Black Gold, March, 2019

Southeast Saskatchewan Oil Industry Update

March 2019

904 East Avenue • Weyburn, SK Phone: (306) 842-7487 Fax: (306) 842-0282 E-mail: production@weyburnreview.com Internet: www.weyburnreview.com Review Photo — Greg Nikkel

Inside this edition:

• OPINION: A perfect storm hits Ottawa • Scheer, premiers champion oil industry • Local trucks join convoy to Ottawa Photo — Josh Mainil

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Page 2 - Black Gold, March 2019

Chamber hears from PTRC head about oil research Dan MacLean, CEO and president of the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, spoke to the breakfast meeting for the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday about the centre’s role in research and promoting Saskatchewan’s Review Photo 8978 — Greg Nikkel oil and gas industry.

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PTRC carries on oil-gas research to help industry

By Greg Nikkel The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) has been doing research into oil and gas projects for 20 years, and plans to continue to provide research as the industry evolves in coming years, members of the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce heard at a business breakfast meeting on Feb. 27 at the Legion Hall.

CEO Dan MacLean gave the presentation, noting that the PTRC largely began as research into the CO2 miscible flood project that PanCanadian and Shell established in the Weyburn and Midale fields respectively, and they followed the evolution as PanCanadian became EnCana and Cenovus before they sold the Weyburn operations to the current owner, Whitecap Resources. The study on the injection of carbon dioxide into the Weyburn and Midale fields went for 15 years, from 2000 to 2016, at a cost of $80 million as they determined if the injected CO2 stayed in the ground or if it escaped back up to the surface.

In this time period, it’s estimated that prior to CO2 injection, there was some 370 million barrels extracted from the Weyburn field and 154 million barrels from the Midale field, and with the CO2, the Weyburn field produced another 155 million barrels, and Midale saw 67 million barrels produced. The carbon dioxide increased recovery by 26 to 38 per cent in the Weyburn field, and 30 to 43 per cent in the Midale field.

The research carried out led to over 300 peer-reviewed articles by researchers from around the world, and these results continue to inform other CO2 storage projects worldwide, with 21 research partners and six government funds involved.

With the former Cenovus facilities now owned by Whitecap Resources, the PTRC are back in discussions with them about reengaging with research into the continued use of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, said MacLean. These experiences and the research data led to the establishment of Aquistore CO2 monitoring and storage research site that includes injection and observation wells drilled to a depth of 3,400 metres, rigged with extensive monitoring equipment, such as a 650-geophone permanent seismic array.

MacLean said there is worldwide interest in Aquistore, as they share knowledge with interests in other countries, including three in the U.S., two in the United Kingdom, four in

Australia and two in South Africa.

“We were in Melbourne, and had a whole day to present what we’re doing with Aquistore,” he added. “A lot of people are talking about CO2 capture and storage.”

In addition there are 26 research partners in nine countries, and $20 million of in-kind contributions over the past six years from companies, and over 100 papers published on the project so far.

In more recent years, the PTRC has expanded their oil industry research to heavy oil production, with their Heavy Oil Research Network (HORNET), and the Joint Implementation of Vapour Extraction or JIVE, a four-year $40 million demonstration project near Lloydminster involving Husky, CNRL and Nexen.

With the development of the Bakken zone, the PTRC also has a tight oil program that studies CO2 enhanced oil recovery trials in the Bakken, to examine how hydraulicallyfractured wells respond to CO2 use. Looking at the Saskatchewan oil industry, MacLean noted that in 2010, Saskatchewan as a whole produced 400,000 barrels a day of crude petroleum, and currently production is around 480,000 barrels a day, which is about 12 per cent of Canada’s total oil production.

The number one oil producer is Crescent Point Energy, followed by Husky Oil and Whitecap Resources.

MacLean noted that 20 companies produce 90 per cent of the oil in Saskatchewan, and the list of companies is changing with buy-outs and amalgamations. Looking at a list of the top oil producers in all of Canada, 10 of the top 25 companies operate in Saskatchewan, and on the list of high-netback companies, 11 of the top 25 are operating in Saskatchewan.

“What a great story, this is a great place to invest,” said MacLean, adding there are a number of challenges facing the industry heading into 2019, including piling on of regulations, the pending carbon tax from Ottawa, the lack of any ability to get a pipeline built in Canada, and the movement of capital out of Canada in the oil industry.

“The world needs Canadian oil,” said MacLean. “We are the most heavily regulated industry in Canada, if not the world. Our oil and gas regulations are the benchmark, we are the standard around the world. We are the most environmentally-friendly produced oil in the world.”

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Black Gold, March 2019 - Page 3

Hands up in solidarity at pro-resource rally

Photo — Kara Kinna, Moosomin World-Spectator

The guest speakers at the pro-resource rally at Moosomin stood and raised their hands in solidarity, after addressing the need for support for the oil and gas industry in Western Canada, particularly the need for more pipelines to be built, and for the federal carbon tax to be cancelled. From left are Senator Denise Batters, Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. There were many other MPs and MLAs in attendance, along with a crowd of close to 1,000 people for the rally held on Feb. 16.

Scheer, premiers champion Canada’s energy industry

By Kara Kinna Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs sent a strong message of solidarity about supporting Canada’s energy industry at a pro-resource rally held in Moosomin on Feb. 16. The three leaders were invited to the rally, along with Canadian Senator Denise Batters and other politicians, industry leaders, and association leaders, to show their support for the Canadian energy industry and Canadian resource sector. Close to 1,000 people attended the rally, held at the new IJack assembly plant just north of Moosomin.

All three leaders stressed how important it is to unite as a country, to support, rather than hinder, the Canadian energy industry, and to start pushing back against policies put in place by the Trudeau government that have harmed the Canadian energy industry.

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said he was proud of Canada’s energy industry, and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policies were set up to deliberately hurt it.

“Canadians are paying for so many of his mistakes on so many files, but there’s one area where he’s doing significant damage to our country and economy, and he’s not doing that by mistake. His attack on Canada’s energy sector is by design. It’s on purpose,” said Scheer. “This is the one area where he’s doing exactly what he said he would do. He has talked down Canada’s energy sector long before he became prime minister. And my message to you here today is that Canadians deserve a prime minister that is proud of the work that you do, that will champion Canada’s energy sector.”

He said he was aware of how much people in the industry are hurting right now.

“This industry is hurting—I know that, we hear it all the time, we see it when we’re at home in our communities,” he said.

“Your federal representatives know that there is a great deal of difficulty and anxiety in this province and Alberta and in the sector across the country. We know that, we get that. We’re fighting to undo the damage that’s been done to you.”

“In Saskatchewan we often face a lot of hurdles. You have to be made of special stuff to make it here in this part of Canada.

Mother Nature doesn’t just give it to you. You have to work a little harder, you have to get that crop off a little quicker before the frost hits. When we have natural resources sometimes we have to innovate to get them out of the ground. We have to find new solutions to tackle the hurdles that have been placed in our way.

“But what really hurts, what really stings, is when those hurdles aren’t coming from external forces, they’re not coming from market developments in other countries, they’re not coming from natural causes, they’re coming from our own government. When it’s our own government that’s making it harder to make a living, that’s what really hurts.

“People in this province, in this sector across the country, we’re not interested in Justin Trudeau’s offers of bailouts, of extra funds to mitigate the damage from his own policies. We don’t want that, we don’t want more government assistance, we want

Justin Trudeau to get out of the way so that we can keep doing what we’ve been doing for generations in this country.

“A lot of people ask me, under a Conservative government, how are you going to get pipelines built? And the first thing I’d say to that question is government shouldn’t have to build pipelines in this country. The private sector, the free market has always built them, we don’t need the government to build them.

“We need government to set the conditions so that energy proponents can be doing what they’ve been doing for decades, and that is building themselves. We need to make sure that the goal posts stay in one spot, they don’t just keep moving side to side and back and forth. We need Justin Trudeau to stop playing the role of Lucy and pulling the football away from the energy sector every time it goes to kick the ball.

“When he buys a pipeline—he bought the Trans Mountain pipeline—and we found out this week he overpaid for it. He paid almost a billion dollars more than it was worth. Can you imagine having a prime minister negotiate with a company that had already signaled its pull out of Canada? It was desperate to dump an asset and put their resources into the U.S. And Justin Trudeau paid more than the sticker price for a pipeline that you can’t even build. I have no doubt that in the days to come we’re going to find out that not only did he pay more than the pipeline is worth, but he probably bought the extended warranty as well.

“But it’s not funny when you look at the damage his policies are having on the workers, the people in this room, the people who are looking for work, the people who are worried about how they are going to keep their house, the small business owner that has for generations supplied parts or services to this industry that feeds so many families. There’s a lot of anxiety when they know that in the coming months they may have to let some of their people go.

There is a lot of anxiety when they know it’s going to be a struggle to make payroll. When you see the insult that’s added to injury where many of those companies are selling off rigs and equipment to American companies, or taking that Canadian equipment, taking the Canadian tax dollars that Justin Trudeau paid on your behalf and investing in the energy sector in the United States. That’s frustrating. That angers me. I know it angers you.”

“So we’re going to get these pipelines built so that Canada can become self sufficient when it comes to energy so we don’t have to import oil and gas from anywhere in the world. We can develop it right here in this country and keep those consumer dollars right here at home. We’re going to do that by undoing the damage that Justin Trudeau has done to our approvals process.”

Scheer said, if elected, they would repeal Bill C-69, as well as the carbon tax. “Job number one of a Conservative government after the election this government will be to repeal the carbon tax,” he said. “Don’t let anyone call it a price. We know that a price is something the market sets that you choose as a consumer whether or not you want to pay, that is set by things like supply and demand and cost of production. When the government assigns the cost, forces you to pay it and collects the revenue, that is tax, it is a tax every day of the week, it doesn’t matter what they started calling it.

“It does nothing to reduce emissions. We know that the Liberals are planning to raise it even higher. Internal documents from the government’s own officials indicate that they are contemplating a $300 a tonne carbon tax, driving up the cost of literally everything, making home heating more expensive, gasoline, groceries. We are not going to let them do that, we’re going to repeal the carbon tax as job one.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said it was time to “push back” against the federal government and stand up for Canada’s resource sector. “It’s time for all of us to stand up and defend our world-class, our wealth-generating, our sustainable energy sector here in Canada,” he said.

“This is not a regional issue, this is not a Saskatchewan issue, this is not an Alberta issue. If it was, we wouldn’t have the leader of the federal opposition, Mr. Scheer, here today. If it was a regional issue, we wouldn’t have the premier of New Brunswick in this building, in this province, in this community today. This morning we are sending a message on behalf of all Canadians, from Moosomin to Barrie, Ontario to St. John, New Brunswick, and this message is about our Canadian future. All of Canada benefits from the sustainable, responsible production of our natural resources. All of Canada benefits from what you do in your job each and every day. Every single Canadian has a stake in this.”

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» Editorial

Page 4 - Black Gold, March 2019

Is there still room for small companies?

By Brad Hayes, Daily Oil Bulletin

I

n pondering the future of the oil and gas industry, I wonder whether it will include junior (small) companies, which have been the crucibles of many new ideas, concepts and plays over the years.

Small companies — the very first drillers — gave birth to the industry in the 1850’s. A few years later, John D. Rockefeller put big money on the table to establish Standard Oil, which, as Daniel Yergin tells us in The Prize, “developed into one of the world’s first and biggest multinational corporations”. While many stories of the evolution of the industry through the 20th century revolve around the big multinationals, junior start-ups continued to play important roles, especially in North America.

In Alberta, Imperial Oil is often credited with kick-starting the modern oil era with the drilling of Leduc #1 after spending millions on a long string of dry holes. But smaller companies had already been drilling for decades, finding small fields and larger ones (like Turner Valley) that encouraged further exploration.

As the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin matured in the late 80’s and into the 90’s, many multinationals started to look elsewhere for bigger prizes, and sold off their declining assets. A new generation of juniors jumped on this opportunity, adding substantial value to supposedly exhausted fields by infilling and drilling the margins much more cheaply than the majors could. They also discovered new pools on old properties with intensive, multidisciplinary exploration work. Investors and entrepreneurs reaped huge rewards from modest initial investments (and some lost a bunch of money too). During the WCSB exploration heyday, several “management teams” — usually including a geologist, engineer and a landperson — had repeated success in raising money, making and developing a discovery, then selling it off or spinning out an “exploreco” to start again.

More recently, tough economic times have stressed the oil industry profoundly. Moreover, the fundamental structural shift to unconventional reservoirs has made starting a new company hugely daunting. Big land positions are the key to support factory-style drilling for unconventionals.

Once industry understood the scope of unconventionals, lands in the big unconventional plays (Montney, Duvernay, and Horn River) were posted as massive township-sized blocks that sold for tens of millions of dollars. A few small companies found their legs in the face of this trend — Vesta in the Duvernay East Shale Basin and Leucrotta on the flank of the Montney fairway come to mind. But even for them, making new discoveries in today’s oilpatch has not translated into immediate business success, at least not like “the good old days.”

Surely there must still be niches for bright, nimble small explorers? There are certainly ideas —exploration for lithium and helium, or development of geothermal and water disposal capacity. But even for projects with great economic potential, it’s hard to find investors in today’s market. Investment for resource start-ups is out of favour, whether petroleum- or mining-related. It’s an uphill battle to attract money away from the current trends like cannabis, AI, and biotech.

There is reason to believe that junior oils are a casualty, at least in Canada, of the misplaced societal outrage against our resource industries.

Can Canadians take their abilities (and money) international? There are certainly great prospects in underexplored basins of the world, like there were in Western Canada in the 1970s. But few basins offer up their opportunities readily. Some countries restrict oil and gas activity to a few organizations with substantial state ownership, and /or carry substantial political risk in the form of inadequate business and regulatory structures. Where small, less-attractive acreage blocks are made available specifically to entice small companies, as happened in India in 2017, some of the new players had no industry experience, and so no idea what to do when they won parcels.

And it all has gone wrong for Canadian-based junior CamCan Energy — they hold a huge exploration permit in Laos, with access to data and the co-operation of government — but cannot find an investor willing to undertake the “greenfield” exploration required. Maybe because they were trying to get people excited about oil and gas just as prices were plummeting in 2014/2015?

A new company with great ideas, great skills, and the right backers can still succeed — but the challenges are huge and the odds are long.

Editorial:

A perfect storm envelopes the Liberals

F

oes of the prime minister are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of this term being his last, as the scandal enveloping the Trudeau government continues to develop, and on the very day that Parliament resumed sitting, a huge convoy of trucks and protesters formed up in front of the Parliament Buildings..

Weyburn had two representatives in the convoy of trucks, as Jerry Mainil Ltd. and farmer Terry Benning each had a truck drive across Canada to take part in the protest rally on Feb. 19 and 20 to press their requests for help for the oil and gas industry in Western Canada, particularly for pipelines to be built.

The same weekend was the pro-resource rally in Moosomin, which had the leader of the Opposition, Andrew Scheer, Premier Scott Moe and the premier of New Brunswick, among others, on hand to protest the treatment of the oil industry.

These protests are all mounting while Trudeau is trying to deal with the storm of controversy around the SNC-Lavalin affair, which picked up steam first when the former justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, resigned, and then over the weekend, Trudeau’s top-level advisor, principal secretary Gerald Butts, resigned, both not saying publicly yet why they’ve stepped down.

Some pundits feel that the political world is waiting to hear some statement from WilsonRaybould, and with Butts stepping down from his position in the PMO, he would then be free to respond to whatever she says.

While the rally is not really connected to the SNC-Lavalin controversy, it seems to be a convergence of problems for the Trudeau administration, and they aren’t really dealing with either one very well.

What all of this shows is there are a great many angry, frustrated people across Canada.

If the ruling Liberals don’t do anything, either to address the needs and concerns of the oil industry, or to address the very real concerns being raised about the SNC-Lavalin issue, they are going to be paying a very heavy price come election time this fall.

The concerns of the oil industry have been voiced loudly for a long time now, and rallies and protests are only going to continue until there are some answers, or until there’s a different government in place. This industry is a major contributor to Canada’s economy, and it’s not just hurting people in western Canada, but the entire country. The voices that were ringing out here, and in front of Parliament, need to be listened to. — Greg Nikkel

Volume 2

Issue 2

Andrea Corrigan, Publisher/ Advertising Sales Manager Black Gold is published by the Weyburn Review and issued at the office of publication, 904 East Avenue, Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

Mailing address: Box 400, Weyburn, SK S4H 2K4.

The Weyburn Review is owned and operated

by Prairie Newspaper Group LP, a subsidiary of Glacier Ventures International Corp.

The Weyburn Review is a member of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association, the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association and Canadian Media Circulation Audit.

Greg Nikkel, Editor NEWS DEPARTMENT Phone 306-842-6955 Email: editor@weyburnreview.com ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Phone 306-842-7487 Email: production@weyburnreview.com

» Global Industry News

Black Gold, March 2019 - Page 5

» Industry News Briefs Ottawa making good progress on TransMountain The federal government should be in a strong position to wrap up consultations with Indigenous groups along the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion route by late May, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi suggested Wednesday.

“With the work we have done so far and the work we are continuing to do, I feel that we are in a good position, a strong position, to conclude consultation within the 90 days from the issuance of the NEB report [Feb. 22, 2019],” he said in a conference call with reporters.

The cabinet then will make its decision on the project once it is satisfied that it has adequately met its obligation to consult with Indigenous groups as directed by the Federal Court of Appeal, which found that the previous consultation on the project was inadequate. The government, said Sohi, has undertaken to move forward on the expansion in the right way with meaningful consultation and accommodation related to the concerns of the communities. He said the government has met with more than 100 Indigenous communities along the route from Ed-

monton to Burnaby and that consultation is proceeding as planned. Under the current engagement process, there are eight teams consisting of nearly 60 individuals who have the mandate to conduct two-way dialogue and actually engage in accommodation, unlike in the case of the previous consultation. “They [consultants] are properly trained and have external expertise as well on the team.”.

Rig activity under 30% in Western Canada The active rate in Western Canada fell below 30 per cent this week, driven by a plunge in the number of active rigs in Alberta.

The average active rate in Western Canada this week is at 29 per cent — 164 rigs are active, with 401 down. Last week, an average 199 rigs were active, 367 down, for an active rate of 35 per cent.

Rig activity in Alberta plunged to 110 active rigs this week — a low for 2019 so far — from 137 the previous week. B.C. is down one to 16, Saskatchewan is down to 35 from 43 while Manitoba climbed by one to three active rigs. PSAC zone AB2 is the most active region by far this week, with 54 active rigs

Slump creates uncertainy for oilfield service companies Oilfield service and supply companies are feeling the brunt of regulatory uncertainty, stalled projects, oil curtailments and widening crude oil price differentials.

In the final quarter of 2018, oilfield service and supply companies were forced to make significant job cuts, park equipment, and redeploy assets to other markets, in one of the most challenging years since 2016.

With drilling down about 30 per cent in Canada this winter compared to last year — and not expected to strengthen until the second half of the year — some companies are playing a cautious wait and see game while others are taking advantage of the economic headwinds.

Precision Drilling Corporation and Ensign Energy Services Inc., two of Canada’s largest oilfield services companies, both took hits in Canada in 2018 but are capitalizing on the demand in other markets — mainly the United States. Precision Drilling is enjoying one of its highest market shares since entering the United States in 2009. The company currently has 81 rigs drilling in the U.S., up 16 from last winter.

Canadian crude production outlook has ‘deteriorated’ The outlook for Canadian oil production has “significantly deteriorated” and the longer-term outlook looks “more precarious,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its latest crude oil forecast report released on March 11.

In last year’s report, the IEA warned that rapid growth in Alberta’s oilsands production would exceed available pipeline capacity and increase the need to move oil by rail.

With rail capacity unable to meet demand, the discount of Canadian heavy crudes to U.S. grades widened to as much as US$50/bbl in October 2018.

“This led the Government of Alberta to order production cuts, which will be evaluated over the course of 2019. In the meantime, the government and private companies are lining up additional rail capacity,” the IEA said in their report, Oil 2019, which is an analysis and forecast to 2024.

“The longer-term outlook looks more precarious. During 2018 and 2019, three planned pipeline projects needed to accommodate further output gains faced renewed headwinds.”

First, the IEA noted, Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 replacement

project, which was scheduled to go online in the second half of 2019 and provide short-term relief to producers, was delayed by one year until the second half of 2020 due to permitting delays in the state of Minnesota.

Second, the Trans Mountain expansion project, which will raise the capacity of an existing line running from Alberta to British Columbia from 300,00 bbls/d to 890,000 bbls/d, was stalled, even after the federal government bought the line from Kinder Morgan Inc. to ensure its completion.

Third, in early November, a U.S. judge halted the construction of the 830,000 bbl/d Keystone XL to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“At least two of these three projects are needed to accommodate higher production volumes. If approved, the new capacity will reduce the need for expensive rail shipments, typically costing around US$15-20/bbl for Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast deliveries,” the IEA said in its report.

“With Canadian oil prices under pressure and so much uncertainty regarding new takeaway capacity, companies

have been reluctant to launch new projects.”

The exception is the Aspen oilsands project sanctioned last November. Imperial Oil Limited will invest C$2.6 billion to produce 75,000 bbl/d of bitumen starting in 2022.

Suncor Energy Inc.’s Fort Hills project was the last major oilsands project to be approved back in 2013.

All told, the IEA said its Canadian output forecast has been downgraded from previous estimates.

“Over our forecast period to 2024, the pace of production expansion more than halves compared with the six-year period to 2018.

“By 2024, total Canadian oil supply is expected to reach 5.5 million bbls/d, only 300,000 bbls/d higher than the 2018 average,” the agency said.

Growth will primarily come from projects sanctioned years ago, including Cenovus Energy Inc.’s 50,000 bbl/d Phase G Christina Lake expansion, Suncor’s Meadow Creek and Canadian Natural Resource Limited’s Kirby North projects.

Page 6 - Black Gold, March 2019

Weyburn OTS donates to junior curling

Review Photo — April Zielke

The Weyburn OTS Oilmen’s Bonspiel donated $4,410 to Junior Curling. Junior curling coordinator Danette Tracey, and Weyburn junior curlers Emma Wiens, Abbey Johnson, Gregg Wiens, Keagan Woodard, Hunter Labbie and Landon Field accepted the donation.

Gov’t sets methane regulations The Government of Saskatchewan has released regulations with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from venting and flaring in the province’s upstream oil and gas sector by 4.5 million tonnes per year by 2025.

The regulations — part of the province’s Methane Action Plan (MAP) — signal a comprehensive, results-based approach that will require industry to annually reduce GHG emissions to meet the 2025 objective. Included in the regulatory measures are annual penalties for non-compliance. In April 2018, the federal government announced blanket methane regulations for the oil and gas sector, which are scheduled to come into force in 2020.

The regulatory program was established fol-

lowing extensive consultation with industry and other stakeholders to ensure the characteristics of Saskatchewan’s upstream industry were fully addressed. Key elements of the action plan include: • reaffirming provincial regulatory jurisdiction over GHG emissions in the energy and resources sector; • new, made-in-Saskatchewan, results-based regulations, developed in consultation with industry, with the goal of reducing GHG emissions by 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) annually by 2025; and • the introduction of specific programs and policies that support emissions management innovations and technologies in the sector, including the expanded Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive and the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive.

OTS donates to Special O curling

Review Photo — April Zielke

Weyburn OTS donated $850 to Special Olympic Curling in a presentation at the Oilmen’s Bonspiel, held at the Weyburn Curling Rink. Accepting the cheque donation was Junior curling coordinator Danette Tracey, Special Olympic silver medalist curler Dennis Whitrow, Special Olympics coach Shontelle Bouvier and Special Olympic League curler Stephanie Guest.

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Black Gold, March 2019 - Page 7

Local trucks join convoy across Canada, take part in Ottawa rally for oil-gas industry

By Greg Nikkel Representatives from Weyburn were ecstatic to see the level of support shown them on the way to Ottawa, and in the nation’s capital itself as they took part in the rally held on Feb. 19 and 20 on Parliament Hill.

Speaking by cell from Ottawa, Dale Mainil said there were many good speeches made to the rally

by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and a number of MPs, and by others who attended the rally in support of the oil industry and of agriculture.

He noted there were no speeches on Wednesday, but their trucks were lined up in front of the Parliament Buildings again with horns blasting and signs waving, letting the MPs inside know that they are there pressing their need for more pipelines and for support of the oil industry in Western Canada.

“It was a really positive day. It was well worth the effort,” said Mainil, who had a truck from his company, Jerry Mainil Ltd., on hand in Ottawa along with local producer Terry Benning’s truck.

Others made the journey from Weyburn, including Brett Bedore and his daughter, who drove out in his half-ton truck to take in the rally, and Dale’s business partner, Calvin Tracey, who will be helping to drive their truck back from Ontario with Kent LaCoste.

Dale’s son Josh helped to drive the truck out to Ontario, and Josh was amazed at the level of support they saw in every small town along the way, which ended up slowing down the progress of the convoy as they drove east.

The truck convoy first left from Red Deer, Alta., on Thursday morning, and the two Weyburn trucks joined the convoy at Virden, Man. The convoy made its way to Kenora, Ont., on Friday, then to Thunder Bay on Saturday and Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday, before completing the long trek on Monday to Arnprior, about a twohour drive from Ottawa.

The plan had originally been to make Sault Ste. Marie by Saturday, but as Josh noted, they had a big group and it was slowmoving. He text-messaged on Sunday afternoon, “An unreal amount of support the whole way. Supporters are coming out at every town with signs and flags. Only one group of Antifa outside of Winnipeg, about eight of them wearing ski masks, yelling and shaking their fists at us. Unreal support though, definitely already made the trip worth our while.”

“It wasn’t the weather that slowed them down,

Convoy of trucks on Ottawa streets

Photo 2056 — Josh Mainil

The Jerry Mainil Ltd. truck from Weyburn was part of the convoy of trucks to parade through Ottawa, parking in front of the Parliament Buildings on Feb. 19 and 20 as part of a protest aimed at the federal government’s lack of action to help the oil and gas industry. Weyburn farmer Terry Benning also had a truck in the convoy, and Brett Bedore and his daughter also made the trip to take part in the rally. but the support all along the way. They had barbecues and food all ready for the guys. The support and the good-will really was emotional. Josh was telling us about this lady and her kids with tears in their eyes,” said Dale. “It was well worth the trip.”

He added this rally and convoy will not be the end of it, as he promised that the “United We Roll!” message and efforts will continue in the weeks and months to come, including with the Oil Show coming up in Weyburn in June.

He expressed disappointment that the national media seemed to miss the whole reason for their rally as they paid a lot of attention to the very small group of Antifa protesters, who accused the rally participants as being against immigrants. As Mainil pointed out, this had nothing whatsoever to do with the rally, as they were there to support the oil and ag industries, and nothing was said about immigrants at all.

Mainil estimated there were between 500 and 800 people at the rally, with some people coming and going as they attended to

show support, and pointed out this was a huge commitment for them, especially to take a working truck all that distance and then back home again.

LaCoste pointed out the point of the convoy and rally was also to raise awareness with the rest of Canada of the struggles of the oil industry here in the West. “They’re going to hear our horns and voices,” he said, adding they have good support from western Canadian MPs, “but the eastern MPs have to realize we’re hurting out here.”

“The carbon tax is going to take a bite of everything in Western Canada,” added Benning, pointing out that estimates of how hard the carbon tax will hit farmers put the cost at around $8 an acre.

“There are too many people out of work. They do matter out here. These young guys just want to go to work,” said Benning.

LaCoste said that “nobody in the industry is looking for a handout.

We’d all prefer to out working. Same as in agriculture. When you’re being hurt by the federal government, it’s a pretty bad situation.”

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Sharing The Energy

Page 8 - Black Gold, March 2019

SE area raises $2.4M in oil-gas lease sale Saskatchewan’s February public offering of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights held on Feb. 5 raised a total of $10.2 million for the province, with $2.4 million raised in the Weyburn-Estevan area.

This was the sixth and final offering of the 2018-19 fiscal year, bringing the cumulative total to $57.5 million. The 2018-19 budget forecast in the spring projected $63.9 million in bonus bids for the fiscal year.

Saskatchewan’s final 2018-19 average price per hectare was $596 (up from $316 per hectare in 2017-18), compared to an average of $282 per hectare for similar offerings in Alberta, illustrating the premium being placed by the market on the rights to develop Saskatchewan’s oil and gas resources.

“Saskatchewan’s positive investment climate is based on our accessible resources as well as the priority we place on our stakeholders,” Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said. “We will continue to work closely with industry for ways to provide as much certainty as we can for investment.”

Two exploration licences in the Estevan area were purchased for a total of $906,166.54. One licence, located northeast of Estevan, was purchased by BASM Land & Resources Ltd. for $845,777.45. This company was the top bidder in the southeast.

The other exploration licence, north of Gainsborough, was purchased by Burgess Creek Exploration Inc. for $60,389.09.

In the Weyburn-Estevan area, there were also 26 leases posted, and 22 of them were sold covering 3,025.8 hectares, worth a total of $1,498,316. With the two exploration licences, the southeast brought in a total of $2,404,483.

The top price paid for a single lease in the area was $245,603, paid by Synergy for a 323.75-ha parcel in the Viewfield Bakken, adjacent to the Huntoon FrobisherMidale Oil Pools, located 18 km northeast of Midale.

Two parcels consisting of 64.75 hectares each generated the top dollars per hectare in this public offering; located northeast of Stoughton, they were purchased by Synergy Land Services Ltd. for $3,204.32 per hectare. The parcels are prospective for oil in the Bakken Formation.

The scheduled date for the first offering of the 2019-20 fiscal year will be April 9, 2019.

Mainil’s truck ready for the convoy

Review Photo 6967 — Greg Nikkel

Josh Mainil and Kent LaCoste, at left, gathered with Dale Mainil, Terry Benning, Darcy McCormick and Calvin Tracey to show off the big signs affixed to the Jerry Mainil Ltd. truck. Josh and Kent drove the truck to Ontario to take part in the “United Let’s Roll!” convoy and rally in Ottawa held on Feb. 19 and 20 on Parliament Hill. Benning also had his truck go with the Mainil truck, driven by Doug Brownridge of Arcola.

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Sask Chamber launches the ‘Energy Series’ The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce is launching a series of presentations in support of the oil and gas industry, the Energy Series.

The presentations will explore energy innovation and promote energy efficiency, with various events that will teach about a variety of energy sources in the province.

The inaugural presentation, the “Fuel For Thought” luncheon, will be held on Wednesday, April 3 at Hotel Saskatchewan.

The keynote speaker is Chris Slubicki, president and CEO of Modern Resources Inc. at 11:30 a.m., and following a lunch, there will be a panel discussion with Slubicki and Kirsten Marcia, president and CEO of DEEP from Saskatoon. Tickets for this presentation are $75 each.

Two different energy tours are slated as part of the series, one in the Weyburn-Estevan area on Wednesday, May 15, and the other in the Moosomin area on Tuesday, May 28. The WeyburnEstevan tour starts out from Regina, and will include tours of the Estevan mine site, the Shand power stations and greenhouse, a tour of Wil-Tech Industries, and an oil-gas business in Weyburn.

The schedule runs the entire day, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will cost participants $125 each.

The day in Moosomin will include a tour of the Plains Midstream Oil Loadout facility, the TransCanada compressor station, the IJACK assembly plant, the Red Lily Wind Farm, the Northland Power facility, and a coffee break in Esterhazy. The cost is $125 per person.

For both tours, contact Michele at mgeres@saskchamber.com.

The third aspect of the series is “Energy On Tap”, which are four informal networking and information sessions that will focus on the broad-based energy sector in Saskatchewan, and will feature businesses in the private sector who are part of the province’s energy sector. There will be a 45-minute fireside conversation followed by a question-and-answer session on each date.

The sessions will be held at Crave Kitchen and Wine Bar, with the first session on Monday, April 1. This will feature innovation with Dean Clark of Greenwave Innovations and Chris Burrell of Harvard Developments.

A session on oil and gas with Craig Lothian of Lex Capital Management Inc. will be featured on Thursday, April 25. A session on indigenous-led energy production with Guy Lonechild of the First Nations Power Authority and Jessica Nixon of the Cowessess First Nation will be featured on Thursday, May 23.

The final one will be on renewable energy with Colleen Giroux-Schmidt of Innergex on Thursday, June 13. All sessions will run from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 online or $20 at the door.

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