreetProvost, AB T0B 3S0

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

24 Hour ServiceSpecializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

RESOURCE Gu de

pipeline news may 2013

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