Aboriginal Aboriginal Involvement In Involvement In The Oil Patch The Oil Patch Onion Lake Grows Onion Lake Grows With Oil Patch With Oil Patch Page A8 Page A8 White Bear White Bear Planning To Drill Planning To Drill Pages B5 Pages B5 Penn West Ramps Up Penn West Ramps Up Waskada Production Waskada Production Page C1 Page C1 PIPELINE NEWS Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly Canada Post Publication No. 40069240 November 2010 FREE Volume 3 Issue 6 Roger Lewis, a safety Àeld manager for Onion Lake’s Askiy Apoy Hauling, stands in front of a lease site operated by Black Pearl Resources. Photo by Geoff Lee
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Aboriginal Aboriginal Involvement In Involvement In The Oil PatchThe Oil Patch
Onion Lake Grows Onion Lake Grows With Oil PatchWith Oil Patch
Page A8Page A8
White Bear White Bear Planning To DrillPlanning To Drill
Pages B5Pages B5
Penn West Ramps UpPenn West Ramps UpWaskada ProductionWaskada Production
Page C1Page C1
PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly Canada Post Publication No. 40069240
November 2010 FREE Volume 3 Issue 6
Roger Lewis, a safety eld manager for Onion Lake’s Askiy Apoy Hauling, stands in front of a lease site operated by Black Pearl Resources. Photo by Geoff Lee
A2 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
NewsNotes
Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin
Weather turns drilling around
Saskatchewan’s drilling rig count had been
nudging into the 90s in the late summer until wet
weather pummelled that number down to 54 by
Sept. 24. However, a string of warm, windy days
in late September and early October turned that
around quickly, and with a couple of days of that
low point, the rig count jumped to 73 active drill-
ing rigs by Sept. 27, according to Nickle’s Rig
Locator (www.riglocator.ca). On Oct. 7, the day
before the Th anksgiving long weekend, that num-
ber had rallied to 87 active drilling rigs. On Oct.
19, that number was again 87 after a small dip.
Torquay doubles production
Torquay Oil Corp. says its southeast Sas-
katchewan production has doubled since its last
update in August.
Current corporate production is averaging ap-
proximately 550 barrels of oil equivalent per day
(an increase of 110 per cent since August).
Th e company plans to drill three additional
100 per cent working interest wells through the
remainder of the fourth quarter. Torquay also in-
tends to shoot a 32.5-square kilometre 3-D seis-
mic program on a new Mississippian prospect
prior to year-end.
In addition, Torquay recently secured fi nanc-
ing to help fund upcoming drilling operations and
for general corporate purposes.
Diaz announces purchaseDiaz Resources Ltd. has acquired a 45 per
cent working interest in a Dina heavy oil property
located at Macklin.
Th e company’s partners include Tuscany En-
ergy Ltd. (30 per cent) and Sharon Energy Ltd.
(25 per cent).
Th e property comprises 3,770 acres and in-
cludes four shut-in Dina horizontal oil wells, a
water disposal well and seven square miles of 3-D
seismic.
Diaz plans to reactivate the horizontal oil
wells and evaluate the 3-D seismic for future de-
velopment.
By Geoff Lee Pipeline News
North Battleford – A labour market partner-
ship between Empire Welding and Machining Ltd.
and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy (SIIT) in North Battleford is working out just
swimmingly.
Empire employs
many new welding
apprentices from a
deepening pool of
First Nations’ pre-
employment grads
from the Battlefords
Industrial Career
Centre (BICC), ad-
ministered by SIIT.
“About 40 to
50 per cent of our
welding staff and
our fabrication staff
have a First Na-
tions background,”
said Don McGuire,
general manager of
Empire.
“A lot of those
students come in
as Level 1 welding
training, and they
are developing with
us now.
“Currently, we
are going into a new
production run and
we will bring more
employees in.
“We are pro-
ducing land rollers
mainly for the U.S.
market. We do a
large business pre-
dominantly in the
eastern part of the
U.S., all the way down
to Texas.”
Empire also manufactures oilfi eld products such
as a low-rider oil tank moving trailer and provides
custom manufacturing, fabricating and design ser-
vices along with exports of farm equipment to the
U.S. and Australia.
Empire’s plan initially was to take on one First
Nation student at the grass roots level, but the com-
mitment mushroomed after SIIT established a
BICC facility in North Battleford in 2005.
“We came into the area with a training system,
and we were looking for partners,” said Bill Iron-
stand, the regional project manager for SIIT and the
manager of BICC.
“Empire Welding was approached because they
are one of the largest manufacturing companies in
the Battlefords.
“A partnership was formed where we will bring
in entry level weld-
ers, train them and
then companies like
Empire will employ
them, and we will
help them through
their apprenticeship
through journeyman
status,” he said.
Ironstand be-
lieves it’s critical to
have partners like
Empire or GLM
Industries in Battl-
eford to take on an
apprentice.
“You can train
someone, but if
there isn’t a job or a
career at the end of
the line, there is no
point in doing the
training,” he said.
“We work with
industry to de-
termine what the
workforce needs
are and how we can
provide that type of
training.
Th ere are now
seven BICC loca-
tions in the province
including La Ronge,
Prince Albert, Sas-
katoon, Regina,
Yorkton, North Bat-
tleford and Meadow
Lake to provide
training in all types of trades.
“So far we have over 11,000 clients and we have
found 9,000 placements for work in training pro-
vincially,” said Ironstand, who notes interest in the
trades among First Nations people is peaking.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Predominantly, we are a
‘work with our hands’ type of people. Th ere is always
the entry level work, and now we are seeing the light
at the end of the tunnel is journeyman status in all
the diff erent trades.” Page A6
Empire grows with First Nations welding crew
Patricia Wolfe from Muskeg Lake First Nation takes a break from grinding a test weld to smile for a Pipeline News photo.
kered private placement off ering of approximately
$6 million.
Seawall plans to use the net proceeds to fund
its development drilling program in the Viking
resource play near Kindersley and to incur ex-
penses related to Canadian exploration expenses
and Canadian development expenses to satisfy the
company’s obligations regarding the fl ow-through
common shares.
Th e company intends to drill between two
and four horizontal wells by the end of this year.
Seawall is a private oil and gas start-up fo-
cused on low-risk oil plays using multi-stage frac-
ture techniques. Seawall president Douglas McK-
innon has served as founder and director of fi rms
such as 3 Martini Ventures Inc., Blue Denim Ex-
ploration Inc., Reece Energy Exploration Corp.
and Stoneworx Earth Sciences. Th e company’s
main land and drilling areas of interest are east-
central Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Queensdale test results
For its recent horizontal well in the Queens-
dale area of Saskatchewan, Sure Energy Inc. says
the Alida formation fl owed 1,164 bbls of 37 de-
gree API oil over a 42.5-hour test.
Th e fi nal restricted fl ow rate was 500 bpd on
a 0.875-inch choke with an average fl owing pres-
sure of 230 psi and an 11 per cent water cut.
Th e company expected the well to be on pro-
duction in early October, initially at a restricted
rate of 150 bpd.
Th e well is 100 per cent owned by the com-
pany and will qualify for the Saskatchewan gov-
ernment's horizontal oil well royalty incentive
rate of 2.5 per cent for the fi rst 37,740 bbls of oil
produced.
Th e company has a minimum of two 100 per
cent direct off set locations to this well and owns
fi ve sections of 100 per cent working interest lands
in the Queensdale area.
By Geoff Lee
Lloydminster – BAR Engineering may be con-
tracted to design and build a trophy case for itself
and for Grit Industries Inc. Grit could probably
build it.
Th e two Lloydminster businesses that are well
known in the oil patch are fi nalists for this year’s
Achievement in Business Excellence (ABEX)
Awards staged by the Saskatchewan Chamber of
Commerce.
BAR is nominated for a Growth and Expansion
Award, while Grit is in the running for an Export
Award and an Environment Award.
Th e ABEX awards presentation takes places in
Regina Oct. 30.
News of the nominations led to a round of ap-
plause for the two Lloydminster companies during
the 2010 Business Week Awards Gala held by the
Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 13.
“Bar and Grit have been trail blazers and leaders
in our community for a lot of years,” said Pat Tenney,
executive director of the Lloydminster Chamber, just
minutes before the gala got underway.
“Th ey will be acknowledged as being Saskatch-
ewan Chamber ABEX awards nominees, and we are
very proud of that.
“Tonight is for Lloydminster companies, and it’s
a time for prestigious awards for our community and
a celebration of business excellence.”
Knowing that Grit was nominated the local
Community Involvement Award, Tenney added,
“Th ey are great contributors to our community in
culture, sports and recreation.
“Th at’s what helps to keep the social fabric of
our community going. A healthy business commu-
nity makes for a healthy community overall.”
During the pre-show media scrum, Jim Spen-
rath, Grit’s chief operating offi cer, said his company
feels honoured to be nominated for a local chamber
award, and he was pleased to comment on the two
ABEX nominations.
“We were pretty fl attered. Th ere’s pretty good
company there,” he said about ABEX. “Th ere are
lots of really strong companies. It’s really an honour.
If we happen to win, it will even be that much more
special.
“In 1999 we were the award winner for New
Ventures so we have been around awhile. Th is is our
second time around at the ABEX awards, so it’s very
nice.”
Spenrath says being nominated for the Export
Award is in keeping with Grit’s sales of natural gas
line heaters through its Cold Weather division. Grit
also exports its A-Fire oil tank burner system for
heavy oil applications.
“We have a natural gas dry line heater that is all
over the U.S., especially the Northeast,” said Spen-
rath. “In fact, our heaters heat the natural gas going
into New York City.
“We also have a pilot project under way with the
United Kingdom. We have a large utility there. We
are building a prototype as we speak. Th at product
will be on the ground in 2011. We now we are ex-
porting across the ocean as well.
“It’s a high tech product. We manufacture the
product here in Lloydminster. It’s the heater, the
boiler the heat exchanger – the dry line heater – the
whole system.”
Th e ABEX Environment Award nomination is
an acknowledgement of the reduced greenhouse gas
emissions from Grit’s gas line heaters.
“Our products are environmentally friendly in
terms of the natural gas heating industry. We use
signifi cantly less fuel than conventional models,”
said Spenrath.
“It’s a very low NOX and low emissions, so some
of the advantages we have with some our products
are that they are environmentally friendly with a low
carbon footprint and ease of applications.
Page A7
Jim McCuaig, manager of Bar Engineering’s Building Systems Group, is delighted by Bar’s nomination for an ABEX Growth and Expansion Award by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Com-merce.
Two Abex nominees
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.
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Editorial
A4 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 EDITORIAL
Th is month, Pipeline News chose to focus on
Aboriginal involvement in the oil patch, particularly
in Saskatchewan.
Th is paper tries very hard to focus on stories of
the individual entrepreneurs. We talk to more mom-
and-pop operations than we do Calgary CEOs. But
fi nding Aboriginal entrepreneurs in the patch was a
challenge, to put it mildly.
We spent several months digging here and there
for aboriginal entrepreneurs. In southeast Saskatch-
ewan, frequently one name was heard, the head of
Eagle Drilling Services, Derrick Big Eagle. His
company was featured prominently in last month’s
Pipeline News. But when asked about someone other
than Big Eagle, the answer was soon the sound of
crickets.
We did come across two organizations that have
money to invest with Aboriginal entrepreneurs and
organizations. Th e Clarence Campeau Development
Fund has $6 million of federal and provincial money
to invest with Métis people, specifi cally in the en-
ergy and resource sector, a fund that has just recently
become available. Westcap Management looks after
a $20 million First Nations and Métis Fund that has
been around for three years, but to date, has only
made two investments combining for a total of $4 to
$5 million. Th e seed money for the fund was provided
the Indian and Northern Aff airs Canada (INAC).
Westcap soon realized there was a need to ad-
dress governance within First Nations before the
next step of wealth creation can be taken. Th ey now
administer an $8 million program called BRIDG –
Business Ready Investment Development Gateway
-meant to build up the institutional basis for invest-
ment. Th ey were quickly fl ooded with applications for
the program.
Among the three programs, there is $26 million
for investment, plus another $8 million for governance
for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan. However, on
the investment side, the uptake has been slow, too
slow, given how important and growing the Aboriginal
population is in this province.
Most of the people we talked to were group-based,
i.e. chiefs, associations, bands. Communal thinking,
basically. Even some of the investment fund strategies
are based on bands getting into business.
But the oilpatch is built on individuals. Th at may
not jive with a lot of native culture, but that is how this
industry works. Th at is the culture of the patch, from
the guy who works nights driving his water hauling
truck as a leased operator, to the CEO of a manage-
ment team that builds and fl ips oil companies. Th ey
have their own money invested, and are working hard
to make life better for themselves and their families.
Saskatchewan’s demographics are shifting to a
younger, growing Aboriginal population. Th is is our
future workforce. Th ese are our future entrepreneurs.
Th ere are jobs to be had. Each month, we hear of
companies looking for skilled workers. But there are
also opportunities to be had, as business people.
We hope that more First Nations and Métis
people make the leap to become entrepreneurs. Cre-
ate jobs, not only for yourselves, but others. Th ere is
lots of room to grow. But you have to be ready to take
that step, typically, on your own. It’s time to get in the
game.
Where are the Aboriginal entrepreneurs?
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A5
PIPELINE NEWS INVITES OPPOSING VIEW POINTS. EDITORIALS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME.
speaker say, “Th ere’s no cure for low prices like low
prices.”
Th e implication was, with regards to natural gas,
low prices put a halt to drilling. With substantial
production decline curves, supply drops. Soon, sup-
ply becomes short, prices rise, and drilling picks up
again to take advantage of higher prices. Overpro-
duction results in too much supply, and prices fall
again. It’s a cycle that has repeatedly occurred in the
natural gas industry.
Th at cyclical pattern may now be broken, and
unfortunately for gas producers, it broke at the bot-
tom of the cycle.
Several times in the last two months I have spo-
ken to producers who are largely abandoning natural
gas production in favour of oil. Some were looking
to Saskatchewan for their company’s growth, as op-
posed to Alberta. Saskatchewan is more oily, whereas
Alberta is more gassy, they tell me.
When you look at Saskatchewan’s rig count
these days, it’s safe to say nearly all those rigs are
working on oil wells.
What was perhaps most telling was a conversa-
tion I had with the assistant deputy minister for pe-
troleum with Saskatchewan Energy and Resources
while attending the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show
on Sept. 15. Ed Dancsok said that as of Sept. 3, only
81 gas wells had been drilled in Saskatchewan this
year. Only one year in his 28 years with the ministry
had seen lower gas drilling. In 1982, just seven gas
wells were drilled in Saskatchewan. In 2003, there
were 2,318.
Th e diff erence now, I believe, is that the cycle for
low drilling causing low supply has ceased to func-
tion. Th at’s because supply, on a continental basis,
is no longer low, and likely will not be considered
low for decades. Shale gas production in the eastern
United States and Texas has fundamentally changed
the game. While the production and transportation
infrastructure will take a long time to get caught up
to what is currently in place in Western Canada, at
some point, it will.
Th ere’s a big push for more natural gas usage.
Over the next several years, we’re going to see a large
changeover from coal to natural gas power production.
Currently in Saskatchewan alone, several peaking
power plants and one baseload power plant are being
built with natural gas feedstocks. While the peaking
plants are to be expected, in a province where coal
has been king, seeing a natural gas baseload station
is a bit of a switch.
Th is should be driving more drilling in Saskatch-
ewan, but it’s not. Th e province brought in horizon-
tal drilling incentives for natural gas in June, and so
far, they’ve hardly been touched. If those incentives
were meant to be the defi brillator paddles to shock
the drilling fl atline, they’re not working, at least, not
yet. We’re in danger of losing the patient.
We’ve got people like T. Boone Pickens push-
ing for a more natural-gas based economy in North
America. Th is would take advantage of domestic,
i.e. not Middle Eastern, energy sources, and reduce
the carbon footprint. Some people would like to see
fl eets of natural gas semis replace diesels in the com-
ing years.
Th is hinges on cheap natural gas and plenty of
it. Th e problem is, there is not going to be plenty of
it if no one is willing to pay for it. Th is is not like the
farming business, where for decades farmers have
struggled under low world prices because they had
no other option other than quitting farming. Com-
panies that have the expertise to produce gas can
shift to oil production, as I am already seeing.
We’ve now found ourselves on the wrong side
of the continent, shipping gas a long way to distant
markets. It’s tough to compete against gas they can
drill for within a few hours drive of the eastern sea-
board. If the math doesn’t work for Alberta and Sas-
katchewan gas, you can forget the Mackenzie Valley
Pipeline making fi scal sense in the next decade or
two.
We may now have large continental gas reserves
unlocked by new technology. Unfortunately, the
technology that is having a tremendous impact un-
locking previously unusable reserves like the Bakken
or breathing life into old fi elds like the Cardium is
killing off our local gas production industry. For that,
the answer for gas producers is going to be the same
thing they told farmers for years – diversify.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected]
Gas price cycle fell apart
Suncor Energy will go down in history as the
fi rst oilsands company in Alberta to complete the
reclamation of a tailings pond.
Th e milestone was reached Sept. 23 with the
reclamation of a 220-hectare site known as Pond
1 and renamed Wapisiw Lookout at the ceremony
to honour the Aboriginal heritage of the region.
Pipeline News reported the milestone in ad-
vance in our September edition. Th e event scores a
major point for industry in the ongoing PR battle
over the environmental perception of the Alberta
oil sands as green or dirty.
Suncor and the Alberta government found an
ally in Chief Jim Boucher of the Fort McKay First
Nation who views the project as a positive sign.
“I'm really proud of this work that we’ve done
here and I’m hoping this will set the stage, this
will set the standard in terms of reclamation for
the oil sands industry and that what we leave be-
hind for future generations is something that the
community can use for traditional purposes and
something we can use to support a sustainable way
for our communities,” said Boucher.
Th e tailings pond milestone follows on the
heels of Suncor’s new tailings management system
called TRO reported at length in Pipeline News.Suncor expects to invest more than $1 billion
to implement the TRO technology over the next
two years, potentially reducing tailings reclama-
tion time by decades, and speeding the return of
oilsands mining sites to natural habitat.
Th e fi rst reclaimed tailings pond generated a
wealth of positive news for the province.
“Th e reclamation of this tailings pond is a his-
toric achievement, not only for this company, but
also for the oil sands industry, our province, and
our country,” said Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach
in a news release.
“I was happy and proud to be standing on the
solid ground of this former tailings pond today, as
it is evidence that tailings ponds can and will be
reclaimed.
“Th e existing tailings ponds will continue to
be a challenge for Alberta, but the challenges of
oil sands development have always been solved
through investment in technology and innova-
tion.
“Albertans are excellent innovators and I’m
confi dent that one day tailings ponds as we know
them will no longer exist."
Th e new technology will allow Suncor to meet
Alberta’s Directive 74 guidelines on mature tail-
ings fi nes.
Reclamation is destined to become a major
sustainable industry as oil companies have to re-
claim their expended mining operations as well.
So far they have barely scratched the surface.
Suncor for example, reports it has disturbed
more than 17,161 hectares of land since 1967 and
had reclaimed approximately 1,182 hectares by
2009.
Suncor expects to begin using its TRO tech-
nology this year on a commercial scale which will
allow it to speed up the reclamation of its nine
active tailings ponds.
More good environmental news will be fl ow-
ing from the oilsands in the coming months as
new reclamation success stories literally take root.
For the industry’s sake, let’s hope the word
spreads like weeds.
Reclamation is PR ammo for oilsands
Page A2
Th e Level 1 welding
program at BICC fol-
lows the SIAST applied
welding program and
credits students with
about 850 hours of ap-
prenticeship time during
a 20-week semester.
“We generally have
more people applying
than we have room for,
so we are looking to ex-
pand with more courses
and a bigger facility to
meet the demands of our
partners in the industry,”
said Ironstand.
Th ere are also plans
to off er the fi rst Level 2
welding program start-
ing Feb. 21, 2011 to
the delight of instructor
Dwight Doshen.
“We began this in
2005 so that’s been go-
ing six years that we have
been putting out Level
1s,” he said.
“Th ere are a lot of
‘ones’ that don’t want
to go to Saskatoon or
Moose Jaw to continue
their training. We fi g-
ured it was about time
we off ered a Level 2 here
to move them up the
ladder.”
Doshen says the
Level 1 program pro-
vides men and women
students with really good
hands-on experience.
“It’s over a period of
fi ve months so they come
out of well-rounded,”
he said. “At the end of
this program when they
graduate they would be
able to get on pretty well
anywhere as an entry
level welder.
“It gives them good
skills with torch cutting
and arc welding and the
mig welding which is
used quite a bit in the in-
dustry. Th ey have a pret-
ty good handle on things
when they leave here.
“What they need
to work on from here
is blueprint reading and
fabrication skills which
we don’t get into too
much here. It’s mostly
welding and cutting.”
BICC also has a
carpentry school and
provides all trades stu-
dents with a required
course in Construction
Safety Training System
(CSTS) basics.
“All of our clients
have to pass the CSTS
which is mandatory in
Alberta to get on a trade,
but not yet here,” said
Ironstand. “We want ev-
erybody to be safe when
they leave our offi ce be-
fore they go to a job.”
SIIT and BICC
also provide job men-
toring and coaching to
First Nations placement
workers.
“Our doors are al-
ways open,” said Iron-
stand, who sometimes
works as job coach to
new hires at companies
like Empire or GLM.
“A lot of times the
guys were unsure about
how to go about doing
certain things or what
their responsibilities or
rights were and we would
talk with them and iron
out the problems,” ex-
plained Ironstand.
“We act as an in-
termediary between the
companies and the em-
ployees. Seeing a famil-
iar face is always reassur-
ing for the guys.
“We help the guys,”
he said. “We usually
spend some time work-
ing on life skills and
what it’s like to make the
transition into the main-
stream workforce.
“In the past that has
been a huge barrier for
the First Nations, but
we are slowly overcom-
ing that. Our training
is changing every day to
meet the needs of the in-
dustry.”
Th e First Nations’
apprentices and Empire
can rely on SIIT’s career
job coach Earl Greyeyes
to assist with the inte-
gration and skills de-
velopment issues on the
job.
Empire has a non-
discriminatory policy at
work, but McGuire says
feeling welcome is the
key to success.
“With the combina-
tion of the job coaching
and the general spirit
of our workers and the
welders in the shop wel-
coming people – it’s a
big thing to be welcome.
You have to feel part of
the organization,” he
said.
Empire also allows
its First Nations’ welders
to attach a sticker to the
equipment they make
that includes the head-
ings “Building a Future
Together” and “1st Na-
tions Employment in
Saskatchewan.”
Empire has worked
with BICC to add fabri-
cation skills development
to the welding program
to meet its employment
needs for break and
shear operators, people
with machining abilities,
and people with fabrica-
tion skills.
Asked if this a good
time for First Nations job
opportunities, Ironstand
said, “Absolutely, the
door is open right now,
and we are busy train-
ing people and knocking
on doors and doing in-
terviews to let everyone
know that we’re here.
“Give us a call and
give us a chance. Com-
panies like Empire have
given us a chance and I
hope we have opened
their eyes that we are
every bit good as anyone
else.
“Th e First Nation
workforce is the larg-
est untapped resource in
Saskatchewan. We are
here, we are trained, we
are professionals – we
are ready to work.
“When all of in-
dustry starts to see that,
there will be a huge
impact here and across
Canada.”
A6 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Donald “Chief” Adams, left, from the Sweet Grass First Nation, talks with welding instructor Dwight Doshen about his test piece.
Bill Ironstand, left, who administers the Battl-efords Industrial Career Centre (BICC), poses with Don McGuire, the general manager of Em-pire Welding and Machining Ltd. About 30 to 40 per cent of Empire’s welding staff has a First Na-tions’ heritage.
Nearly half of welding crew is Aboriginal
Page A3
“Th e environment
side of it is one of our
targets. We wanted to be
environmentally friend-
ly. Going into Europe, it
has to be in order to be
successful.”
BAR EngineeringBAR Engineer-
ing’s ABEX nomina-
tion for the Growth
and Expansion Award
is not surprising given
the diversifi cation of
the Lloydminster-based
company.
BAR Engineering’s
projects cover everything
from heavy oil batteries
and gas compression to
electrical/instrumenta-
tion, municipal and re-
fi nery work.
“Well I think it’s
a great honour for our
company, and it shows
that our company is
growing and expand-
ing in the Alberta and
Saskatchewan markets,
so we are very honoured
to be nominated,” said
Jim McCuaig, manager
of Building Systems
Group.
“Our growth is on
a number of forefronts
chiefl y in Saskatchewan.
We just started up a
branch offi ce in Wey-
burn. We have two staff
down there, and we just
hired a receptionist last
week.
“We are doing a lot
of work with oilfi eld
clients, and we are also
doing work in our build-
ing systems groups and
structural groups down
there as well as doing
work with municipal
markets.
“Our latest projects
are with the Govern-
ment of Saskatchewan’s
Disaster Assistance Pro-
gram and doing a num-
ber of site inspections
down there,” McCuaig
said.
One of the biggest
steps taken by BAR
was the purchase two
years ago of PFM En-
gineering, a structural
engineering specialist in
Lloydminster.
“Peter Miler, the
former owner, was re-
tiring and it just made
good business sense to
purchase that company
and bring them into
BAR Engineering,” said
McCuaig.
“We started up the
Building Systems Group
last year because there
was a natural synergy be-
tween the structural en-
gineering. We were able
to bring in electrical and
mechanical engineering
to produce a complete
building systems pack-
age for our clients.”
BAR and Grit give a
thumbs up to the Lloy-
dminster chamber and
they encourage more oil
and gas related compa-
nies to become mem-
bers. Th e chamber cur-
rently has approximately
530 members.
“I would defi nitely
encourage some of our
member companies in
the area in the oilpatch to
go into the branch,” said
McCuaig. “Th e more di-
versifi cation we have to
go into the chamber – it’
s a win-win situation for
everybody.”
Ditto the enthusi-
asm from Lloydminster
Mayor Jeff Mulligan
who says the chamber
has a “pretty good repre-
sentation of our business
in the city,” but he notes
there is room for more
oil and gas companies.
“People think of the
chamber as a retail and
a services organization,
and they don’t extend
the thought out to our
manufacturing and oil-
fi eld service companies,”
he said.
“Th e business
knowledge that an oil-
fi eld entrepreneur could
bring to this chamber –
successful oilfi eld busi-
nesses in transportation,
exploration and oilfi eld
services – what they
could add to the cham-
ber would be immeasur-
able.”
Editor’s note: Results of the Abex awards were not available at press time. Please watch for next month’s Pipeline News to see how BAR Engineering and Grit Industries fared.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A7
Two Lloyd companies up for ABEX awards
Grit and grin: Grit Industries representatives Janice Van Berkel, Jim Spen-rath, Claude Sylvestre and Jason King share a laugh during the 2010 Busi-ness Week Awards Gala put on by the Lloydminster Chamber of Com-merce. Grit is nominated for two Achievement in Business Excellence Awards (ABEX) by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
A8 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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By Geoff LeeOnion Lake – Onion Lake Cree Nation is taking
its work commitments from Black Pearl Resources
and Canadian Natural Resources to the bank to buy
into the oilfi eld service business.
Th e plan to purchase a fl eet of service equipment
such as vac and pressure trucks follows the success-
ful startup of a band-owned fl uid hauling company
called Askiy Apoy Hauling.
“We have work commitments from Black Pearl
and CNRL so far for the vac and the pressure trucks,
fl ushbys, service rigs and mechanics and stuff – you
bet,” said general manager Larry Holman.
“We are moving forward on that. We are look-
ing at a big major expansion. It’s going to be good.
“It will be a division of Askiy Apoy. We haven’t
got a name picked out for it yet.
“Depending on funding availability, we are look-
ing at putting up a 14 to 16 bay shop about six kilo-
metres north of Onion Lake just before we get into
the heart of all the drilling.
“We will get the ‘full meal deal’ out of that shop.
It will be fully operational. I would guess there would
a dozen employees working,” Holman said.
Work commitments are also expected from Nu-
vista Energy that is drilling on reserve land and fuel-
ing optimism about new business and employment
opportunities for Onion Lake.
When fi rst interviewed at the Lloydminster
Heavy Oil Show on Sept. 16, Holman reported that
Askiy Apoy has gone into overdrive since he was
contracted to start the company for Onion Lake.
Holman worked for Standchuck Trucking for
eight years in his last job, and was ready for change
at the same time the band council was anxious to get
into the fl uid hauling business.
“I talked with the band council and they wanted
to hire me,” said Holman. “Th e impression I get is
that Onion Lake isn’t afraid to hire outside to get the
help they need. I like it. It’s been good so far.
“Th ey hired me on Jan. 5, 2009, and we hauled
our fi rst load on April 2 that year. We started out
with two trucks and one trailer.
“Since that time we’ve just been steadily expand-
ing. We have purchased approximately 33 trailers in
a year and a half,” Holman said.
Th e trailers are driven by owner/operator drivers
who are First Nations members from Onion Lake
and outlying reserves including Frog Lake First Na-
tion that wants to haul fl uid from its reserve as well.
“We are looking at another 10 trailers over there
just hauling fl uid,” said Holman from the band offi ce
located in the Onion Lake Business Development
Corporation building.
Page A9
Onion Lake to up its stake in
Larry Holman, general manager of Askiy Apoy Hauling owned by Onion Lake Cree Nation, is anked by safety eld managers Roger Lewis, left, and Wayne Waskewitch at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. The company owns approximately 33 trailers drivens by First Nation owner/operators.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A9
Page A8
“I would assume we would push our pressure and our vac work over there
too.”
Holman says the band has secured funding to train band members in fl uid
hauling and operating vac and pressure trucks through Lakeland College.
Askiy Apoy has also has its in-house training program under the direction
of Roger Lewis, band safety fi eld manager, and Wayne Waskewitch, who oversee
all safety concerns.
Keith Miller is the dispatcher who keeps track of all oilfi eld trucks operating
at Onion Lake on the Alberta and Saskatchewan sides of the reserve.
All fl uid from oil and gas production at Onion Lake is hauled off reserve.
“Water from Black Pearl goes over to a disposal near Tulliby Lake and water
from CNRL goes to Tanglefl ags,” said Holman.
“Oil goes to various places. Black Pearl’s oil mostly goes to Husky’s facilities.
CNRL’s goes to all CNRL facilities near Lloydminster and Tanglefl ags.”
When asked if he thinks the oil and gas industry on the reserve has given
the community an economic boost, Holman said, “You bet. Th ings are changing
every day.
“You will see lots of progress at Onion Lake if you drive up there. Th ere’s
new buildings going up and new housing. I started in January 2009, and things
have changed dramatically since then.
“In my opinion it looks good for the band.”
oil eld hauling and servicing
This is the site of Black Pearl Resources’ eld of ce at Onion Lake Cree Nation. All uid from Onion Lake is hauled off reserve by the band’s Askiy Apoy Hauling company and other private oil eld companies operating in the area.
Meridian Ring RoadPipeline News reporter Geoff Lee, middle, was presented with a ceremo-nial cheque for $500 on Oct. 7 for having the winning entry in a “Name That Road” contest involving four municipalities. Lee’s entry, Meridian Ring Road, was chosen by an intermunicipal panel of judges as the of -cial name of the ring road that routes oil eld and industrial traf c through four municipalities. Lee is anked on the left by Louis Genest, chief ad-ministrator of cer for the RM of Britannia, and by Richard Van Ee, reeve of the County of Vermilion River. On the right is Jeff Mulligan, mayor of Lloydminster and Darren Elder, chief administrative of cer, of the RM of Wilton. The cheque presentation took place at the intersection of 12th St. and Highway 17 that connects part of the Meridian Ring Road.
A10 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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BONNYVILLE / FORT MCMURRAY / CALGARY
Regina – Th e leaves have fallen
from the trees, but the rose has not
fallen from the bloom of Crown pe-
troleum and natural gas rights sales in
October.
Saskatchewan gained $34.5 mil-
lion in revenue from the October
sale pushing the land sale revenues
for 2010 to $406 million. Th at’s way
ahead of the $83 million in revenue at
the same time last year.
“Our oil and gas industry is on
an upswing in 2010, and these latest
results show the industry’s confi dence
not only in our resources but also in
our investment climate,” said Energy
and Resources Minister Bill Boyd.
“Th is is only the second time our
calendar year total for land sale rev-
enue has topped $400 million, so with
one sale to go, 2010 is proving to be a
great year indeed for the industry and
for the people of Saskatchewan.”
Th e October sale included 19 pe-
troleum and natural gas exploration
licences that sold for $20 million and
183 lease parcels that attracted $14.5
million in bonus bids.
Th e Weyburn-Estevan area
topped the province with sales of
$25.5 million. Th e Kindersley-Ker-
robert area was next at $4.9 million,
followed by the Lloydminster area at
$2.4 million, and the Swift Current
area at $1.7 million.
“Th e Bakken play continues to
grab the headlines, but it’s encourag-
ing to see new activity in emerging
plays such as the Birdbear Formation
between Moosomin and Carlyle,”
Boyd said. “Th e industry is casting its
exploration ‘net’ wider, and is being
rewarded for its investments.”
Th e highest price for a single
parcel was $7.1 million paid by
Prairie Land & Investment Ser-
vices Ltd. for a 2,562-hectare ex-
ploration licence near Moosomin.
Th e highest price on a per-hectare
basis was $9,344 while Aldon Oils
Ltd. bid $1.2 million for a 130-hect-
are lease parcel near Radville.
Th e next sale of Crown petroleum
and natural gas dispositions will be
held on Dec. 6, 2010.
Land sales summary (all numbers rounded up)
Weyburn-Estevan areaTh e total bonus received in the
area was approximately $25.5 mil-
lion, an average of $665/hectare. Th is
compares to $79,328,768 an average
of $3,551/hectare at the last sale.
Th e top purchaser of acreage
in this area was Prairie Land & In-
vestment Services Ltd. who spent
$17,280,528 to acquire six lease par-
cels and four licences.
Th e top price paid for a single
lease in this area was approximately
$1.6 million paid by Prairie Land &
Investment Services Ltd. for a 1,036
hectare parcel situated 10-km west of
the Amulet Ratcliff e Beds Pool, 6-km
north of Ogema.
Th e top price paid for a single li-
cence in this area was $7,056,021 paid
by Prairie Land & Investment Ser-
vices Ltd. for a 2,562 hectare block
situated 6-km north of the Park-
man Souris Valley Beds Pool, 23-km
southwest of Moosomin.
Th e highest dollar per hectare in
this area was received from Aldon
Oils Ltd., who paid $9,344/hectare
for a 129.50 hectare parcel located
one-km west of the Ceylon Bakken
Pool, 14-km west of Radville.
Kindersley-Kerrobert areaTh e total bonus received in the
Keeping oil and gas shops on a rollMarshall Paxton, gen-eral manager of Cas-terland’s MC Wheels Ltd. store in Edmon-ton, displays an LE se-ries twin caster with a 5,000 lb. capacity driv-en on urethane wheels on cast iron.
Page A10
Th e top price paid
for a single lease in this
area was $534,027 paid
by Plunkett Resources
Ltd. for a 259 hectare
parcel situated three-
km east of the Epping
Mannville Sands (Oil)
Pool, 16-km northeast
of Marsden.
Th e highest dollar
per hectare in this area
was received from Prai-
rie Land & Investment
Services Ltd. that paid
$7,401/hectare for a
16.19 hectare parcel lo-
cated within the Mars-
den North Sparky Sand
(Oil) Pool, 12-km west
of the town of Mars-
den.
Swift Current areaTh e total bonus re-
ceived in the area was
approximately $1.7 mil-
lion, an average of $582/
hectare Th is compares
to $2.5 million, an aver-
age of $387/hectare at
the last sale.
Th e top purchaser
of acreage in this area
was Ranger Land Ser-
vices Ltd. that spent
$429,603 to acquire two
lease parcels.
Th e top price paid
for a single lease in
this area was $390,010
paid by Scott Land &
Lease Ltd. for each of
two 259 hectare parcels
situated adjacent to the
Whitemud Shaunavon
(Oil) Pool, 15-km
southeast of Eastend.
Th is is the highest dol-
lar per hectare in this
area at 1,506 /hectare.
Provincial land sales
A12 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Lloydminster – Roblan Cook Agencies Ltd. gen-
erated a high voltage impact at the Lloydminster
Heavy Oil Show with demos of Meltric decontac-
tors that make motor change-outs and electrical
maintenance easier and safer.
Th e Calgary-based company is a manufactur-
ing representative agency that sells Meltric Corpo-
ration decontactors and other electrical equipment
to electrical companies in eastern British Columbia,
Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Th e Meltric decontactor is the only plug and
receptacle on the market that functions as a CSA-
rated switch.
“Th ey are a very well-known product now be-
cause a connection can be made and broken under
load without endangering the electrician,” said Ro-
blan Cook Agencies’ owner Delbert Cook, who has
been in business for more than 26 years.
“It can go onto any type of machinery – every-
thing from motors to power lines. We have done a
lot of temporary work up in the Fort Mac area.
“Th is year alone, we have done in the tune of
$500,000 to $750,000 of temporary power work on
major projects. Th at’s everywhere from Suncor to
Kearl Lake to Syncrude,” said Cook.
Meltric decontactors are a plug, receptacle and
disconnect switch in the same device, eliminating
the need for expensive switch and interlocks required
with competing connection devices.
Th e key parts are the male and female ends en-
cased within the body of the unit so there’s no live
parts exposed to any electrician installing it.
“Th e main benefi t is safety and it’s easy to in-
stall,” said Cook. “If you have a previous installation
of another product line or one of our competitors, all
we have to do is replace their male and female device.
We have adapter plates that go on to the existing
boxes.
“Some of our competitors actually buy our prod-
uct and put it downstream from their product, so
anything from the device down is protected.
“We have been promoting the product line to
any industry from water treatment plants to oil and
gas companies and the coal mining, forestry and
food processing sectors,” said Cook.
A major selling point of Meltric decontactors is
they are the only such products in North American
that are arc fl ash compliant to prevent shock, elec-
trocution and arc fl ash explosions.
“What that means is that no one can access any
live parts within our device,” said Cook. You can dis-
connect it in 15 milliseconds and it’s still locked. You
can’t access any of the live parts.”
Th e Meltric decontactors allow users to make
and break connections under full load. A quarter
turn of the device disconnects the male and female
components.
When disconnected, the decontactor provides
visual verifi cation power is off .
“You can lock the female side off and also pad-
lock it off , or you can also do the same thing with the
male end because we have a NEMA 4X (National
Electrical Manufacturers’ Association) waterproof
rated cap that goes over the top of that,” said Cook.
Decontactor makes a high voltage impactDecontactor makes a high voltage impact
Delbert Cook sells a lot of these Meltric decon-tactors to electrical companies in Western Can-ada.
Lloydminster – Air-
com Instrumentation
Inc. accomplished its
goal of increasing its
name recognition to
heavy oil customers dur-
ing the Lloydminster
Heavy Oil Show Sept.
15-16.
Th e strategy of fl y-
ing the corporate fl ag
at industry exhibits has
helped the Edmonton-
based specialty manu-
facturer of temperature
and pressure instruments
set another sales revenue
record for its fi scal year-
end on Sept. 30.
“Th e last three years,
including the recession
year, have been kind of
remarkable. We haven’t
had a drop in sales. We
have actually gone up in
sales,” said sales manager
Rick Hays, who manned
the booth with territory
manager Sean Lavin.
“We actually sur-
passed last year’s num-
bers. We are 1.8 per cent
higher than last year.
Th at’s three successive
record years in a row.”
In the Lloydminster
area, Husky Energy is a
major buyer of Aircom’s
instrumentation prod-
ucts, especially this year
with the ongoing main-
tenance turnaround at
the Husky Upgrader.
“Th ey have heavy
oil applications, gas ap-
plications, and a lot of
heavy oil well sites have
our temperature and
pressure products,” said
Hays.
Aircom also custom
manufactures tempera-
ture sensors and dis-
tributes products such
as pressure transmitters,
pressure and tempera-
ture gauges and temper-
ature transmitters.
“Th e equipment
would go into a lot of
SCADA or plant envi-
ronments,” said Hays.
“Many times, you are
trying to measure tem-
peratures or pressures
within a plant or in the
fi eld – that’s where our
products would go.”
Aircom Instrumen-
tation Inc. is one of two
divisions of Aircom In-
dustries along with Air-
com Specialty Services
Ltd. that provides spe-
cialty welding services.
Th ose welding ser-
vices include instrumen-
tation welding and pres-
sure welding on all metal
alloys along with overlay
and inlay work.
Customized manu-
factured instruments
include devices such
as thermocouples and
RTD sensors and a va-
riety of thermowells and
downhole sensors.
“Our typical deliv-
ery on a custom manu-
factured product will be
seven to 10 days,” said
Hays.
“However, more
often than not, we can
manufacture that prod-
uct in the same day and
have it shipped out the
next day.
“We do have quite
a bit of inventory. We
custom inventory a lot
of products for specifi c
customers and we do a
lot of custom manufac-
turing. We have a lot of
the raw materials ready
to use up.”
Products unique to
Aircom include boiler
tube block thermocou-
ples, break-to-length
RTDs and thermocou-
ples, and an injection
quill among others.
Aircom has been
in business since 1964,
and is currently owned
by Dan Harcourt with
20-25 employees on the
payroll.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A13
of The BattlefordsIndependently Owned and Operated
FOR YOURREAL ESTATE NEEDSIN WEST CENTRALAND NORTHWESTSASKATCHEWAN:
Sean Lavin, the Lloydminster territorial sales manager for Aircom Instrumentation Inc., dis-plays a CSA-approved temperature sensor at the Aircom booth during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.
Rick Hays, sales manager for Aircom Instru-mentation Inc., holds a CSA-approved pressure transmitter in his hand.
A14 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Lloydminster – Dustin Fallscheer scored a quick
point about the portability of a Canmet hydrocy-
clone by holding one aloft to start his presentation
of the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Sympo-
sium Sept. 15-16.
Fallscheer is a staff engineer with BAR En-
gineering in Lloydminster who spoke about the
Canmet hydrocyclone as an emerging technology
to treat produced water, slop oil and other oily ef-
fl uents.
It could replace conventional gravity-based free
water knockout vessels, API separators and settling
tanks that require long retention times to achieve
separation.
“It’s a tool to recover oil from produced water
and also to treat slop oil to recover as much oil from
waste streams as we can,” said Fallscheer, who says
the working principle is centrifugal force.
“What diff erentiates the Canmet hydrocy-
clone from other separator technologies is the large
amounts of G-force that is generated with these
tubes.”
BAR Engineering has the licence to market the
hydrocyclone technology developed and patented
specifi cally for heavy oil in Western Canada by Can-
met Energy Technology Centre in Devon Alberta.
“Canmet designed a hydrocyclone specifi cally
for separating heavy oil,” said Fallscheer. “Th ey have
been working on hydrocyclone technology for over
20 years.
“Th ey took the standard hydrocyclone that’s
been around since the 1960s, modifi ed it and pat-
ented it for use in heavy oil.”
Th e Canmet hydrocyclone produces centrifugal
force of 170 Gs compared to just 1G for a conven-
tional water separator and skim tank.
Th e device sits horizontally inside a vessel and
has no moving parts ensuring a minimal amount of
maintenance is required.
Fluid enters the tube though one of four open-
ings or involutes on the Canmet hydrocyclone ver-
sus one involute on a standard hydrocyclone.
In a nutshell, the way it works is fl uid is pumped
into a vessel and as it fl ows through the hydrocy-
clone centrifugal force speeds up to separate the oil
and the water.
“It’s based on Stokes’ Law which are the prin-
ciples for droplet velocity,” said Fallscheer. “If you
can increase the G-forces on those droplets, it will
speed up the velocity and you will get separation.”
Resident time for fl uid in a Canmet hydrocy-
clone is just two seconds compared to hours for
conventional gravity based systems. A single tube
can handle 50 cubic metres a day.
“Th ey are very cost eff ective and have a small
footprint,” said Fallscheer.
It is easy to relocate a hydrocyclone system, of-
fering a much higher salvage value.
Husky Energy has been using a Canmet hydro-
cyclone at its Lloydminster oil refi nery since 1999
to treat approximately 500 cubic metres a day of de-
salter effl uent.
“It can save money by not having to haul pro-
duced fl uids off site. Trucking waste fl uid is very ex-
pensive plus you lose your revenue from that oil,”
said Fallscheer.
Th e beauty of the technology is that is can be
used to separate any two liquids with diff erent den-
sities.
“Th is technology is being used in the Gulf to
separate oil from salt water. It’s a worldwide tech-
nology that’s not just limited to heavy oil.”
Th e liquid-liquid technology is not without
its limitations, most notably, the presence of gas in
the emulsion which can have an impact on perfor-
mance.
“Th ere is also reduced effi ciency with oil droplets
smaller than 10 microns,” said Fallscheer. “When
they are that small, they are diffi cult to remove.
“Th ere is also the diffi culty of handling the den-
sity of oil-wet clays.”
Fallscheer says Canmet originally intended the
tool for use only in de-oiling, but over the last 10
years they have adapted it for treating slop oil.
Testing determined the hydrocyclone works
best as a two-stage treatment to produce a stream of
overfl ow oil and a stream of underfl ow water.
Th e unit is designed with an adjustable overfl ow
orifi ce to target clean water with a smaller orifi ce
size for the fi rst stage, then clean oil with a larger
opening on the second stage.
With the Canmet unit, the diameter of the
overfl ow (oil) orifi ce can be changed during opera-
tion to add an element of performance control.
Canmet ran fi eld tests for de-oiling with a goal
to reduce the amount of oil from a skim tank or a
treater to 100 parts per million.
Th e average input feed from 14 tests was 1,700
ppm but after the two-stage treatment, the goal was
surpassed with an average of 172 ppm in the fi rst
stage and 62 ppm after the second.
“Th at proved the eff ectiveness of the hydrocy-
clone,” said Fallscheer. “Th e test was run with one
tube and 50 cubes a day of water.”
Canmet also determined the optimal operating
feed pressure is 150 psi.
Lab tests on treating slop determined the op-
timal concentration of oil in the hydrocyclone at
20 per cent which is achieved by “conditioning” the
feed stream with water.
Page A15
Canmet hydrocyclone storms
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A15
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BAR Engineering’s Dustin Fallscheer holds up a patented Canmet hydro-cyclone designed to treat large volumes of produced water and slop oil quickly and ef ciently.
into the heavy oil market Page A14
Fallscheer reported the fi rst bench
test used a feed of 15 per cent and “we
were able to concentrate that in our
outfl ow to 65 per cent oil with 99 per
cent recovery with a separation effi -
ciency of 65 per cent.”
Other tests ranged from 70 per
cent to 40 per cent effi ciency.
“With the success of this bench
test, Canmet was able to complete
a fi eld test at a heavy oil site,” said
Fallscheer.”
Th e unnamed company was haul-
ing 240 cubes of fl uid a month which
was costing them money.
Canmet used the two-stage hydro-
cyclone set up and added conditioned
water to the slop to reduce it down to
the 20 per oil concentration.
“During a month, they treated
236 cubes of slop and not one cube of
slop was hauled off site. It allows the
company to treat the oil on site,” said
Fallscheer who calculated the saving at
$26,000.
Petrostar signs $1.3 million dealPetrostar Petroleum
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Mike Dennehy steps out of his MTM Energy Ser-vices booth at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. The booth happens to be one of the BOS (Best of Steel) sheds that he imports from Germany and sells to a diverse market. MTM is also launching a U-Save car and truck rental outlet in Lloydmin-ster.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A17
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A18 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Lloydminster – Oil and gas companies in Saskatchewan looking for new
hires are invited by the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatoon to tap into the
Métis labour pool.
A new federally funded Strategic Partnership Initiative aimed at proactive
marketing of GDI labour market programs and services to Métis across the
province ends on March 31, 2011.
One of those programs is a GDI Oilfi eld Orientation course for Métis work-
ers to be held at the Lloydminster Native Friendship Centre Nov. 22-26.
“What we are going to do is run a one week course, and for those Métis
people who fi t into certain jobs, we are going to place them in those jobs,” said
Jason Johnston, program co-ordinator.
Johnston estimates there are about 45,000 Métis in the province, many of
whom turn to the GDI to upgrade their training, education and job readiness
skills.
Th e Strategic Partnership Initiative also enables the GDI to work toward
bridging the gap between Métis and employers.
"We have a number of companies like Precision Drilling and Enbridge
Pipelines that are willing to work with Métis people in Saskatchewan," said
Johnston.
Page A19
GDI advocates jobs from Métis labour pool
Jason Johnston from the Gabriel Dumont Institute advocates jobs for Mé-tis workers in Saskatchewan. Johnston was at the Native Friendship Cen-tre in Lloydminster in October to encourage more Aboriginal workers to sign up for an oil eld orientation class that will be held Nov. 22-26.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A19
Page A18“Employers tell us
students need to be work
ready. We tend to think
of that as the 3Rs – re-
liable, responsible and
respectful. Respectful
means respect for your-
self and the employer
you are working for.
“You need to un-
derstand the type of in-
dustry you are in – the
12 to 16 hour days and
for seven to 10 days at
a time. Th ose (3Rs) are
learned through experi-
ence on the job.”
Th e Strategic Part-
nership Imitative aims
to enhance and build on
existing GDI partner-
ships and programs in-
cluding a wage subsidy
that can makes hiring
a new Métis apprentice
aff ordable.
“We have a wage
subsidy program where
an employer can reach
out to us,” said John-
ston. “We pay a portion
of the salary and that
person gets placed.
‘It’s like a mini work
experience. It’s had a
lot of success with our
Crowns (corporations)
in Saskatchewan and
working with unions.”
Th e oilfi eld orien-
tation course will help
students get their base
safety tickets such as
H2S Alive and fi rst aid
through the Aborigi-
nal Skills and Training
Strategic Investment
Fund as part of Canada’s
Economic Action Plan.
“Th e students will
be working in Lloyd-
minster and within a
100-kilometre radius of
Lloydminster including
the Alberta side,” said
Johnston.
“With the industry
connections we have,
there is a need for up-
wards of 500 people
in the next four to six
months because of the
weather – the water.
“Companies can’t
get out with their service
rigs to service wells so a
lot of the companies are
going to be ramping up
here. Once the farmers
get done, they are going
to want to get back out
in the oilfi eld and pro-
vide those services.”
Johnston says the
oilfi eld labour market is
strong right now, from
Lloydminster all the
way south to Swift Cur-
rent.
“If you drew a line,
there is a lot of activity
from the service rig sec-
tor and all those services
that go with it – 3A li-
cences, hauling water –
hauling oil is still a big
need,” he said.
“Estevan is still an
untapped resource, but
fi nding a residence is
a problem. You need a
camper trailer. If you
can go down there, and
fi nd a friendly farmer
and camp out in his
yard, you are going to be
working tomorrow. It’s
very busy there.”
Despite all the
training and educa-
tion programs available
through GDI resources
and partnerships, John-
ston says there are no
guarantees of employ-
ment for Métis workers.
“From our offi ce, we
reach out to employers
and steer them in the
right direction so they
can consider Aborigi-
nal people to break any
myths and misconcep-
tions,” he said.
“For a company to
be Métis friendly or
Aboriginal friendly,
they need to have a
policy that outlines that
and says ‘we are Ab-
original friendly’ and
says ‘we need you to be
reliable, and responsible
and be respectful in the
workplace, and you can
have a fi ne career in our
company.’
“We will be mak-
ing public a specific
training to making
the workplace Métis
friendly and/or Ab-
original awareness
training for trades and
construction companies
and oil companies.”
Th e GDI is the only
Métis specifi c train-
ing institute of its kind
in Canada, combining
university, technical
skills, basic education,
publishing and social
justice programming.
GDI will mark its
30th year of operation
during an Anniversary
Celebration Culture
Conference Nov 18-19
in Saskatoon.
3R's are learned through experience on the job
A20 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Lloydminster – Welltec Canada Inc. has developed new intervention tools for
cleaning debris from oil and gas wells that can be deployed using conventional
electric wireline.
Th ose new tools called the Well Cleaner and the Well Miller were the sub-
ject of a presentation by Welltec’s Canadian sales manager Jeremy Ray at the
Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium Sept. 15-16.
“Over the last several years, some unique intervention techniques have been
developed to remove debris using electric wireline,” said Ray in his opening re-
marks.
“Th e overall objective is to remove the debris to get the well under produc-
tion sooner and do it cost eff ectively.
“Not only is what you are going to see – the use of some cool tools – but they
are here to save you money and help you get your well going sooner.
“I will be speaking about reducing your surface access, reducing your inter-
vention personnel on site, increasing your production and reducing you capital
expenditures. Th is technology is adaptable to all well construction designs.”
Welltec’s technology can be applied in scaled tubing environments where
intervention snubbing is extremely costly, and surface sensitive areas where it’s
tough to get equipment on location.
Another application of the technology is in vertical, low pressure wells where
sand plugs off the perforations.
“Often with conventional methods using a service truck and coiled tubing
you are pushing the sand back into the perfs,” said Ray.
A conventional wireline truck with a single or multi conductor line and a
picker with suffi cient rig up height is all the equipment needed to deploy the
tools that can be handled by just four people on site.
Page A21
Jeremy Ray delivered a presentation at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium about new tools developed by Welltec to re-move debris in wellbore.
Welltec’s new tools clean and mill on wireline
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A21
Page A20“You just need a wireline truck,” Ray told Pipeline News. “Th ere are probably
600 cased hole wireline trucks in Alberta, so using technology that’s available
and is low cost is the mandate for what we are doing”
A Well Tractor also developed by Welltec enables intervention tools to reach
the end of a horizontal or highly deviated well.
Th e Well Cleaner tool says Rays selectively cleans areas of the wellbore de-
ployed on electric wirelines and operates in dry and liquid environments.
He said the way it works is like a grain auger with the length of the tools
dependent on how much sand you are working with. Early tests showed it can
pick up 60 to 80 cubic metres of sand per run.
Welltec was challenged a few years ago to use it in a liquid environment in
a horizontal SAGD well in the Lloydminster area that had sand issues, high
temperature and variable viscosities among other extreme conditions.
“Over six days, we pulled out over 300 litres of sand with 22 runs in the
hole,” said Ray. “Th e tools were conveyed on a Well Tractor horizontally. We
cleaned down to 638 metres but hit asphaltenes and couldn’t go deeper.”
Ray says those early trials led the company to develop the second generation
Well Cleaner that he calls a power suction tool.
“We basically put a jet pump above the tool and we create an incredible
drawdown pressures at the bit. Debris stays contained within the tool.
“Th e best way to describe it is when you turn it on it creates a suction force at
the bottom of the tool and pulls debris into the bailer chambers which are then
retrieved on this wire.
Ray’s next subject was the Well Miller tool designed to remove downhole
obstructions such as isolation valves or barriers by milling or drilling on wire-
line.
“It allows you to mill scale while the well is producing,” said Ray, who notes a
tractor or a stroker tool or some sort of anchoring tool is used to hold the milling
tool in place from reactive torque.
“It uses various bits including a reverse circulation bit for cleaning and mill-
ing at the same time. Now we able to go in and mill cement plugs, bridge plugs
and retrieve the debris at surface.
Ray says with the reverse milling technology Welltec could have removed
the asphaltenes from that Lloydminster well he spoke about it earlier.
“It will bring back any obstructions in the well such as sand debris produc-
tion debris or debris from wellhead maintenance to pipe recovery or fi shing
operations,” he said.
Welltec has its international head offi ce in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it
developed heavy oil technology for North Sea oil operation.
Its Western Canada head offi ce is Calgary with branch locations in Estevan,
Bonnyville and Grande Prairie.
“Th e growth has been phenomenal,” said Ray. “In the last seven years from
we have gone from 3 or 4 fi eld employees to well over 80.”
“We are getting more into the StackFrac and gas market for milling obstruc-
tions from the well so companies can increase their production.
“At the same time, for the Lloyd type heavy oil SAGD area, we are work-
ing on technology to create more suction to pull more debris from the well in a
shorter amount of time.”
Th e company is also working on a tool for lower viscosity oil wells.
Getting the well under production
A22 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A23
Lloydminster – Don
Cairns, the quarterback
of the Platinum Energy
Services Corp. booth at
Lloydminster Heavy Oil
Show, was well prepared
for a blitz of media ques-
tions.
Th e fi rst question,
regarding what Plati-
num does in Lloydmin-
ster, was the easiest to
fi eld.
“In Lloydminster,
we are one of the biggest
pump jack maintenance
shops and suppliers in
Canada,” said Cairns, a
petroleum engineer at
the head offi ce in Cal-
gary.
“We have 23 trucks
in Lloyd that go from
the maintenance side
and installation. We also
have service shops in
Kindersley, Provost and
Medicine Hat for pump
jacks.
“We carry every-
thing from Americans
to Luftkins. We just
brought in a new unit
called the Oil Boss that
has been very well re-
ceived so far.
“It’s only been in the
Canadian market for the
last six months. We’ve
has quite a bit of success
with that as well.”
Platinum is celebrat-
ing its 25th anniversary
this year, and Cairns was
eager to load up his me-
dia visitor with the latest
product literature while
commenting the show
has been good.
“Th ere are a lot of
people coming through.
It’s been very well re-
ceived,” he said.
Platinum markets
itself corporately as a
one-stop shop for pro-
duction and process
equipment with the
Platinum Compressor
Services Corp. division.
Th e company sold
its Control Technologies
Corp. division just days
after the oil show held
Sept. 15-16.
Platinum manufac-
tures and supplies a full
range of oil and gas pro-
duction products includ-
ing separators, tanks,
dehydrators, gas sweet-
eners, compressors, and
treaters and knockouts.
“We do everything
on the process side. Once
the well is drilled – any-
thing to produce it, we
can do it,” said Cairns.
Platinum operates
two fabricating facilities
in Calgary where they
make products such as
separators and treaters.
Th ey have a tank manu-
facturing plant in Red-
cliff near Medicine Hat
Alberta.
Platinum Compres-
sion Services Corp. sup-
plies new and used com-
pressor packages for all
applications and a full
range of screw and re-
ciprocating compression
packages.
Th e Lloydminster
pump jack shop pro-
vides pump jack main-
tenance services such as
gear box reconditioning
and it stocks parts for all
conventional pumping
units.
Asked if they are
busy in the Lloydmin-
ster area, Cairns said, “I
was just talking with one
gentleman here, and say-
ing this was probably the
busiest summer that I’ve
had in 10 years with the
oil price staying strong.
“Husky is one
of our bigger clients
around here and Talis-
man around Chauvin.
Th ere are lots of com-
panies around here that
use Platinum. We have
maintenance groups that
go out and do pump jack
maintenance.”
25 years as “the oil eld equipment people”Don Cairns, a petroleum engineer for Platinum Energy Services Corp., elded a lot of questions about his company’s oil and gas process and
production equipment during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.
A24 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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Lloydminster – IntelliView Technologies Inc. has
raised the bar on security with its smart video sur-
veillance solutions for oil and gas companies to keep
an eye on their assets and who is onsite in real time
24/7.
Th e Calgary-based technology company com-
bines hardware and software on location to record and
analyze video images from installed cameras.
Each camera can select and apply up to 10 dif-
ferent pre-set rules or detection parameters such as
identifying if an object is taken away from a defi ned
area in camera view.
Once a rule has been broken, an automated alarm
is sent to the operator using cellular, radio, and satel-
lite or SCADA communications.
“Our software is our secret sauce,” said Ray Wil-
derman, a business development rep at the Lloydmin-
ster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16.
“It’s able to take information that’s given, make
decisions, and pass those decisions on. It’s making in-
telligent decisions based on what it’s able to see in real
time.”
When an alarm has been triggered, operators can
also connect to onsite cameras through web access, a
BlackBerry application or monitoring stations.
Wilderman says one city bylaw unit in Calgary
is using an IntelliView system to detect and identify
graffi ti artists in the act and report vandalism in real
time so the culprit can be apprehended.
“It’s unique,” said Wilderman. “It’s the only one of
its kind in the world. It’s patented technology. Th ere is
nothing to compare it to in terms of its capabilities.
“You can use it to detect leaks or to detect if a
man is down. You can detect when staff are coming in
and off remote sites.
“It can also help prevent injury by detecting haz-
ardous threats such as sulphur fi res that can’t be seen
by the human eye.”
A standard analytics package comes with up to 10
rules that can be applied to each camera to generate
real time event notifi cations of what’s being detected.
Th e brain of the system is digital video technol-
ogy. It has plug-and-play functionality that allows
a multitude of technology to connect to it such as a
weather station, cameras, access systems and remote
control systems and a variety of sensors.
“We have also incorporated using fuel cells pow-
ered by ethanol to allow these systems to be powered
remotely for an extended period of time,” said Wil-
derman.
It uses the Global System for Mobile Communi-
cations to communicate and SCADA common to the
oil and gas industry.
“It’s a web-based system,” said Wilderman. “Th e
client logs into their device and is able to manage it.
Th ey can manage several hundred of these devices si-
multaneously. You can attach up to 16 cameras.”
Each camera can have its own program rules,
so from what it’s seeing, it is able to make decisions
based on those rules.
“Th e device is able to ‘make decisions’ and then
send those decisions on the applicable party through
e-mail, video clip or a static one shot photograph,”
added Wilderman.
Th e system can detect if an object is left behind
or if someone is loitering within the camera view for a
predetermined time.
It can also be used to detect faces, count people,
detect licence plate numbers, classify sounds and de-
tect oil spills in their early stages among other cus-
tomized capabilities.
IntelliView can detect trouble as it happens
IntelliView surveillance systems can keep an eye on oil and gas assets and personnel for bet-ter safety 24/7. Business development rep Ray Wilderman explained the software brain of the system at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A25
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• OILFIELD• HIGHWAY• FARM• CONSTRUCTION
Lloydminster – Com-
munity service is not a
competition, but Sand-
piper Truck Services
Ltd. edged out nomi-
nee Grit Industries for
a Community Involve-
ment Award at the 2010
Business Week Awards
Gala of the Lloydmin-
ster Chamber of Com-
merce.
Sandpiper was
founded in 1995 by Kim
and Lorne Olson as an
oilfi eld truck service
company with a com-
mitment to serve the
community.
Th e introduction of
Sandpiper at the gala
on Oct. 13 began by at-
tributing the company’s
successful leadership,
fi nancial practices and
a strong work ethic to
“great people and a vi-
brant, healthy commu-
nity.”
Th e rest of the intro-
ductory text about Sand-
piper projected onto a
screen at the Stockade
Convention Centre read,
“Sandpiper’s owners
Lorne and Kim Olson
have always attributed
their success to these
critical elements.
“It is not only a
privilege but an obliga-
tion for Sandpiper Truck
Services to do its part in
making Lloydminster a
great place to live, work
and play and do busi-
ness.”
Th at philosophy has
helped Sandpiper expand
its fl eet to more than 50
vehicles including semi
vacs, tandem vacs, pres-
sure trucks, coiled tub-
ing units, steam trucks,
fl ushbys, transport vehi-
cles and slop trailers for
the heavy oil market.
Choosing Sandpiper
for the award made sense
based on its lengthy list
of donations and em-
ployee volunteerism to
arts and culture, recre-
ation and amateur sport
organizations in Lloyd-
minster.
Th e list includes
support for the Lloyd-
minster Region Health
Foundation, the MS
Society, the SPCA, the
Lloydminster Rescue
Squad, and the Lloyd-
minster Heavy Oil Show
and Oilfi eld Technical
Society executive com-
mittees.
Th e Olsons were
unable to accept their
award due to personal
commitments, but veter-
an fi eld supervisor Lind-
say Hancheryk spoke on
their behalf with his wife
Gina at his side.
“We would like to
thank everyone involved
for contributing this
award, from the nomi-
nators to the selection
committee as well as
ATCO Electric for the
award sponsorship,” said
Hancheryk.
“We feel honoured
to have been nominated
alongside Grit Indus-
tries whose community
contributions are recog-
nized and appreciated.
“We believe that we
have a social responsi-
bility to contribute to
the continuance and en-
hancement of our com-
munity by supporting
those very organizations
that make Lloyd such a
great place to live and do
business.
“Quality health care,
good educational ser-
vices and a wide array
of recreation and cul-
tural opportunities make
Lloyd an attractive com-
munity in which to live,
play, and raise our fami-
lies,” Hancheryk said.
Sandpiper recognized for community involvement
Lindsay Hancheryk, left, a eld supervisor for Sandpiper Truck Ser-vice, with his wife Gina at his side, accepts the Community Involve-ment Award from ATCO Electric rep Dave Evans at this year’s Lloy-dminster Business Week Awards Gala.
A University of Saskatchewan scientist was one of six from across North
America will lead a provincial review of water monitoring data collected from
Alberta's oilsands region.
John Giesy is currently part of the Department of Veterinary Biomedical
Sciences and Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and was re-
cently elected to the Royal Society of Canada. He is regarded as one of the
world's eminent ecotoxicologists (study of toxic eff ects, caused by natural or syn-
thetic pollutants, to entire ecosystems).
Th e focus of the committee will be to examine monitoring data and method-
ology of both government and academic research fi ndings. Th ey will also inves-
tigate whether data is consistent with historical values in the region and explain
the relevance of any diff erences and gaps that may exist. Th e process is expected
to be completed by February 2011.
Th e scientists bring with them expertise in a variety of areas: metal trans-
portation in fresh water, airborne pollution, eff ects of toxic chemicals on aquatic
organisms, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology and trace metal loading in
the environment. Individuals were selected based on recommendations by both
Alberta Environment scientists and Dr. David Schindler, a water expert at the
University of Alberta.
U of S scientist named to Alberta panel
A26 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A27
Lloydminster – Westcomm Pump &
Equipment Ltd. used a cutaway of a Roto
brand pump as a conversation icebreaker at
its booth during the Lloydminster Heavy
Oil Show in September.
Th ere was a lot to talk about as Kyle
Larson, a technical sales rep, explained West-
comm had just signed sales partnerships with
LEWA Pumps + Systems and Roto Pumps
Ltd. on Sept. 8.
“We now actually have a complete prod-
uct lineup for pumping equipment across
the board,” said Larson, who noted only the
model of the Roto pump was available in the
time for the show held Sept. 15-16.
“If you have an application that you have
to move fl uids through pipe, give us a call
because we have a product that will fi t it.”
Th e available LEWA pumps to be distributed by Westcomm are process dia-
phragm pumps for high pressure applications up to 17,500 psi for process indus-
tries.
Westcomm is a Calgary-based company that provides reliable pump and
compressor packages to the oil and gas, chemical processing, pulp and paper, and
municipal wastewater industries.
“Th e Roto pump is new to the North American market,” said Larson. “Th ey
are a very robust progressive cavity pump.
“At the moment, Roto makes a PC pump for surface process facilities only.
Th ey don’t off er a PC pump for downhole applications.
“Roto has been well received in Australia, Europe and Asia. We are excited to
be on the ground fl oor off ering this new product to the oil and gas industry.”
Th e claim to fame for Roto is its drive design that uses a double pin Cardan
universal joint known to be quite reliable and quite robust, enabling Westcomm to
off er a 24-month warranty.
Larson says what sets Roto apart from
competitors is the reliability of the drive sys-
tem and the maintenance friendly aspects of
the pump.
“You can access and maintain the stuff -
ing box, whether you have packing or me-
chanical seals,” he said.
“You can access it from the rotor and
stator end of the pump. Th at means you don’t
have to disturb the alignment of the power
into the motor.”
Larson took the opportunity to note
Westcomm distributes Goulds Pumps for
any centrifugal applications including fl uids
such as glycol and light hydrocarbons.
Westcomm also distributes Gorman-
Rupp rotary gear and self-priming pumps
for hydrocarbon applications, and is known for its ITT pump control and moni-
toring systems.
PumpSmart is the control system designed to prevent failures and improve
pump effi ciency.
“It is a dedicated system for pieces of rotating equipment that off ers protec-
tion features for the equipment it is controlling,” explained Larson.
“It’s a variable frequency drive with pump protection features added in.”
Th e ProSmart condition monitoring system provides 24/7 real time informa-
tion about the health of the equipment that’s running.
“It will monitor information such as vibration and temperature and upload
that by satellite to web-based servers that a maintenance person can access,” said
Larson.
“It provides real-time information to the operators of the equipment so they
can respond to problems. Th e two systems are complementary.”
Westcomm adds newpump makers to its lineup
Kyle Larson used a cutaway model of a Roto pump to prime con-versations at the Westcomm booth during the Lloydminster Oil Show
Onion Lake – On-
ion Lake Cree Nation
is studying an idea to
power its community
with energy from its
own garbage.
Onion Lake Busi-
ness Development Cor-
poration is working with
a California company
called Clean Earth So-
lutions to cost the con-
struction of a biomass
generator that would
covert municipal solid
waste to electricity.
“Th is is a municipal
solid waste (MSW) proj-
ect,” said BDC director
Jeff Ross. “We are look-
ing at developing a pilot
project at Onion Lake
with fi ve to 25 tonnes a
day of solid waste.
“What we would do
is take the MSW – we
don’t burn or incinerate
it – we actually we put it
through a steam agita-
tion process, and what
comes out the end is a
biomass.
“We can convert
that biomass to energy
to electrical energy and
an ethanol fuel.
“What we would do
is power the homes at
Onion Lake. Th e amount
of energy would depend
on the amount of MSW
we produce a day. With
25 tonnes a day we could
probably create energy
for the whole commu-
nity,” Ross said.
Currently, Onion
Lake’s 3,600 residents
produce about six tonnes
of household waste each,
day but more waste feed-
stock could be brought
in from surrounding ar-
eas.
Ross says the band
has met four or fi ve times
with Clean Earth and
has developed a business
plan for the project.
“We are in the pro-
cess of reviewing our
business plan and decide
from there where we
want to go,” said Ross.
A biomass generator
would follow several new
business and investment
opportunities for the
band, thanks to revenues
from oil and gas produc-
tion on reserve land.
Th e BDC oper-
ates band-owned utili-
ties and businesses such
Onion Lake Gas, Onion
Lake Energy and Askiy
Apoy Hauling.
“From the BDC’s
perspective, we would
like to take advantage
of the oil and gas play
at Onion Lake, but we
would also like to diver-
sify out of Onion Lake,”
said Ross.
“We want to create
the right business enti-
ties to create wealth for
the First Nation.”
Th e BDC is think-
ing out loud about the
possibility of building an
MRI clinic on a 65-acre
parcel of land the band
owns west of Lloydmin-
ster and east of the new
Th orpe Recovery Centre
on Highway 16.
“Th at’s one of the
things we are looking
at and reviewing right
now,” said Ross. “We
are also exploring other
business ventures for
that area too.
“We have a lot on
the go. Our goal is to be
a $200 million business
development corpora-
tion in the next couple
of years.”
A28 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Onion Lake mulling new investment ideas
Onion Lake Cree Nation has its own gas utility called Onion Lake Gas that is installing service to a new rental housing subdivision.
Photo by Geoff Lee
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A29
Lloydminster – Mathew Davis, an account man-
ager for Polycore Tubular Linings Corp., came to
the Lloydminster Heavy Oil show in September
prepared to pitch the benefi ts of his company’s ther-
moplastic liners to all comers.
Davis accomplished that goal for the Pipeline News with the aid of product samples to get his
points across in a quick three-minute interview.
“Our liner is basically a thermal plastic liner
that is inserted inside of production tubing,” said
Davis. “It’s meant to mitigate any sort of rod-on-
tubing wear or any type of corrosion issues you
might have.
“Our main applications are injection and dis-
posal wells as well as any sort of rod pumping ap-
plications, whether that’s a progressive cavity pump,
or a beam pump.
“We have been doing quite a bit of work with
some of the producers up here for some heavy oil
applications.
“We will be working in one of our fi rst SADG
wells in the Lloydminster area in coming weeks.”
Polycore’s thermoplastic liners are extremely
abrasion-resistant and chemically inert, eliminat-
ing concerns associated with wireline damage, coil
tubing mechanical damage, acid treatments, and
chemical treatments.
Polycore has its head offi ce in Calgary with a
manufacturing plant in Bow Island east of Medicine
Hat to easily service the Western Canadian oilfi eld.
“Our liners are made from various thermal plas-
tics,” said Davis.
“Our fi rst and oldest product line is made from
high density polyethylene. We add a proprietary
blend that makes it what it is today.”
Polycore also makes an Enercore polyolefi n lin-
er and an Ultracore polyphenylene sulphide liner for
higher temperature applications.
“Th e main purpose of our product is to main-
tain the life of the tube,” said Davis. “
“If we can maintain the life of the tube and keep
that asset rolling for any company, it saves them a
ton of money.
“It reduces their workover costs because it pro-
longs the life of the tubing and it keeps their pro-
duction going.”
Polycore can install the liner in a customer’s
tubing or off er a package price with the coupling,
liner and tubing ready to go.
“Our product will prolong the life of the well
and in essence have a very short return on invest-
ment for the customer,” said Davis.
“For what they invest – either the liner or the
liner and tubing as a package price, they are able
to pay that off in a very short period of time and
receive the cost benefi ts.”
Polycore is a sister company of Western Falcon
Inc., a U.S. company that developed tubular lining
technology with thermoplastic in the 1980s.
Polycore has product stocking locations
throughout the west from Virden, Man. to Fort. St.
John, B.C.
Davis says Polycore liners can also be used in
gas wells depending on the conditions and presence
of sour gas.
“We assess every single well. Every well we put
our thermal plastic tubing in, we make sure that
we talk with the customer and understand the well
depth, the well pressure, the temperatures, the con-
centrations of H2S and CO
2,” he said.
“We do a very thorough examination of every
application we run it in.”
Mathew Davis made umpteen sales pitches about the features and bene ts of thermoplastic tubular lining during the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show on behalf of his Calgary-based company Polycore Tubular Linings Corp.
Polycore’s tubular liners t for SAGD wells
A30 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Lloydminster – Steven Winkler, president of
Quantum Downhole Systems Inc., will likely to
continue to speak positively about his experience at
the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show Sept. 15-16.
“Th is is one the best shows, if not the best,” he
said at time. “I have been involved in the past and I
hope to keep being involved.”
Winkler was invited to make a presentation
about his new JetVak well bore cleanout and produc-
tion testing technology for horizontal wells at the
Lloydminster Heavy Oil Technical Symposium on
Sept. 15, and the talk went over well.
“I had quite a few people come over and ask some
questions and shake a few hands,” he remarked.
“Some people told me they would think of wells
a little bit diff erently now, and maybe even call and
ask us to do some work for them.”
Winkler also brought along a specialized coiled
tubing unit from Technicoil Corp. in Red Deer as
an outdoor exhibit, and stayed in the area for at least
two weeks of work for heavy oil customers.
Winkler says it’s not hard to prove the technol-
ogy works to customers even though JetVak is a new
technology solution on the market.
“Th rough our presentations and the information
we’ve got from the other work we’ve done, the proof
is there,” he said. “Th ey do believe that it works. Th ey
are quite receptive especially in this area.”
He described the reaction to it in Lloydminster
as “exceptional” and went on to say, “Th is technology
is needed in this area.”
What Quantum has done is to combine a spe-
cially engineered jet pump with newly designed
multiple conduit coiled tubing.
Th e new tubing is called the Flatpak, and it was
developed by CJS Coiled Tubing Supply Ltd. in
Lloydminster and Source Rock Energy Partners in
Calgary.
“Th e pump on the dual coil – part of it jets and
fl uidizes the sand ahead of it, and part of the pump
vacuums out the mixture all in one shot,” explained
Winkler.
Th e JetVak allows the operator to remove both
solids and/or fl uids from a well bore in an under-
balanced fashion.
“It’s very applicable to heavy oil. We are going to
be introducing some chemicals and some solvents to
emulsify the fl uids downhole so the heavy oil comes
out of the well easier and through the coil more ef-
fi ciently,” said Winkler.
Th e JetVak system is also applicable for post frac
cleanouts and produced sand cleanouts among other
applications in horizontal wells.
Quantum worked with Technicoil to make some
minor modifi cations to the coiled tubing unit used
to apply the JetVak tool into deeper wells.
“Up until a month ago we have been working
in wells up to 1,000 metres, but this rig is allowing
us to go over 2,000 metres which covers the major-
ity of wells nowadays, especially with the horizontal
types,” said Winkler.
“We’ve been doing work primarily in the
Kindersley area. Th e rig has not even been on the
road for a month yet.
“We have been in Kindersley and Th ree Hills,
and we have two weeks of work in Lloydminster
lined up, and maybe even more. Soon we are going
to Fort Mac.”
Quantum raises the bar in well bore clean-outs department
Steven Winkler from Quantum Downhole Sys-tems talks with a visitor at the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. They are standing beside a Technicoil Corp. coiled tubing unit.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 A31
A32 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Story and photos by Geoff LeeOnion Lake – Oil and gas explora-
• Construction Safety Of cer• Health & Safety Administrator
• External Safety Auditor
Cell: (306) 421-3351
Andy Schroeder
• Battery Operating/Oil eld Consulting • Construction & Pipeline
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Riley ShaverLead Operator
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421-1881
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Dylan BeaulieuOperator
471-7020
Oil and gas funds business independence for Onion Lake
Jeff Ross, director of Onion Lake Business Development Corp., says oil and gas activities on the reserve are helping the band to create new busi-ness and employment opportunities.
Page B1“A lot of it comes down to communication,” said
Ross. “Once we communicate what we are doing and
our success, we will probably get a lot more support
from the community.
“From the BDC’s perspective we would like
to take advantage of the oil and gas play at Onion
Lake, but we would also like to diversify out of On-
ion Lake.”
Ross says band Chief Wally Fox is also thinking
out of the box with long-term visions of Onion Lake
doing its own drilling.
“I also know he wants to get into refi ning here
so we can supply the province of Saskatchewan with
gas,” said Ross.
“He has mentioned there are about 70 First Na-
tion service stations in Saskatchewan. We would like
to be the supplier of fuel for them.”
In the meantime, Onion Lake and the BDC
want to maximize their business and employment
opportunities from continued oil and gas develop-
ment, but not at any cost.
“All the shareholders of companies like Black
Pearl want to make money and so does the company
and so do we,” said Ross.
“We are profi t-driven too, but we are also com-
munity-driven. We want to make our community
better and provide better infrastructure. As long as
those two goals can come together, it will make it a
win-win situation.
“Onion Lake is in a position to take advantage
of the oil and gas resources, and that could go to im-
proving the roads or houses for members and fund-
ing post secondary education costs.
“We are looking at building 100-plus homes
eventually, and about 60 in 2010.
“What we do is look at leveraging that royalty
and oil and gas revenues to borrow with a repayment
through oil and gas revenues.
“We have paved some roads and I know we are
looking at a new day care and paving more roads,”
Ross said.
Out of the box thinking
The Onion Lake Business Development Corp. operates several band-owned businesses in-cluding the new Makaoo Gas Bar next to the Makaoo Mall.
Nuvista Energy has approximately 13 wells at Onion Lake Cree Nation.
Oil eld traf c is steady north of the community of Onion Lake within the band’s reserve. The Onion Lake Business Development Corp. has launched its own uid hauling company called Askiy Apoy Hauling. A vac and pressure truck business is in the works.
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Manitoba Petroleum Branch director Keith Lowdon, while touring a Preci-sion Drilling rig near Waskada, Man. The rig was working for Penn West on Sept. 28. Lowdon was part of a ministerial tour of Waskada’s re-ignited oil patch. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Page B3However, the two
leading operators in
Waskada are looking at
production numbers that
will match that.
Penn West is plan-
ning on boosting its six-
inch Waskada to Cromer
pipeline from a capacity
of 7,500 bpd to 15,000
bpd by March, 2011,
and up to 23,000 bpd
within two years. EOG
Resources is planning
for production of 10,000
bpd by the end of the
year once its eight-inch
pipeline, currently under
construction, comes on
stream. Th at pipeline will
have a capacity of 40,000
bpd.
Lowdon noted that
production drops off on
new wells pretty rapidly,
and is cautious about
making projections. “I’d
like to see what happens
in the long term. We
know production is go-
ing up,” he said.
Really busyAs for the Petroleum
Branch during this period
of rapid growth, he said,
“We’re really stretched.
Everyone says, ‘We’re
really busy,’ regardless of
department and industry.
I think we have the stats
to prove it.”
Th e province is
looking at going online
with well licence appli-
cations, and has looked
into joining the Alberta
Petroleum Registry, as
Saskatchewan has done.
However, they are look-
ing for feedback from in-
dustry on that front.
Up until now, gas
production wasn’t really
much of a factor in Man-
itoba. Th e new wells at
Waskada are more gassy
than previous ones, how-
ever.
“Th ere’s really no in-
frastructure to move that
gas to market,” Lowdon
said.
At one point, there
was a gas plant at Waska-
da, but locals point out
it was pulled out in the
1990s. It used to truck
out natural gas liquids
like propane and butane,
and then fl are off what
was left.
Th ere is no seri-
ous gas infrastructure in
the area, save a seven-
kilometre four-inch line
EOG is currently build-
ing between batteries and
a small line in the Pier-
son area that runs into
Saskatchewan.
“We believe there’s
an opportunity to capture
that solution gas,” Low-
don said. “Realistically,
we want them to buy in
and have some alterna-
tives.”
On the groundLowdon has per-
sonal experience in the
Waskada fi eld. “I was in
Waskada in the ’80s,” he
said, where he worked as
a petroleum inspector for
the Petroleum Branch. “I
lived there in 1982.”
Th e big push in
Waskada was in the early
1980s. It had sustained
drilling, “but nothing like
this,” he said.
At the time, there
were four restaurants, and
two hotels, one of which
was trailer-based, by the
arena. “Th e restaurants
were so busy back then.
Th e hotel was fl ooded.”
Omega Hydro-
carbons discovered the
Lower Amaranth forma-
tion, he recalled.
Currently, the Petro-
leum Branch has one in-
spector, Lorne Barsness,
and one admin person,
Twila Jolly, working out
of their Waskada offi ce.
Lowdown hopes to ex-
pand that.
“Th ere’s too much
for one person to do.
Lorne’s a super inspec-
tor. We don’t want him to
wear out.”
Manitoba sees substantial growth in drilling
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By Brian ZinchukWhite Bear First Nation – If everything stays on
track, White Bear First Nation should be seeing sev-
eral wells drilled on its reserve land before the end
of the year. Th ese will be the fi rst wells drilled on the
land in several years, and will mark the First Nation’s
third go-around operating an oil producing com-
pany.
Th e wells will be part of a joint venture with a
startup Calgary-based petroleum producer. At the
time of writing, the name of the partner was not yet
public.
Brent McArthur is the president of Wabimusqua
Oil and Gas Ltd., the name of White Bear’s compa-
ny. It means “White Bear” in Cree. While he may be
president, he is very humble about that fact, and in-
deed, he repeatedly talks about group decision mak-
ing. McArthur has spent the last several years work-
ing on petroleum development for the First Nation.
Annette Lonechild is a council member. Much
of her work of late has been involved in the oil and
gas initiative. She and Francis McArthur are two of
the council members who spend a lot of their time on
the initiative, as does long-time Chief Brian Stand-
ingready.
“Th e big companies are too big. Our interests
aren’t important to them,” said Lonechild, when
asked why they went with a start-up company as a
partner.
“Just another asset,” is how Brent McArthur
characterized large company’s perspective on their
land.
“Th ey had the best proposal,” Lonechild said.
McArthur added that as a smaller company, they
were willing to negotiate.
White Bear has 2,346 members in total, of whom
approximately 800 live on reserve. Th e First Nation’s
land is in one 47 square-mile block. Unlike many
other First Nations in the province, White Bear has
not yet resolved its Treaty Land Entitlement addi-
tional acres, and has outstanding land claims issues.
Th e reserve is located just a few minutes drive
north of Carlyle, and is close to the heart of the ac-
tion in southeast Saskatchewan. Yet while drilling
has been taking place all over the region, and espe-
cially just north of the reserve in Moose Mountain
Provincial Park, there hasn’t been a well drilled on
White Bear since 2005.
Th at’s not to say there hasn’t been drilling in the
past. “Since the 1950s, we’ve drilled about 135 wells
on the First Nation,” McArthur said. Of that, about
115-120 were drilled in the period from 1993 to
2005.
In the 1980s, the First Nation owned White
Bear Resources Inc. for the purposes of joint venture
development. Th ere was a small program with Cana-
dian Hunter in 1987-88, but it wasn’t successful and
was uneconomic, according to McArthur.
Page B6
Pursuing Tilston, then Bakken
White Bear First Nation has been working hard on economic development for decades. In the early ’90s, it founded the movement of First-Nations run casinos, such as its Bear Claw Casino, seen here. Now it is getting back into the oil and gas game, and intends on drilling wells shortly.
Photo by Brian Zinchuk
B6 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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White Bear First Nation Page B5
After that, further
talks resulted in a 1993
agreement between Tri-
Link Resources Ltd. and
the First Nation’s second
venture, White Bear Oil
and Gas Ltd. Th is led to
the majority of explora-
tion on the First Nation.
In 1998-99, the price of
oil dropped, and TriLink
backed off development.
Th e last well was drilled
in 2005, just before the
Bakken rush would
sweep the region.
McArthur explained
that the level of success
for White Bear Oil and
Gas wasn’t minimal
or outstanding. Th ere
was reasonable benefi t
to the First Nation. A
gross overriding royalty
is still received from on-
going production. After
a number of ownership
changes, the existing
wells are now operated
by Harvest Operations
Corp., a subsidiary of
Harvest Energy Trust.
Harvest has recently
been acquired by Korea
National Oil Corpora-
tion.
Th e 1993 agreement
had run its course and
was allowed to expire.
Th e First Nation began
looking into opportu-
nities for a new agree-
ment in 2005. It took
several years of work
to get things lined up,
and the decline of oil
prices in 2009 set them
back many months. As
McArthur put it, there
were “many interesting
zigzags.”
Th ey had an agree-
ment on the table that
was “beautiful,” with in-
teresting terms in 2008,
but oil bottomed out,
and they needed those
prices to come back to
continue. “It probably
set us back 18 months,
but it gave us time to
focus on other things,”
he said.
Lonechild pointed
out the 10- year cycles
the oil patch seems to
follow, and that it is
coming out of the bot-
tom of one now.
Page B7
These wells were developed as part of a partnership with TriLink Resourc-es. That agreement expired in 2005, and there has been no further oil de-velopment on White Bear First Nation since then. That will soon change.
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This building on the White Bear First Na-tion is for post sec-ondary training and education. People under the age of 35 make up about a third of the White Bear population.
Photo by Brian Zinchuk
launching energy company Page B6 Th e First Nation got the feel of the
people regarding new development, and a poll re-
ceived favourable support. A new agreement was
signed April 1, 2010, and has a fi ve-year term.
“We’re looking at tapping into the Tilston,
which is what we have producing right now,” said
McArthur.
“We’re not producing Bakken yet,” Lonechild
added, but pointed out they will be targeting it in
the future.
Th e plan is for approximately 15 initial wells, but
that depends on the success of the fi rst few wells.
“We are doing some step out development right
now,” Lonechild said. Th at will be followed by ex-
ploratory drilling in early 2011.
“We’re trying to get at least three wells drilled
here by year end,” McArthur said.
On Oct. 7, a professional archeologist and an
environmental consultant were on site, doing foot
surveys of drilling locations and pipeline rights-of-
way.
Th e plan is to use pad drilling where possible,
in an eff ort to minimize land disturbance. “For us,
that’s number one,” McArthur said, noting the land
is used for cultural purposes, tourism and recreation.
“We live off the land,” Lonechild added, saying
there were lots of hunters who make use of it. Th ere
needs to be a balance of development and conserva-
tion, she explained.
Th e block of land is substantial and contigu-
ous. Th ere are certain areas on the north side that
are exempt from development due to outstanding
historical land claims issues. Th ere are approximately
11,000 hectares, or 27,200 acres available for devel-
opment. It’s one of the largest blocks available for
development in the region. Th ere are certain subsur-
face leases that will need to be worked around. Th ere
will also be buff ers around certain areas.
Asked if they were going to have local driller
Eagle Drilling Services doing the work, McArthur
noted they were already booked up. Th e First Nation
would prefer to align itself with Aboriginal com-
panies, and has a partnership with Beretta Pipeline
Construction, a Lloydminster outfi t owned by On-
ion Lake First Nation. Th e two First Nations have
been working together on a number of fronts, and
are among the leaders of First Nations bands who
are active in the oil and gas arena.
“I think there’s room for a start-up enterprise,
right on the First Nation,” McArthur said. “Th ere’s
room for business creation.”
“Th is is a diff erent era. Times have changes.
We’ve got a lot more willingness in industry and in
the corporate arena to have those opportunities.”
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Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk
Waskada, Man. –
Waskada, Man., has
seen a substantial boom
of drilling this year. Th e
oilpatch fi rst came to the
community with a boom
in the early 1980s, and
that is now being repeat-
ed nearly 30 years later.
EOG Resources
Canada Inc. is one of
two producers that are
primarily driving this lo-
cal boom. Th e company
is currently building an
eight-inch pipeline from
Waskada to the En-
bridge Mainline termi-
nal at Cromer, and has
several rigs drilling in
the area.
A large-cap inde-
pendent producer, EOG
Resources is based in
Houston, Texas. Th e
company has operations
in Canada, the United
States, China, Trinidad
and Tobago, the East
Irish Sea and North
Sea around the United
Kingdom.
Paul Arnott, vice-
president and general
manager of EOG Re-
sources Canada Inc.,
took part in Manitoba
Innovation, Energy and
Mines Minister Dave
Chomiak’s Sept. 28 tour
of their Waskada facili-
ties and pipeline con-
struction project.
When asked for an
interview, EOG’s pub-
lic relations department
referred Pipeline News to
its pipeline application
fi ling with the Manitoba
government.
According to its ap-
plication to build the
pipeline, EOG has been
operating in the Waska-
da area for over 25 years.
At the time of fi ling
(March 22, 2010), the
company had 329 wells
in the area, made up of
272 oil producers and 57
injectors. EOG drilled
10 wells in 2008 and 28
in 2009. As of March,
their plans were to drill
an additional 100 wells
in 2010, another 100
in 2011, and then 50 in
2012.
Page B12
Paul Arnott, EOG Resources Canada Inc. vice-president and general manager, and Adrian Neu-mann, pipeline project manager, were on hand Sept. 28 to take the Manitoba minister of Innova-tion, Energy and Mines on a tour of their facili-ties and pipeline project around Waskada. This photo was taken at the camp, north of Waskada, which has been necessary to handle the in ux of workers in the area.
Governance and investment Governance and investment linked through BRIDGlinked through BRIDG
Page B15
Th e idea is to set up
a development corpora-
tion for the First Na-
tion.
Th e program pays
for the legal setup of the
corporate entities and
assists with the early
legal infrastructure and
governance. Th en they
evaluate various business
opportunities.
“Each participating
community is at a dif-
ferent level of develop-
ment,” Kook said.
Many of these par-
ticipating First Nations
are in mineral or oil and
gas country, according to
Kook.
FundKook talks about
the next wave of wealthy
First Nations in the prov-
ince. “Th ere are success
stories today. We have
to increase those success
stories. We have to take
those fi ve to 10 commu-
nities that are successful
and make that 20, then
30, then 40; no diff erent
than what we’ve done
with Saskatchewan en-
trepreneurs in the non-
First Nations sector.
“At Westcap, we
have a team that is dedi-
cated to running a fund
that is $20 million in
size to help First Nations
participate in the wealth
of this province, in terms
of managent buyouts,
resources, oil and gas,
as well as a program
like BRIDG that helps
with better governance
and get them business
ready.”
Th at $20 million was
funded by the provincial
government, and the
fund is now three years
old. To date, approxi-
mately $4 million has
been committed while
they roll out BRIDG
and the governance and
infrastructure fi rst. Th ere
has been a lot of activity
in the Fund as of late, ac-
cording to Kook, and he
expects additional trans-
actions to be announced
soon.
Oil and gas is one
area the fund can invest
in, but it is not limited to
that sector.
Page B17
Grant Kook is president and CEO of Westcap Mgt Ltd., the rm that manages the First Nations and Métis Fund. File photo
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Waskada, Man. –
Spearing Service L.P. is
building a shop just south
of Waskada to support its
burgeoning business in
the area.
“We bought 20 acres
of property there to de-
velop,” said Ken Mc-
Clement, Spearing’s op-
erations manager based
in Oxbow. Th e company
is a subsidiary of Mullen
Group Ltd.
“We’ll be in our
shop within 90 days,” he
said on Oct. 19. “Th ey’ve
started her now.”
Th e company is
building an 8,000 sq.-ft.
shop which will include
eight doors arranged for
drive-through access. A
wash bay will be part of
the shop. Offi ce space
will also be part of the
package.
Th e location will
have a mechanic as well
as offi ce staff .
Th e company will
move in some wellsite
trailers for temporary ac-
commodations for staff .
“We need some
lodging for some guys,”
McClement said.
“We’ve got up to
20 guys there most days
now,” he said of the cur-
rent Waskada workforce.
Some are locals, some are
staying in locally rented
homes, some are trav-
elling from Pipestone,
Man.
Th e earlier wet
weather meant some
changes to the founda-
tion, but otherwise Mc-
Clement said, “It’s been
really good.”
In the area it’s pretty
common to see Spear-
ing’s horizontal frac trail-
er tanks on local wellsites
during fracturing opera-
tions.
“We have over 60
of the frac trailers down
there now,” McClement
said.
Th e yard will allow
for storage, plus a place to
clean and restore them.
Th e company has
been building up its fl eet
of frac trailers. “We have
178 altogether now,” he
said.
Spearing Service LP builds Waskada shop
This site is rapidly turning into a new shop location for Spearing Service L.P., just south of Waskada, Man.
Page B16Any First Nation or
Métis organization, com-
munities or entrepreneurs
can apply for access to the
fund. Th ey have to have
51 per cent ownership of
the enterprise.
“We’ve done a couple
transactions, successful by
all accounts,” Kook said,
but noted they were early
on.
“We bridge a whole
new side,” Kook said.
Th rough Westcap’s
experience and connec-
tions as one of the leading
investment fund manag-
ers in the province, they
are able to bring deal fl ow,
management teams, in-
vestors and, probably most
importantly, business acu-
men in the acquisition
and investment space.
It’s possible, for in-
stance, to work with them
to develop joint ventures
with good management
teams, such as the “top-
tier oil and gas manage-
ment teams,” Kook likes
to refer to.
“We can come to the
table with them on their
behalf,” Kook said. “Th at’s
our business, helping
them vet [business op-
portunities],” he said.
Westcap, he said, has
their interests at heart,
and can be aligned by
investing alongside with
them in the venture.
“Our deal size is be-
tween $1 million to $3
million. If it needs more,
we can partner with
Golden Opportunities, or
other oil and gas partners
we know,” Kook explained.
Th at can be leveraged into
a $10 million deal.
“We’re pretty excit-
ed,” he said.
“We’re looking at
management buyouts,
service, manufacturing,
value-added ag. We’ll
look at mineral plays.”
One of the companies
they have partnered with
is Eagle Vision Mulching
out of Big River.
Some companies see
opportunities butting up
on First Nations lands,
Kook noted in reference
to oil and gas develop-
ment. Th ere are some
inherent opportunities,
not only from a taxation
perspective, but through
lands that have been ac-
cumulated through the
Treaty Land Entitlement
process.
Whereas historically,
the First Nations may not
have come to the table
with capita, the fund can
help them with that now.
As fund managers,
Westcap can bring advice
at the board level.
“We know it’s ulti-
mately about manage-
ment,” Kook said.
Th e two programs
– BRIDG and the First
Nations and Métis fund,
are connected because of
what they do at Westcap,
Kook explained. Th ey are
driven to see that First
Nations are not left be-
hind in creation of wealth
and the resource develop-
ment that’s occurring this
province.
“Th e fund’s fi rst
mandate is to help create
wealth for First Nations
and Métis. If you’re cre-
ating wealth, you’re creat-
ing sustainable long term
jobs.
“It’s about job cre-
ation,” he said, noting there
are no hiring quotas.
Improving governance before investment
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Waskada, Man. –
Hannah’s Tank Rentals
has been through the
busy times and the slow
times in Waskada, Man.,
fi ring up during the fi rst
oil rush in the commu-
nity and now seeing the
second.
Clayton Hannah,
proprietor, said they
started up, “Oh, about
25 years ago, way back in
’84-’85.”
Clayton’s wife, Fran,
is the other half of the
company, whose role is
administrative work.
“I started the last
time the oil patch was in
Waskada,” said Clayton.
At the time, he was
an agent for Circle D
Tanks. “When they left,
I bought a couple tanks
and started building if
from there,” he said.
Th e company is
pretty focused. Th ey
handle tank rentals, and
only tank rentals. Of
that, you can have any
size you want, as long as
its 400 barrels. “Th at’s all
I rent,” Clayton said.
“It’s my main thing.
I’m retired from farm-
ing. It’s a full-time job
for me,” he said of the
rental business.
Th e company now
has 35 tanks, slowly
building up in number
over the years.
Over the past year,
Hannah said, “It’s been
busy. Th is week, it could
have been busier. Th ere
are six tanks in the yard.
“Last week, there
weren’t any,” he said on
Oct. 6.
Th ose tanks could be
seen lined up along the
west side of a yard that
could best be described
as park-like, something
Clayton attributes to
Fran. He’s also pretty
conscientious about hav-
ing drivers keep the place
neat and orderly.
As tanks come in,
they are cleaned by an
outfi t brought in, then
aligned on the row ready
to go out.
“It was so quiet here,
I actually subleased my
tanks to an outfi t in Sas-
katchewan in the early
’90s. Th ings have been
a steady increase for
me,” Clayton said. “Th e
last two years, it’s really
picked up.”
“Th ey’ve been good
to support us and the
local companies,” Fran
added.
“It takes a lot of time
to expand,” Clayton said.
“Tanks are not avail-
able at a drop of a hat.
It takes four to six weeks
to make one. We try to
add two to four a year,”
he said.
In the early days,
they had a truck to haul
tanks. He decided to get
rid of it, and let oth-
ers worry about hauling
them.
“If my boy decides to
come home, and some-
day, he might,” Clayton
responded when asked
about hauling their own
tanks. “It’s a young man’s
game, rolling 16 hours a
day.
“Right now, it’s
tough to fi nd a good
man to work for you,” he
said.
Clayton said they
hope to get about 10 to
12 years of life out of a
tank, but that depends
on what they are used
for.
“Th ese wells have
more gas. We’re start-
ing to epoxy coat them.
We hope to get an extra
three to fi ve years,” he
said.
Hannah’s been around for both booms
Clayton and Fran Hannah have been operating Waskada-based Hannah’s Tank Rentals since the rst oil boom hit the small Manitoba community in the 1980s.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 B19
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Rider fan maybe?Saskatchewan Roughriders fan Michael “Huge” Blair paid $200 for the custom paint job on his hardhat. The Rider Pride motorhand could be found working on Precision Drilling’s Rig 205 near Waskada, Man. on Sept. 28.
Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Waskada, Man. –
Th ere are a lot of new
faces working in and
around Waskada, Man.,
these days. One of those
new people, for a short
time at least, was Daryl
Schienbein, relief chef at
PTI Group’s Waskada
Lodge, while another is
Weyme Teeter, fi rst chef.
Schienbein had just
arrived at the camp when
Pipeline News visited on
Sept. 28.
“I was up in Baf-
fi n Island, doing DEW
Line cleanup,” he said,
referring to the continu-
ing decommissioning
process of the cold-war
era Distant Early Warn-
ing line of radar stations
in the high arctic.
Schienbein was fi ll-
ing in for Terry Kluke,
the regular camp cook.
PTI cooks typically
work three weeks on and
one off , requiring a relief
cook to fi ll in during the
off week.
“I’m a bit of a Gypsy
right now, but I guess
Vancouver was where I
was raised,” said Teeter
while making the fi nal
preparations for lunch.
“I’m kind of a Gypsy,
too,” added Schienbein.
“I was born in Saskatch-
ewan, and I’m a Riders
fan. Does that count?”
His family moved to
British Columbia when
he was two.
Th e camp has re-
cently doubled its capac-
ity, and will soon have
nearly 200 people stay-
ing there.
“Right now, we’re at
100. Th at’s 300 meals a
day,” he said.
Th e camp allows
walk-in traffi c for meals.
With a fl at rate for each
meal, a person has ac-
cess to everything on
that menu. Asked how
he factors for that vari-
ability, Schienbein said,
“I will calculate 1.5 pork
chops per person,” he
cited as an example.
Orders are done
weekly, and as the camp
population climes, they
order accordingly.
Schienbein attended
Vancouver Community
College, and has his Red
Seal chef papers.
While chef train-
ing may focus on fancy
French cuisine, Schien-
bein said, “Out here,
you’re doing mom and
pop cooking – comfort
food.”
Teeter, 27, said she
fell into cooking after
high school. “Here I am,
10 years later.”
Schienbein, 44, has
been with PTI for six
years. He had worked
in hotels and restaurants
on the West Coast, and
had been a sous chef on
Vancouver Island be-
fore joining PTI. “I al-
ways wanted to check
into camp life. I called a
friend, and it was ‘When
can you be here?’”
He’s found it’s bet-
ter money than work-
ing on the island. “Th is
has worked out well. Th e
pay’s good, job’s good.
Camp life’s not for ev-
erybody, but I don’t mind
it.”
Much of his work
has been around Fort St.
John, B.C.
“It’s really pick and
choose. Go where the
jobs are. Wherever they
have work, they send
you.”
Cook lives life of a Gypsy
Daryl Schienbein, relief chef at PTI Group’s Waskada Lodge, serves up lunch.
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CE Franklin has re-established its presence in Waskada, Man. On the left is Jason Wickham, who looks after the Waskada store, and Scott Wilson, who manages the Virden location.
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Jason Wickham, left, and Scott Wilson, can be found at the Waskada CE Franklin location. Wilson is the the manager for Virden, while Wickham operates the Waskada location. Wilson used to work in Waskada several years before.
Rope, soap and dope supplied Page B20
Th ere is talk of a gas
plant in the area.
“It’s the price of oil
and new technologies.
Th en years ago, they
abandoned a tonne of
wells. New drilling and
fracking technologies
have surged in this area.”
For their business,
he said, “It’s improving
every month. We’re get-
ting used to customer
requirements, building
inventory according to
local needs.”
Being in Waskada,
just a few minutes drive
from a lot of the action,
makes a big diff erence,
according to Wilson.
“If an operator needs
a $2 fi tting, it saves them
an hour running there
and back,” he said of the
next closest supply store.
“Most of the drill-
ing activity is within 25
minutes of Waskada.”
Wilson explained
the company has fi ve
building blocks of its
business. Th ey include
artifi cial lift; mainte-
nance, repair and op-
erations supply, or MRO
(also known colloqui-
ally as “rope, soap and
dope”); actuation and
automation; tubular; and
major projects. Locally,
artifi cial lift and MRO
are the main focus at
Waskada. Th ey also have
some tubulars outside
the building.
Th e company has
also locally partnered
with Virden-based Safe-
ty Source, a safety sup-
ply store (see story page
C16). Th e partnership
provides them with per-
sonal protective equip-
ment to off er. Wickham
noted they will be carry-
ing air pack systems as
clients call for them.
One thing they both
point out is the diffi -
culties of logistics for
the Manitoba oil patch.
Even though Virden is
not far away and on the
TransCanada Highway,
overnight service does
not occur, especially for
products coming out of
Edmonton. “It’ll drive
right past us on the way
to Winnipeg,” Wilson
said, pointing out there
is no trucking depot in
Virden. While they are
working on it, he ac-
knowledged, “Freight is
one of our biggest ex-
penses and problems.”
“I’m a home boy
through and through,”
Wickham said. In the
’80s, it was such a quick
little boom. Everybody
made their money and
left. I hope some day
this isn’t just a one man
store,” Wickham said.
He wants jobs in
town, and besides, they
need more kids to play
hockey with his kids.
B22 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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We have a very active housing business here in On-
ion Lake. We build a lot of houses here.”
Construction is under way on a new 10,000 sq.
ft. building behind the BDC offi ce to house building
supplies such as all types of lumber, drywall, roofi ng
and siding materials.
Th e old hockey arena adjacent to the BDC of-
fi ce is currently being used to store product inven-
tory until the Meetah Building Supplies centre is
complete.
Th e new steel frame building will share space
with an existing glass shop in Onion Lake that
could morph into a manufacturing centre for sealed
windows.
“We do other things as well and we have wid-
ened our product group,” said Chisholm. “We sup-
ply furniture, appliances and all that sort of thing to
our new houses and to our social assistance group
here.
“Th ere’s a lot of potential there.”
Chisholm says Meetah Building Supplies was
created in 2009, but didn’t really get going until the
beginning of December.
“Th e idea came up that rather than give the
profi ts in building materials to people outside the
community, that we would create our own build-
ing supply company and keep the profi t within this
community,” he said. Page B23
Onion Lake grows its own Onion Lake grows its own building supplies businessbuilding supplies business
Cliff Keller, a contract driver for Askiy Apoy Haul-ing, takes a break along with dispatcher Keith Miller, and Jim Chisholm, the general manager of Meetah Building Supplies. The band’s Busi-ness Development Corporation of ce is shared by several Onion Lake businesses.
Rest Easier (The oil patch is looking better, but at the end of a long day this bed looks fantastic)
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Kelvin Luedtke, production superintendent for Penn West Energy Trust for southeast Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota, talks to Twila Jolly during a rig tour. Jolly does the paperwork for the Manitoba Petroleum Branch in Waskada.
Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak, left, is shown Penn West’s new battery, under construction, south of Waskada.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 C3
From AboveFrom AboveWaskada, Man. – Fast Trucking of Card-nuff had its helicopter in the Waskada area on Oct. 6. The company was kind enough to provide Pipeline News editor Brian Zinchuk, Waskada Mayor Gary Williams, and Manitoba Petroleum Branch adminis-trative secretary Twila Jolly for an airborne tour of some of the action happening around the southern Manitoba boomtown. Photos by Brian Zinchuk
Fast Trucking of Carnduff now has a Robinson
R44 Raven II helicopter, seen
here at Waskada.
Left: Ensign Big Sky Drilling Rig 37 could be found northeast of Waska-da.
Right: A very small com-munity, Waskada is now in the middle of a boom. You can see evidence of its previous boom in the ’80s, with a blue pump-jack on the right side of the park. On the top left corner, wellsite trailers provide lodging for Penn West workers. The little blips in the elds to the north are pumpjacks.
BJ Services conducts a fracking operation on a Penn West well west of Waskada. The blue horizontal frac tanks, supplied by Spearing Service L.P., have become popular in the area.
EOG Resource’s pipeline project is in the pro-cess of lowering in and back ll as seen here. If you look closely, you can see both the eight-inch oil pipeline, and a four-inch local gas pipeline in the ditch.
His store is an eclectic assortment. In one corner you can buy gifts, another a notepad, with insur-ance in the third corner and a bottle to keep you happy in the fourth. Waskada Mayor Gary Williams is seeing his town boom following a rebirth of the local oil patch due to new drilling and completion technologies.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 C5
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Page C4Indeed, like many town in rural Canada, Waska-
da has struggled. Th ere was an oil boom in the early
1980s, but that petered out substantially, and much
of the added economic activity dried up. Th e rail line
was pulled out about a decade ago. Th e restaurant had
closed for several years, until a local couple decided to
purchase it and re-open it.
Williams pointed out the K-12 school, the small-
est of its type in Manitoba, wasn’t always a foregone
conclusion. Th e community coughed up extra funds
to add 0.5 of a position, so that they could retain one
more staff member. However, enrolment is up 15 per
cent for the school that had 75 kids last year.
Th e oil industry is why they still have a school,
he said.
Two oil patch safety companies that are providing
mobile treatment units in the area have come forward
and off ered their services to assist in case of medi-
cal emergencies until the regular ambulance arrives.
Williams said that came into play during the previous
week, with a collision near the community. Th ere’s a
huge reduction in response time as a result, he said.
Bob Radcliff e, a councillor for the RM of Brenda
that surrounds Waskada, walked into Williams’ store,
Griffi th Agencies. It’s an eclectic place where you can
get your licence plates renewed, pick up a notepad, a
gift, and a bottle of whisky.
“It’s exciting. Everything is going full bore,” Rad-
cliff e said.
At one point he counted 88 vehicles going past a
point near the town in 45 minutes. Th at’s easily a 10-
fold increase from last year, he added.
“You should have been here at quarter to seven,”
he said.
In addition to the drilling going on in the area,
Spearing Service is building a new shop south of
town. PTI Group doubled the size of its camp, estab-
lished last spring, to 200 beds. Th e camp is now as big
as the village.
Campers can be seen near the edge of the south
side park, and wellsite trailers occupy the northwest
corner of town.
Radcliff e had seen the boom of the ’80s, but said,
“Now it’s on a large scale. Th ey’re spending a fair bit.”
He has heard 10 new operators are going to be
needed in the area, and that there is an extreme hous-
ing shortage.
Another man, this one in fi re-retardant coveralls,
walked into the store.
“Th at fellow worked here in the fi rst boom, went
to Alberta, and is now back as a consultant,” Radcliff e
said.
In the Waskada area, as is common throughout
Manitoba, there is a high percentage of freehold min-
eral rights. Williams pointed out that quite often,
those rights are not held by the current owners of the
land, however, and may have been passed down within
families and spread out to descendents.
Williams said, “We have a pretty vibrant ag econ-
omy. Th e farmland here is as good as any. A little on
the dry side, famers have generally done well here.”
A hemp processing plant is under construction
on the south side of town.
Th e former rail land in the centre of Waskada is
now open for development. A camp company had ex-
pressed interest in it, but Williams noted a preference
for more permanent buildings.
“We’re trying to steer this ship through waters
that are pretty uncharted. In 10 years, if we can grow
our population by 25 per cent, and maintain a store,
post offi ce, hotel and credit union, we will have done
as well as we can.”
Second boom revives once- agging villageBob Radcliffe, a councillor the Manitoba RM of Brenda, has been counting vehicles due to the in ux of oil business in the area. In one place, the traf c is 10 times what it was a year ago. The RM of Brenda surrounds the village of Waskada.
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Manitoba, Saskatchewan, AlbertaManitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
Story and photos by Brian ZinchukWaskada, Man. – Dave
Chomiak was on a mis-
sion in late September,
visiting Manitoba’s two
most prominent oil plays.
On Sept. 28, he, along
with several of his minis-
terial staff , visited the hot
Waskada area.
Chomiak is Mani-
toba’s minister of Innova-
tion, Energy and Mines.
While having a lunch
at the PTI Waskada
Lodge camp set up this
past March just north of
the community, Chomiak
told Pipeline News it was
his fi rst “mission like this
in this part of the coun-
try.”
“Yesterday, we spent
the day with Tundra at
the Sinclair fi eld,” he said.
Tundra Oil and Gas is the
largest oil producer in the
province, with signifi cant
operations near Sinclair,
Man. While there, he vis-
ited the company’s carbon
dioxide fl ood pilot project.
“We still see poten-
tial,” he said of it.
At Waskada, the min-
ister saw construction
of EOG Resources’ new
pipeline from Waskada
to Cromer, Man., where it
joins with the Enbridge
mainline system.
He discussed their
operation and plans
for the future. “Th ey’re
pretty bullish,” Chomiak
said of EOG.
“It is amazing.
Th ere’s a lot of things
going on in Manitoba
nobody knows anything
about,” he said.
In the afternoon,
Chomiak was taken to
Precision Drilling’s Rig
205, a super single doing
a fi ve-well pad for Penn
West Energy Trust. Be-
fore heading out, he and
the ministry staff were
given a brief safety ori-
entation at the local
town hall. Th ey were told
of Penn West’s fi ve-fold
expansion in production
in the past 12 months, and
plans to go up by almost
another order of magni-
tude over the next two
years, to 23,000 bpd pro-
duction.
“By March, we’ll
match our production here
to the whole Williston Ba-
sin,” Tim Buchanan, Penn
West’s local production
foreman, told the minister
later in the day.
At the rig they were
shown how the rig uses a
hydraulic arm to handle
pipe. Th ey were also shown
how the rig utilized a me-
chanical connection device,
known as “power wrench,”
a form of iron roughneck.
Later they were taken into
the geologist’s shack and
shown drill cuttings.
After a quick stop
at some completed well
sites, they next visited the
Penn West battery that is
under construction. Phoe-
nix Industrial, the com-
pany working on the site,
stressed the importance of
having a local workforce
with the proper oilfi eld
training, including items
like fi rst aid and H2SAlive,
and their diffi culties in fi nd-
ing people with those quali-
fi cations. Th ey were also
being challenged by strain
with local utilities, particu-
larly for hydro and telecom-
munications. Page C7
Manitoba minister tours Waskada area
Stan Keyowski, right, of Penn West, describes the operation of the Precision Drilling super single rig to Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak on Sept. 28.
PIPELINE NEWS November 2010 C7
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Workforce and infrastructure needs highlighted
Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines Dave Chomiak, second from left, is shown a graphic representation of the well being drilled by Penn West just west of Waskada on Sept. 28. On the left is Twila Jolly, who works in the ministry’s of ce in Waskada. Stan Keyowski, right, of Penn West, offers an explanation.
Page C6On the plus side,
the minister heard they
were being welcomed by
the community and local
service providers were
being very accommodat-
ing.
“You know where
my 19-year-old is going
now,” the minister joked,
implying he was going
to send him to Waskada
to fi nd work.
“When I come
out here and see all the
pumps going, it’s mind-
boggling,” Chomiak
said.
Penn West gathered
much of its local work-
force to meet with the
minister at the hall at
the end of the day. “Th is
oil patch is a little jewel.
Th ere’s real energy in it,
no pun intended.”
Several things were
pointed out to the min-
ister in terms of infra-
structure needs. Cell-
phone coverage was top
of the list. Nearly every-
one Pipeline News spoke
to brought up the poor
cell phone coverage.
Many people use boost-
ers in their trucks, but
that is useless outside of
the truck. Lack of cell
coverage is a safety con-
cern as well.
Indeed, a voicemail
and text message Pipeline News left for a ministry
offi cial at 10 a.m. was
not received by that per-
son until several hours
later. Th e message was
both sent and received
on Blackberry devices.
Line locates were
another issue. Th e bat-
tery builders noted it can
take several weeks to get
a line located, as opposed
to 48 hours in Saskatch-
ewan or Alberta, a sig-
nifi cant issue when do-
ing construction work.
As well, hydro in-
stallation and capacity
were brought up.
Chomiak acknowl-
edged the issues and he
would be bringing them
up in the future. “Th ey’ll
get the hydro,” he said.
Assistant Deputy
Minister John Fox said
they are looking into
having well licences ad-
dressed in a timely man-
ner, and were looking at
additional staff for ap-
provals and inspection.
He noted next year will
likely be as busy as this
year or even busier.
Troy Phillips, a fi eld
operator with Penn
West, told the minister
he had spoken to some-
one from Portage la
Prairie who had no idea
of what was going on in
the area. He personally
had started with Penn
West in March, after
two years with Tundra.
“Like every trip, I
learned a lot. Until you’re
on the ground, you don’t
have any comprehension
of how dynamic the fi eld
is,” Chomiak told Pipe-line News at the end of
the day.
“Just about every-
thing is happening in
Manitoba, but we don’t
talk about it. We don’t
boom, and we don’t bust.
Because our economy is
diversifi ed, we just chug
along.”
Chomiak pointed
out aerospace, hydro,
and a new mine near
Flin Flon as some areas
of growth in Manitoba.
C8 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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By Brian Zinchuk
Waskada, Man. – When Keith and Margie Han-
nah bought the Waskada Genesis Inn three years
ago, it had been closed for several years. Th e fi rst year
and a half were tough, and the next year and a half
have been extremely busy. Now, they’re hoping some
younger people will come along and take over the
business.
Th e Genesis Inn is a diff erent sort of building.
At one end, the local credit union has its branch. At
the other end are four hotel rooms. In the middle is
a restaurant and bar.
Margie was a teacher long before she became a
restaurant and hotel owner. “I taught in a one room
country school, then a two-room school.”
However, a family meant an end to her teach-
ing career. “Back then, there was no such thing as
maturnity. leave, and
there were oodles of
teachers.”
“We farmed. We
have a century farm on
the edge of Waskada,” said Keith, who has lived
there his whole life.
Th ey rented the farm out two years ago and start-
ed another company called Farm Genesis, owned by
32 farmers. It’s an initiative to process hemp into a
variety of products. Th eir food processing plant is
being built on the south side of town. It will handle
eight diff erent products, including protein powder,
hemp milk, toasted hemp seed, hulled seed and en-
ergy bars. Th ey hope to be in operation by the spring,
after having started construction last April.
Indeed, Keith was speaking to processing hard-
ware suppliers just before meeting with Pipeline News. Page C9
Keith and Margie Hannah have retired from farming, and would like to retire from the hotel and res-taurant business. Their restaurant, the only one within the village of Waskada, Man., is a hopping place these days due to the in ux of people and the local oil boom.
Estevan and Weyburn locationsEstevan and Weyburn locations
This hemp processing plant should be completed by spring time. Keith Hannah has been one of the prime promoters of the business, which should employ 20 people once in full operation. Finding that many work-ers in a village stretched for labour is another story.
Page C8Th e company has spent the last two and a half years developing a market.
Initially it looked into biodiesel. “We found out it wasn’t going to work,” Keith
said.
“We will employ around 20 people,” Keith said with confi dence. Th at’s a tall
order in a community of 200 when all the other business people talk of extreme
labour pressures. Yet Keith is a very strong booster of the community, noting it’s
crime-free, and has a school you can get a Grade 12 education in. “We’re sitting
in a great location – 90 miles from Brandon, Minot; 200 miles from Winnipeg
and Regina.”
Margie, head of the local chamber of commerce, piped up regarding chil-
dren, “Th is is the place to raise them.”
“We’ve got to have a positive attitude, or we’re going nowhere,” Keith
stressed.
Indeed, it was this spirit of civic pride that inspired the couple to buy the
defunct restaurant and hotel three years ago.
“We bought this place. It was closed for two years. Th e town was dying,”
Margie said.
Smorgs, smorgs and more smorgsNow their restaurant is the only place to eat in the small village, excluding
the new camp several miles north of town. “She’s a busy spot here,” said Keith.
Th ings are so busy now, smorgasbords are the order of the day in the restau-
rant until further notice. Th ey simply can’t get the staff to handle individual or-
ders for all customers right now. It’s hard to compete against oil patch salaries.
An eff ort to bring in three Filipino workers was fl ummoxed at the airport.
“We had three Filipinos waiting at the airport in Manila to come. Th e pro-
vincial government okayed it, the federal government turned it down,” Keith
explained.
Th at was a $2,500 expense down the tubes. Due to the housing shortage,
the Hannahs, like other business people in Waskada, have a house in town for
workers.
Margie is putting in long hours in the restaurant, so long that she said, “I
haven’t been in my house for three years. I want to spend time with my grand-
children and elderly mother.”
“We’ve got it so it’s a good business. We’d like to see younger people take it
over,” Keith said.
“[Before,] we wished people would come in. Now we’re very busy,” Margie
added.
In the early days, they had to try special meals like seniors’ meals or smorgs,
or a band, something to pay the bills, to keep things going. Th e whole commu-
nity would come on those special days. Unfortunately, you can’t have a special
day every day.
Oil has been the saving grace.
“Th is place lost money for the fi rst 18 months we were here, until the oil
activity got going,” Margie said. “Our local people have treated us wonderfully.
Restaurant going strong
Th e oil people have been great to work with.
“Th e bar scene is picking up. If we promoted it, it would be tremendously
busy. Th ey guys wanted a karaoke, but we don’t have the staff to do it.”
Sylvia Carter, GM of Onion Lake Enterprises, and assistant manager Sylvia Pahtayken, take a break on sunny October morning outside the business development corporation of ce.
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booms during Husky turnaround
Page C10
Carter’s assis-
tant manager Sylvia
Pahtayken holds the fort
in Onion Lake during
her absence.
“You have to be out
there and work as if
the company were your
own,” said Carter. “Th at’s
why it’s a success, be-
cause I care about what
happens to Onion Lake
Enterprises.
“Husky is a very im-
portant contract and I
will do anything to keep
it. When the turnaround
is over, we go back to our
regular contract.
Th e deal calls for
Onion Lake Enter-
prises to provide its own
cleaning materials while
Husky provides all of
the paper products such
as toilet paper and hand
towels.
“We have scrubbing
machines and buff ers,
and all of our cleaning
supplies are environ-
mentally friendly,” said
Carter.
“We don’t use harsh
chemicals. We think
about our people, who
we work for, and en-
sure employees are not
inhaling chemicals. We
try and think safety and
provide environmentally
friendly work.”
During the last fi ve
years as a general man-
ager, Carter has helped
the company to land
new janitorial contacts
at Onion Lake with a
couple of schools, the
building development
corporation building,
the band offi ce and the
community maintenance
building.
“Since I came on,
we have extended our
contracts to our own
community which was
not there before,” said
Carter.
“Th ere is a lot of
work in the community.
We still have a lot more
to get. Th ere are about
fi ve more buildings we
would like to get.
“I do try and get
other contracts. We take
contracts for clean-up
jobs – like we did the
Frog Lake band offi ce.
We did the initial clean-
up. We do big contracts
to make it worthwhile
for our time.”
Carter describes her
job roles as hiring, fi ring,
co-ordinating, staff in-
voicing and controlling
spending.
“It’s steady work and
we are always needing
workers,” she said. “It’s a
hard job to fi ll – janito-
rial. People get tired of
it because all they do is
clean.
“I have a high turn-
over of staff . Sometimes
transportation is a big
problem for some work-
ers and some have prob-
lems supporting their
families with sitters.”
Carter’s own work-
load just got deeper as all
business managers at the
BDC offi ce have a new
mandate to fi nd other
business opportunities
and create employment
for band members.
“So my task – I
will be renovating one
of the local restaurants
Kihteyak (Elders) here
at the Makaoo Mall,”
said Carter.
“Th at is one of my
tasks to get that restau-
rant going. It’s going
right now, but I have to
renovate it and bring in
new management and
new staff and make it
better. We will be hav-
ing a grand opening No-
vember 1.”
Sylvia Carter holds an H2S monitor that she and her janitorial staff wear for safety while cleaning at Husky facilities.
C12 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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and you’ll come across signs along the road indicat-
ing pipeline contractor Pipeworx Ltd. is busy in the
area.
“We’ve got two projects on the go: a 100 well
tie-in, all oil lines, and the mainline, 105 km of eight
–inch, and a shorter stretch of four-inch,” according
to Kelly Gillam, owner and president of Pipeworx
Ltd., the contractor doing the work for EOG Re-
sources.
Pipeworx is based in Acheson, Alta, west of
Edmonton. Th e company came about through the
merger of Gillam Pipelines and Horseman Energy
Services, two players of approximately equal size.
Pipeworx then purchased Wolf Projects in 2008.
As of Oct. 4, the company had about 70 people
working on the projects, with subcontractors bring-
ing the total between 75 and 80. All were staying
locally in the area, but the company was not making
use of the camp north of town, he noted.
“It’s more economic to stay in town,” he said.
At that time, the company was ditching and
lowering-in the pipeline. Additional crew were dis-
patched to assist the right of way and lowering-in
crews and get the pipe in the ground.
“We want to get it in before freeze-up,” Kel-
lam said. “We want to beef up the right-of-way and
lowering-in. Stringing, bending and welding make
good time.”
Four excavators and a wheel ditcher were added
just a few days before.
“We’ve been battling rain all year, everywhere,
actually,” he said, noting that wet weather had been
an issue on their Alberta projects as well.
Th e company has been active in Saskatchewan
in the past, but not at the present time. Gillam said
they have done a lot of work for PetroBakken and
Crescent Point in the past, and had just submitted a
bid for another project.
“We’re currently running 14 spreads. We have
400 people going right now,” according to Gillam,
who said they do a lot of work in northeastern Brit-
ish Columbia, in addition to current work in Alberta
and Manitoba.
Some of their major clients include Talisman,
Conoco, Cenovus, Encana and EOG Resources.
Page 13
Pipeline contractor running at 130 per centPipeline contractor running at 130 per cent
Pipe is strung out for a eight-inch oil pipeline near an EOG Resources battery, northeast of Waska-da. A short four-inch gas pipeline is also under construction.
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Page C12 With depressed natural gas prices, “in the tank,” as Gillam put it,
it’s odd that they should be so busy on gas projects.
“I can’t explain why we’re so busy right now,” he said. A lot of that work is on gas
projects in the Horn River and Montney plays of British Columbia. “We own 65
pieces of heavy equipment. We probably have another 30 rented now.”.
Th at’s running about 130 per cent of their usual capacity, he added.
Th at rented equipment includes iron from North Battleford-based Spence Equip-
ment and Regina-based Kramer Ltd.
In early October, they were in the clean-up phase of 24 km of 18-inch pipe, an
oddball size, he said. Usually pipelines jump from 16 inches to 20 inches, and it’s quite
rare to have an in-between size.
“We specialize in anything from two-inch to 16-inch," he said.
Pipeworx welds two pipelines, a large oil line, and a gas line, south of an EOG Resources Battery near Waskada, Man.
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Waskada, Man. –
PTI Group Inc. opened
its Waskada Lodge, 10
km north of the com-
munity, in March with
two dorms. In Septem-
ber, it doubled its ca-
pacity, adding another
two dorms, bringing its
capacity to 200 people.
“It is a 200-man
camp today. Pretty
soon, we’ll be full.
We’ve got 130 clients
now,” said, Laurelie
McMahon, camp man-
ager.
McMahon lives in
Edmonton, but used to
live in Winnipeg. She’s
been with PTI for six
years, having worked
at the Kinosis and An-
zac open camps near
Fort McMurray prior
to being the inaugural
manager for Waskada
Lodge.
“It ’s going great.
PTI is a great com-
pany to work for,” she
noted.
At first, business
was slow, but it got
steady. There was a rush
to add the additional
dorms, which had ini-
tially been planned for
the winter.
“We would be jam-
packed, if it wasn’t for
the weather,” she said.
To add impact to
her claim, outside the
kitchen, a man who
sells matting was work-
ing on his diesel truck,
absolutely coated in
mud. A large puddle
was present on site
nearby.
The clients are
primarily “pipeliners
and riggers,” she said,
including drilling and
service rigs, frac crews
and the like. “Anything
to do with the rigs,
they’re here.”
The camp is an
“open camp.” McMa-
hon explained, “An
open camp is like a ho-
tel. If you come in off
the street, you can stay
for the night. You pay
all at once, not sepa-
rately at the restau-
rant.”
Indeed, anyone can
come in for a meal,
which is a flat rate.
“We will not refuse
anyone for a meal,” she
said.
It ’s best to call in
ahead if you’re coming
in, but they take people
on the spur of the mo-
ment, too. The locals
have taken advantage
of this, particularly at
supper time.
“We give tours if
you want to see what
the camp is like.”
PTI Waskada Lodge doubles in size
The camp staff at PTI Group Inc.’s Waskada Lodge are, from left: Weyme Teeter, Lee Bridge, Nasir Ali, Mark Lura, Laurelie McMa-hon, and Daryl Schien-bein.Photo by Brian Zinchuk
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White Bear First Nation – Annette Lonechild
has spent the last several years working on advancing
White Bear First Nation’s oil and gas development
opportunities. She is one of 12 members on the First
Nation’s band council, and works on a task team to
co-ordinate oil and gas initiatives.
Lonechild has been working on that front three
years.
Currently they are in the process of putting to-
gether a professional board for Wabimusqua Oil and
Gas Ltd., the First Nation’s new production com-
pany that is just getting off the ground as part of a
joint venture with a startup producer.
“Depoliticizing is very important to ensure long
term success,” she said.
Lonechild attended the Southern Alberta Insti-
tute of Technology in 1994, and has a certifi cate in
land administration.
“I did some training with the partners we had
at the time, but not directly with industry,” she ex-
plained.
“Prior to that, I was trained in the INAC (In-
dian and Northern Aff airs Canada) land manage-
ment program.”
Lonechild has been involved with dealing with
the First Nations Oil and Gas Moneys Management
Act, which according to INAC, is “an optional leg-
islation that allows a First Nation to opt out of the
moneys management provisions of the Indian Act
and provide for the release of capital and revenue
moneys under the management and control of the
First Nation.”
She took part in a meeting with the Indian Re-
source Council of Canada. “At the time, we managed
to convince the minister, through his special advis-
ers, it was important to have decision making at the
community. Prior to that, it had been with Indian
Oil and Gas Canada,” she said.
Lonechild stepped up to run for the band coun-
cil after her father retired. “My dad was a councillor
for 22 years,” she said.
“I believe in collective decision making. We have
a team. No one goes outside the collective plan,” she
Environmental consultant Doug Terry of MWH, left, professional archeologist Patrick Young, and White Bear Council Member Annette Lonechild discuss plans for archeological surveys of proposed drilling locations and pipeline rights-of-ways on Oct. 7. Terry and Young asked to be referred to el-ders they could work with to ensure protection of cultural sites.
Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Council member trained in land administration
said.
Noting the vigilance needed to keep things on
track with the new oil and gas company the First
Nation has set up, Lonechild said, “It’s important for
this initiative to succeed. In the long term, it’s im-
24 Hour ServiceSpecializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors
The teamBrent Gedak Welding held its grand opening of its new facility on Oct. 6. The shop was built on the west side of Estevan, in the RM of Estevan, and opened early this year. Skid packages are the company's main bread and butter product, but they offer more such as vessels, headers and pressure piping systems, mobile rig repairs, casing bowls, mobile airless painting, pipeline eld service, sandblasting and coating, insulated buildings and spray foam. From left: Brent Gedak, Janelle Gedak, Joanne Schulte, Dustin Tangjerd, Jarett Mosley, Jarred Dumain, Chris Grif n, Harold Karren, Britt Gedak and Bill Curtis. Two men in the back are Jayden Doan and Nathaniel Dumaine.
Must have all required tickets related to positions. Must be experienced at building leases, lease cleanups and road building. Competitive salary negotiable with experience.
WantedWinch Truck Driver
Must have valid class 1A & H2S & First Aid Certi cates2 years experience
Send resumes to Connor Kirby Trucking Ltd.
Box 298Torquay, SK
S0C 2L0
CONNOR KIRBYTrucking Ltd.Trucking Ltd.
Boom TruckClass A Operator
Required
Must have Class 1A Licence and Safety Tickets. We offer a bene t plan & top wages.
Submit resume to:Box 730 H
Estevan, SK S4A 2A6or fax 306-634-3934
Brady Oilfield Services LP.
3A & 1A Drivers/Owner Operators/
Mechanics
Weyburn, Halbrite and surrounding area.Oil eld Safety Certi cates an asset but not
necessary. Bene ts package available.
Mail or Fax Resume and Drivers AbstractP.O. Box 271 Midale, Sask. S0C 1S0
Fax: (306) 458-2768
Transport Company in South Eastern Saskatchewan requires a Full time certi ed diesel mechanic.
• The eet of 20 trucks and trailers are involved in moving of uids, experience in uid pumping systems is an asset.• Must be able to work unsupervised and take directions from superiors.• Responsibilites include maintenance of a eet of 20 trucks, and trailers.• Record keeping of schedule maintenance, of each unit, and part installa-tion.• Competitive wages, depending on experience, Health plan.
Interested applicants can apply in person, e-mail, fax or phone cell: Forget, SK
Must have all required tickets related to positions. Must be experienced at building leases, lease cleanups and road building. Competitive salary negotiable with experience.
Do you want to work for a progressive company who takes safety seriously and who uses today’s newest technologically-advanced equipment? If your answer is “yes”, we are interested in talking to you!
We are currently seeking EXPERIENCED FIELD PROFESSIONALS (Weyburn Area)
All applicants must have a valid driver’s license as well as all of the required industry training for the position they are applying for.
We offer higher than industry standard wages, an exceptional employee benefits package, several employee incentive programs and unlimited opportunity for advancement.
If you want to grow with a company where you are known by your name and not your employee number, please forward your resume to:
Bulk Plant Personnel and Shop HandNitrogen OperatorsHeavy Duty MechanicsParts Person
Fax: (780) 872-5239
C22 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
Growing Calgary based services industry company seeks a sales engineer with 5 to 10 years experience in PCP and top drive speci cation and sales.
The successful candidate will have experience with progressive cavity pumps and top drive sizing, selection, installation and troubleshooting.
Experience with VFD driven units and SCADA systems will be a de nite asset. Must be able to travel throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and internationally.
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No phone calls from agencies or applicants.
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Flint is an industry leader in facility and pipeline con-struction and maintenance providing the highest level of safety and quality in the oil and gas sector. From more than 60 locations across North America, Flint’s 10,000 employees plan, fabricate, transport, build, and maintain customer projects from well tie-ins to the complete construction of major infrastructure projects.
We are currently seeking applicants for the following positions in Estevan: • Supervisors • Labourers • Heavy Equipment Operators • Labour Foremen • Pipe tters • Portable Welders • Apprentices (Pipe tting / Welding)
Flint offers a competitive and comprehensive pay and bene ts package.If you are interested in one of the above positions, please call Nick Steinke at 461-4148. All inquiries will
be kept con dential.
Energy Services
HEAVY-DUTY MECHANICFrontier Peterbilt Sales Ltd is looking for full-time Service Technicians in Estevan to work on the premier product in the industry and the newest dealership in the city. We have opportunities for Service Technicians, from 3rd year apprentices to Journeymen.
Skilled Journeyman Technicians will earn the top dealer-ship wage in Southern Saskatchewan ranging from $32.00 to $39.00 per hour.
We require people that are meticulous, results-driven and customer service oriented. We offer excellent pay as well as an extensive employee bene t package and the opportunity to progress within the Company.
Quali ed applicants are encouraged to apply in person at the dealership to Jerrod Tedford, Shop Foreman or by email or fax to:
Search jobs and submit your resumeOnline at: http://savanna.appone.comEmail to: [email protected]
Savanna offers competitive rates and a comprehensive benefits package effective
on your first day of work.
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Are you looking for a great opportunity to join a rapidly growing, innovative energy services company? Do you want to join a team with room for personal and professional growth? Then look no further!
Savanna Energy Services Corp. is a premiere contract drilling and well servicing company operating in the oil and gas sector internationally and throughout Western Canada. Our goal is to demonstrate a values-based culture through our people, innovation and technology.
Join Savanna’s team and let our successes become yours!
We are looking for great team members to join our Drilling and Well Servicing divisions. Opportunities are available for the following positions: RIG MANAGERS, DRILLERS, DERRICK-HANDS, MOTORHANDS, FLOORHANDS & LEASEHANDS
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C24 PIPELINE NEWS November 2010
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