Pipeline News August 2009

PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum MonthlySaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

August 2009 FREE Volume 2 Issue 3

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Focus EditionFocus Edition

PipelinesPipelines

Hall of Fame Inductees

Page B10-14

TransCanada’s Keystone Project

Page C1

Moosomin MayorLarry Miskiman

Page B3

Each sideboom of the lowering in crew moves the pipe a little further into the ditch. The lead tractor picks it up, the following tractors cradle it over, and the tail tractor lays it in the ditch.

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009A2

“

”

NewsNotes

Oilsands Quest Inc. and the Birch Narrows

Dene Nation, have signed a Memorandum of

Understanding regarding the establishment of an

economic relationship between the two parties.

Th e Birch Narrows Dene Nation is one of the

leading First Nation communities with a tradition

of land use in the vicinity of Oilsands Quests' per-

mit lands in northwestern Saskatchewan.

Th e MOU confi rms the agreement between

the parties to work together to identify and ad-

dress the economic benefi ts, as well as environ-

mental, social and other potential impacts of Oil-

sands Quest's activities on its permit lands.

Oilsands Quest has followed a policy of cre-

ating local business and employment opportuni-

ties in northwestern Saskatchewan to support its

exploration and development activities.

Th e MOU formalizes Oilsands Quest's com-

mitment to the Birch Narrows Dene Nation to

provide better access to business and employment

opportunities with Oilsands Quest and provide a

mechanism for building a strong relationship.

Oilsands Quest and Birch Narrows Dene Nation agree

Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. has

priced its previously announced off ering of con-

vertible notes due in 2015 with an off ering of

$400 million (U.S.) principal amount.

Petrobank also reported that its annual bor-

rowing base redetermination has resulted in an

increase to its secured credit facilities to $400 mil-

lion from $380 million.

Th e company said the off ering and the in-

crease to borrowing base further enhance its fi -

nancial fl exibility which allows it to: signifi cantly

expand its Bakken drilling program in southeast

Saskatchewan; fund the fi rst phase of May Riv-

er, the commercial expansion of its proprietary

THAI (toe-to-heel-air injection) technology and/

or capitalize on other potential opportunities.

Petrobank enhances nancing for Bakken

By Brian ZinchukPipeline News

Estevan – Estevan will be home to a new En-

ergy Training Institute, part of Southeast Regional

College.

Th e announcement was made on June 26, at the

college’s Estevan campus.

Th e province and federal government will be

contributing a combined $14 million. Th e city of

Estevan is donating the land, to be located in the

new industrial park under construction on the east

side of the city. Other organizations have come for-

ward to donate equipment.

Th e total bill

is expected to be

around $18 mil-

lion.

Th e target

completion date is

March 31, 2011.

Th at date is impor-

tant, because the

federal government

is eager to get in-

frastructure dollars

rolling.

“We just had

a project steering

meeting this morn-

ing, and feel confi -

dent we can meet

those deadlines,”

Craig Brown, pres-

ident and CEO of

Southeast Regional

College, said when

asked about con-

struction delays

that have plague

most projects in

Estevan and area

over the past year.

Brown noted the city of Weyburn very much

wanted the facility, but in the end, there can only

be one.

Th e tipping point in Estevan’s favour was the

larger core of energy companies based in the Este-

van area.

Jim Wilson, owner of Wil-Tech of Estevan,

was one of the ardent supporters of the new facility.

“We wanted it in Estevan, and we fought for it to be

in Estevan,” he said, but added, “It’s the Southeast

Energy Training Institute, not the Estevan Energy

Training Institute.”

Th e facility will start with existing safety train-

ing programs, but will branch out. Th ere are plans to

have a drilling rig on location.

According to Trent Jordens, general manag-

er of Southeast Regional College, the facility will

be 40,000 square feet, with between eight and 10

classrooms. Th ere will be a large common area, a

research area for studying, student lounge, and two

labs equipped with technical equipment.

Th ey hope to collaborate with the University

of Regina and SIAST on developing appropriate

training for carbon dioxide initiatives.

Th e ETI will also focus on alternative energy

systems. For instance, the campus will include so-

lar and geothermal

systems. Th e pur-

pose is not only to

‘go green’ but to

provide hands on

training capabili-

ties for the students

with these technol-

ogies.

Souris Moose

Mountain MP Ed

Komarnicki said

the college was,

“An investment

now that will help

us in the future.”

He described it as

money well spent

when the economy

needs stimulus.

He noted this

is the highest single

investment in Sas-

katchewan in this

round of knowl-

edge infrastructure

investments.

MLA Dan

D’Autremont spoke of the huge need for training

of staff , and said it was an opportunity to train peo-

ple from south of the border. “We want those free

American dollars,” he said.

He pointed to developments in clean coal and

carbon capture as opportunities.

Lisa McConnell of BP Canada told Pipeline News, “We’re excited. Right now we’re sending our

folks to Alberta for training. Being able to keep

them at home is huge.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” Brown said. Th e

board and staff worked on it for three years, he said.

“Th ey’re very glad it’s coming to fruition.”

Estevan lands new ETI campus, due 2011

We’re excited. Right now we’re

sending our folks to Alberta for training.

Being able to keep them at home is huge.

- Lisa McConnellBP Canada

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009 A3

NewsNotes

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Estevan Location - Phone: 634-8545Frobisher Location - Phone: 486-2044 Tank Trucks - Acid Trucks - Pressure Trucks - Vacuum TrucksTank Trucks - Acid Trucks - Pressure Trucks - Vacuum Trucks

Two vertical wells drilled in the second quarter

will help to set up Ammonite Energy Ltd.’s fi rst

horizontal well in a Saskatchewan multi-well hori-

zontal program to begin this summer.

During the second quarter, the company drilled

two vertical wells where it now operates more than

19 gross sections of land at Kindersley and Elrose.

Th e wells have both been completed as producing

Viking oil wells that encountered original reservoir

pressure.

Th e wells were drilled to help identify the

proper alignment and depth for Ammonite’s fi rst

horizontal well in a multi-well horizontal program

to begin this summer. Ammonite believes that

most of these lands are prospective for light Vi-

king oil (34 to 39 degree API) and favorable for

horizontal drilling with multi-stage fracturing at a

well density of up to four wells per section.

Th e Saskatchewan Crown royalty for hori-

zontal Viking wells has been reduced to only 2.5%

on the fi rst 6 000 cubic metres of oil production

which greatly improves the economics of the proj-

ect. In addition to the horizontal potential of these

lands, Ammonite has identifi ed several Bakken gas

anomalies from its recent two-dimensional (2-D)

seismic program. Th e wells will be drilled once

natural gas prices improve.

Ammonite planning multi-well program

Painted Pony consolidatesPainted Pony Petroleum Ltd. has signed the

purchase agreement for the previously-announced

transaction with a private company to acquire cer-

tain oil properties focused in the Bakken-prospec-

tive fairway in the company’s Midale/Huntoon

core area in southeast Saskatchewan.

Th e completion of the acquisition is subject

to certain conditions, including normal regulatory

approvals, and was expected to close in July.

Th e purchase price is $2.7 million, before clos-

ing adjustments and related costs. Th e acquisition

has an eff ective date of June 1 and is expected to

close on July 31. Th e completion of the acquisition

is subject to certain conditions, including normal

regulatory approvals.

Production from the acquired properties, based

on fi eld estimates, is approximately 40 bbls per day

for the month of June with an additional fi ve bbls

per day of Bakken oil shut in due to weather.

Th e assets, all currently operated by Painted

Pony, include 550 net acres of undeveloped adja-

cent lands prospective for Bakken oil. Th e acquisi-

tion increases the company’s average working in-

terest in the areas to greater than 90%.

By Geoff LeePipeline News

Saskatoon – Th e En-

ergy Council’s 2009 State

and Provincial Trends in

Energy and the Environ-

ment Conference held in

Saskatoon in June, turned

out to be an information

gusher with the focus on

carbon management.

More than 100 legis-

lators and energy indus-

try representatives from

across the United States

and Canada participated

in sessions on uranium,

wind energy, in-situ up-

grading of heavy oil and

bitumen and carbon se-

questration.

“One of the highlights

and the focus was carbon

capture storage,” said en-

ergy and resources deputy

minister Kent Campbell.

Th is was the fi rst time

Saskatchewan hosted the

Council since becoming

a member in 2007 and it

was an opportunity for

Saskatchewan to showcase

their resources and com-

mercial CCS projects.

“Th ere was quite a

bit of discussion around

those technology issues

and policy issues and how

important those issues are

for jurisdictions like ours

that are fossil fuel produc-

ers,” said Campbell.

Campbell says there

was a lot of interest in the

Weyburn-Midale CO2

project that Encana and

Apache have been run-

ning by piping CO2 from

a North Dakota gasifi ca-

tion plant and using it for

enhanced oil recovery and

disposal.

“Th e Petroleum Re-

search Centre and the In-

ternational Energy Agen-

cy have been monitoring

the disposal for the last 10

years so there is informa-

tion set there that is kind

of unique,” said Camp-

bell.

Th e need for carbon

capture storage in the U.S.

got a boost with the recent

approval of the American

Clean Energy and Secu-

rity Act by the House of

Representatives.

If made into law by

the Senate, the act would

create a cap and trade plan

of pollution permits to

curb emissions.

Council chairman

Mike Hill from the Ala-

bama House of Represen-

tatives thinks it’s about

time that happened.

“We have so much

carbon we need to dispose

of,” said Hill. “We have

been talking about this for

fi ve years and Congress is

fi nally catching on. It will

be something that will

cause energy prices to go

up and that could be an

indirect tax increase. Th at

is something we’re going

to have to do if we want

to keep the atmosphere

clean.

“What we have been

talking about for years,

Saskatchewan has been

putting into usable mod-

els that can be utilized

commercially.

“Saskatchewan has

a couple of projects that

takes the CO2 out of the

burned fuel (gasifi cation)

and uses it in such a way

to get tax credits for it.

Th e commercial uses are

more advanced than what

we have in the U.S.”

Th e conference in-

cluded an update on U.S

energy legislation and

regulations that Hill says

caught the interest of Sas-

katchewan delegates who

hope the U.S. and Canada

will approve the extension

of the TransCanada Key-

stone pipeline this year.

Th e pipeline will run

from Hardisty, Alberta to

a delivery point near exist-

ing terminals in Port Ar-

thur, Texas.

“Th e Saskatchewan

people are interested in

knowing if it’s going to

be free fl owing,” said Hill.

“Th ey learned what the

focus of the U.S. is and

what direction they are

going.

“One of the things

they will be transporting

on the pipeline will be

carbon. Th ere will need

to be some open pipelines

for a carbon transfer in

between the oil transfers.

“Everybody is con-

cerned about how to

transfer carbon to be able

to put it commercially in

the ground. A pipeline is

the only real cost-eff ective

way to do that.”

Campbell says the

Province wants to make

sure that technologies

such as CCS are included

in a U.S. clean air act and

says Premier Brad Wall

has met with U.S. Energy

Secretary Steven Chu.

“Chu who has a sci-

ence background,” said

Campbell. “Having some-

one in that position with

a science background is

good for making the case

for CCS.”

Hill will also be plug-

ging the use of CCS back

in his home state that he

says has some of the “dirt-

iest coal burning plants in

the world.

“One of the biggest

drawback of cleaning up

the coal as it burns and

capturing the carbon is

the question of what are

you going to do with the

carbon when you get it

captured.

“We are all concerned

about clean air,” said Hill.

“We have all come to the

conclusion if we don’t

something about now we

will have some tough times

in the days to come.”

Th e three-day confer-

ence included a presen-

tation on uranium as a

nuclear fuel and included

a fl ight for Council execu-

tive members to Cameco

Corporation’s uranium

mine at McArthur River.

“I fell in love with

Saskatchewan,” said Hill

who enjoyed the sightsee-

ing. “We got to see all of

the territory and the mil-

lions of lakes. It was a

clear and beautiful day.

“It’s particularly in-

teresting for us to see the

wide range of resources

here in the province. It’s

equally impressive to learn

about Saskatchewan’s role

as a world-class technolo-

gy centre for carbon man-

agement.

“It was a great meet-

ing. We cover every aspect

of energy. Th ere is noth-

ing we leave out in our

meetings.

“What we do in the

Energy Council is we

share with each other so

each state or province will

be able to stay on top of

the technology and latest

trends.

“It’s an information

producing organization.

We try to keep both gov-

ernments aware of what

we see are the trends and

the problems that may be

occurring in the energy

fi eld. It can lead to poli-

cies in the provinces and

the states.

“We try to keep our

federal government in-

formed and where there is

place to make policies, we

certainly do that.”

From his point of

view, Campbell says the

forum helps to build

awareness of Saskatch-

ewan’s resources for U.S.

legislators on the Coun-

cil.

“We are on the map

more than we have ever

been,” he said. “Th ere is

a lot of awareness build-

ing to do with our U.S.

counterparts to let them

know how important Sas-

katchewan is to Canada’s

energy security.

“It also allows the

various fossil fuel jurisdic-

tions to have a discussion

around joint issues that we

are facing and share some

best practices.”

Carbon management

Alabama State Repre-sentative Mike Hill.

Photo courtesy Alabama House of

Representatives website

Deputy Minister of En-ergy and Resources Kent Campbell.

File photo

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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PIPELINE NEWS August 2009A4 EDITORIAL

Editorial

Most people would agree it’s a good idea to have

some money saved up for a rainy day. It’s increasingly

become the habit of nations to do the same, except with

oil.

China is building up its strategic petroleum reserves

(SPR). Currently, the country keeps enough in reserve

to keep it going for 30 days if it were cut off from

imports. Th e plan is to build that reserve to 90 days, and

they are on a massive tank-building endeavour to do it.

Other nations have been doing the same. India is

working on its own. Ditto for the Philippines. Europe-

an Union countries are required to have one. Denmark

has recently created one. Poland is expanding its reserve

to the 90 day mark. Th e UK is also a new entrant.

Japan, not surprisingly, is fastidious in having its

own reserve, with 169 days of reserves between govern-

ment and private storage.

Th e US has the largest strategic reserve in the

world, with the capacity to backfi ll a 60 day loss of

imports. Th ey store all theirs as unrefi ned crude, in four

mammoth underground facilities. Each uses salt domes

deep underground, in a similar manner to how SaskEn-

ergy stores natural gas in underground salt caverns.

Even oil exporters, like Iran and Russia, have been

looking at the idea. Iran has one, and Russia is consid-

ering it. Don’t forget, Russia produces a similar amount

of oil each day as Saudi Arabia.

And what about Canada?

Well, what about Canada? Do we have a cookie jar

stuff ed with black gold, just in case the world goes to

hell in a hand basket?

..... No.

We have the second largest reserves in the world,

when you include all the oilsands. But that’s not all that

easy to get at. Nope, 47 nations have a strategic reserve,

but we are not one of them.

Google “Canadian strategic petroleum reserve,” and

the fi rst response you get is a discussion paper asking if

we need one.

Does Canada need a strategic oil reserve?In February, 2008, Gord Laxer wrote on the op-ed

page of Th e Globe and Mail, “If Canada reversed the Mon-

treal-to-Sarnia pipeline, which brings foreign oil through

Southern Ontario, Western Canadian oil would fl ow to

Quebec and reduce imports by almost a third. Taking the

portion of Newfoundland oil that is currently exported

and redirecting it to Eastern Canada would further reduce

imports. In combination, the two measures would cut

imports to about half of current levels. Canada would need

about 38 million barrels in its reserves.”

He might know a thing or two about this, since the

Globe notes, “Gordon Laxer is author of Freezing in the

Dark: Why Canada Needs Strategic Petroleum Reserves,

a report released by the Parkland Institute and Polaris

Institute.”

You see, we are building storage tanks – lots of them.

But they don’t belong to the government, nor does the oil

they will contain. Enbridge is undertaking a substantial

build program at its Hardisty, Alta. Terminal, where Pipe-line News recently paid a visit. But those tanks are meant

to send oil down Enbridge’s numerous lines that point in a

southeasterly direction, cut across Saskatchewan and cross

the US border near Gretna, Man.

To a layman, it doesn’t make much sense for Canada

to export western Canadian oil and import middle-eastern

oil to supply eastern Canada. Go too far down that path,

however, and you start getting Trudeau-esque National

Energy Program ideas. We all know how that went.

Even if we did decide the oil in that tank farm should

be prioritized for Canadian use due to some form of

emergency, NAFTA gets in the way of us restricting our

exports to the US.

Perhaps we should have some sort of strategic reserves

in eastern Canada. We don’t need to start monkeying

around with long established trading patterns to do it.

Build some big tanks along the east coast and fi ll them up.

It might even give a bit of a boost to Western Canadian

producers, and surely would make Newfoundland and

Labrador happy.


PIPELINE NEWS INVITES OPPOSING VIEW POINTS. EDITORIALS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WELCOME.

Email to: [email protected]

Brian Zinchuk

From the top of

the pile

Opinion

Geoff Lee

Lee Side of Lloyd

Th eft is getting out of hand in the oilpatch and

it’s costing victimized companies thousands of dol-

lars in replacement costs, lost operational time, secu-

rity and investigation manpower and higher insur-

ance premiums.

Some of the latest thefts reported by the RCMP

in Saskatchewan include the loss of three oilfi eld

hydraulic units from three well shacks northeast of

Lloydminster. Substantial damage was caused to the

site in the process of the theft.

RCMP are also investigating the recent theft of

490 metres of copper tubing from 14 oil sites north

and east of Maidstone.

Another recent case under investigation involved

the theft of an offi ce trailer from an oil rig site near

Coleville, Sask. Th e trailer contained tools, comput-

ers, documents, clothing and safety equipment, val-

ued at about $100,000.

Regardless of what is being stolen, these crimes

are not the work of a gratuitous Robin Hood dressed

in green robbing from the rich and giving to the

poor.

Th ese are pure criminal acts and if a suspect is

caught and found guilty, the judicial system needs to

prosecute the culprit to the full extent of the law. Th e

courts need to send a strong message that this type of

crime will not be tolerated.

Th e professional thief preys on the oilfi eld be-

cause of the remoteness of many assets and the ability

to sell those assets easily and in close proximity. Th eft

also can occur as a crime of opportunity for personal

gain and worst of all; it can be committed by trusted

employees.

Whatever the motivation, stealing is a crime and

when it occurs in the oilfi eld it can have dangerous

and deadly consequences should oil and gas storage

and transportation systems be tampered with.

Private security will work well to deter theft on

a specifi c work site but that policing method is not

practical or eff ective for small or large companies to

patrol hundreds of miles of rural roads. Security cam-

eras are better but unless authorities are immediately

alerted and are close by, the criminals and their sto-

len goods are long gone. If the crime occurs at night,

video footage will be ineff ective.

Identifying oilfi eld assets with multiple markings

along with signage indicating the assets have been

marked will help to deter some crimes and make re-

covery of stolen property easier.

Probably the most eff ective crime prevention

program is public awareness that industry is prepared

to make theft prevention one of its top priorities and

will do what it takes to make oilfi eld theft too dif-

fi cult and risky for the criminal.

Th e call for industry to circle the wagons is being

made by Laird McLeod from Certifi ed Secure Iden-

tifi cation Corp. in Red Deer.

McLeod’s campaign is called the Oil Field Th eft

Prevention Initiative that is beginning to gather

steam with major industry players and from Alberta

Crime Stoppers.

Th e idea behind the initiative is to implement

eff ective and cost-effi cient prevention programs and

get the message out to the public that oilfi eld assets

are being watched, identifi ed and guarded by many

sets of eyes.

Putting thieves behind bars as a consequence of

their actions is the ultimate way to protect oilfi eld as-

sets. Jails don’t cost the industry any money.

No Robin Hoods in oil patch crimes

On July 16, I had something of a homecoming.

After nearly 10 years away from mainline pipe-

lining, I got to spend a day on with the contractor

that I had spent the most time with in my pipeline

days.

Sure, last fall I got to go out with Willbros Pipe-

line Division in eastern Alberta for a day, and I pho-

tographed some of the Techint/Robert B. Somerville

spread in western Saskatchewan in January. But this

time around, it was with Waschuk Pipe Line, the

company that paid my bills during the turn of the

century. It felt a bit like home.

I went to work with Waschuk on the Alliance job

three weeks after my wedding, starting on road bores

and ending on fi nal cleanup over a year later. I was

one of the fi rst ones hired and last ones laid off .

Th at’s not so much a refl ection on me, a lowly

oiler, but the excavator operator I was paired with –

Randy Sorochuk. He’s a short Ukrainian guy origi-

nally from Swan Plain, and now hails from Dalmeny.

His skill with an excavator meant he was called on to

perform almost every task a hoe might do on a pipe-

line, with me tagging along. We started with road

bores, but then spent a fair bit of time on ditch, tie

ins, cleanup, and special projects, including two river

crossings that made for very long days. We might

have even done some backfi ll, at least when we were

doing tie-ins. No matter what he was called upon to

do, Randy did it, successfully.

It was a wonderful opportunity, because few peo-

ple get to work on such a diverse number of crews, or

get to learn from such a good operator.

It was a good time. TransCanada had just put in a

mainline. Th e year before, I worked on the Enbridge

Terrace Expansion, fi nishing that job with Randy as

my operator. It was by sheer coincidence we were as-

signed together on Alliance.

Th en things dried up. I didn’t get a call out liter-

ally for years. One call-out was for a two-week job,

but it didn’t make sense to quit a regular gig for two

weeks, even if the pay was good. Eventually I would

return to reporting. It was a huge cut in pay, but the

paychecks were steady.

Th ere was a lot of talk after the Alliance proj-

ect that Mackenzie Valley Pipeline was right around

the corner. It was going to be such a massive project,

thousands of pipeliners from across Canada would be

needed, and it would last several years. My mortgage

would have been paid off from this job.

Th e much-ballyhooed Mackenzie Valley Pipe-

line seems no closer to reality today than it was ten

years ago. Th e project website indicates a goal to be

in operation by 2010, after four years of construction,

even though construction is far from even starting.

Th ere is some question to its economics. With

the burgeoning development of shale gas in the US,

in areas just a stone’s throw from major centres, it

doesn’t make a lot of sense to bring down gas from

Inuvik into the US Midwest. If anything, Macken-

zie would end up fuelling the Fort McMurray jug-

gernaut, but that would require the sleeping giant to

awaken and get moving again.

Th e result of Mackenzie Valley stalling was a long

hiatus in the mainline industry. It’s not the fi rst time,

and it won’t be the last. It takes a while to maximize

the capacity of each new mainline, and they last liter-

ally for generations. One of the original mainlines for

TransCanada from the 1950s is being reborn as the

Keystone oil pipeline.

With the recent fl urry of activity in pipeline

construction soon drawing to a close, it will likely

be another half-dozen years before we see it pick up

again.

Th at means the big-inch pipeliners will do what

they have always done – pull in their horns, pick up

whatever small-inch projects they can, and wait it out

until the next big job. Maybe that mortage will get

paid off next time around?

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

Mainlining through the peaks and valleys


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Estevan Of ce: Phone (306) 634-2681 • Fax: (306) 636-7227

Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk

Estevan – Th e growth

of Bakken production, in

both southeast Saskatch-

ewan and western North

Dakota and eastern

Montana, has Enbridge

substantially beefi ng up

its gathering capacity.

“Currently, we’re ex-

panding,” Peter Taylor,

manager of Enbridge’s

Saskatchewan division,

told Pipeline News in

mid-July. Enbridge’s Sas-

katchewan division acts

as a gathering system in

southeast Saskatchewan

and southwest Manitoba,

collecting oil to enter the

company’s mainlines.

Enbridge Saskatch-

ewan works closely with

Enbridge North Dakota,

the company’s gathering

system south of the bor-

der. Th ey will be working

even closer, with the pre-

liminary proposal of re-

activation of the Portal

Link pipeline.

In southeast Sas-

katchewan, the company

is currently working to-

wards an approximate

100,000 barrel/day in-

crease in capacity. A fur-

ther estimated 30,000

barrel/day increase is

slated for North Dakota.

“We’re also look-

ing at some future stuff .

We’re in the advanced

design phase,” Taylor

says, noting the list of

options includes up to

another 100,000 barrel/

day increase.

“We’re spending

well over $100 million in

North Dakota. We’re in

that $100 million range

in our expansions in Sas-

katchewan.”

Th e increase of Bak-

ken oil production is the

prime motivator for these

developments. In the

1990s, a 12 inch pipeline

had been built running

from Steelman to the

Canada / U. S. Border

close to Lignite, North

Dakota, then connecting

to an existing pipeline to

just west of Minot, N.D.,

the Berthold Terminal.

“Th ere was an over-

capacity situation in Sas-

katchewan. Th e pipeline

in North Dakota was un-

der capacity,” Taylor ex-

plains. Th e cost eff ective

solution at the time was

to run oil volumes from

southeast Saskatchewan

down the North Da-

kota line, where it would

eventually make its way

to Clearbrook, Minne-

sota.

“It gave us the op-

portunity to ship incre-

mental over capacity into

North Dakota and into

Clearbrook,” Taylor says.

Th at stopped in 2006

with the growth of Bak-

ken production in North

Dakota. “North Dakota

production had increased

to the point where there

was no more capacity

available.”

Page A7

Enbridge ramps up SE

Peter Taylor heads up Enbridge division that collects oil from throughout the southeast corner of the province and sends it down the Enbridge mainline. Behind him is the Estevan control centre that is staffed 24-hours a day.


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The Estevan of ce for Enbridge looks after the Enbridge gathering system in southeast Saskatch-ewan.

Page A6It got to the point where North Dakota produc-

ers were resorting to trains to ship out their product.

One of the points raised by North Dakota present-

ers at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in

Regina this last April was the growing need for more

pipeline capacity to handle all the new oil produc-

tion.

“Th at’s what prompted the Phase Six Expansion

that is being done to assist with the de-bottlenecking

of the North Dakota system,” according to Taylor. It’s

expected to be done by late 2010.

In Saskatchewan, the ACCE project, completed

in June, 2008, converted an existing 12 inch line from

Alida to Cromer, Man. It had been used for natural

gas liquids, but would now be used for oil. “Th e 12-

inch line was very underutilized.”

Th e most cost eff ective alternative was to install a

new, smaller, NGL line and convert the existing line

to crude oil.

Th e addition of a 12-inch line allowed a sub-

stantial increase in capacity from the 16-inch parallel

line, that up until now was all that was needed for

southeast Saskatchewan production.

“We’ve gotten to a point now where production

has increased even further in Saskatchewan, where we

need another expansion to debottleneck the Midale

and Gapview areas,” Taylor says. “Th ere’s way more

production there than what the system is capable of

handling.”

Th e Midale and Gapview areas he is referring to

is more along the lines of drawing oil from the Bak-

ken fi eld around Stoughton and Benson. Th ere are

plans to expand the Benson terminal and add tank-

age. Th ere would also be new pipe from Stoughton,

fi rst 8 inch, then transitioning to a 10-inch line.

Existing lines east of Stoughton will be reversed.

It’s more economical to take the oil southwards

towards Benson than Bryant, then bring it around to

Alida using existing lines and right-of-ways, than it

would be to build a new line from the Stoughton area

to Alida.

“Th is is underway right now. We expect it to be

completed in late 2010,” Taylor explains.

Th e company is also looking to install a new 31

km 12-inch line from the Bryant booster station,

near Midale, to Steelman. At Steelman, the plan is

for increased pumping horsepower, piping changes,

and increased tankage. It’s all an eff ort to remove

bottlenecks to the system.

Continuing that concept, they want to convert a

12-inch NGL line from Steelman to Alida to crude

oil use.

Additional capacity can be added by beefi ng up

pumping horsepower, to a point. Two things can be

done to increase capacity – increase pipe diameter,

and/or increase pumping horsepower.

“You get to a point where there’s only so much

you can get through a pipe. But we’re not there yet,”

he says.

Portal linkTh is brings us back to the Portal link. It used to

be used to send oil south to North Dakota. It is cur-

rently in hiatus, fi lled with nitrogen. Th e plan is to

reverse this line, allowing North Dakota Bakken oil

to come up into Saskatchewan, and go from Steel-

man to Alida to Cromer, where it can fl ow into the

Enbridge mainlines.

But does it make sense to pump oil north into

Canada, up and around through Cromer, and back

down into the U.S.?

Taylor explains they are pretty much at the limit

of what they can pump through the line that runs

east-west though North Dakota. Th ey’ve already

added as much booster pumping capacity as possible

as part of the Phase Six Expansion. “We can’t go any

further upgrading this line.”

To put in a new line would mean a new pipeline

roughly 300 miles long. “Th at’s a lot of money to put

in new pipe.”

Th e portal link solution takes advantage of ex-

isting infrastructure. “It’s more economical,” Taylor

says. “And it can be put in signifi cantly faster.”

Enbridge’s Saskatchewan division is headquar-

tered in Estevan, where it maintains a 24-hour op-

erations control centre. “We have 127 [staff ] in this

region,” Taylor says, noting that does not include

contractors. About half of the staff are based in the

Estevan Offi ce, with the rest working in the fi eld out

of offi ces at Midale, Carlyle, Steelman and Alida. He

notes, “Th ere’s a fair amount of the commitment to

the communities,” pointing out the longer-term, sus-

tainable employment.

We’re spending well over $100

million in North Dakota. We’re in that $100

million range in our expansions in

Saskatchewan.-Peter Taylor


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By Brian ZinchukWeyburn – Sometimes business opportunities just

kind of happen. Th at was the case for Doug Dembic-

zak, who heads up Demby Trailer Ltd., located just a

few miles south of Weyburn.

“We started renting out fl atdecks and enclosed

trailers in the spring of 2001, while I worked for a

local wellsite testing company,” explains Dembiczak.

“It just sort of happened.”

“I decided to build a well-site water-hauler shack

for a friend of mine. Th ere was not much going on, so

I built another on spec, and sold it before we fi nished

it.”

“Since then, we’ve increased our production ca-

pacity, built a larger shop, and added service rig dog

houses and skid shacks.”

“We’ve been manufacturing since the fall of

2003.”

Th e name Demby comes from his father’s cattle

business. Demby is easier to pronounce than Dem-

biczak.

While their products can be leased, they are pri-

marily built for sale. Some are built on spec – they

like to have well site trailers in inventory. But most of

their production is custom order.

Th at’s particularly the case with service rig dog-

houses, where it’s important to match the company

colours. A doghouse nearing completion for General

Well Servicing, Carnduff , is a medium green. It’s al-

most a John Deere Green, but Dembiczak says it’s

more like a Rider Green.

Th at could be because he’s a wee bit of a rider

fan. Th e Matt Dominguez autographed helmet on

his disk matches the commemorative front page of

the LeaderPost on the wall, a momento of the Riders’

2007 Grey Cup. Th e Riders fl ag on the wall compli-

ments the riders T-shirt worn by Dembiczak.

“You can’t live and work in this province unless

you’re a Rider fan. I don’t miss one,” he says of the

home games.

In the doghouse“Th is is what we’ve mostly been busy with since

last fall,” Dembiczak says of the doghouse.

It has a desk, lockers, fridge and microwave. In

the back is the washroom/toolroom/generator room.

Electrician Darren Moore of C & D Electric, Wey-

burn, is tying in the gen set before the trailer goes

out.

Th ey do most of the work themselves, with weld-

ers and carpenters making up much of the staff . Some

aspects, like painting and electrical, are farmed out.

Th e company is CSA-approved and carries a cer-

tifi cation for the Alberta Building Code, Part 10 –

Relocatable Industrial Accomodation.

Th ey’ve also built offi ce, consultant and rig man-

ager skid shacks. Th e well-site trailers are meant pri-

marily for water haulers or vac truck operators.

“Most of it is custom order. We build specifi cally

to customer needs,” Dembiczak says. “Th e fl at decks

we build are more for extreme heavy duty use.”

In addition to their own product, Denby carries

Trailtech fl atdecks and C Jay Trailers enclosed trail-

ers. Both are Saskatchewan-produced – the former at

Gravelbourg, the latter at Moose Jaw.

Page A11

One for a friend, one on spec

The well site trailers that got the ball rolling for Denby Trailer at Weyburn are mean primarily for water haulers or vac truck operators.


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Electrician Darren Moore, subcontracting for Demby Trailer, nishes hooking up a gen set in a new service rig doghouse.

Page A10Th ey’re currently running at fi ve staff , having

peaked at 13 before things slowed down last fall. His

wife Marilyn handles the admin side of the business

full time.

At the recent Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show

in Weyburn, they had a well site trailer, two diff er-

ent service rig doghouse, and a fl atdeck on display.

Th e oilshow was “great,” he says, noting an excellent

reponse.

Did that turn into orders?

“Yes,” he replies.

Indeed, you can see some of their trailers on the

right side of front page of the July edition of Pipeline News. It can be found at www.pipelinenews.ca under

“past editions.”

Th ey’ve sold trailers into the four western prov-

inces as well as North Dakota, but business is princi-

pally from the southeast. Dembiczak says he’s grate-

ful to southeast Saskatchewan for a lot of support.

A change in government has also made a diff er-

ence, according to Dembiczak.

“I’ve noticed a huge increase in business ever

since our current government was elected.”

Demby Trailer likes to keep a few wellsite trailers in stock. They are the trailers that launched the business.

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By Brian Zinchuk

White City – Th e

mainline pipeline con-

struction business is a

tough racket to survive in.

When there’s work, there’s

lots of work. But when it

dries up, the drought lasts

for years.

Saskatchewan sees a

burst of mainline pipeline

activity every fi ve to ten

years, the timeframe by

which either Enbridge

(formerly Interprovincial

Pipe Line) or

TransCanada typically

adds another mainline.

TransCanada now has

seven, and Enbridge, with

the addition of the current

line under construction,

will have six.

Th e last spurt in Sas-

katchewan was in 1998

to 2000, when the then-

newly renamed Enbridge

built what was known as

the Terrace Expansion.

It was followed by the

greenfi eld Alliance Pipe-

line, of which Enbridge

is a major shareholder.

TransCanada also had

work done.

One of the major

contractors on the Alli-

ance job was Waschuk

Pipe Line Construction

Ltd., of Red Deer, Al-

berta. Waschuk is back

in this province, building

the eastern Saskatchewan

portion of Enbridge’s Al-

berta Clipper, from Bet-

hune to Cromer, Mani-

toba.

For mainline con-

tractors, it’s feast time,

after years of famine. Not

everyone survived the last

one, with Marine Pipe-

line Construction being

one of the major contrac-

tors to disappear. It was

liquidated in 2004, after

its American parent com-

pany, Murphy Bros. Inc,

ran into fi nancial trouble.

Th is time around,

TransCanada is con-

verting an existing gas

pipeline to oil use. Th e

project is called the Key-

stone Pipeline. Enbridge

is building a new main-

line, called Alberta Clip-

per. TransCanada is also

looking to build a new oil

mainline, called Keystone

XL, across southwest

Saskatchewan. After that,

things are likely to get

real quiet in the mainline

business.

Th e Mackenzie Valley

Pipeline still seems a long

ways off . While there has

been a lot of work around

Fort McMurray in recent

years, that dried up when

the price of oil dropped

like a stone last fall.

Family operationAs a mainline con-

tractor, Waschuk stands

out in that it is fam-

ily-owned and oper-

ated. Bill Waschuk is the

head, as CEO. His chil-

dren run the operation.

Wes Waschuk is presi-

dent, Kevin Waschuk

is vice president. Lorrill

Waschuk retired a year

ago.

Th ey make frequent

visits to the fi eld offi ce,

which, until late July, was

based in White City. Th e

tail end of the project saw

the fi eld offi ce in Virden.

In terms of scale,

this project is huge. Wes

Waschuk sat down with

Pipeline News in White

City on July 16 and of-

fered some explanation.

Th e total dollar

amount for Waschuk Pipe

Line will be in excess of

$250 million, he said. It

will be their second larg-

est project, dollar-wise,

with 345 km of 36-inch

pipe. It follows a 323 km

42-inch job in northern

Alberta, which involved

tougher conditions and

isolated camps.

Th e workforce peaks

around 700, and that

doesn’t include En-

bridge’s personnel on site

as inspectors. Th ere are

in excess of 200 pieces

of equipment on the job,

135 pickups and one-

tonne trucks, about 25

buses, according to Dave

“Chatter” Prosofsky, gen-

eral superintendent. Most

of that equipment is Cat-

erpillar.

“I deal with all the

major issues that come

up,” says Wes Waschuk,

off ering up dealing with

the owner of the pipeline

and labour as two exam-

ples. He’s is not just presi-

dent of the company. “I’m

the project manager, too,”

he says. “Th at’s a plate-full

right there. We have to

work from four collective

bargaining agreements

we have to abide by.”

One of those issues

was a fi ve-day blockade

of the right of way by

First Nations people at

the start of the project in

August, 2008. Th at was

dealt with by Enbridge.

Being an owner of

the company has its ad-

vantages – decisions

can be made quickly. “If

things can’t get resolved, I

can make a fast decision,”

he says.

Th at’s important, he

notes, because, “in pipe-

line, everything is quick.”

Page A13

Feast or famine in the mainline business

The top of the food chain for Waschuk Pipe Line’s Alberta Clipper work includes superintendent Dave Anderson, left, Mike Thorn, project engineer, and Dave “Chatter” Prososfsky, general superintendent.


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Alaska before Mackenzie

Page A12But long before that

ever happens, a lot is

gone over at the negotiat-

ing table before workers

hit the ground. “Th ere’s

a very long negotiation

process before you start

the pipeline,” Waschuk

says. “We’ve been doing

this since ’65.”

In this case, the call

for contractors came in

late 2007, with contracts

awarded in 2008, and

construction starting in

August of that year.

Th e completion date

is pegged at Nov. 1 of this

year.

Into the valleyWhat’s next for the

company, after Alberta

Clipper?

Waschuk says they

are hoping for the Gate-

way Pipeline, through

British Columbia to

the Pacifi c, and that the

Mackenzie Valley Pipe-

line will get on track. He

says they need to get the

oilsands going again as an

impetus for future proj-

ects.

“Th ings can come

back as fast as they were

delayed,” he says. “Th ere’s

a fi nite amount of oil.”

“I believe [the] Alas-

ka [pipeline] will be built

fi rst, then Mackenzie,” he

says, citing an American

desire for energy self-

suffi ciency. He notes they

had put in cost estimates

years ago, before Sept. 11,

2001.

During the last slow-

down, he notes, “We took

on smaller projects.”

As a family-owned

company, they do not

have the pressures to

show regular returns for

investors, but rather are

responsible to themselves.

Th at means they can cut

back as needed, a strategy

employed before. “Th ere

was no big work for a

long time,” he recalls.

One of their strat-

egies, according to

Waschuk and Prosofsky,

is the use of rented equip-

ment. When the project

is done, you’re not carry-

ing the extra investment

in capital equipment.

“We probably have 40

pieces rented of large iron

from our local Caterpillar

dealer in Regina,” Prosof-

sky explains, adding they

had a substantial amount

of iron overhauled there.

“We are going into a

valley now,” says Prosof-

sky. Th e company needs

to keep lean and mean.

“You keep your over-

head low during the lean

times.”

“Th e one thing about

the valley is you get rid of

ineffi ciently run compa-

nies,” Waschuk says.

Saskatchewan connections

Prosofsky is from

Hanley, a small commu-

nity south of Saskatoon

that has produced a large

number of professional

pipeliners. Th e Prosofsky

clan is among them.

He notes that be-

tween Hanley and Ke-

naston, there are about 35

pipeliners, most of which

are at work on the Alber-

ta Clipper project. “Th e

town of Hanley probably

has 15 pipeliners.”

“Probably 90 per cent

of our foremen are from

rural backgrounds, basi-

cally farm boys. Th e defi -

nitely weren’t urbanites,”

Prosofsky says. “Many of

the foremen have been

with Waschuk for 25

years when Waschuk was

a small company.”

He notes that seven

or eight senior supervi-

sors for the company are

from Saskatchewan.

A substantial portion

of the workforce is also

from Saskatchewan.

Prosofsky himself is a

relative newcomer to the

company, having been the

spreadboss for Marine

from 1995 until 2004,

and for Majestic Pipelin-

ers for seven years before

that. In the intermission

between Marine and

Waschuk, he had a small

company, doing consult-

ing. Th at period included

six months with Techint,

the company that is now

working with Robert B.

Somerville on the west-

ern Saskatchewan por-

tion of Alberta Clipper.

“When Bill

[Waschuk] phoned and

asked if I wanted to come

out, I had a few sons

working here, and it was

in my backyard.,” Prosof-

sky explains.

It was an opportunity

to work with people he’s

worked with for years, he

says. “I think I crossed the

prairies about eight dif-

ferent times.”

“I had a daugh-

ter born in Moosomin

in 1973 when we were

working in Moosomin.”

His oldest son is one

of three assistant super-

intendents, in this case,

covering the back end of

the job.

One last thing, how

did Prosofsky get the

handle “Chatter,” by

which he is universally

known? He’s been called

that since he was 14 years

old, he explains, a refl ec-

tion on being talkative.

“I get mail addressed to

‘Dave Chatter.’ It just

stuck.”

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Moving mountains of dirt: ditch crewBy Brian Zinchuk

Glenavon – Everything in big-inch mainline

pipeline construction is more demanding. Ditching

is a prime example.

For a small-inch pipeline, ditching is much more

forgiving. Th e pipe is much more fl exible, or, in pipe-

line parlance, has more ‘rope.’ You might even notice

the pipe sagging between plastic cones used to hold

it up along the right of way. If a ditch isn’t perfectly

straight or fl at, the pipe will bend to conform to it.

No so for mainline work. Th ere is precious little

rope in a 36-inch pipeline. Th at means if there is no

give in the pipe, the ditch has to fi t exactly. If there

are rises or dips in the ditch bottom, it can apply

pressure to the pipe after it has been backfi lled, lead-

ing to a possible failure years down the road.

Making sure the ditch and pipe match starts

with the bending engineer going along the right of

way. He’ll measure off how many degrees the pipe

needs to be bent up (a “sag”, for a dip) or down (an

“overbend,” for a small rise). Th ese numbers are used

by the bending crew to bend the pipe to match the

contours of the land. Th ey are also used to determine

cut stakes, where the ditch will have to be deeper

than its standard one-meter plus the thickness of the

pipe.

Since the 36-inch pipe is nearly a meter across,

the ditch is usually dug to 2 metres, no less, allowing

for a little extra depth. It’s better to be a little deeper

than too shallow. You can never be shallow.

Th e ditch crew uses two primary pieces of

equipment – giant wheel ditchers and 45-tonne

excavators, with the Caterpillar 345C or 345D be-

ing the standard. Th ese excavators are about as big

as you can get and still haul on the road in one piece.

Dozers are used in a support role.

On this project, Waschuk is using nine excava-

tors, all Cat 345Cs or Ds, two ditchers, a D8 dozer

and a D6 dozer. Th ere are 18 workers on the excava-

tors, four on the ditchers, two dozer operators, two

labourers, bus driver, strawboss (assistant foreman)

and foreman on the ditch crew, according to straw-

boss Armand Cust. Th e crew is made up primarily

of operating engineers, although the bus driver is a

teamster and the two labours belong to the labourers

union.

Th at crew of 29 will produce about 4 kilometres

of two-metre-plus deep ditch a day, moving a veri-

table mountain of dirt in the process.

DitcherTh e king of the prairie is the wheel ditcher. For

the Enbridge Alberta Clipper project, Waschuk Pipe

Line is using two.

Page A15

A15PIPELINE NEWS August 2009

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Page A14In many ways, they function like the wheel excavators that used to be used

at Fort McMurray. A giant wheel with numerous buckets, each festooned

with teeth, rotates continuously. Th e buckets scoop from the bottom to the

top, each scraping a few inches and depositing it onto the conveyor belt that

runs through the centre of the wheel. Th e conveyor sends the dirt out to the

spill pile. You can easily identify ditcher ditch from a distance by its uniform,

smooth spill pile.

Ditchers are tremendously productive when they are in good ground, eas-

ily outpacing several excavators each. Whereas an excavator’s daily progress

might be measured in hundreds of metres, a ditcher’s progress might be mea-

sured in kilometres.

“You can get up to two clicks if it’s good going,” says Brett LaCroix, oiler

for ditcher operator Kevin Reiker.

As such, the oiler for the ditcher has to frequently go out and set up off -

set sighting rods for the operator to go by. He does this by measuring off the

surveyed centre line stakes, and aligning them so that as many as 8 rods will

be in a perfect line, one disappearing after another as you eyeball it. From his

sideways-facing seat, the ditcher operator can look down the line and align

his machine for a perfectly straight ditch.

For LaCroix, it’s his third year oiling on a ditcher. “I don’t mind it,” he

says. “It keeps you in shape, all the walking, changing teeth.”

Th ere are 188 teeth on all those buckets, as opposed to fi ve on an excava-

tor bucket. “Too many,” he says with a smile.

Ditchers have their limits, however. Th ey don’t do cut stakes, they can’t

do curves (called sidebends), and rocks are especially problematic. Sometimes

the ditcher has to leave a rock and an excavator coming behind will have to

dig it out. In rocky land, sometimes the ditchers just skip to the next, good

digging portion.

With a high number of moving parts, ditchers are also prone to frequent

breakdowns. An oiler can easily pump six or more tubes of grease a day, by

hand, into a ditcher. Woe be to the oiler who thinks one or two tubes is

enough. Th e mechanic and utility welder are usually on pretty close terms

with the ditcher.

Ditcher operators also have the unfortunate reality of being one of the

last operators hired onto a job, and among the fi rst let go. While an excavator

might be redeployed for clean up or tie-ins, a ditcher has one purpose – dig

ditch. When the ditch is done, it’s time to go home.

ExcavatorTh e excavator is the workhorse of the ditch crew. For this job, Waschuk

has nine on the ditch crew.

While in non-union work, excavator operators typically operate alone, on

union, big-inch pipelines, each excavator has two workers – an operator and

an oiler. Th e oiler’s job is to measure the ditch to make sure it conforms to cuts

stakes, perform daily maintenance, fl ag at road crossing, and act as a second

set of eyes around power lines and underground utilities.

Page A16

In good ground ditchers can not be beat


Page A15 Th e excavator operators have got to be very good at what

they do to stay on. Th at means producing a certain amount of ditch each day,

and that ditch has to be perfect. Th e bottom has to be fl at, which is not as

easy as it seems. Th at’s because there are no linear movements on an excavator.

Every motion the machine makes is in an arc – the swing, the boom, the stick

and the bucket. Th e operator has the feather two, three or even four controls

all at once to create a straight line.

It takes about four to fi ve minutes to dig a “set,” – as much ditch as you

can dig at one spot without moving. Th e operator starts digging the outside

edges of the ditch, and keeps narrowing it down so that it forms a sloped “V”

shape. Th e walls are kept smooth so that nothing falls out later and becomes

a headache for the lowering in or backfi ll crews. Rocks in particular are the

concern here.

Once he’s done a set, he’ll spin around and look down at a stake between

his tracks, pointing down his centerline. He’ll advance the machine, aligning

the excavator with a painted centreline, done by the oiler. Th e oiler will use a

long string and a can of fl uorescent spray paint to mark where the centre of

the ditch should be, using the surveyed stakes as guidance.

It’s important to stay on centreline, because little errors can amplify over

time, and looking down at 300 metres of not-so-straight ditch can make for

an unhapply foreman.

A smooth operator can be identifi ed from a distance by the lack of jerki-

ness in the arm’s movement. He’ll move that bucket in a smooth, sweeping

arc, from edge of ditch to in between his tracks, over to the spill pile and back

again all in one fl uid motion.

Excavators play a form of leapfrog all day long. Th ey will set in, dig a

stretch, then ‘pull the plug’ and scoot out.

Pulling the plug happens when two ditches meet, usually with two exca-

vators working back to back. One will pull out and travel along the spill pile

to the next digging location. Th e remaining excavator will rotate his tracks so

they are now perpendicular to the ditch line. He’ll dig under himself, under-

mining, until the excavator is basically suspended by the corners of its tracks

set across the ditch.

Reaching with the arm to the side, he’ll use the bucket to push the ma-

chine off the ditch line and into a hole left in the spill pile, running the tracks

at the same time. From this position, he’ll then dig out the remainder of the

plug, ensuring the ditch bottom is straight and smooth. Finally, he’ll climb the

spill pile and travel along it until the next possible exit comes along.

When the pipe has not been welded up yet, this is easier, because it is pos-

sible to move a joint of pipe. But once the pipe is welded, it can mean a long

‘walk’ along the spill pile.

Excavators will often be used on other crews once the main ditch is com-

pleted.

DozerTh e bulldozer provides a support role on the ditch crew, usually pushing

spill away in situations where the excavator operator runs out of room in the

regular work area. Th is is often the case near roads.

Dozer operators also spend a lot of their time going backwards, but on

purpose. Dragging their blade in a technique called ‘backblading’ acts to

smooth out the right of way similar to a grader.

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The oiler on an excavator takes regular measurements of the ditch, to en-sure it is at the proper depth. There must be a minimum of one metre cover over the pipe. The measurements are taken using a grade stick, typically a 1x2 with a long tape measure taped to the end. At the end of the tape mea-sure, a rock is used as plumb bob.

Excavators are the workhorses


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Story and photos by Brian Zinchuk

Glenavon – When Pipeline News last spoke to

Nina Stonechild, she was taking the Operating En-

gineers Training Institute of Saskatchewan (OETIS)

pipeline excavator operator course near White City.

Th at was during the spring time, before the mainline

work on the Enbridge Alberta Clipper project fi red

up again.

She’s since been featured on the regular Rawlco

Radio spot “Seed of Success,” which focuses on ab-

original achievement.

Stonechild is now working as an oiler on the

ditch crew, alongside excavator operator Lyle Cust.

“I am not regretting this at all. I am learning a

lot. I have a good operator that’s teaching me lots,”

she says.

“It’s just the waking up early,” Stonechild adds

with a smile and a bit of chagrin. “I might think twice

when I’m standing all day in pouring rain.”

As for the ever-present wind on the bald prairie

southeast of Regina, she says, “I think I’ve eaten my

fair share of sand and dirt.’

Speaking about the OETIS course, she says, “I

think the majority of it gave me a good basis and un-

derstanding to come out here. Without that training,

I don’t think I would survive out here. Everything we

learned gave me a good basis – the do’s and the defi -

nitely don’ts.”

Stonechild adds, “Every day I’m learning some-

thing diff erent, i.e. moving pipe out of the way.”

Her operator is providing a good example to

learn from, with a ditch so smooth you could shoot

a billiard ball down it. “Tell my wife I’m eating blue-

berries and bananas,” he says during his coff ee break.

Lyle’s brother Stanley is the ditch foreman, his

other brother, Armand, is the strawboss. It’s pretty

common to see families working on the same job.

“I’ve been pipelining for 31 years,” he says, add-

ing he’s “ran hoe,” e.g., operated an excavator, for 25

years. He’s also worked in gravel pits and in road con-

struction.

Training paying off

Nina Stonechild says the training she received from the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Saskatchewan has been invaluable to her on the job.

Lyle Cust has been been operating an excavator for 25 years. Here he’s working on the Waschuk Pipe Line ditch crew.


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By Brian Zinchuk

Glenavon - Th e big-

gest crew on a mainline

pipeline project is the

main gang, also known

as pipe gang. It’s the crew

that welds the joints of

pipe together for stretch-

es that can be kilometres

in length.

Most mainline con-

tractors will actually

run two similar welding

crews – the main gang,

and a poor-boy crew. Th e

poor-boy crew is often a

little smaller and more

nimble, making it eas-

ier for them to work in

tighter quarters.

Depending on

the number of weld-

ing shacks, the crew

can exceed a hundred.

For Waschuk Pipe Line

Construction, there’s

about 80 on the main

gang.

At the front end

of the crew are workers

who clean up the ends of

each joint of pipe, ensur-

ing they ready to go. Sev-

eral labourers will carry

multi-headed propane

torches, putting them in-

side the end of the joint

of pipe and warming it in

preparation for welding.

One of the most

skilled sideboom opera-

tors on the job will drive

the setting-in tractor. He

will pick up each joint

of pipe from the skid

piles on which they are

resting, and run it back

to the front end of the

welded pipe.

As the joint is

brought back, the ‘goose’

is inserted into it. It has

clamps and a multi-

headed welder that will

do the initial weld, join-

ing the loose joint to the

rest of the welded line

pipe.

But before that hap-

pens, a pipefi tter known

as a ‘spacer’ directs the

placement of the joint.

He’ll crawl on top of the

pipe, and guide it so that

there is an even space all

the way around between

the new joint and the

line pipe he is kneeling

on. If the gap is even all

the way around, the weld

will be straight.

While this is going

on, a group of labour-

ers rapidly redeploys the

skids that once held the

loose joint in place. Th ey

will create a special skid

pile under the pipe, cra-

dling it so that it will not

fall off . It’s hard work, and

brutal when the weather

is hot. Pipeline News saw

one labourer whose hard

hat didn’t stop dripping

of the sweat pouring off

his forehead.

Next are the welding

shacks, in this case, fi ve.

Th e fi rst does what is

known as the ‘hot pass,”

the initial outside weld.

Th e next two are fi ll

passes, and the fi nal two

are cap welds.

Th e ends of the joints

of pipe are bevelled, so

each progressive weld

fi lls in more of the bevel.

Each welding shack

is carried by a sideboom,

whose operator is some-

times said to be a ‘shack-

packer.’

Th e sideboom will

carry the power pack for

the welders on its tail

end, connected by um-

bilicals to the shack.

Th e boom opera-

tor will lower the weld-

ing shack onto the pipe,

while welders’ helpers on

each side direct it with

taglines.

Page A19

That’s the sound of men working on the main gang

The spacer, on top of the pipe, right, guides the new joint of pipe onto the ‘goose,’ and internal welding rig.

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Page A18Four men work in

each shack – a welder on

each side, assisted by his

helper.

Once the shack is

on the pipe, the helpers

will open the doors, close

the shack fl oor under the

pipe, and close the front

and rear doors around

the bottom of the pipe.

Th e days of stick

welding line pipe on

mainlines are long past.

Automated welders,

called bugs, do the ac-

tual laying of the bead,

while the human welders

direct them with remote

controls.

Th e welders de-

ploy the bugs, which are

mounted onto bands

that had been placed on

the pipe previously. Each

welder does his side, with

one doing the top, and

the other doing the bot-

tom.

“I can control the

rear welding head left to

right and my wire speed,”

notes hot pass welder

John Bouchard in the

brief moments between

welds. “If it’s really wide,

I’ll give it more wire. You

want just a little concave

for the cappers.”

In a highly choreo-

graphed exercise, welders

work together with their

helpers to quickly weld

and grind as needed. Be-

fore you’ve had time to

ask yourself, “Are they

done yet?” the bugs are

stowed, the doors are

opened everyone gets

out. Th e helpers open

up the fl oor again. Th e

boom operator then

hoists the shack onto the

next weld.

Sometimes com-

panies will use multiple

shacks for each process

on their main gang. Th ese

shacks will leapfrog each

other, doing every second

weld.

Th e welding crews

will often start the proj-

ect after the ditch crew,

then pass them at some

point, fi nishing well be-

fore ditch.

It’s a fast paced crew,

and a lot can go wrong.

As such, a medic is usu-

ally in close proximity to

the welding crews, just in

case.

Once the welding

crews are through, non-

destructive testing, typi-

cally ultrasound these

days, is performed on

each weld. Th e standard

used to be X-ray. If there

are any defects in a weld,

they must be repaired

before it can be coated.

With the ultrasound

completed, coating can

then have its go at the

pipe.

The main gang and a poor-boy crew are the largest crews

If you want to lose weight, start throwing skids like these labour-ers. They assemble a crotched skid pile un-der each joint of pipe as it is welded. The sweat was literally pouring out of the hardhat of one of them.


By Brian ZinchukGlenavon - Th ere was

a time when coating the

welds on a big inch pipe-

line could mean enough

brush strokes for your arm

to fall off . Denis McKe-

ough, coating foreman for

Waschuk Pipe Line should

know. On the Alliance

Pipeline ten years ago, he

probably hand-painted

close to 20,000 welds.

As the coating fore-

man since then, he now is

looking after a less-phys-

ically intensive method –

using an automated rig.

Corrosion is the big

bogeyman when it comes

to steel pipelines. Main-

lines can, and have, oper-

ated for over half a century,

as long as corrosion is kept

under control. Any nicks or

imperfections in the coat-

ing, however, can turn the

steel into swiss cheese as

the decades wear on. In the

worst case scenario, years

after the pipeline was built,

a blowout can occur.

Coating is the protec-

tion against it. Th e length

of the pipe is coated at

the steel mill, before it is

shipped out. However, the

ends, where the joints of

pipe are welded together,

must be coated in the fi eld.

Th is used to be done

with a brush – a sloppy af-

fair. Not anymore.

It used to take 90 sec-

onds to do a weld by hand.

Th ey can now do it in 45.

But the benefi ts aren’t just

time. “Workers can stay

away from the zone,” says

McKeough, referring to

the area where the coating

is being applied. “We wore

respirators, but it’s all the

better.”

“It’s the quality. It’s

more uniform and consis-

tent than what we’ve done

before with a brush and

roller.”

Waschuk has been a

pioneer with this sort of

coating apparatus, bring-

ing it to Canada in recent

years. General superinten-

dent Dave “Chatter” Pro-

sofsky says it was the only

coating system approved

for Enbridge’s Alberta

Clipper project.

“Controlled environ-

ment is probably the big

one,” he says of the ben-

efi ts. “It’s not cheaper.”

Nick Smith, a Brit

with a thick Yorkshire ac-

cent, is the project supervi-

sor for Pipeline Induction

Heat, the subcontractor

whose system is being

used. He’s been working

in Canada off and on for

three years. During some

of that ‘off ’ time, he was

working in India for three

and a half months.

“Th ey’re out of the

UK. Th ey work all over the

world. Waschuk was the

fi rst company in Canada to

use them on large-diameter

pipe,” McKeough says.

His crew still has the

same number of people, at

31, but they don’t have to

stand over a smoking pipe,

he explains.

Th e ‘induction’ part of

the name comes from the

process of using magnetic

induction to heat the pipe.

Th e coating appara-

tus wraps around the pipe

in a manner similar to the

automated welders used in

mainline welding. Th e dif-

ference is the automated

welder mounts on a band,

where as the coating ma-

chine travels around the

pipe.

Th e pipe is fi rst

prepped by way of sand-

blasting, then heated with

the induction coil. Th e

powder coating is then ap-

plied, resulting in a fusion-

bonded epoxy coating.

“We mount it on the

pipe, and the single head

sprayer rotates back and

forth around the pipe to

achieve the required coat-

ing thickness,” McKeough

explains.

Th at machine is sus-

pended from a sideboom,

which carries it from weld

to weld. Th e sideboom

tows a container with has

the complex mixing equip-

ment. No pictures allowed

in there, unfortunately. Th e

applicator is connected by

umbilical hoses hooked up

the towed shack.

On the Web: http://www.pih.co.uk. An anima-tion of the coating process can be found under the fusion bonded epoxy link.

Coating now automated on mainline

Denis McKeough pulls the wraps of the automated coating machine now used by Waschuk Pipe Line Construction. Having caught up to the non-destructive testing crew, it was time to cover it up for the day.

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By Brian Zinchuk

Glenavon - If there

is any one image that

has come to characterize

mainline pipeline con-

struction, it is the low-

ering-in crew in action.

You’ll see it everywhere

from the logo of the

Pipe Line Contractors

Association of Canada

to artistic wall prints.

After the ditch has

been dug, the pipe-

line welded, ultrasoni-

cally tested and coated,

it’s time to put it in the

ditch.

Th at’s where the

lowering in crew comes

in.

It’s a crew that

stretches out and com-

presses like a spring, with

the advance parties going

ahead, only to see the tail

end rapidly catch up.

Th e ‘clam’ is one of

those parties. It’s what

is known a ‘pipeliner’ –

an adapted Caterpillar

excavator with a dra-

gline boom instead of a

digging arm. Th e cab is

raised, and the hydraulics

make way for cables. Th e

pipeliner has a clamshell

bucket that is dropped

into the ditch to scoop

out any material that

might have sloughed in

or any rocks that may

have been missed. Th e

pipeliner’s oiler walks

along the ditch, signal-

ling to his operator where

to deploy the clamshell

bucket.

Also on foot you’ll

come across the jeeping

party. Th ese labourers use

a coil wrapped around the

pipe like a slinky. Th e coil

is energized with high

voltage from a battery.

Th e apparatus is called

a ‘jeeper,’ and looks for

‘jeeps,’ or scratches in the

coating. (Th ink “Jeepers!

I didn’t want that to hap-

pen!”)

Th e pipe is ground-

ed at one end with a

jumper cable, and the

jeeper trails a wire on

the ground. If there are

any breaks in the coat-

ing of the pipe, electric-

ity will fl ow through the

coil, through the break

in the coating, down the

pipe, into the ground,

grounding out the jeeper,

at which point it makes

a noise. When this hap-

pens, the crew stops, and

a labourer with a small

hand torch will melt a

‘jeep stick,’ also known

as a ‘patch stick,’ to cover

up the scratch. A recheck

with the jeeper, and the

team continues on.

Th e heavy equipment

comes next, with a group

of sidebooms doing the

heavy lifting, literally.

One goes ahead and at-

taches a heavy duty sling

to the far end of the pipe.

Th is is to prevent the pipe

from going anywhere it

is not suppose to.

Th e remaining booms

use cradles – slings with

multiple rollers, to lift the

pipe of the skid piles and

swing it over and into the

ditch. In between there

is another jeeping party,

making sure there are no

jeeps. Page A22

The ‘clam’ is a ‘pipeliner’ with a clamshell bucket attached. It’s used to clean out any slough-ins or missed rocks that may be in the ditch just prior to the pipe being lowered in. The pipeliner is a specialized dragline used on the back end, either as a clam, or with a ‘Mormon board’ for back ll.

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The last chance to check for imperfections in the coating, known as ‘jeeps,’ is just before the pipe is lowered in. Here, in the centre, a labourer performs a minor jeep repair while the rest of the crew waits.

wants a p cture ofwants a p cture of Page A21

A small tracked

skid-steer type loader

sweeps the skid piles

out of the way, to be

collected later.

The booms work

together in concert,

rolling as one. It can be

potentially dangerous,

with big, heavy ma-

chines, lots of people

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rod of his instrument

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ing in the information

into the computer. If

every weld position is

known, then the GPS

coordinates are known

for the entire pipe. It ’s

just a matter of the

computer connecting

the dots.

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By Geoff Lee

Edmonton – Not all

utility and pipeline locat-

ing companies in western

Canada are created equal.

Red-Alta Utility Lo-

cation Ltd., a division of

Consolidated Utility Ser-

vices Canada (CUS) has

made a move to stand out

from the crowd by being

the fi rst to adapt industry

training standards for its

fi eld operations.

Th e Red Deer-based

company has partnered

with the Ontario Re-

gional Common Ground

Alliance and its certi-

fi ed Damage Prevention

Technician program and

has also published the

Canadian Line Locate In-dustry Best Practices Hand-book for its customers.

“We are the only lo-

cate company in west-

ern Canada with the

DTP program,” said

Christina Davidson

general manager of CUS’s

Canadian operations.

“We looked at our

internal training program

and we wanted to step up

the game. A lot training

programs just look at lo-

cate theory. Locate theo-

ry is just one part of the

equation.

“Th e more impor-

tant part of the equation

is once they get to the

fi eld that they understand

what it is they are look-

ing for and why they are

looking for it. Th at’s why

we adopted the DPT be-

cause it has a competency

assessment component to

it.”

Th e DTP training

program has specifi c line

locate modules on gas and

oil pipelines, telecommu-

nications, water and sewer

and power line.

“I am proud to say that

all of our oilfi eld line lo-

cate technicians have been

fully certifi ed through

this program,” said Da-

vidson. “We have more

than 45 employees in

pipeline locating.”

Th e new industry

best practices handbook

may help to make locat-

ing safer, reduce risk,

potential damage and li-

ability incurred from not

heeding “call before you

dig” practices.

“Th e handbook is to

provide education and as-

sistance on what our cli-

ents should expect from

all locate contractors that

they have on site,” ex-

plained Davidson.

“We published it be-

cause we felt that any ex-

isting attempts at those

standards didn’t encom-

pass everything we need

it to.

“Pretty much any-

body who can buy a truck,

a locate machine and take

a two-day course, can go

locate pipelines. Th at’s a

bit of an issue.

“So what we’ve de-

cided internally is to set

a standard and train our

workers to that standard.

We want clients to under-

stand that we have their

best interest in mind. We

reduce the risk of missed

pipelines by pushing

those standards.”

Th e crucial the fi rst

step in line locating is

to call before you dig to

one-call authorities such

as the Alberta One Call

Corporation and Sask 1st

Call.

“Alberta is the only

province that has legis-

lated one call require-

ments,” said Davidson.

“Th e education program

has been fantastic. It says

if you have anything in

the ground, you need to

make a call and make sure

you locate it before you

excavate it or before you

do any kind of ground

disturbance.

“We work those tick-

ets on behalf of pipeline

and utility companies.”

Failure to call fi rst

before excavating can

lead to the type of acci-

dent that led the RCMP

in Yorkton to evacuate

a few city blocks after a

city backhoe operator hit

a natural gas line on June

4.

Fortunately, no one

was injured but a preven-

tative call to Sask 1st Call

would have proactively

alerted subscriber com-

panies of plans to disturb

the ground. Underground

facilities must be clearly

marked before work tick-

ets are issued.

“Th e one call systems

were implemented by util-

ity owners and pipeline

owners out of a vested in-

terest in protecting their

assets,” said Davidson.

“You can’t avoid hits

unless you know what’s

there. Th e purpose of Sask

1st Call and Alberta One

Call is to prevent damage.

If an excavator or anyone

doing ground disturbance

hits a fi bre optic cable it

can be very costly. You

want to avoid that at all

costs.”

Red-Alta locates and

maps pipeline right of

ways, satellites, well sites,

battery sites and seismic

projects and has more

than 180 customers in

British Columbia, Alberta

and Saskatchewan where

demand is growing.

“We are getting more

active in Saskatchewan all

the time. It is one of our

growth targets this year,”

said Davidson.

Found additional 202 lines on a lease

Red-Alta pipeline and utility line locating specialists are trained as certi ed Damage Prevention Technicians. Photo courtesy of Red-Alta


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PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

B-SectionAugust 2009

By Brian Zinchuk

Moosomin – Th e Boyd Excavating Ltd. fl eet in-

cludes four excavators, a new screener, two front end

loaders, fi ve trucks, four gravel trailers and a lowboy,

dozer and packer. Th e staff now numbers 17, includ-

ing 10 that were hired in February.

And the owner? He’s 21.

Tyler Boyd might just be the walking defi nition

of a successful young entrepreneur. His fi rst business

was raising boer goats. He started at the age of 12

with six goats, and grew the herd up to 150 by the

time he was 18. But, like a lot of people, he found it’s

hard to make a profi t at farming, so he got out. BSE

was brutal to the business. “I didn’t make any one it.

Because of BSE, I actually lost money,” he says over a

fried chicken lunch at Moosomin’s Red Barn restau-

rant. Watching him, you’d think he knows everyone

in the place. “I got my fi x of farming right there.”

Th e second venture was a drain cleaning com-

pany, one that he eventually sold to his younger 16-

year old brother, Tim. Th e business meant towing a

trailer behind his pickup, working with a rotorooter

and a camera. He dealt with anything from a plugged

kitchen sink to a sewer for the town. As for his brother,

the entrepreneurial spirit is strong in him, too. “He’ll

do two calls before school starts,” Tyler says.

Th at’s perhaps not surprising, since their dad runs

a vac-truck business, Heartland Sanitary.

Now he’s on his third venture, the biggest by far.

“I bought a mini-excavator when I was 18,” Boyd

says. “I sold that and bought my fi rst larger trackhoe

and a tandem truck when I was 19.”

It happened on his 19th birthday.

You’d think he’d be a natural in his chosen school-

ing, business management at Assiniboine Commu-

nity College in Brandon. Not so. He was there for

four months and decided it wasn’t for him. “I didn’t

enjoy being in the city. I didn’t enjoy being in school.

I’ve known ever since I was in grade six or seven I

would be in Moosomin. Drain cleaning taught me

more than school. When there’s a water break, I’m

there within an hour. People don’t want to wait.”

“With excavating, we’re quite geared up for 24-

hur a day emergency calls. We have one unit ready to

roll all the time. We’ve done a couple diesel spills, and

lots of sewer and water breaks.”

A lot of that is providing service for smaller com-

munities in the area that might not have their own

excavation equipment.

As for running an excavator himself, Boyd still

does it when he needs to fi ll in, but not usually.

Between all this, he found time to marry Aman-

da Sinclair, also of Moosomin, last August. Amanda

runs fuel around, and does landscape work.

He’s since hired his mom to help out on the ad-

min side. His 23-year-old sister Tenielle is the only

one not involved in some way – that’s because she’s a

helicopter paramedic in northern Alberta.

Page B2

On his third business, at the age of 21

Eugene Tippett’s boss says he’s so good with an excavator, he can pick up a quarter off the ground with the bucket and not get any dirt on it. We didn’t have a chance to test that, however. Tippett works with Boyd Excavating Ltd., in Moosomin.

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009B2

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Page B1“We do a bit of everything. We’ll work for farmers, sewer and water, oilfi eld,

whatever. We do contaminated soil hauling, too. We take it to Virden or Mel-

ville.”

Th ey have sealed end-dump trucks for that purpose.

“Pretty much everything we have is John Deere,” he says, citing excellent ser-

vice from Brandt, the John Deere industrial dealer for Saskatchewan. Th ey also

have a Komatsu zero-tail swing excavator, and a Bomag packer. “I go places you

wouldn’t take a skid steer with that trackhoe,” he says.

His phone rings during lunch. “Where do you need it?” is the quick answer.

Just north of Moosomin, one of his excavators is working. Th e operator is

Eugene Tippett. “He can pick up a quarter [with the bucket] and there won’t be

any dirt on it,” Boyd says.

It helps to have new iron to be that precise. Th eir oldest equipment is from

2003, most is from 2006 to 2009.

“I wouldn’t be halfway to where I am today without the employees I have,”

Boyd says, noting they are highly experienced.

Is it diffi cult, dealing with staff substantially older than he is?

“Th ey respect me, and I let them do their own thing,” he responds. “I value

their opinion more than I value mine.”

“I’m not good at fi xing stuff ,” he off ers as an example. “I’ve got guys who are

good in the shop. My job isn’t to run hoe anymore. My job is to keep these guys

going.”

A little north of Estevan, there is now a fl at area where there was once a

small rise. Th at soil went to provide the base for a new hotel under construction

in Moosomin. Th e site has the new McCloskey screener, and will be home to a

new shop.

“I’ve had my eye on this land for a couple years,” he says.

Th e plans are for 80x100 shop, built with expansion in mind. Currently, they

are working out of his dad’s shop, on a farm east of Moosomin.

Th e base for the new hotel kept them busy through the spring. “Th is used to

be just swamp,” he says at the hotel site. Th ey excavated out the frozen swam, go-

ing right down to fi rm clay. “We went down four feet and came up 15.”

“We went though all spring. At one point we had eight trucks hauling clay on

a two mile haul. Th at’s a lot of clay.”

If this is how far he’s gotten by 21, where will he be by 25?

“As big as I can,” he responds. “I’ve had a few people ask me, ‘When are you

going stop?’

“Donald Trump says, ‘If you’re not going forward, you’re going backwards.

Th ere is no such thing as sitting still.’”

Tyler Boyd takes a call while on the site of what will eventually be a new shop. Behind him is a new screener, a 2008 model.

“There is no such thing as sitting still.”

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009 B3

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443-2424

By Brian Zinchuk

Moosomin – Every

fi ve to ten years, either

TransCanada or En-

bridge typically builds a

new mainline pipeline.

Th at’s good news for

Moosomin, on High-

way 1 near the Mani-

toba border. Both of the

mainline right-of-ways

run nearby.

Enbridge’s runs to

the south, past Fairlight.

TransCanada’s main-

lines run to the north.

However, by nature of

geography, Moosomin

is the only centre in the

area that can accommo-

date sizeable crews. It

also benefi ts from being

a short drive from the

Rocanville potash mine,

which is undergoing a

sizeable expansion. Th at

project is expected to

lead to hundreds of new

jobs. Traditionally, about

40 per cent of the mine

workforce has lived in

Moosomin, according to

Larry Miskiman, mayor

of the community of

2,500.

Th ere are only a few

other locations in Sas-

katchewan that have a

similar confl uence of

geographical advantage

– Regina and Moose Jaw.

Both are near the main-

lines. However, those

two communities are

much, much larger, and

thus the impact of a crew

of hundreds moving into

town for a few months is

less pronounced.

Not only does

Moosomin have pipe-

lines and mines nearby,

but it also has produc-

ing oilfi elds, too. Th ere

as been lots of activity at

the Wapella fi eld, to the

west, over the last ten

years, Miskiman notes.

Th e Rocanville fi eld

to the north is an old

fi eld, but has sprung up

new wells in the last fi ve

years, he explains.

Right now, not only

is Enbridge building an

entirely new pipeline

nearby, but TransCana-

da is converting an ex-

isting natural gas line

to crude oil. Th ey have

a compressor station

near Moosomin. “We

look forward to it, each

opportunity we have,”

Miskiman says. “Th at’s

why we try to accom-

modate the Waschuks of

the world.

Waschuk is the

prime contractor on the

Alberta Clipper project

for eastern Saskatch-

ewan. Even with a sub-

stantial number of ho-

tels and campsite in the

small town, Moosomin

still isn’t big enough

to handle the crew of

up to 700 Waschuk is

working with. As such,

the company has its

workforce spread be-

tween Regina, Grenfell,

Broadview, Whitewood,

Moosomin, Kipling and

Virden, according to

Waschuk general super-

intendent Dave “Chat-

ter” Prosofsky. Th e fi eld

offi ce is at White City.

In mid-July, he says they

had approximately 350

people working out of

Moosomin.

“We had our town

guys drop everything

and develop a 40 site

full-service campsite,”

Miskimin says.

It’s located next to

the new hotel under

construction, owned

by the same group who

have been developing

hotels in Weyburn. It

cost $15,000 to do, and

Waschuk partnered on

the cost.

Page B4

Larry Miskiman, mayor of Moosomin, heads up the local branch of Connexus Credit Union when he’s not attending to his civic duties.

Every few years, the ood comes in

Moosomin’s Country Squire Inn has seen a lot of business from pipeliners working out of the community. However, manager Steve Shin notes it does make it more dif cult, when you have events like weddings booked months in advance con icting with workers who would prefer not to give up their room for the weekend.


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Page B3While there is a

sizeable campground just

north of town, having an

overfl ow is important.

“We would always keep

it as a bit of an overfl ow,”

he says.

“We try to support

these people as much as

we can,” he says, noting

the pipeliners are gener-

ally good people.

Th e Moosomin Fine

Foods store extended its

hours to 5:30 a.m., al-

lowing workers to pick

up prepared lunches.

“Most of the bars

have restaurants that are

staying open later and

doing a brisk business,”

Miskiman says. “Th e gas

stations and other res-

taurants are fi lled to ca-

pacity. Co-op is crawling

with people.”

“We’re kind of a re-

gional centre,” he says.

“I think there’s a cer-

tain amount of people

who like to keep things

quiet. Th e majority of

people see it as a great

opportunity to help out

the community.

“We look forward to

having these people, and

we’ll do what we can to

accommodate them,” he

concludes.

On the web: www.moosomin.com

The beige coveralls and a grocery basket in hand after work are a dead-giveaway of a pipeliner. Bob Wick, from Outlook, is a strawboss on the Waschuk road bore crew. He’s shopping at Moosomin Fine Foods, which extended its hours to accommodate the in ux of pipeliners in town.

To accommodate the in ux of workers, the town of Moosomin installed a full-service campsite near the building site of the new hotel. It’s not much to look at, but it has water, sewer, and enough power to keep the air condi-tioners running.

The geographical advantage



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By Brian Zinchuk

Weyburn – Southern

Industrial & Truck Ltd.

of Weyburn is in the

midst of major changes.

Th e company has just

recently become a dealer

for International trucks,

picked up several trailer

lines, and is constructing

a large shop on west side

of Weyburn to bring all

its operations under one

roof.

Southern Industrial

is one of a group of com-

panies all owned by John

and Dennice Rouse. Th e

companies combined

have three major lines – a

truck shop, clutch manu-

facturing, and a rig shop,

building service rigs.

Dan Adrienne is the

general manager, while

John Rouse, a heavy-

duty mechanic by trade,

spends most of his time

in the shop. Dennice

does “Everything,” ac-

cording to John.

While there’s been a

slowdown in the patch,

Adrienne says Weyburn

is still booming, and the

slowdown has been an

opportunity to catch up

on maintenance. “Main-

tenance is what we do.

It’s been an extremely

busy time for us.”

Rouse Industries

manufactures the Rouse

Clutch, built specifi cally

for oilfi eld applications.

It used to be built in Co-

quitlam, B.C., but is now

made in Weyburn.

J. R. Wellsite Power

Ltd. handles generator

sets, light towers and

lifts.

Southern Industrial

& Truck is the truck

shop. Th ey’ve performed

well over 300 safeties on

truck and trailers, both

highway and oilfi eld, in

the past year, Adrienne

says.

But their shop has

been outgrown, to put it

mildly. “We have opera-

tions in three diff erent

facilities right now,” says

John Rouse. “We needed

to get all our staff under

one roof.”

Having several loca-

tions made it “terrible to

manage,” he says, noting

they needed to be one

team.

“We’ve been out

of space for quite some

time.”

“We’ve always built

a lot of oilfi eld equip-

ment.” Rouse says. Th ey

needed to be an OEM

to spec trucks for clients.

Signing up with Inter-

national gives them that

ability. “Now we can fac-

tory order a truck as we

want.” Page B6

New International dealer, Southern Industrial brings it all under one roof

Masons just nished up the re walls on the new Southern Industrial & Truck location in early July.


1111 - 5th Street, Estevan, Sask.

Ph: (306) 634-4087 • Fax: (306) 634-8817E-mail: [email protected]

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Page B5Adrienne says, “In-

ternational was so will-

ing to work with spe-

cial-build units for the

oilfi eld, we decided that

was the way to go.”

On the trailer side,

they picked up the Win-

nipeg-built Arne’s Trail-

ers line for lowbeds to

gravel trailers, and also

carry Neville Built grain

trailers. On the oilfi eld

application side, it’s the

Advance badge they will

be carrying for tankers.

Th e new shop is

36,000 square feet, with a

truck side and a rig side.

A two-story offi ce space

will be in the middle. Th e

truck side will feature ten

bays.

Everything is de-

signed to handle oilfi eld

equipment. Th ere will be

a private truckwash, ca-

pable of steam cleaning.

“We expect to be

in there by Nov. 1,” says

Adrienne. Asked about

the delays most

companies in

the southeast

have had in get-

ting shops built,

he responds,

“We’re actually

running fairly

close to on

schedule.”

Th at has

meant having

crews working

24 hours a day

at times.

While cur-

rent staffi ng for

the company is

35, that’s ex-

pected to grow

to somewhere

between 40 and 50 by

the end of 2010. “We’re

looking for fi eld techni-

cians, service mechanics,

accounting, reception,”

Adrienne says. He won-

ders why, with the slow

down in Alberta, they

haven’t seen more quali-

fi ed people coming for-

ward. “It’s been tough to

fi nd people,” he says.

Th e location of the

new shop falls in the ru-

ral municipality of Wey-

burn, just south of the

Co-op truck stop on the

west side of Weyburn.

Th e location is particu-

larly important because

of its access – at the in-

tersection of two high-

ways, and it doesn’t hurt

to be next door to a truck

stop and on a major route

– Highway 39.

However, there is

some contention with

the city’s plans for a mas-

sive annexation of almost

every quarter of land

touching the current city

limits. Th at would place

the new shop, under

construction right now,

within the city limits.

Th e company specifi cally

chose to be outside of the

city due to what they felt

were exorbitant costs – so

much so that Adrienne

says they considered oth-

er cities to move to.

“Th e city was too ex-

pensive,” Rouse says of

what they were looking

at. “We wanted a lot of

yard space to do a rig-

up.”

Regarding an-

nexation, he says, “We

thought that was over.”

Weyburn City Man-

ager Robert Smith told

Pipeline News the city

needed more land that

could be fully serviced,

and was seeking to ex-

pand the city a half mile

in most directions ex-

cept to the west, where

it would seek to annex a

mile. Th at would give it

more room for highway

commercial develop-

ment, of which there has

been interests expressed

by developers. Th e area

where Southern Indus-

trial is building is con-

sidered optimal due to

the highway crossroads.

Smith notes that

the level of servicing for

a property makes a sub-

stantial diff erence in land

price, and it depends on

the service level the cus-

tomer is looking for –

sewer, water, all services

in, or just lightly, with no

water or sewer.

Th e Saskatchewan

Municipal Board is ex-

pected to make its ruling

on annexation, including

the arewa where South-

ern Industrial is building,

in September.

John Rouse and his wife Den-nice head up Southern Industrial & Truck, as well as a couple oth-er companies. John likes to work in the shop.

Southern Industrial


#1 Frontier Street, Highway 39 East, #1 Frontier Street, Highway 39 East, at the Shand Road, Estevan, SKat the Shand Road, Estevan, SK

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Trent’s TireTrent’s Tire in Estevan held its grand opening on July 14. Trent Emmel, an avid dirt track racer, brought in NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace for the event. Wallace drove the Eagle Drilling car that night at the Estevan Motor Speedway. The line ups were long, with hundreds of eager fans seeking the autograph of the professional race car driver.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk


Phone: 634-7892 • www.ipc-sk.ca

Locally Owned and Operated

Proud to be an active part of the community

SOLUTIONSTO YOUR PUMPING CHALLENGES

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Moosomin - On the

west side of Moosomin,

you’ll find Keystone

Oilfield Ltd.

It ’s a conventional

rod-drawn pump shop.

The majority of the

wells in the area are

pumpjack pumping

systems.

Mike Browning is

the manager. He notes

they’re an oilfield supply

store, handling pumps

and fittings. A satellite

of the Virden opera-

tion, they service the

Sinclair, Parkman and

Kenosee areas, as well

as the immediate area

around Moosomin.

A little further

down Highway 1, the

company also has a

store in Wawota.

“We’re working

lots around Sinclair,”

Browning says. Indeed,

the Sinclair field, where

Manitoba is seeing

most of its Bakken ac-

tion, is about the same

distance to either their

Virden or Moosomin

locations.

They have five full-

time and two part time

staff at the Moosomin

shop.

No, they’re not American Loggers, or Alaskan crab sherman. These are the pump shop guys for Keystone Oil eld Ltd. in Moosomin. They are, from left: Brayden Holloway, Brant Nielsen, and Brayden Hay.

Keystone oil eld services Moosomin area


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Estevan – Penn West Energy Trust made a

$150,000 donation in support of the new Estevan

civic event centre on July 16.

Th e money will see the Zamboni, Zamboni room,

two sections and a dressing room named in honour of

the company.

“Work has been going on for a year,” says fund-

raising chair Kim Anderson, of the City of Estevan

New Event Centre Committee.

“Penn West is proving the oil industry support

the city of Estevan in the majority of its endeavours,”

he told Pipeline News.Anderson notes that through a lot of hard work

by the committee members, they were able to bring

Penn West into the fundraising. Penn West had come

to the table several months before, he explained.

Anderson pointed out that companies based in

Alberta still value the communities here they are

working in, helping to entice employees to these

communities.

“Penn West is proud to be a part of Estevan's new

civic arena, and to promote recreation and cultural

diversity in the area,” says Nicole Collard, Manager,

Public Aff airs. “Th rough Penn West's community

investment program, we focus our corporate giving

to support projects that are important and mean-

ingful to our employees and the area in which we

operate. We feel supporting the construction of this

multi-purpose facility builds stronger communities

and positive relationships. Estevan's new arena not

only provides a physical structure to house sporting

and cultural events, it also provides an opportunity

for area residents to come together to enjoy the facil-

ity and its programs as a community.”

Penn West makes $150k donationPennWest donated $150,000 in July to the new civic event centre for Estevan. The presentation was made in front of their Estevan of ce on July 16.

Photo courtesy the Estevan Mercury


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Weyburn – Starting

with a tanker, and even-

tually building a rig-

moving company, Tony

Day has made his mark

in the oilpatch.

On June 3, six people

were inducted into the

Saskatchewan Oil In-

dustry Hall of Fame.

Th e following was

the offi cial induction of

Tony Day, the proprietor

behind Fast Trucking:

“Tony Day - or ‘Boss

Hog’ as he is known to

his friends in the indus-

try - was born and raised

in Admiral, Sask., where

he also attended school.

“After school, he did

some jobs in construc-

tion and farming until

one day in 1952 the Paul

Gauthrie Company be-

gan drilling in his area.

Tony went to work for

them and has been in the

industry ever since.

“He began his career

as a derrick hand and

eventually became a me-

chanic and welder, work-

ing in the Eastend, Hay-

warden and Carnduff

areas, as well as locations

in Alberta.

“In 1957, Tony

bought a 1955 Chevy

water truck with a 50

barrel tank to haul fresh

water to the rigs.

“Th is was the begin-

ning of Tony’s business,

Fast Trucking, which

continues to this day.

“Tony acquired

trucks one by one, build-

ing his water haul-

ing business gradually

through the 1960s and

1970s. Th en, in 1977,

Fast Trucking, with the

help of some other truck-

ing companies, got into

the business of moving

oil rigs.

“Th ey began moving

one or two rigs a day but

built their capacity up to

13 rigs a day at their peak.

By 2008, Fast Trucking

had been responsible for

moving a total of 1,700

drilling rigs with a fl eet

now numbering 85 rig

moving trucks.

“Over that time,

Tony has diversifi ed his

business to include an

oil company, a service

rig business, a construc-

tion company and a rig

equipment refurbishing

business.

“He also has the dis-

tinction of having de-

signed and built the fi rst

free-standing double-

triple service rig.

“Outside of work,

Tony’s biggest hobby is

attending auction sales.

He likes to say that he

has usually found what-

ever equipment he need-

ed at Ritchie Brothers

auctions.

“Tony married Vi

Bayliss in 1960. Th eir

fi rst home was in a small

house trailer at the rig

site. Th ey have two girls,

Linda and Teresa and

two boys, Dennis and

Larry.

“In 1999, Tony was

honoured as the south-

east oilman of the year

at the Weyburn Oil

Show. He has also been

active as a fundraiser in

his home community

of Carnduff , where the

school library has been

named the Tony and Vi

Day Resource Centre in

his honour.

“Tony cites the se-

crets of his success as be-

ing his wife and children

and the support of his

many friends and col-

leagues.

“Tony, you have al-

ways been known for

your hard work, reliabil-

ity and integrity. We are

pleased to welcome you

as a member of the Sas-

katchewan Oil Industry

Hall of Fame.”

***

In response, Tony’s

son Dennis spoke of

dedication, noting, “[Th is

is] one of the fi rst times

we’ve actually sat togeth-

er and ate dinner. Th is is

the third time our fam-

ily has left our business

together. [Th e] last time

was when Tony won oil-

man of the year in 1999.

Th e second time was

when his mom died, and

today. So usually one of

us always stays at home

and mans the fort, and

one of the other ones

goes to work.”

Dennis said Tony

joked about trying to

corner the premier to

get more money for their

wind generator.

“It’s a great honour

for him, and for the fam-

ily,” Dennis said.

“He would like to

thank all of our employ-

ees,” Dennis said, not-

ing that in the oilpatch,

something can always

come up, and it did that

day.

“We’ve got third

generation employees

working at our place

now,” Dennis said, ex-

tending thanks on behalf

of Tony to the commit-

tee, customers, friends,

and family for coming,

ending with a thank you

to Vi, Tony’s wife.

Trucking entrepreneur honoured

Tony Day of Fast Trucking, is inducted into the Saskatchewan Oil Industry Hall of Fame during the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Wey-burn.


Hall of Fame Inductee


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Weyburn - John Hlavka was rec-

ognized as one of the true pioneers of

the Saskatchewan oil industry on June

3, when he was inducted into the Sas-

katchewan Oil Industry Hall of Fame.

“You have shown how far someone can

climb in this industry starting from the

ground up. It is our pleasure to welcome

you to the Saskatchewan oil industry

hall of fame,” noted Al Schreiner, mas-

ter of ceremonies.

Here is the offi cial induction, as

read by Schreiner:

“Our next hall of fame inductee

likes to remind employees at Akita

Drilling that he has done every job in

the company, and he’s not far wrong.

Over his 55 years in the industry, John

Hlavka has worked as a fl oor hand on

a drilling rig up to being the company

CEO, and almost everything in be-

tween.

“Born in Minton, Saskatchewan,

John went to a little one room country

school where he took his grade one to

grade eight education.

“After school, he tried his luck at

farming for a while. Th en one day in

1954, an oilfi eld surveyor came into

his yard looking for workers. He and

his brother helped with that and then

signed on as roughneck when the rig

was built. He has been in the oil busi-

ness ever since.

“He started his career with Paul

Gauthrie Development, where he rose

steadily through the ranks, eventu-

ally becoming fi eld superintendent. In

1978, after a number of acquisitions

and transfers among the companies

he worked for, he became vice presi-

dent and general manager Atco Drill-

ing Ltd.’s Rocky Mountain Division,

headquartered in Denver.

“By the next year, he had moved up

to Calgary to become vice president of

operations for all the divisions of Atco

drilling. In 1985, became president

of all the Atco drilling companies. In

1993, Atco spun out Akita Drilling,

with John as president and CEO. He

remains in that position to this day.

“John has built his career and repu-

tation in the industry through attention

to detail, commitment to excellence

and lots of hard work.

“John and his wife Merlene have

a blended family with 7 girls and two

boys. When he isn’t working, John en-

joys travel. He has toured extensively in

Europe, especially in his father’s home-

land of Austria.

Every job in the company

Premier Brad Wall, left, and Al Schreiner, right, present John Hlavka with his plaque commemorating his induction into the Saskatchewan Oil Indus-try Hall of Fame. Photo by Brian Zinchuk


B12 PIPELINE NEWS August 2009

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an inspiration to many

in the industry, Norm

“Pierre” Mondor was

honoured on June 3 with

an induction into the

Saskatchewan Oil Indus-

try Hall of Fame. Here

is the offi cial induction,

as read during the Sas-

katchewan Oil and Gas

Show in Weyburn:

“Norm ‘Pierre’ Mon-

dor, president of Aldon

Oils Ltd., was born and

raised in Hudson Bay,

Sask., in 1937.

“Norm spent his

early career in the lum-

ber industry. When the

forestry industry took a

downturn in 1957, norm

followed rumours of

good jobs in the oil in-

dustry and headed south,

fi rst to Estevan and then

to Weyburn.

“He started working

on service rigs and even-

tually became the general

manager of Addison and

Leyen, an international

service rig company with

operations in Weyburn,

Olds, Virden and Wil-

liston. At the time that

Norm was managing the

company, it’s operations

involved 11 rigs and 50

men.

“In 1972, Norm

bought Aldon Oils Ltd.,

which had a single, low-

producing stripper well

at the time. As one of

the few one-man opera-

tions at the time, Norm

faced many cheers and

jeers from people in the

industry, but he perse-

vered.

“He followed a strict

business plan of picking

up “fi xer-uppers,” lower-

producing wells that he

could make better with

his own skill and time.

He followed a philoso-

phy of expanding gradu-

ally and carefully, taking

the time to do his home-

work to look for good

opportunities.

“Aldon Oils has

grown steadily over the

years and is now in-

volved in drilling as well.

Since their fi rst horizon-

tal drill in 1995, Aldon

has grown to over 150

wells, with operations

in the Midale, Frobisher

and Bakken areas, as well

as gas plays in Alberta.

“Aldon supports

many community events

and projects in and

around Weyburn, as well

as providing a living for

its local employees and

contractors.

“Norm’s family

maintains 100 per cent

ownership of his com-

pany. Norm’s career has

spanned six decades, al-

most as long as his mar-

riage to his wife Shirley.

He has fi ve children, all

of whom have been in-

volved in the business

in one way or another.

Today, he works with

his two sons who do the

day-to-day management

of the business.”

***

Mondor thanked

the board of directors

and his family. He said

his wife Shirley was, “the

best investment I ever

made.”

From one stripper well to Hall of Fame

Norm “Pierre” Mondor, was inducted into the Saskatchewan Oil Industry Hall of Fame on June 3. The head of a family business at Weyburn, Mondor started with one stripper well.




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NOW IN REDVERSNOW IN REDVERS By Brian ZinchukWeyburn - From early

days in a canoe to a se-

nior geologist with one

of the majors, Jack Porter

has made his mark in the

world of geology. On June

3, he was inducted into

the Saskatchewan Oil In-

dustry Hall of Fame, dur-

ing the Saskatchewan Oil

and Gas Show in Wey-

burn. Here is his biog-

raphy, as read during the

induction ceremony:

“Jack Porter, profes-

sional geologist, is one of

the founding members of

the Saskatchewan geo-

logical society and, even

in retirement, continues

to serve as one of the Sas-

katchewan oil industry’s

great fonts of knowledge.

“Born and raised in

Saskatoon, he studied ge-

ology at the University of

Saskatchewan at a time

when only a hard rock

course was off ered. None-

theless, when he graduat-

ed in 1946, he soon found

himself in the midst of

Western Canada’s emerg-

ing oil industry.

“Straight out of col-

lege, his fi rst job was with

the Geological Survey of

Canada in the Jasper area

before taking on survey

work for Imperial Oil.

“Soon after that job,

he found himself back in

university, this time as an

instructor. As the veter-

ans began returning from

World War II, there was a

sudden infl ux at Canada’s

universities. Jack helped

train Saskatchewan’s next

generation of geoscien-

tists by serving as a lab

instructor at the U of S.

“In his next job with

the provincial Depart-

ment of Mineral Re-

sources (as it was called at

that time), Jack travelled

by canoe to northern Sas-

katchewan to do some of

the early fi eld work ex-

ploring for tarsands.

“From 1947-48, in

the days before environ-

mental panels, he worked

for the provincial govern-

ment alongside an engi-

neer policing the clean-up

of wells and pipelines.

“He then moved on

to the private sector, serv-

ing as a geologist for Rio

Bravo and all of its suc-

cessor companies, includ-

ing Canadian Superior

Oil Ltd. and Mobil Oil of

Canada.

“He worked for the

company for 38 years. He

prides himself, early in

his career with Rio Bravo,

with having convinced

the company’s explora-

tion manager to have a

second look at Saskatche-

wan’s sites at a time when

all the industry’s attention

was focused on Leduc.

“Before retiring, he

ultimately served as the

senior geological advi-

sor to the vice president

of exploration of Mobil

Canada.

Porter was unable to

attend the induction cer-

emony.

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Weyburn – Danny Williams might want to thank

this inductee to the Saskatchewan Oil Industry Hall

of Fame. He was involved with the discovery of the

Terra Nova Field off Newfoundland.

Bill Kaufmann was one of six people inducted

into the Hall of Fame during the Saskatchewan Oil

and Gas Show on June 3. Here is his biography, as

read out during the induction:

“Bill Kaufmann was born and raised on a farm

near Pangman, Sask., where he went to school in a

one-room schoolhouse.

“In 1955 he entered the University of Saskatch-

ewan in Saskatoon to study geology. He earned both

his bachelors and masters in geology at the U of S.

“Bill lives by the motto ‘mediocrity won’t get you

anywhere’ and his career has certainly been anything

but mediocre. From 1961 to 1976, bill worked for Ten-

neco Oil in Calgary, fi rst as a junior geologist, working

his way up to exploration manager. Th e company was

then sold to CDC Oil and Gas Limited. Bill eventu-

ally became senior vice-president at that company.

“After further mergers and acquisitions, CDC

became Canterra Energy Limited. Bill served fi rst as

senior vice-president of exploration and production,

Frontier and president of Canterra Petroleum, the

company’s Denver-based subsidiary.

“In addition, he served as chairman of the board of

Canterra Egypt, where he led the negotiating team of

the company’s Egyptian sulphur exploration projects.

“In 1982, while working at Canterra, Bill had the

privilege to be the executive leader of the team that

discovered the Terra Nova fi eld off the shore of New-

foundland.

“In 1988, Bill’s career took him in a diff erent di-

rection as he served as the COO and general man-

ager of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, one of

Canada’s largest and most active.

“He has served on the boards of the Alberta Chil-

dren’s Hospital, the Calgary Convention and Visitor’s

Bureau, the Rotary Club of Calgary, University Tech-

nology International, and the McMahon Stadium So-

ciety.

“He also currently serves on the boards of several

oil and gas fi rms including Heritage Oil Corporation.

“Bill is dedicated to the advancement of post-sec-

ondary education. He sat on the University of Calgary

senate as well as its board of governors and served as

a MBA student mentor for their faculty of business.

He recently completed a six year term on the board of

directors of Bow Valley College.

“He is a Paul Harris fellow of the Rotary Club

and a recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal and

the Commemorative Medal for the 125th anniversary

of the confederation of Canada.

“Outside of work, Bill enjoys antique car restora-

tion, woodworking, golf, travel and fi nancial planning.

“Bill’s wife Gloria is also from Pangman. In fact,

the same doctor delivered them. Th ey have three chil-

dren, Michael, Bill junior and daughter Kennen.

“Bill, tonight we would like to recognize all of

your contributions to the industry, to society and to

education. We are happy to welcome you to the Sas-

katchewan Oil Industry Hall of Fame.”

***

Kaufmann thanked the board of governors for the

privilege.

He also thanked his high school teacher, who

kicked him in the butt and kept him “on the straight

and narrow” 55 years ago.

Terra Nova pioneer honoured

Executive Bill Kaufmann, thanked his high school teacher for giving him a “kick in the butt” and keeping him on the straight and narrow. Kauf-mann was inducted into the Saskatchewan Oil Industry Hall of Fame on June 3.



B15PIPELINE NEWS August 2009

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By Brian ZinchukEstevan – When

people talk about auto-

motive hybrids, vehicles

like the Toyota Prius

come to mind.

Th is is not your

brother-in-law’s Prius.

Th e white Peterbilt

335 medium duty truck

makes a Prius look like a

Matchbox toy.

“Th is would work

well for vocational

[purposes] says Karl

Haselham, a sales rep

with Frontier Peterbilt in

Estevan, as he fi res up the

engine. Th ose vocational

purposes would include

uses for crane operation,

man-buckets, and service

bodies, he explains.

SaskPower bought one,

as an example.

“Any application

where you have to idle a

lot of hours,” he adds.

When you’re sitting,

you’re getting zero miles

to the gallon, using diesel,

creating pollution, and

putting wear on the en-

gine.

“Noise level is a big

thing when you’re work-

ing in neighbourhood,”

he says.

Th e hybrid system

includes a battery system

that will provide power at

lower speeds and when

parked. “Your diesel will

kick in when your batter-

ies are running low. Just a

matter of minutes to re-

charge,” he says.

Car-type hybrids

like the Prius will start

and stop the fuel-driven

engine as needed. Th at

doesn’t occur with this

truck while driving. In-

deed, you run on electric

power only up until about

40 km/hour. Above that

speed, it’s diesel power

only.

When you are run-

ning on batteries, the

diesel keeps running at

low RPM. Th e battery

pack, full of lithium bat-

teries expected to last 10

years, is on the frame on

driver’s side, in front of

the drive axle.

Th e system is tied to

an Eaton Fuller transmis-

sion specifi cally designed

for hybrids.

Th e breaking is a typ-

ical air brake system, but

it does convert braking

power into charging the

battery, a process known

as regenerative braking.

A dashboard screen

monitors the vehicle’s

performance. When the

indicator bar is in the

green, your fuel economy

is maximized. However, it

doesn’t show actual miles

to the gallon or kilome-

tres per litre.

Th e system gets the

best performance at low

speeds, puttering about

in urban environments

where there is a lot of

stopping and starting.

“You can’t tell when it

switches from diesel to

electic,” Haselhan says as

he drives through Este-

van.

Th ey will be watch-

ing the SaskPower unit,

to see how it handles. A

lot of customers want to

see how it will handle the

Canadian environment,

he notes.

As for oilfi eld ap-

plications, Haselhan says

there may be some bene-

fi ts in knuckle picker ap-

plications, or for welders.

One thing is for sure

– hybrids are working

their way into the indus-

try, and soon there will

be heavy-duty hybrid

trucks. It’s just a matter

of time.

Not your brother-in-law’s hybrid

Peterbilt has brought its rst medium duty hybrid to market in the form of the 335. Peterbilt is bringing hybrid diesel/electric power to medium duty trucks.


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By Brian ZinchukMoosomin – Main-

line pipeliners are paid

a sizeable daily, non-

taxable living allowance.

If you’ve been pipelin-

ing long enough, you

soon come to the real-

ization that it’s an awful

lot cheaper to own your

own travel trailer or fi fth

wheel, stay at a camp-

ground, and pocket most

of that living allowance.

Th at’s why most career

pipeliners have their own

campers.

And if pipelining is

your career, it’s almost

certain at some point

you would have worked

out of Moosomin. Th at’s

because both the En-

bridge and TransCanada

mainlines run by it, and

Moosomin is one of the

few centres that can sup-

port a sizeable crew on

an interim basis in that

neck of the woods.

Th at means, at some

point, you’ve likely stayed

at Fieldstone Camp-

ground & RV Resort,

just north of Moosomin.

Fieldstone was built

as a provincial camp-

ground in the late ‘60s,

one of a series built along

the Trans Canada High-

way. Other campgrounds

in the chain included

McLean, Maple Creek

and Moose Jaw. Most are

still in operation, except

the one at McLean. Th ey

were eventually all priva-

tized.

With its govern-

ment-fi nanced heritage,

it’s substantially diff er-

ent than a private camp-

ground. Th e layout is

similar to provincial park

campgrounds. Th ere are

substantially more fully-

serviced washroom facil-

ities spread throughout

the facility compared to

what you would see at

a privately-built camp-

ground.

But what stands out

the most is that those

outbuildings are built

of stone – that’s right –

stone. Everywhere you

go, you fi nd stone and

mortar buildings. Th us

the name Fieldstone is

rather fi tting.

Barry and Lena

Pavone bought the

campground seven years

ago. Th ey were originally

from Montreal.

“We were looking

for a campground to buy.

We had to choose. Th is

one was just beautiful,”

says Barry Pavone.

Th ey’ve been busy

this season pretty much

since opening. On July

15, they weren’t full, but

close, especially with re-

gards to serviced sites.

“Pipeliners want full

service. On full service,

we’re at 95 per cent,” he

says. “Th ey’ve got beauti-

ful rigs, and need 30 amp

electricity.”

Page B18

A pipeliner? Odds are, you’ve stayed hereA pipeliner? Odds are, you’ve stayed here

Once a provincial campground, Moosomin’s Fieldstone Campground has been home to tran-sient pipeliners for decades.

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Page B16Th ey have 26 full

service sites, but can of-

fer pump-out septic ser-

vice with their own vac

truck. Th at allows a form

of full service at sites that

just have electricity and

water.

In total, they have 96

sites, and added electric-

ity to additional ones to

accommodate the infl ux.

A large number of

their current clients are

pipeliners, with a substan-

tial contingent of workers

for Waschuk Pipe Line

Construction in town,

working on the Enbridge

Alberta Clipper project.

“We have TransCanada

people in, the expansion

at the mine, SaskPower

workers,” he says.

Oh yeah, they get

a lot of tourists, too.

However, the number of

Americans heading to

Alaska has dropped.

Transient workers

are a piece of the bread

and butter, but not all of

it, he explains.

“We’re defi nitely for-

tunate to have the pipe-

line. Th ey’re more than

welcome.”

Th e camp site has

a small pond and sand

beach, and draws local

recreational users.

Lena Pavone spends

most of her time in the

offi ce, which has a small

store typical of most

campgrounds. For her, 5

to 7 p.m. are her busiest

time. “Th ey need some-

thing in the store, a quart

of milk, change,” she says.

“Th ey come in just to

chat, and they’re lone-

some.”

“Some of them, their

families do come.”

Some come for a

week, some wives stay

with them all the time,

she says.

Just then, Joyce Boyd

walks in. Her husband

Ralph is a utility operator

for Waschuk Pipe Line,

and has been pipelining

since he was 15.

He’s 72. Th at would

mean Ralph Boyd has

been pipelining practical-

ly since the fi rst mainlines

were built in Canada.

“We went with his

father, and they lived in a

makeshift truck camper,”

she says.

A talkative type,

Joyce says her husband

was once asked when he

was going to give it up.

“You ain’t going to quit,”

she says, adding in all se-

riousness, “Too many die

after they quit.”

Th ey’ve been mar-

ried for 45 years, and she

spent a lot of that time in

a camper, and in camp-

grounds, except when

raising their kids.

What does she do to

occupy her time?

“I knit. I crochet. I

visit with people in town,”

she says. Sometimes she’ll

help elderly people clean

up their yard. She likes to

look at houses and drive

around.

One last thing, her

rig, her home on wheels,

is not a camper. It’s a mo-

torhome, she points out.

On the web: http://www.f ieldstonecamp-ground.ca

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VERMILION AB

PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

C-SectionAugust 2009

Story and photos by Geoff LeeHardisty – TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline is

expected to be commissioned in November and crews

are busy on a number of fronts to complete facilities

at the Hardisty Terminal where oil will begin to fl ow

south to U.S. customers.

“Once they bring the line into Hardisty and con-

nect it to the Hardisty Terminal and test the line,

they will turn on the valves and start fl owing oil,” said

Keystone spokesperson Darren Paquin, on a media

tour of the site in mid-July.

Construction of the 3,456 kilometre pipeline

began in May 2008 and will allow TransCanada to

transport crude oil from its Hardisty Terminal facili-

ties to U.S. Midwest markets at Wood River and Pa-

toka, Illinois.

Th e Canadian portion of the Keystone pipeline

involves the conversion of 864-km of TransCanada’s

mainline in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from natu-

ral gas to crude oil transmission. Th ere is also 373-km

of new pipeline being constructed in Manitoba and

Alberta that will connect to the Hardisty Terminal.

“We have most of the main pieces put together

and the fi nal work will be going on through the sum-

mer to get things ready for when the Keystone Pipe-

line is commissioned,” said Paquin.

Crews from a variety of contractors are working

simultaneously on three operational storage tanks, an

initiating pump station and interconnections with

existing pipeline systems.

“It’s been quite remarkable to see what we’ve

been able to construct over the last year,” said Paquin.

“It has evolved from where they had the foundation

pads for the tanks last May to now where you see the

tanks are constructed.

“Th ey are starting to build the interconnect pipe-

lines and the other infrastructure that makes this

work.”

Th e visual focal point of the Hardisty project

is the cluster of three 350,000 barrel tanks that will

manage the fl ow of oil fed to the site by four pipe-

lines. Th ese pipelines will interconnect with En-

bridge, Husky and Gibson oil terminals in Hardisty

for shipment of their product on the Keystone.

Th ere are two pipelines from Gibson and from

each from Husky and Enbridge in various stages of

construction.

“Th ey will be ready before the pipeline needs to

be commissioned in November,” said Paquin.

All of the pipes connect to a metering system that

determines what is fl owing into the storage tanks and

what’s fl owing out and being sent down the Keystone

pipeline.

“When it’s shipped out it goes through the me-

tering system again to determine what’s going down

the pipeline,” noted Paquin.

“Th e oil can come through the metering system be

measured and fl ow out without going into the tanks

as well. We have the capability of doing either.”

Some of the main active contractors are Monad

Industrial Constructors Inc., Greg’s Contracting

Services, Altus Energy Services and Ledcor Pipeline

Ltd. who all work under the direction of area man-

ager Bob McEwen on contract from Bechtel Oil Gas

and Chemicals Ltd.

Page C2

TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline terminal in the nishing stages

Area manager Bob McEwen checks the oor of a storage tank following a hydro test.

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009C2

One of the key components of the terminal is the metering system used to measure incoming and outgoing oil.

Page C1 At a tour stop of the power station, a

crew from Fortis Inc. was hard at work on the substa-

tion that will supply power to the pumping station,

“to move the product down the line.”

Th ere are six initiating pumps being installed on

site to start the fl ow of oil down the Keystone pipe-

line toward American markets.

“Th is is where the Keystone begins,” said Paquin

who counted a total of 23 pump stations on the pipe-

line system map.

Th e project plan also calls for the installation of

booster pumps to boost the oil between the tanks and

the mainline pumps to initiate its journey down the

pipeline.

“Th ose pumps are essentially to help facilitate the

oil coming in and out and enable the oil to be tubed

in two directions,” said Paquin.

Further along the site tour, workers from Monad

were busy building an extension of the header sys-

tem.

“Th e header system is so we can either have the

oil either coming into the tanks or leaving the tanks

from the main part of the plant,” explained Paquin.

On the day of the tour, crews were wrapping up

their hydro test of the tanks to make sure they are

operating properly and are ready to store product.

Painting of the exterior was also underway.

“Once the main line is tied in, the whole facility

is going to be ready to go,” said Paquin.

A fi re water system and some new concrete con-

tainment walls surrounding the tanks are on the proj-

ect to-do list.

“Th is is a very important project for TransCana-

da,” said Paquin. “It gets them into the oil transporta-

tion side of the business.

“Th e Keystone Pipeline will be in service and

commissioned in the fall and have product fl owing to

customers a couple of months after that.”

Additional facilities will be built in Hardisty

when TransCanada get the regulatory approvals from

the Canadian and U.S. governments to start work on

the Keystone XL expansion pipeline.

Th e Keystone XL is a planned 3,200-km pipeline

that will transport crude from Hardisty to the Gulf

Coast of the United States.

“We have shipper commitments for about

900,000 barrels a day,” said Paquin. “Th at’s about 83

per cent of our system capacity. Th e shippers have had

a strong interest in this project and have supported

it.”

Th at XL project should give another boost to

local economies considering 525-km of new pipe-

lines will be constructed in Canada from Hardisty to

Monchy, Saskatchewan, on the U.S. border.

“We have about 300 people working on the ter-

minal,” said Paquin. “Th ese people are living around

the area and using the local services.

“TransCanada tries to give back to the commu-

nity as much as we can. We have sponsored events

such as the local rodeo and we’ve been involved with

the refurbishing of the local arena.

“TransCanada put a donation towards that. We

try to be part of the communities in which we oper-

ate.”

Pipeline terminal almost complete

By Geoff LeeCalgary – CE Franklin Ltd., has strength-

ened its hand as a leading distributor of pipe,

valves, fl anges and fi ttings to the energy industry

with its acquisition of Weatherford Canada’s dis-

tribution network known as BMW supply.

Th e purchase was announced July 1, and in a

letter to customers, Michael West, president and

CEO of CE Franklin notes the transaction “par-

ticularly improves CE Franklin’s presence in the

heavy oil region of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“Th is acquisition enhances stability and cer-

tainty in the supply of pipe, valves and fi ttings for

our current and future customers in the region.”

Th e purchase includes BMW’s 22 oilfi eld

equipment supply stores across western Canada.

Of that total, 17 locations close to existing CE

Franklin supply stores will be merged.

Th e remaining fi ve locations will extend the

market reach of CE Franklin’s distribution net-

work to 49 locations in western Canada.

In his letter to customers, West notes in some

locations, both companies will share a common

roof line and front counter.

He also said, the acquisition “creates an op-

portunity for CE Franklin to take advantage for

a newly combined talent pool and the sharing of

best practices from both organizations.”

With the purchase, CE Franklin will focus

on the distribution business and Weatherford

will focus its attention on artifi cial lifts.

“Th is concept combines the strengths of both

organizations and allows our customers to lever-

age the core competencies of each company in

one location,” said West.

Th e transaction is fi nanced from existing

bank credit facilities and is expected to increase

CE Franklin’s annual revenue by more than 10

per cent from current levels.

“Th is acquisition will strengthen CE Frank-

lin’s existing store operations and expand its mar-

ket reach while improving our service capability,

operating effi ciencies and customer base,” stated

West.

CE Franklin adds links to its oil eld supply chain with BMW takeover

PIPELINE NEWS August 2009 C3

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By Geoff LeeLangley, BC – Hiring

a man wearing nice gloves

to fi ll your company ve-

hicles with diesel fuel may

seem extravagant these

days, but the service is

part of a total fuel man-

agement system that can

save time and money and

prevent fuel theft.

Th e system is available

from 4Refuel, Canada’s

largest fuel management

organization specializing

in onsite delivery, fuel

logistics, automated fl eet

management with a head

offi ce in Toronto.

“We have a phrase in

our offi ce that reads, ‘you

can’t manage what you

can’t measure,’ ” said Bill

Bishop, vice-president of

marketing and sales from

his Langley, B.C. regional

offi ce.

“Th at’s really the at-

titude towards fuel that’s

been around forever. Fuel

is the second highest cost

behind labour. Companies

have all sorts of managers

but they’ve never had a

fuel manager.

“Th ink of the signifi -

cant cost of fuel that goes

unmanaged. It’s because

no one has been able to

measure it. We provide

the measuring tools.”

Th e main measur-

ing tool is a web-based

fuel management online

(FMO) system that cre-

ates a database of all the

fuel consumed along with

the price, the date and

location and matches the

data to vehicle numbers.

“You can determine

which vehicle is using the

most fuel and from there

determine why that ve-

hicle is using the most,”

said Bishop. “Is the driver

travelling the furthest or

is his truck out of date or

needing maintenance?

“You can make cor-

rective action to reduce

your consumption and

bring down your bill.

Our system saves money.

We really help clients cut

their fuel costs. Th ey cut

their emissions and their

labour costs. It’s a really

powerful tool.”

Th is year, the Refuel

which also operates in the

United States, will man-

age over 700 million litres

of diesel and biodiesel to

its fl eet, construction, mu-

nicipal, marine, airport

and oil and gas industry

clients in 2009.

“Th e old way of using

fuel is burning fuel and

paying bills,” said Bishop.

“We began with an on-

site fueling business –

bringing fuel to vehicles

and fueling them during

idle hours – at a construc-

tion site when the guys

are on their lunch break

or a fl eet at night.

“Th is created tremen-

dous time and labour sav-

ings and it also increased

productivity so each truck

could do more in a day

because it didn’t spend 20

minutes refueling.

“Our clients starting

asking us if there any way

they could see more data.

From their ideas and from

our own research, we built

the fuel management on-

line system.”

4Refuel also hauls

bulk diesel fuel to diesel

fuel storage tanks used

by oil and gas companies

in the Fort McMurray

where the concerns are

environmental and safety.

“By improving the

way fuel is handled, we

are able to lock down

those two concerns and

again lock out theft,” said

Bishop.

“Once you have a

third party handling fuel,

nobody else gets involved.

It’s all tracked down to a

fraction of a litre and any-

thing that goes missing is

safe. Our certifi ed fueling

professionals put the gas

in.”

4Refuel also equips

fuel storage tanks with

remote monitoring

equipment. Th e tanks are

equipped with digital soft-

ware that is activated each

time the tank is open.

It sends a text mes-

sage or e-mail to the

customer when refueling

occurs and each tank can

have an alarm or warning

beacon that activates dur-

ing after-hours or unau-

thorized fi ll ups.

Th e tank fuel dis-

pensing equipment can

be hooked into a remote

monitor system called

positive ID.

“Positive ID prevents

fuel from being pumped

except to the right ve-

hicle,” said Bishop. “It re-

quires a chip on the truck

and a chip on the ID card

which is read by the dis-

penser. Th ese things have

to line up.

“It has to be an em-

ployee and a truck that

belongs to the company

and only then will the

fuel fl ow. Th e fuel man-

agement record can be

viewed online.”

In a news release

company president Jack

Lee says when it comes to

theft, 4Refuels total man-

agement system, “stream-

lines logistics and auto-

mates tracking, so you can

actually see where every

drop of fuel goes and you

know where and when

your equipment is be-

ing refuelled. It locks out

theft, simple as that.”

4Refuel is one of the

fastest growing diesel and

biodiesel management

companies in Canada as

potential customers look

for ways to cut their fuel

costs and theft.

“When fuel prices

soared, the phone was

ringing off the hook.

When the economy

crashed and people need-

ed to conserve cost, the

phone was ringing off the

hook and now that things

are picking up the phone

is ringing off the hook,”

said Bishop.

“It’s a solution for all

seasons I guess. Th e total

management system saves

clients money.”

Bishop says when

4Refuel pitches the prod-

uct and services to cus-

tomers, “we talk about the

true cost of fuel.

“It’s not just the cost

you pay at the pump. It’s

the time it takes to go

and get the fuel and the

labour, administration

and the overhead. It’s also

tracking the data to man-

age it better.

“When you add up

all the tiny costs that you

never really consider, you

realize you are paying a lot

more for fuel than just the

cents per litre,” he said.

“Our system cuts

down of the hidden costs

but it also improves pro-

ductivity and effi ciency.”

4Refuel has a wide range of diesel fuel delivery and fuel management sys-tems that are helping companies to cut their fuel costs and lock out theft from employees and professional thieves.

Photos courtesy 4Refuel Ltd.

24/7 custodian of diesel fuel24/7 custodian of diesel fuel


Enbridge’s Hardisty tank farm

Lyle Welder stands in front of one of 18 new crude oil stor-age tanks at the Hardisty Con-tract Terminal project.

Story and photos by Geoff Lee

Hardisty – Lyle Welder,

Enbridge Inc.’s supervisor of

area operations at the Hardisty

Terminal acts like a proud new

papa when he talks about the

newest addition to a growing

family of crude oil storage and

shipping facilities.

“Any expansion is great for

growth and it’s great for the

community. Th ere are a lot of

good spinoff s. It’s been a great

project,” said Welder who is re-

sponsible for the welfare of the

terminal and oversees some of

the on-going construction.

Th e project focus in on the

construction of 18 new tanks

ranging in size from 360,000

to 530,000 barrels of oil and

a standalone condensate tank

for blending.

“At peak times during

construction there was close to

650 men out here,” said Weld-

er. “We are down to 250 now.”

Th e ongoing development

includes all the associated pip-

ing, manifolds, and booster

pumps to facilitate crude oil

transfers to and from the new

facility and Enbridge’s main-

line system.

Th e system includes a se-

ries of transfer lines connected

to other carriers and oil ter-

minals in the complex such as

those owned by Husky Ener-

gy, Flint Hills Resources and

Gibson Energy.

“A lot of their product is

small-piped into their facili-

ties or trucked in and it gets

blended. Once it meets pipe-

line specs they ship it to us,”

said Welder.

“We custody it and ship

it to customers on Enbridge

pipelines. Basically, Enbridge

is a transportation company.

Th ese new tanks give us a lot

more capacity.”

Th e Enbridge project is

called the Hardisty Contract

Terminal that began in 2007.

Tank construction is entering

the fi nal stages watched close-

ly by Welder.

Enbridge is in the midst

of a major construction phase,

with work on the Alberta

Clipper and Southern Lights

pipeline also underway.

“My main role is to ensure

that when this project becomes

operational that all of the si-

gnoff s are done and that we

are satisfi ed with the fi nished

product,” said Welder.

“We’ve got all 19 tanks

completed but only six are

operational to date. Th e other

13 tanks are awaiting commis-

sioning.

“Th e rest of the tanks

should be done by the end of

September or October. We

thoroughly check all the pro-

cesses that are involved to

make them operational.”

Th e commissioning in-

cludes painting each tank

white to guard against cor-

rosion and to help keep the

stored product cool.

“We try to keep the tem-

perature very constant with

these tanks because it’s all part

of a volume measurement pro-

cess,” said Welder. “Tempera-

ture aff ects density and the

viscosity of the oil for shipping

purposes.”

Th e tanks are grouped into

clusters of six and each tank

lot is lined and surrounded by

a concrete containment wall

and a berm in the event of a

leak.

“Th e environmental re-

quirements for these facilities

are very stringent,” said Weld-

er. “Th ere are a lot of guide-

lines and regulations to be met

to make these operational. It’s

all part of the process. It’s very

well done.”

Page C5


CALL US TO DISCUSS YOUR NEEDS:

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Page C4Th e top of each

tank is surrounded by

white piping for a water

and foam fi re protection

system.

Th e tanks are topped

with a metal fl oating

roof that rests on top of

the oil and eliminates

any vapour space un-

derneath.

Oil fl ows into a

tank through long slot-

ted nozzles extending to

the centre of the tank.

Th e slots allow oil to

fl ow in and spread out

smoothly to eliminate

any static.

One line, called the

suction line, goes to the

centre and is utilized

for taking oil out of the

tank. An epoxy coating

lines the fl oor and the

interior walls to prevent

corrosion.

Enbridge will use

the new condensate

tank for additional

product blending be-

fore pumping custom-

ers’ products in order to

meet their summer and

winter specifi cations.

“Th e diluents sys-

tem is used to blend

the material to meet the

pipeline specifi cations

of a certain density and

viscosity so the pumps

can handle it very effi -

ciently and use the least

amount of power to

ship the product to the

customer,” said Welder.

“If there is a change

in the viscosity or den-

sity or any of the com-

modity specifi cations, it

can cost more to ship.”

One of the fi nal un-

fi nished pieces of the

contract terminal is the

manifold transfer site

that is a subsidiary of

Enbridge’s core pipeline

system.

When the oil leaves

the facility it goes

through a series of man-

ifolds and is directed to

one of fi ve Enbridge

main lines.

One of those pipe-

lines will be the En-

bridge Alberta Clipper,

a new 36-inch diam-

eter, 1,607-kilometre

crude oil pipeline from

Hardisty, Alberta to

Superior, Wisconsin.

Initial mainline

construction activity

started near Hardisty

and Provost, Alberta

and near Bethune, Sas-

katchewan. Th e Clipper

is scheduled to be in

service in 2010.

Th e pipeline will

have an initial capacity

of 450,000 barrels-per-

day (bpd) and allow for

expansions to increase

capacity up to 800,000

bpd.

Welder says a grand

opening is in the works

once the tank farm is

fully operational and he

says future site expan-

sion is a possibility.

“We have expanded

here quite a bit,” he said.

“Th e footprint is built

on a couple of quarters

of land and we have

more land for future ex-

pansion.

“Th e economic

spinoff of this proj-

ect has been huge. It’s

brought in a lot of peo-

ple. Th e crews stay in

the camp and in some

of the surrounding areas

where they rent houses.

People have been quite

open to the construc-

tion workers here.

“Th e project is wel-

come in a small com-

munity. It will help cre-

ate more funding for

some infrastructure for

Hardisty.”

Construction continues at the manifold transfer site.

takes on a ranch-like scale


By Geoff Lee

Hardisty – Hardisty used to be a

thriving agricultural community but

now it’s sitting next to a productive, yet

fi ckle cash cow known to produce high

grade cream and sour milk on alternate

boom and bust years.

Starting in mid 2007 and continu-

ing for the next one to two years from

2009, that familiar ole cow called the

Hardisty Oil Terminal or “the hill” as

locals call the project, is in a cream

cycle.

Hundreds of crews have come to

town to work on terminal expansion

and pipeline projects and business is

booming for local retail and commer-

cial establishments.

Some investors and developers

though seemed scared off by memories

of milk gone bad but steadier economic

growth may be just around the corner.

Welcome to Hardisty’s healthier cream

cheese future.

“We are in the midst of doing an

economic sustainability plan,” said

Sandy Otto acting CAO.

“We are looking at hiring a fi rm

from Toronto to come in and do a study

and help us attract an industry that will

complement our current oil and gas

providers and bring in an industry that

isn’t mainly driven by them. Th at’s a big

challenge for that company.

“Hardisty is defi nitely an oil and

gas driven community. I am a farmer in

the area. As much as I would like to say

it is agriculture driven, it’s not.”

Companies including Enbridge

Inc., Kinder Morgan, Husky Energy,

Flint Hills Resources and Gibson En-

ergy Ltd. are pumping millions of dol-

lars into storage tank expansion at the

terminal six kilometers east of town on

Highway 13.

TransCanada is the latest player

and one of the busiest with three new

tanks and their Keystone Pipeline proj-

ects under construction.

“Th e terminal has had a huge im-

pact on work here,” said Mayor Anita

Miller who works as an administrator

for Gibson Energy at the terminal site.

“Because of that we have a 350-per-

son work camp in town. Most of the

crews are living there because they

aren’t not enough living accommoda-

tions in town.”

Th e Hardisty Inn Hotel and the

Hardisty Motel have been full for

months.

“Th ey are loving it,” said Otto.

“Many of our businesses are defi nitely

benefi ting from this. If you go to the

grocery store at fi ve o’clock, it’s lined

up.”

“Our downtown is defi nitely start-

ing to see the benefi ts of it. When you

have that many transient workers it

helps.”

A new 12-room modular motel

opened in July and there is a need for

more.

“We have had people banging on

our doors to build a new hotel but no

one has actually going as far as pull-

ing out a development permit,” said

Miller.

Th e latest oil terminal projects

have required up to 1,500 workers but

once the work is done, only a handful

of employees is needed to operate the

facilities.

“It’s hard to plan like that,” said

Miller. “Th at’s what scares of motel

developers. Th ey can build today and

make money today but what happens

10 years from now? Is there enough

work in the area to keep that motel vi-

able?”

Th at upcoming sustainability plan

could provide some answers but the

oil and gas industry has been in the

Hardisty area for over 50 years and isn’t

going away soon.

“We have survived a 100 years

but we want to know what’s going to

makes us sustainable for the next 100

years,” said Miller.

“Th e terminal will be part of it but

we still need the agriculture people who

have sustained us to this point. We also

have to have water and sewer to make

residents’ homes sustainable.”

Last summer, the town serviced 11

more residential lots to meet the de-

mand for new housing.

Page C7

Community of Hardisty plans to hitch

Mayor Anita Miller poses at a ga-zebo built by the men of Hardisty as a project for the CBC TV show, The Week The Women Went, set in Hardisty.

Acting CAO Sandy Otto enjoys a swing at the Hardisty Lake beach and campground where some oil- eld workers stay.


its wagon to more economic drivers

Page C6“Th e housing market was very ac-

tive from mid ’07 to mid ’08,” said Otto.

“Now it’s more price oriented that de-

termines how long a house stays on the

market.

“We are fi nding homes under

$200,000 are hot commodities. I think

that’s because of the workforce that’s in

play right now.”

Th e town has also created a new 10-

acre industrial subdivision near High-

ways 13 and 881 that runs through

Hardisty. Th is is an ideal location new

businesses such as a hotel and oil and

gas service companies to service the oil

terminal.

“Th e only thing we are lacking is

the funds to develop the infrastructure

required in our industrial area to bring

the people in charge of maintenance of

those facilities to locate their business

here,” said deputy Mayor John Pioker,

who retired from Husky in 2008.

“We have a grant application to

the Building Canada Fund that would

assist us with the funds to develop that

industrial area. It’s very expensive.

“We would like to see the estab-

lishment of businesses in our commu-

nity that are long term.”

Th e Fyre Ho’z fi re & safety train-

ing center is the newest oilfi eld related

business to set up shop in town.

“Th at’s helping and that’s what we

want to continue to attract,” said Otto.

“We have to be proactive and we have

to be ready. Th at’s why we developed

the industrial area.”

Otto thinks Hardisty’s location,

two hours from Edmonton, could be

an issue for business investment but

residents and tourists are call Hardisty

a recreation paradise.

Hardisty Lake is a great place for

swimming camping with over 50 ser-

viced sites where many oilfi eld work-

ers stay for the summer. Next door is

the 9-hole Hardisty Lakeview Golf

Course.

Work is underway on an initial $1

million upgrade of the Hardisty arena

and curling complex funded with a

$500,000 grant and donations from the

major oil companies at the terminal.

“Th ose corporate citizens stepped

up to the plate to make that happen,”

said Otto. “We have rodeo every sum-

mer at the campsite too. Th e oil indus-

try helps with sponsorship or whatever

is required.”

Tourism is on the increase as

Hardisty continues to bask in the glory

of being featured in the CBC TV se-

ries, Th e Week Th e Women Went. An esti-

mated 1.2 million viewers watched the

fi rst of eight episodes that aired nation-

ally in 2008.

“We get a lot of hits on our web-

site,” said Miller. “Th e Week the Women

went put us on the map. People knew

where Hardisty was because of the

oilfi eld but only certain people knew

where Hardisty was because of the oil-

fi eld. Now all of Canada knows where

Hardisty is because of the show.”

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Crews work on the construction of a 12-unit modular motel that opened in July.

Town worker Richard Timms does some raking on a downtown beauti- cation project.

These shrubs planted on the main street were another community proj-ect spun from the CBC TV series, The Week The Women Went, set mainly in Hardisty.



By Geoff LeeLloydminster – Heavy oil and light entertainment

should form a winning program mix for the 16th annual

Heavy Oil Symposium to be held at the Stockade Con-

vention Centre in Lloydminster September 16-17.

Th e symposium is hosted by the Lloydminster Pe-

troleum Society with the theme, New Technologies Stim-ulating Innovation that symposium chair Mike McIn-

tosh says fi ts the current economic times.

“When you are involved in looking at picking a

theme you look at what’s happening in the world at the

time and 2009 has defi nitely been a challenging year for

the industry,” he said.

“In harder times, people start to look at new ways

to do things that can either improve profi tability or run

times or come up with a fresh approach to an old way

of doing things.”

Th e symposium focus is on heavy oil and McIntosh

notes it will draw “quite a cross section of people. We get

people from all over Canada.”

Th e lighter side of the two-day symposium will be

provided by banquet speaker and former world curling

champion and Olympic silver medalist, Kevin Martin.

“Th e curlers in town who have heard he is coming

are really interested,” said McIntosh who expects Mar-

tin will answer why he threw away his second last rock

on route to a 10th end 8-6 loss to Scotland at the 2009

worlds held in Calgary.

“We will leave the topic up to him but I would think

he’s been asked why he threw his rock away so much

that it’s probably part of his talk,” speculated McIntosh.

Th e banquet will be held at the Wayside Inn Sept.

16 beginning at 6 p.m. and some seats could be open

to the public since the symposium fee of $200 does not

include the banquet.

“Closer to the date, we will know how many people

are attending the banquet,” said McIntosh. “Any addi-

tional capacity that is available could be open to people

who aren’t attending the symposium, but I would imag-

ine the symposium attendees get fi rst opportunity.”

McIntosh says Martin was selected as a speaker be-

cause he was available and he fi ts the bill for a celebrity

who is informative and entertaining for symposium go-

ers looking for a social outing.

Th e symposium agenda, posted on the petroleum

society web site, includes presentation topics ranging

from Natural Gas Engines Technologies and Sand Screens for Th ermal Heavy Oil Recovery to Cost-Eff ective Produc-tion Enhancement Solutions for Heavy Oil.

“People attending the conference should expect

to hear presentations that are looking at newer emerg-

ing technologies and new ideas and approaches,” said

McIntosh.

“I would say there are some very interesting things

that are going to come about for participants. Th ey are

going to hear a lot of new ideas and ways to increase

productivity and profi tability and help them with issues

they see currently.

“Th ere is quite a broad spectrum of presentations.

Some of them are going to be on newer technologies.

Some will be on new approaches.”

A representative from the Saskatchewan Minis-

try of Energy and Resources will deliver an update on

changes to oil and gas conservation regulations that the

energy industry will have to adapt to.

Not included on the agenda is a presentation on

how the event was put together but as McIntosh ex-

plains it, the job of soliciting, reviewing and selecting

the abstracts was shared between committee members

Mahesh Makkar, Christin Taylor and himself.

“All of the committee members have a role to play,”

he added noting Murray Tluchak, Ryan Roen, Ryan

Rowan and Dale Luedtke will share duties as sympo-

sium masters of ceremonies and introduce speakers.

Th e symposium is limited to the fi rst 200 partici-

pants to register due to limited seating at the stockade.

Included on the agenda is a bus tour of the Husky Up-

grader.

Agenda set for heavy oil Agenda set for heavy oil symposium in Lloydminstersymposium in Lloydminster

This was the opening banquet for the 2008 Lloydmin-ster Heavy Oil Show and Symposium. The 16th annual Heavy Oil Symposium, to be held this year, will focus on new technology. File photo


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By Geoff Lee

Wilkie –Deloro Resources Ltd. expects to get a

lot of wattage working with Electro-Petroleum Inc.

and its Electrically Enhanced Oil Recovery (EEOR)

technology to stimulate a heavy oil reservoir in the

Wilkie area.

A service rig was moved on site June 1st to begin

production testing on an existing horizontal well us-

ing EPI’s direct current technology.

Deloro has recently applied to extend the testing

to some of the six other wells on the Deloro-owned

lands.

Th e company has also applied to drill a new hori-

zontal well on the property that covers 3,765 leased

acres of petroleum and natural gas rights.

Th e government of Saskatchewan leases cover a

channel in the deep McLaren zone one-half to three-

quarters of a mile wide and approximately fi ve miles

long.

“We got that acreage directly from the govern-

ment in a land sale and those wells were already on

the lease,” said Deloro president and CEO Louis

Lees from Vancouver. “Th ere were some vertical wells

as well as horizontal wells.”

Once the pilot test is deemed successful, the

project will proceed to full development and EPI

will earn a 10 per cent working interest in the Wilkie

project for the use of its technology.

“Th e service rig is moving some of the under-

ground stuff in the elbow of the horizontal leg,” said

Lees.

“We are still installing production equipment.

We are not drilling. We are using a horizontal well

that was already there.

“It’s really heavy gravity oil. You can just barely

pump it, but it’s not something that works without

using EPI’s stuff on it. All we need is a service rig to

put the equipment in there.

“We are using direct current electricity to heat

up the formation down below. Th at takes a certain

amount of time. Th at will take another two months of

heating and then we will have our optimum.”

EEOR involves passing direct current electricity

between cathodes (negative electrodes) in the pro-

ducing well and anodes (positive electrodes) either at

the surface or at depth.

Th e EEOR patented technology uses direct cur-

rent electricity for both in-situ heating and electro-

chemical reactions to upgrade and recover oil.

“Even though you have extremely [heavy] oil

there, it will almost have the consistency of water

when it gets heated up,” explained Lees. “We have al-

ready had a show of it so we know that it’s working.

“It was close to the pipe on the horizontal well

and we need to do a little more work before we get it

circulating properly.”

Th e original discovered resources underneath

Delora land were estimated to contain 63 million

barrels in a 30 to 50-foot thick heavy oil pay zone at

a depth of 2,035 feet.

“Th at’s a really thick zone. It’s a one of a kind you

might say,” said Lees. “It is very heavy oil and it needs

special treatment to get it out economically and that’s

what we are doing with it.

“Th e warming up process takes place under-

ground. It’s a green process with no damage to the

surface whatsoever. Th e heat down below does a

cracking process similar to what a refi nery would

do.”

Current steam based heavy oil recovery methods

are eff ective to about 2,500 feet but EEOR has no

depth limitation.

“We only have one horizontal well there and we

probably wouldn’t use over 100 acres,” said Lees. “If

we fi nd that if it’s working well, we will keep right on

and add more to it.

“If we fi nd the system works there are three more

wells that are equally promising and could change

things fantastically.

“Th ese are things we have concentrated on for

the past two years. We have been reviewing this type

of recovery for oil.”

Th e technology was developed by General Elec-

tric and purchased, enhanced and fi eld tested by EPI

in California. EEOR requires no signifi cant amounts

of water, does not use a working fl uid, and emits no

greenhouse gas.

EPI’s technology was presented at the World

Heavy Oil Congress held in 2008 Edmonton, Al-

berta.

Deloro testing direct current stimulation

Deloro Resources crews spent last spring pre-paring the groundwork near Wilkie for heavy oil production testing using direct current electric-ity. Photo submitted



By Geoff Lee

Lloydminster – It’s

been tweaked, engi-

neered to code, stamped

for use in Saskatchewan

and Alberta and pat-

ented in Canada. After

six years in the making,

the 1,000 barrel Newco

heating tank is ready to

go to market.

Th at’s the word from

developer Kevin Clarke

from his Newco Tank

Corp launch pad in

Lloydminster, where his

new mission is all about

marketing and saving

the planet – one tank at

a time.

Following the suc-

cessful summer and win-

ter trial of a prototype

tank used by Brahma

Resources since July

2008, Clarke has made

some modifi cations and

leased his fi rst produc-

tion model to Nordic Oil

and Gas operating in the

Lloydminster area.

“We are at the verge

where we are doing sales

and marketing now,” said

Clarke. “We took the

bugs out of the second

one and it’s been work-

ing about a month now

and it’s working awe-

some.”

Th e tank is designed

with a built-in engine

compartment that en-

ables it to harness the

engine heat to heat the

fl uid utilizing exhaust,

glycol, hydraulic, and

compartment heat.

“We are trying to go

green with this product,”

said Clarke. “With the

Newco tank there is no

fl ame arrester burner sys-

tem in it so we are elimi-

nating 75 per cent of the

CO2 emissions at a well

site. Th e only thing that

is running is the engine.”

Estimated propane

savings with the Newco

tank run between $3000

to $4,000 a month in the

summer time and a lot

more during the winter.

Th e working unit

leased to Nordic sports a

fully automated exhaust

system that the proto-

type lacked, causing the

engine to overheat if not

watched closely.

“Once you get the

fl uid up to 80 C, the sys-

tem automatically closes

the exhaust coil and

opens the bypass, which

in turn, eliminates half

the heat going into the

tank,” said Clarke.

Th e engine, designed

by CE Franklin Ltd/Full

Tilt Field Services has

no radiator and is cooled

by glycol in the tank, and

runs about at 170 F. Th e

engine compartment re-

duces the tank capacity

to 940 barrels.

With the built-in

engine, noise pollution is

cut by a reported 75 per

cent since the exhaust

system runs through the

fl uid.

A recent published

third-party engineering

review by R&D Process

Management Inc., in

Saskatoon showed that

one Newco tank reduces

CO2

emissions by the

equivalent of 200 to 300

vehicles a year – one of

its major selling points.

Newco’s web site

outlines prototype re-

sults along with a list

of tank benefi ts such as

reduced noise pollution,

reduced operating costs,

reduced greenhouse gas

emissions and no need

for a shack.

Th e Newco tank

comes with a lease site

set up cost of $110,000.

Th at is considerably

more than a convention-

al tank but with virtu-

ally no propane costs or

harmful emissions over-

all operating costs are

much lower.

“Some people are

comparing it with a con-

ventional tank but it’s

not,” said Clarke. “I call it

a heating vessel because

we are harnessing all of

the heat from the engine

and it’s creating free heat

for the tank. You no lon-

ger have to worry about a

fl ame burner system.

“With the price of

oil at $60 per barrel,

this is when companies

should be buying it,” said

Clarke. “Th e payback

is less than six months

and the lifetime of these

tanks is 18 to 20 years.”

“Right now with

guys in the recession

mode, a lot of compa-

nies are saying they are

cash poor so we created a

lease program with one,

three, fi ve and 10 year

options.”

Th e lease option is

what makes its attrac-

tive to junior explorers

such as Nordic Oil that

Clarke says wants to be

a company “that steps

up to the plate and goes

green as far as the tech-

nology allows them.”

Clarke has invested

more than $1.5 million

of his own money and

six years of research to

develop and fi ne tune his

tank.

“I have been do-

ing this full-time for

the past two years,” said

Clarke. “I have been an

entrepreneur for quite a

while. I grew up in Lloy-

dminster and worked on

service rigs for 16 years

and consulting for the

last few years.”

Th e idea for the tank

came from his thinking

about how to heat that

tank for free and clean

up the footprint of the

lease and eliminate noise.

Eureka!

Th e Newco tank will

be manufactured locally

by Universal Industries

that worked with Clarke

for a short period of time

on his fi rst prototype in

2004.

“You become an ex-

pert on everything be-

cause you wear so many

hats,” said Clark. “I have

had to learn the whole

process from fabricating

to the engineering side

and dealing with patent

lawyers and examiners.

We had many hurdles to

jump to get to where we

are today.

“It’s been a good

project now that we are

doing sales and market-

ing. I am wearing many

diff erent hats right now.”

Clarke’s next chal-

lenge is to design a pro-

totype for a 2,000 barrel

tank.

All systems are go for launch of patented Newco tank

Matthew Barnard leased a Newco tank for a Lloy-dminster well to offset start up costs and cut emissions.

Tim SharpCell: (780) 871-1276

Offi ce: (780) 847-4666Fax: (780) 847-4661

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IF IT IS BIG N’ UGLY WE CAN HAUL IT!


Lloydminster – Nor-

dic Oil and Gas Ltd. is

confi dent it has found

a way to cut costs and

emissions at one of its

heavy oil wells near Lloy-

dminster using a new

energy-effi cient battery

with a built-in engine.

Th e tank is made in

Lloydminster by Newco

Tank Corp. and uses

heat generated from the

engine to heat the tank

fl uid utilizing the ex-

haust, glycol, hydraulic

and engine compartment

heat to do the job.

Th is eliminates the

need for the usual pro-

pane-powered fl ame ar-

restor/burner tube that

helps to maintain the

tank temperature at

about 80 C. Heat sepa-

rates water from the oil

and improves the quality

when Nordic sells it to

Husky in Lloydminster.

With a potential

fuel savings of $3,000

to $4,000 a month in

the summer time with

the Newco tank, Nordic

jumped at the chance to

use it on a re-entry well

located a few minutes

north and west of the

city.

Nordic has nine

heavy wellbores and sev-

en producing wells in the

area with conventional

batteries heated with

propane burners.

“You need a fair

amount of production to

pay for all those propane

costs,” said Matthew

Barnard, Nordic’s direc-

tor of operations.

“We want to be the

most cost-effi cient and

energy effi cient from the

fi eld perspective since

that is where you spend a

lot of your money.

“When we decided

to produce the well again,

we were thinking about

cost-saving initiatives.

Th e Newco tank does

not require any propane

and we thought it was a

no-brainer to harness the

engine’s energy.

“Th e tank was one

thing that we thought

would save us a fair

amount of money over a

monthly term and think-

ing into the future, we

are going to be using a

lot more propane to heat

our tanks.

With the Newco

tank, Nordic’s emissions

are lower since there is

no exposed fl ame on the

new tank. Fluid in the

tank is heated from the

heat given off from the

engine compartment and

the exhaust coils in the

tank.

“When we com-

bined everything about

how well the well was

going to do with produc-

tion, and what we would

save for our heating bills

and our start up costs, we

thought with all of those

variables this would be a

viable well, which it is,”

said Barnard.

Th e well, along

with the Newco tank,

were brought online in

the second week of July

with initial production at

about 15 cubic metres of

oil per day.

“It’s been excellent so

far,” said Barnard. “Th e

well has not gone down

as of yet. We’ve had some

torque issues but every-

thing has worked itself

out really well.

“All of the lines were

installed by C’s Oilfi eld

Services. Th ey do re-

ally good work. I am very

glad how they plumbed

in the tank because that’s

a big part of how well the

tank actually works.

“My glycol lines run

along the fl ow lines. We

will wrap all those lines

with insulation.”

In the winter, the

glycol line will keep the

fl ow line and the gas line

from freezing and keep

the condensation down.

C’s fi eld foreman,

John Scully dropped by

the site during the mak-

ing of this story and he

thinks the Newco tank is

a great idea.

Page C13

Nordic cuts operating costs with

The engine compartment built in to the Newco tank allows Matthew Barnard easy access for re-pairs.


80 HP

50 HP

MOBILE STEAM SERVICE IS OUR SPECIALITYMOBILE STEAM SERVICE IS OUR SPECIALITY

Astro Boiler has been in the Astro Boiler has been in the oilfi eld service industry since 1989oilfi eld service industry since 1989

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Page C12“It is environmen-

tally friendly and you

are using a lot less gas,”

he commented. “Th e gas

you are using for the skid,

you are using as muffl er

heat and the glycol heat

to heat the fl uid. It’s a re-

ally good idea.

“It is easy to set up.

Th is is the second one

we’ve done and it was a

lot easier with the sec-

ond one. It’s just running

your fl ow line into it and

other than that, Newco

takes care of the fi tting

of the skids and stuff like

that. It’s really simple for

us.”

Th e engine is a stan-

dard V-8 Chevrolet en-

gine converted to pro-

pane but the engine uses

little propane since only

eight ounces of pressure

are needed to run it at

1,600 rpm.

“Th e engine is giving

off a lot of radiant heat,

and in turn, the engine

compartment is giving

off all that radiant heat

into the fl uid in the tank,

heating up the oil and

the water,” said Barnard.

On a Newco tank,

the exhaust goes right

through the tank and

that also heats up the

tank. Th e exhaust coils

are controlled automati-

cally so if the tank tem-

perature goes up, it will

automatically vent the

excess heat from the back

of the tank.

“Th e tank will be

here as long as we are

making oil and it’s sav-

ing us money,” said Bar-

nard. “Th e well has been

pumping for a week and

a half and our propane

gauge hasn’t moved at

all.

“If I had a burner

here I would have had

to fi ll up these tanks

already,” said Barnard.

“Th ose gauges are the

same as when the pro-

pane was delivered.”

Nordic chose to

lease-to-own the Newco

tank to avoid big start up

costs. A new 1,000 bar-

rel tank with a conven-

tional skid shack can cost

between $60,000 and

$65,000.

“We eliminated that

startup cost and we are

just making lease pay-

ments over fi ve years,”

said Barnard.

Th e tank comes with

everything required to

heat the tank and the en-

gine.

Barnard likes the fact

CE Franklin/Full Tilt

Field Services worked

with tank developer Kev-

in Clarke to fabricate the

inside engine compart-

ment so it can be worked

on easily.

“It is also very ser-

vice friendly,” he said.

“Th ey have thought of

everything from a service

aspect. Th ey have made it

workable for someone

like me who is out here

on a daily basis checking

the wells.”

Th e well site is situ-

ated just 200-metres

from a new acreage, and

one of the fi rst things a

fi rst time visitor notices

is the low noise emitting

from the engine com-

partment.

“If you were 50-me-

tres from the site, you

wouldn’t hear anything,”

said Barnard. “Th e own-

ers of the acreage will ap-

preciate the noise reduc-

tion.”

Newco plans to drill

one or two more wells in

the area before the end

of the fourth quarter but

Barnard cautions Nordic

is, “anxiously waiting for

the price of oil to go up.

“We will consider

the Newco tank for those

wellbores as well. Right

now, we want to keep

monitoring the tank and

if it keeps on perform-

ing like it is, we would be

looking at that cost sav-

ing initiative.”

the leased “green” Newco tank

Matthew Barnard, with Nordic Oil and Gas leased a Newco tank to save money on fuel costs at a heavy oil re-entry well west of Lloy-dminster.


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O-ogressing

a com30

By Geoff Lee

Provost – John Hoberg launched his Fyre Ho’z Fire

and Safety company in Provost a little more than a year ago

as a get enriched quick opportunity.

“I am trained to do this kind of work and I enjoy it,” he

said. “Money is not the driver. I like the people. Th e people

are super. It’s a self confi dence booster.

“Th e money doesn’t seem to match the work but it’s

steady. I do it because I like it and I only think of getting

the customer what he needs.”

At the Provost shop, Hoberg sells and services a full

range of fi re and safety products from fi re extinguishers and

gas monitors to breathing air equipment and a variety of

supplies such as safety signs, eye wash, hearing protection

products and fi rst aid kits.

He also evaluates safety and fi re plans and conduct on

site safety consultations but his favourite part of the busi-

ness is customer service.

“We do some retail, but I like the service part where

you go to a facility and do fi re extinguisher inspections or

some safety work,” he said.

“I do quite a bit of product servicing in the shop too.

Our shop is fully certifi ed for Intertek testing for fi re extin-

guisher repairs and parts. I do the full recharges.

“I do some of the repair work on breathing air equip-

ment and send out the complicated stuff and make sure it’s

done right. I prefer it’s done right since it involves safety.

“Th e biggest demand is for so far is for fi re extinguish-

ers and I am getting a lot more demand from air custom-

ers.”

Hoberg does some contract work for Muirhead’s Ltd.

Safety First breathing air trailer business. Muirhead’s rent-

ed the building to Hoberg who agreed to keep their sign on

the building next to his.

With customer service top of mind, Hoberg launched

a training centre in Hardisty last December to deliver a full

range of safety courses to oil workers in need of H2S, con-

fi ned space, fi rst aid and basic fi re courses.

His wife Tammy is the director of training and she

can book forklift driver training courses and other courses

on request.

Hoberg based his decision to expand to Hardisty on

that fact Provost had two training centres but Hardisty had

none. “It’s not a bad drive either. I can commute within 50

minutes,” he said.

Hoberg is qualifi ed to teach the basic fi re safety and

confi ned space courses but he has chosen to contract out

instruction for H2S Alive, global ground disturbance and

St. John’s Standard First Aid and forklift operation.

So how’s business at the training centre? “It’s slowly

picking up,” he said. “It was disappointing at fi rst but we

are making progress. Most of the guys in the courses are

renewing their tickets. Th ere is usually only one person in

every class who is a new recruit.

“We haven’t gotten into selling supplies from our shop

in Hardisty yet but that’s something we would like to get

into and off er more products such as coveralls than he have

in Provost.

“I still have big ideas for Hardisty as well as Provost

but they will come in time.”

Hoberg farmed in Provost for years and got a taste for

safety working seasonally for Astec Inc. and decided it was

time to take a break from farming and working for some-

one else.

He also had knowledge of the market having driven a

steam truck for six years for Winterhawk Enterprises.

“I started by buying a bunch of equipment from our

fi re chief who had a fi re service,” he said. “When he retired

I bought his equipment. Basically I started at home.

“I needed a trailer to go to locations so I phoned Muir-

head’s about their trailer. Th ey said they couldn’t sell me

the trailer but they would off er their air breathing trailer

and fi re extinguisher business and the place to run the busi-

ness.”

Hoberg moved into Muirhead’s building May 1, 2008

and he hasn’t looked back.

As for marketing Hoberg says, “A lot of people around

Provost know me and I think we have a pretty catchy logo.

“I just saw the name somewhere and I thought it

would be a cool name if I ever did have a fi re extinguisher

business,” he said.

“I used to call myself hot hose and I ran steamer so this

name fi t in.”

Fyre Ho’z hopes to catch re with Hardisty oil eld customers

Hoberg sprays this re extinguisher with water to check for leaks.

C15PIPELINE NEWS August 2009

24 Hour Service

Oilwell Servicing Ltd.30 years 1978 - 200830 years 1978 - 2008

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Lloydminster

(306) 825-7914

Darryl Garrison Cell (306) 821-2815

(306) 825-7914

ATTENTIONAre boggy leases or roads keeping

you from your service work?you from your service work?MATTING for SALE or LEASEMATTING for SALE or LEASE

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Call Darryl at 1 (780) 808-1829

By Geoff LeeHardisty – Th e practice of call before you dig

keeps the phones ringing at Recon Utility Search

N.A. Inc. in Hardisty where the demand for the

company’s non-destructive hydrovac pipeline and

utility locating service keeps growing.

“In the last year or so, we have doubled our sales

from the prior year,” said Trevor Remple the chief

fi nancial offi cer.

“A good part of that growth was from the

Hardisty Terminal and we also sent a truck to the

Edmonton oil terminal. Our big customers locally are

Greg’s Contracting, Gibson Energy, Enbridge Inc.,

Husky Energy and Kinder Morgan. Th e Edmonton

work has come from a customer requesting that we

send trucks up there.

“As the Hardisty terminal grows we will be that

much busier. Th e tough thing for us is to balance just

how many trucks we need to continue to service it.

We will determine what the right balance is once the

construction is done.”

A camp of 370 workers has been set up in Hardisty

for crews working on the tie-in for TransCanada’s

Keystone Pipeline and a variety of on-going tank

farm expansions and improvements by companies

such as Gibson Energy and Enbridge Inc.

Recon currently has seven hydrovac trucks, two

vacuum trucks, a water/pressure truck and a steam

truck and two more vehicles are on order to keep up

with the demand.

In Hardisty, they have an offi ce building and 10-

bay shop with a truck wash and a full time mechanic.

Th ere is also a small shop in Edmonton.

“It’s just hopping around here,” said Remple.

“Th ere is no economic downturn for us. It slowed

right after Easter but it was spring thaw and that was

expected although we were doing a lot of pressure

testing on some of the new lines then.

“Our steam truck is really busy in the spring and

fall cleaning stuff that has gotten dirty over winter or

summer.”

Safety and environmental issues have also been

a boon to Recon as hydrovac excavation using hot or

cold pressurized water reduces the risk of damaging

electric facilities, pipelines and fi bre optic cables.

“In the good old days, you just took a backhoe

until you found metal,” said Remple. “Now you actu-

ally use water and a vacuum to suck the soil up and

expose whatever is buried whether it’s electrical or

pipeline.

“Any time someone needs a hole dug, it’s much

safer and cleaner to do it with a hydrovac than a back-

hoe. If you are doing a small dig it is very effi cient.

“Th e water loosens up the soil. With water and

the suction – when you fi nd the utility you don’t end

up damaging it. It’s the safe way of exposing under-

ground pipelines and utilities. “

Recon Utility was started in 2000 by Dean Ness

and Brad McClements with one truck apiece and has

grown in lockstep with the expansion of the Hardisty

tank farm to 20 employees including a safety coor-

dinator.

“We chose to set up in Hardisty because of the

tank farm and the land was available to us to build

on,” said McClements. “Nobody was really servicing

the tank farm and we saw a need. We just kind of

stepped in and went for it.

“We’ve grown a fair bit from one truck to 11

pieces of equipment but we don’t want to grow the

company to the point where it’s unmanageable. If we

maintain what we’ve got now, that’s where we’ll be.

“Th e terminal is the biggest part of our business

but we also work on gas lines and communication

lines in the outlying areas for the oil and gas sector

outside the tank farm and we do some work moving

fl uid and pressure testing.

“We get called out all the time in this area. It’s a

24-hour service.

“Th e hydrovac is for safe excavation. It eliminates

the hole work to make sure there are no pipeline

ruptures and for safe exposure of utility cables. For

any new facility or line caution, you expose it and dig

it out for safe exposure with hand digging or water

washing.”

One of Recon’s competitive advantages is that

owners Ness and McClements spend a lot of their

time in the fi eld working with staff and customers

and the operating the equipment themselves.

“It’s a personable business and it runs a better ser-

vice,” said McClements. “You get a feeling for what

the customer wants and that makes a big diff erence.”

Recon focuses on unearthing buried pipelines

Recon’s operations manager, Brad McClements gets ready to drive this hydrovac to a job site.


Lloydminster Paint& Supplies Ltd.

Daryl (780) 875-4454 or(780) 871-41095628 - 44 Street, Lloydminster, AB

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Ken McConnellOwner/Operator

24 HR Dispatch: 780-205-9001Mike #: 403*11*29001

Fax: 306-397-2697Box 238 Edam, SK

[email protected]

24 HOUR SERVICE24 HOUR SERVICE

Racken Enterprises.indd 1 8/21/08 1:00:06 PM

A foursome of organizers: Monte Armstrong, Dale Denny, Kevin Simard and Mike Scott.


Lloydminster – Many

of the 240 golfers who

played in the 31st an-

nual Lloydminster Oil-

men’s Golf Tournament

on Fathers’ Day weekend

did their best to prove

you have to be good to

be lucky and lucky to be

good.

Take Dave Addie for

instance. He pocketed

$7,452 in gross proceeds

for driving closest-to-the-

pin in the million dollar

hole-in-one challenge

on the 9th hole. His ball

landed on the 9th green,

25 feet shy of the cup to

the roar of the crowd.

“I used a smooth

6-iron,” he explained sec-

onds after leaping from

his golf cart to exchange

high fi ves and hugs from

buddies galore.

Another luckster was

Gary Reid who sported

a wide smile beside his

winning booty – a 42-

inch LCD TV – for hav-

ing the closest putt to

the hole on the practice

green.

“I was just lucky,”

explained Reid who won

a TV at a previous oil-

men’s event. “It just hap-

pened that it got close

and stopped. It was eight

inches from the hole. I

can’t believe it because I

am the world’s worst put-

ter.”

In order to putt for

dough, golfers paid $5

for three putts and those

who sunk their ball were

entered into a draw for

10 contest fi nalists in aid

of the national Kidsport

charity sponsored locally

by Noralta Controls Ltd.

“We are teamed up

with Kidsport and it’s an

awesome place at the oil-

men’s to introduce Kid-

sport and keep it going,”

said Cam Zarowny from

Noralta.

“Each year, we have

gotten a bigger donation.

Kidsport is to help under

privileged families who

don’t can’t get the same

access to funds to engage

in sports that some other

families can. It’s a good

feeling for us to be part

of that experience for

them.”

Th e two-day tourna-

ment included a million

dollar chip-off that went

unclaimed save for those

who reaped a share of

Calcutta cash. Th ere was

also a variety of sponsored

hole-in-one and hidden

hole prizes and a plethora

of draw prizes. Nobody

went home empty-hand-

ed.

Al Gramlich was

ready to pack his bags the

morning after winning

the grand draw prize trip

to Las Vegas but the lucky

bachelor couldn’t say who

he’s taking with him.

“It was sheer luck and

chance. All of the golfers

had a chance to win,” he

said.

Despite the down-

turn in the economy, sup-

port for the tournament

from players and local

business was just about as

strong as ever according

to tournament spokes-

man Kevin Simard.

“A couple of spon-

sors had to back out of

some of the bigger prizes

but the rest of the spon-

sors have been good,” said

Simard on the opening

day of play. “Compared to

last year, we are down two

fl ights of players or 16

golfers but it’s still good.”

Simard says what

helped organizers this

year was moving the

tournament from mid

July to June 19-20 to

avoid confl icts with other

local events and lucking

out with sunny weather

to start things off .

Page C17

Sun, fun and prizes top off the Lloyd golf tourney

Dave Addie leaps from his cart having the clos-est drive in the million dollar hole-in- one. He grossed $7,452.

Page C16Th e U.S. Open also

on that weekend helped

to stoke players. Th e for-

mat included an eight

player championship

fl ight for golfers with low

handicaps. Th e rest of

players were grouped into

29 fl ights in match play

competition.

Shawn Loney won

the championship round

and the lion’s share of over

$16,000 in auction mon-

ey with a 36-hole total of

149. In second place was

Dave Walker, followed by

Sean Lyon.

Each of the fl ight

winners received a pack-

age of goods and $125

gift certifi cates. Th e

fi rst 12 fl ight winners

were Mike Nicolson,

Larry Fallscheer, Shel-

don Moore, John Neff ,

Cory Bourassa, Dustin

Fallscheer, Andy Han-

nah, Jason Clague, Ty-

son Mohrbutter, Richard

Jory, Kevin Rudell and

Jim Younger.

Th e rest of the fl ight

winners were Steve

Breen, Jeff Lepp, Grant

Bexson, Leo Honish,

Cam Zarowny, Bob Or-

beck, Dale Liske, Frank

Leschinski, Rob Davis,

Rod McDonald, Jerry

Christman, Chuck Dzu-

ba, Lohnie Lomoureur,

Corwin Block, Dwayne

Roy and Dale Crossman.

For Jackson McGee,

just being in the tourna-

ment was good enough.

However, when the Pipe-line News caught up with

him on the course, he

was in the hunt for clos-

est to the pin event on

the 7th hole – where as

luck would have it – Tom

Fisher bagged a hole-in-

one on in the practice

round.

“It’s the 31st annual

Lloydminster oilmen’s

and I wouldn’t miss it for

anything,” said Jackson.

“Th e best of it is the fel-

lowship with all the other

guys. You get to meet new

people and make new

contacts. It’s a beautiful

day today and that makes

it nice too.”

Rod Swanky was laid

off from his oilpatch job

earlier this year but he’s

played in the oilmen’s

for the years and plans

to keep his playing streak

alive.

“Th e oil patch slowed

down for a while but I’ve

been in the tournament

the last 10 or 11 years,” he

said. “I still associate with

everyone in the oilfi eld so

I thought I might as well

come out. Th ere are 240

guys I haven’t seen for a

couple of months.

“If I get a chance,

I will get back into the

oil patch. It’s treated me

well.”

One guy who plans to

be fi xture at the 10th hole

refreshment tent is Den-

nis Cole from Reliance

Safety. He fl ips burgers

there along with repre-

sentatives from Cham-

pion Technologies and

Ensign Energy Services.

“I am making sure

everything’s all up to par

and keeping everybody

fed,” said Cole.

“I golf but this takes

priority over golfi ng. It’s

good to get out and meet

everyone and see how ev-

erybody’s doing. Th ree of

us get together and spon-

sor the burger hole and

take care of it every year.”


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Gary Reid won the 42-inch TV in this 10-man putt off for Kidsport charity.

Lloydminster Oilmen’s golf tourney

PPPP CC1C1C16666 LLLLLeschhhihihihinskkkikikiki RRRRRobbbbbb DDDDDa iiiis

Jackson Mc-Gee dispatch-es his ball on target.


SE Saskatchewan and SW Manitoba

Jan BoyleSales Manager Cindy Beaulieu Glenys Dorwart Deanna Tarnes

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum MonthlyPIPELINE NEWS

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

SW Saskatchewan NW Saskatchewan and NE Alberta

Daniela ToblerSales Manager

SE Saskatchewan & SW ManitobaPh: 306.634.2654Fax: 306.634.3934


SW SaskatchewanPh: 306.773.8260 Fax: 306.773.0504

NW SaskatchewanPh: 780.875.6685 Fax: 780.875.6682


www.pipelinenews.ca

Doug EvjenSales Manager

[email protected]

Stacey [email protected]

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• Quality Control Manual & Procedure• Safety Manual• COR Certifi cates

By Geoff Lee

Provost – If you like

saving money and the

environment, a prod-

uct called the Exhaust

Gas Recovery System or

EGRS, now being manu-

factured and distributed

by Noralta Technologies

Inc., scores well on both

fronts.

Th e EGRS is a gath-

ering system that con-

nects to the exhaust port

of chemical pumps used

in methanol injection

systems during winter

months.

It captures 100 per

cent of the exhaust gas

that is normally vented

from diaphragm pumps

into the atmosphere and

supplies it back to the

fuel gas system to operate

catadyne heaters with no

emissions or lost product.

Th e EGRS is the

brainchild of Warren

Heisler, an independent

contractor who works on

gas compressors and gas

wells in the Provost area

and wanted to do some-

thing good for the envi-

ronment and the industry.

“I looked for a system

to put on wells to try to

see if it would work but

there was nothing on the

market,” he said.

“In the past, one gas

supply operated the cata-

dyne heater and a second-

ary gas supply operated

the methanol pumps.

“With the Exhaust

Gas Recovery System, we

can now recover the gas

that would normally be

sent to the atmosphere

and put that back into the

heaters.”

Almost from the get-

go, Heisler worked with

Noralta’s instrumentation

manager Barrett Roesch,

in Provost on controlled

bench tests and fi ne-tun-

ing a working prototype.

“Warren did the ini-

tial testing and then he

came to us and we helped

him out and did a lot of

testing in the shop,” said

Roesch.

“From there, we made

a few tweaks and came up

with the system we have

now. It was 90 per cent

complete when Warren

came to us.”

Heisler says he chose

to work with Noralta

“based on the quality of

work of they do. Every-

thing that comes out of

the shop is done right.

“Th ey will go that ex-

tra mile for their customer

and that’s what we need to

get this product out on the

market,” he said.

“Noralta has the full

understanding of the mar-

ketplace and the capabil-

ity of getting exposure we

need for this product.”

Th e EGRS also cre-

ates a safer work site since

there no more vented

emissions. If the pump

stops operating, the EGRS

has a backup system that

will allow the fuel gas to

supply the heater until an

operator fi xes the metha-

nol pump.

If the heater fails,

the EGRS has a built-in

pressure release system

that opens and allows the

pump to keep operating.

If the release is activated,

the exhaust gas from the

pump is released into the

atmosphere until heater

repairs are made.

Page C19

Noralta now to produce ProvostNoralta now to produce Provost

Barrett Roesch shows off the compact Exhaust Gas Recover System that Noralta will manufac-ture and distribute with inventor Warren Heisler.


Warren Heisler has invented an Exhaust Gas Re-covery System.

inventor’s gas recovery systeminventor’s gas recovery system Page C18

Heisler worked with

Noralta to design the

EGRS to be small enough

to be used in a Flo-Drip

package, which is a small

version of a gas well

shack.

“Everything is very

compact and tight in

these FloDrip packages

to make them aff ord-

able to move from well to

well,” said Roesch. “We

worked together to make

the EGRS compact to fi t

into the limited space.”

Now that the product

is ready for manufacturing

and distribution, Roesch

says, “It’s unbelievable

that Warren would ap-

proach us with this op-

portunity.

“We have a good

relationship with War-

ren in the past and we

are looking at building

that relationship. We see

this growing in leaps and

bounds. We are on board

100 per cent and we want

to see this go forward.

“We are completing

the process of making

demo units to distribute

to our Noralta locations

and go forward,” added

Roesch whose role will be

to monitor quality control

of the manufacturing and

assembly in Provost and

oversee marketing.

Noralta has locations

in Bonnyville, Lloydmin-

ster, Calgary, Red Deer

and Provost and Estevan.

“We are spread out

through Alberta and Sas-

katchewan so that will

help with the marketing

aspect and get this prod-

uct out,” said Roesch.

“By assembling the

units in Provost, we can

keep quality control un-

der wraps and we will be

able to handle high vol-

umes when orders come

through.”

Early adapters in-

clude Sonoma Resources

that has installed some

units north of Red Earth

Alberta and Goodland

Energy with fi ve EGRS

units installed in the Pro-

vost area.

“According to the

people I have talked to the

market is unlimited be-

cause of emission regula-

tions and the fugitive gas

changes that are coming

into play,” said Heisler.

“Th ere will be a lot

of changes taking place at

the end of 2009 and 2010

in Alberta. Th e Province

of Saskatchewan will also

start to make changes in

2010.

“We are hoping

people will take a look at

the product now and have

a few decisions made by

the fall. Th e sooner they

get them in before the

pumps get fi red up, the

sooner they will be saving

money.”

Companies that in-

stall the EGRS will ben-

efi t from government

greenhouse gas credits

which lead to a saving

of $864.18 per well or

$25,925.40 for 30 wells

over six months of winter.

Th e EGRS is a uni-

versal unit that can be

installed in most existing

separator buildings with

no modifi cations to the

package site and at a cost

of approximately $500 per

unit plus installation.

“We decided to set

the price very economi-

cal because we want it out

there,” said Roesch. “We

aren’t looking to make big

dollars from it but we just

want to get it out there

and save money for com-

panies.

“It’s an easy instru-

mentation install through

tubing. Once everything is

tubed in, you open up the

valve and savings begin.”

Higher natural gas

prices will help to drive

future demand for the

EGRS as well as the re-

alization of how much

natural gas companies are

losing to the environment

from their pumps.

“To visualize how

much gas you are saving, if

you were to take a metha-

nol pump that is operated

off natural gas and con-

nect a large garbage bag

to it, on an average pump

you will fi ll one of those

large bags in about nine

to 15 minutes per pump,”

explained Heisler.

“With 1,000 wells,

you are saving about

4,000 garbage bags of gas

an hour. Th is accumulates

to a lot of gas on a per day

basis. Th at’s the easy way

to visualize how much

gas is being wasted every

day.”

According to fi gures

from the Canadian Al-

liance of Petroleum Pro-

ducers, estimated gas sav-

ings on a 40 well EGRS

installation amount

to total dollar value of

$34,567.20.

“With the manufac-

turing costs and meeting

government requirements,

it is a very cost eff ective

way to go,” said Roesch.

“We could be charg-

ing a lot more money, but

I think now to help the

industry out with troubled

times –if they are willing

to step up and help the

economy by purchasing

some of these – and in

return help meet govern

regulations, I think ev-

erybody is going to be a

winner.”


(Editor’s note: Last month’s story on Kenilworth Combustion Ltd in Lloydminster contained

typographical and factual errors. Pipeline News apologies to Kenilworth Combustion for the error.

Th is is the correct version.)

By Geoff LeeLloydminster – Heine Westergaard, president of

Kenilworth Combustion Ltd, hopes every customer

he meets is as fi red up about his company’s burners

as he is.

Th e hot seller that Westergaard promoted at the

Weyburn Oil and Gas show is a burner called a Pro-

cess Heater Module that is CSA B149.3-07 compli-

ant with effi ciency and emissions in mind.

“We have the cleanest burning burner out there

with the lowest emissions and the highest effi cien-

cy,” said Westergaard at his shop 30 minutes west of

Lloydminster.

Heat produced from a one million BTU multi-

pass demo burner at Kenilworth’s yard warms all of

the buildings by burning with 88 per cent effi ciency.

Th is compares with 50 to 60 per cent for old burner

systems that Kenilworth has improved upon.

“We are 100 per cent CSA 149.3-07 compliant

which means we meet or exceed all of the safety re-

quirements that are set by governmental standards,”

said Westergaard. “We can reduce your overall liabil-

ity when it comes to safety and reduce your emis-

sions.”

Kenilworth has sold between 500 and 750 of

these burners in the past four years including 300 last

year. More sales are pending once customers realize

the burner performs as advertised with no parts to

assemble.

“We’ve taken a diff erent approach to the burner

system,” says Westergaard. “We take and pre- assem-

ble everything. Th e customer or the service company

that installs the system in the fi eld doesn’t get a box

of parts. Th ey get a system that’s completely put to-

gether.

“It’s engineer stamped. It’s been wired and fi red

before it leaves our facility so we know everything

is working. It minimizes the installation time. A

500,000 BTU system can be installed in four hours

or less.”

Burners are used in the oil and gas industry to

provide heat to numerous processes in the oil and gas

industry.

“Th e way that our burner works is quite unique

because we have a recycle tube on the front of our

burner which is pulling hot fl u gas back into the mix-

ing chamber,” said Westergaard.

“If you are dealing with using wet casing gas on

site, we can take that wet casing gas and run that

through our burner and we don’t have freeze off prob-

lems in our burner systems. It’s absolutely wonderful

for cold weather.”

Kenilworth also manufactures and sells burner

components including the valve trains, burners, fi re

box fl ame arrestors and the FGI 351 burner manage-

ment system made by Titan Logix Corporation.

In fact, Kenilworth shared booth space with Ti-

tan in Weyburn that enabled Westergaard to show

customers how the complete system works from a

working model towed in a demonstration trailer.

“Th e trade shows have been phenomenal this

year,” said Westergaard. “We’ve covered the ISA show

in Calgary and had a tremendous response there from

diff erent companies. We also went to the Williston

Basin Petroleum Conference in Regina dealing with

the Bakken formation. Th e contacts we made there

were amazing.

“From there, we went to Grande Prairie. Th at was

another great show. We had a good response there.”

Kenilworth has also been working with Kevin

Moan a licensed gas fi tter and O/O of CCR Com-

bustion operating in the Bonnyville area for the past

6 yrs. Kenilworth is currently teaming up with in-

strumentation and electrical companies including

Syntech Enerfl ex in Brooks and Nomad Electrical

Contractors Ltd. in Peace River to provide local in-

stallation and servicing of the CSA compliant burn-

ers. Th ey currently have instrumentation and elec-

trical companies booked for training from Estevan,

Medicine Hat, Brook and Grande Prairie. Th ey also

plan to train service specialists for other areas at the

Kenilworth plant.

Page C21

Kenilworth’s new burner helps

Heine Westergaard, Kenilworth Combustion Ltd.


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Page C20“We have started to train the electrical and instrumentation companies to do

the installation for us,” said Westergaard. “It gives us the avenue of having these

companies out there that are going to be doing the troubleshooting in a local area.

It supports local businesses and their employees and reduces costs for the client.

“Most of our systems we can troubleshoot over the phone if the person has a

bit of a background on it.

“We’ve done all the work on the system here, it has been wired and fi red prior

to shipping, reducing start-up issues on site.

Kenilworth has sold more than 8,000 burners for applications from 100,000

to 20 million BTU since 1989. Kenilworth was founded in 1981 as a welding

company, with their primary focus on repair/alteration of pressure vessels, piping

and boilers under the Alberta Boilers Branch and ASME codes.

“It was getting into facilities and seeing the diff erent processes and being on

a lot of fi re tube repairs that sparked us to get on to the burners,” said Wester-

gaard.

“Th ere was a need for something better in the combustion fi eld. Our goal is

to make it an easy to operate system for the guys out in the fi eld.”

Th e Kenilworth burner cuts noise by up to 50 per cent and NOx emissions by

the same amount. Th e burner can also run off any kind of casing gas or solution

gases available on site for fuel savings and reducing fl aring or venting.

“Any small amount of produced gas coming off the annulus is basically a

waste gas,” said Westergaard. “Traditionally it’s been fl ared or vented but what

we are doing is bringing that low pressure casing gas back into the burners and

using it.

“We can also run a dual fuel system. We can set up with casing gas as a

primary fuel and we can have propane as a backup. If you lose your casing gas,

propane will blend in and run the burner for the time that it’s needed without

changing orifi ces or operator intervention. When the casing gas comes back with

the appropriate pressure, it just overrides the propane supply and continues to

burn utilizing the available casing gas.”

Th e system he says is “a win-win for everyone. We can reduce operating costs

and service costs.”

to shrink carbon footprints

Heine Westergaard shows the valve train inside the rebox enclosure of Kenilworth’s demo burner.


Story and photos by Geoff LeeHardisty – Th is is not roughing it

in the woods. Hardisty Lodge is a tem-

porary trailer camp in Hardisty with

the comforts of home to accommodate

oil patch crews working on a variety of

construction projects in and around the

Hardisty Terminal.

“I think they have it pretty good

here,” said manager Neal McCaff rey

of Fortier & Associates camp cater-

ers. Th ey’re from Sherwood Park, and

manage camps with catering and com-

plete housekeeping services.

Horizon North Logistics Inc., the

parent company, provides camps and

catering and executive lodges for oil

and gas exploration and mining opera-

tions throughout western and northern

Canada and Alaska.

McCaff rey has been managing

Hardisty Lodge for just three months

but he knows from his recent experi-

ence managing Fortier’s BlackSand

camp near Fort McMurray that food,

accommodation and great employees

are the keys to a productive camp.

“We have top notch chefs,” said

McCaff rey. “We have two red seals

chefs and a full-time baker. We have

about 13 staff in the kitchen. Th ey do

a good job. Th e variety [of ] food is ex-

ceptional.”

Breakfast is served from 5 a.m. to

7 a.m. and supper time runs from 5:30

p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“Th e key to running the camp is

having the right amount of staff all

working as a unit and having people in

the sales department getting the right

numbers of clients to get the camp set

up,” he explained.

Th e camp components were

trucked in and assembled two years ago

by Fortier’s fl eet management crews.

Th e camp was expanded last year with

more trailers to accommodate up to

378 workers.

Most of the clients are Enbridge

crews hired to construct 9 new storage

tanks at the terminal. Th e camp also has

rooms booked for contractors working

for Husky Energy and Gibson Energy.

“Our contract with Enbridge is

over but they continue to use the lodge

until their projects are fi nished,” said

McCaff rey. Th ere are another fi ve to

seven diff erent contractors here.”

McCaff rey says camps like Hardisty

Lodge are a cost-eff ective way to pro-

vide short term accommodation solu-

tions in a boom and bust work cycle.

“I think the need is that the town

of Hardisty can’t handle 300 to 400

people coming in at once so we pro-

vide a service to accommodate workers

for a short period of time from a few

months to a few years,” he said.

“If the town tried to build some-

thing to accommodate these crews, af-

ter the short term oilfi eld projects are

done, there would be a lot of vacan-

cies.

“Right now, there are over 300 peo-

ple working at the site but that might

go down to just a handful of employees

required to maintain it. Th e hotel here

is doing well. Th ey are full.

“We do try to give back to the

town. One lady comes in and picks up

all of the bottles and donates them to

a kids’ camp charity. A lot of the staff

and workers spend a lot of money in

town. We try not to take any business

from town and I think we add to it a

little bit.”

McCaff rey says he’s not sure how

long Hardisty Lodge will be needed or

if it will be downsized once Enbridge

wraps up their tank farm construction

by October.

He has heard that Plains Mid-

stream Canada may be looking at per-

mits from the town to build their own

tank farm.

“If they [were] to use us, we could

be here for the next year or two,” said

McCaff rey. “What camps are all about

is providing short term accommoda-

tion. You have your rig camps that you

have to move out in just a few weeks.

Th e camps are necessary.”

Hardisty Lodge is made up of

trailers connected to create nine wings

or dorms as McCaff rey calls them.

Each dorm has about six to eight trail-

ers with 41 to 50 rooms per dorm. All

of the room are equipped with wireless

Internet and a TV with satellite ser-

vice.

Hardisty Lodge is home sweetHardisty Lodge is home sweet

Camp manager Neal McCaffrey looks after the comfort of 378 workers and 25 employees in Hardisty.

Page C23

30HP, 3 cyl dsl, frt whl30HP, 3 cyl dsl, frt whl


Page C22

“Everybody gets

their own room,” said

McCaff rey. “Th ere are

also some rooms with

private showers. We

have air conditioners

in all rooms and we are

plugged into local water

and water and sewage

systems.”

Th e camp has a rec-

reation room with exer-

cise equipment, a pool

table, a ping pong table

and a group TV lounge.

“Th ere is usually one

staff person per dorm,”

said McCaff rey. “We

make the beds and clean

the sheets. Some clients

want staff to do laundry.

Up until the last couple

of weeks, we did all of

our own in-house laun-

dry.”

McCaff rey likes the

fact Hardisty Lodge is

close to town and is just a

two hour drive from Ed-

monton where he lives.

“Th e 10 days on and

four days off is another

nice thing,” he said. “You

get every second week-

end off .

He says managing

the lodge and its 25 em-

ployees is the best job

he’s ever had. He can also

relate well to his oilfi eld

clients since he used to

run his own truck busi-

ness hauling crude oil in

Lloydminster and Peace

River.

McCaff rey says the

Hardisty Lodge is sec-

ond in size to Horizon’s

BlackSand Craft Camp

site north of Fort Mc-

Murray that he managed

in 2008.

Th e Fort McMur-

ray base includes a 500-

room BlackSand Execu-

tive Lodge and with 400

camp trailer rooms. Th at

complex is currently

housing a total of 500

Suncor employees.

Th e camp trailers set

up by Fortier are manu-

factured by Horizon’s

Shanco Camp Services

and Northern Trailer

business divisions.

Like all camps man-

aged by Fortier & As-

sociates, Hardisty Lodge

clients sign a contract

pledging an alcohol and

drug-free camp. Smok-

ing is not permitted on

the premises.

“We do have security

from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and

there is somebody on

shift 24 hours a day,” said

McCaff rey.

“We try to keep the

dining area neat and tidy.

Th ere are no hats or cov-

eralls and no work boots

or hoodies allowed in the

cafeteria.

“If you keep on top

of it from the start, the

camp is easy to maintain.

We have a very good staff

and everyone is pretty

happy and friendly for

the most part. Every-

thing has been running

quite smoothly here.”

home for 378 oil eld workershome for 378 oil eld workers

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9

These happy food caterers are Jackie Dyck, second cook with chefs Dwight Constable, Lynn Robinson and Dave Lesyshen.

Keeping the hallways clean is Bruce Rye who also helps out in the kitchen.

Edmonton – No drill-

ing, no revenue. Th at

prospect prompted the

Alberta government to

extend two drilling incen-

tive programs, originally

announced in March, by

one year to March 2011.

Energy minister Mel

Knight announced the

extension in late June that

will boost oil and gas drill-

ing program incentives by

$1.5 billion to $3 billion.

“Producers need to

begin setting budgets for

the upcoming drilling sea-

son, and we need to pro-

vide timely assurance that

these programs will be ex-

tended,” said Knight.

“Additional drilling

results in new, on-going

royalty revenues for the

province, keeps businesses

going and people em-

ployed.”

Th e programs which

were to expire in March

2010 include a fi ve per

cent royalty break from

the fi rst year of produc-

tion from new oil or gas

wells.

Th e other incentive

provides a $200-per-me-

tre-drilled royalty credit

to companies on a sliding

scale based on their pro-

duction levels from 2008.

"In these tough eco-

nomic times and low-price

environment, government

needs to ensure the indus-

try remains healthy and

robust," Knight added.

“When we intro-

duced these programs we

said that we would make

adjustments if needed.

Th at is what we are do-

ing today. Th is extension

responds to market chal-

lenges facing oil and gas

exploration in Alberta.”

Despite the incen-

tive, natural gas royal-

ties are expected to drop

from $6-billion last year

to $3.7-billion this fi scal

year and the government

is predicting a possible

$4.7-billion defi cit in the

current fi scal year.

Th e Stelmach gov-

ernment has blamed de-

pressed energy prices and

the global economic crisis

for its fi nancial problems

and is reviewing is overall

competitiveness.

Th e review is expect-

ed to be complete this fall

and will look at all com-

ponents of conventional

energy operations includ-

ing regulatory effi ciency,

fi scal aspects, all aspects

of taxation, availability of

labour, and other costs.

Alberta extends royalty incentives to spur oil and gas drilling

CareerCareerOpportunitiesOpportunities

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Require safety certi cates & valid drivers licence.Competitive wages and bene ts package.

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By Geoff Lee

Battleford –Th e

cheques are in the mail.

Future Now Energy Inc.,

an independent natural

gas retailer, is mailing

rebate cheques to its cus-

tomers in Saskatchewan.

Th e publicity includ-

ing new lower rates is

well-timed for the com-

pany to attract new sub-

scribers who are only al-

lowed to switch their gas

supplier on Nov. 1st each

year under Saskatch-

ewan’s commodity com-

petition rules.

Gas retailers can sign

up customers throughout

the year, but they must

notify SaskEnergy of

new customers by Sept.

1st in order for the gas to

fl ow to them by Nov. 1st.

“We are giving thou-

sands of dollars back to

our customers in Sas-

katchewan this month,”

said Tim Cimmer, presi-

dent and CEO from his

offi ce in Calgary.

“Our pricing situ-

ation in the last seven

months has been very

good and we’ve been able

to help to help the con-

sumer out a lot.

“In Saskatchewan,

we are only allowed to

change our rates a couple

of times a year which is

diff erent than most other

areas so our rates had to

be a little bit higher.

“Now we are giving

rebate cheques that will

make the rate a lot lower

than what they would

have been charged by

SaskEnergy.”

Page C25

Future Now giving rebates


ResourcesResources GuideGuide


Sandy DeBusschereDrilling Management

Consulting & Wellsite Supervision

Box 275Carlye, SK

S0C 0R0

Cell: (306) 421-9000Of ce: (306) 453-6405Fax: (306) 453-6433Email: [email protected]

• Pressure Vessels• Well Testers• Frac Recovery• Wellbore Bleedoff• Ball Catchers• 400 bbl Tanks• Rig Matting

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Peter Koopman - Industrial Tank Sales, Southern SaskatchewanPh. 306-525-5481 ext. 311 Cell 306-596-8137

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CHANGECHANGEBUY SELL TRADE

il eld

Page C24

SaskEnergy low-

ered its rate of $8.51 per

Gigagoule originally set

in September 2008 to

$5.96 GJ in March and

sent rebate cheques to

its customers.

Future Now has fol-

lowed with a lower price

of $5.89 and Cimmer

says the average con-

sumer rebate cheque will

top the $23 per month

of average savings that

SaskEnergy announced

for its customers last

spring. One commercial

customer will get a re-

bate of $17,000.

“Th rough our

unique pricing and low

overhead and playing

the market, we can usu-

ally beat existing prices

out there,” said Cimmer.

“We’ve been the lowest

price in Saskatchewan

since November, 2008,

when we started.

“We are a retail nat-

ural gas company. We

actually get the gas from

the wellhead and we are

looking at doing our

own drilling as well. By

getting our own produc-

tion of gas, I believe that

we will always be able to

give a great price. As a

result of deregulation,

wholesalers and sup-

pliers like Future Now

can purchase or produce

natural gas at the well-

head and sell directly to

consumers and business-

es using the local utility

such as SaskEnergy.

“When things are

competitive that leads

to lower rates and that

is good for consum-

ers,” said Cimmer. “Our

subscriptions have been

strong. I’ve got more

than I can handle. Sub-

scriptions have grown

by word of mouth and

by people liking what

they have.”

Th e company’s core

business is small busi-

ness and commercial

customers with no plans

to supply industrial cus-

tomers.

“It is too much of

risk and the billing is

too complicated,” ex-

plained Cimmer. “Th ey

use a lot of gas. If a large

company goes bankrupt,

you lose all that money.”

Cimmer tapped

into Saskatchewan’s de-

regulated marketplace

in 2008 following his

success marketing gas in

the state of Ohio.

“Th e reason I started

in Ohio is because the

rules and regulations are

the best in North Amer-

ica.,” he said.

After a soured busi-

ness arrangement with

this fi rst U.S. partner,

Cimmer formed his Fu-

ture Now Energy from

scratch in Ohio before

his startup in Saskatch-

ewan.

“I have been a Sas-

katchewan boy all my

life and wanted to come

back,” he said. “We are

growing in Saskatch-

ewan and Ohio and we

are opening up in New

Jersey in the fall. Our

sales are into the mil-

lions.

“Because the price

fl uctuates, we take that

to our advantage with

our pricing strategies

and the way we buy our

gas,” he said. “Some-

times, we hedge our gas

and buy futures.”

Future Now has

an offi ce in Battleford

where Cimmer grew up

and learned about en-

ergy marketing and op-

erations as a employee

of Direct Energy, one

of his competitors in

Ohio.

Th e company has

an administrative of-

fi ce in Calgary but no

subscribers in Alberta,

where Cimmer says the

rules and regulations “are

among the most diffi cult

to enter the market.”

Tim Cimmer, president and CEO of Future Now Energy

Sask. gas subscribers getting money back

ResourcesResources GuideGuide


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Bruce BaylissOwner/Operator

Of ce: 482-3132Dispatch: 485-7535Fax: (306) 482-5271

Box 178Carnduff, Sk.

S0C 0S0

www.brockwhite.com

Edmonton780-447-1774

Saskatoon619 48th St. E., S7K 6G2

306-932-9255, Fax 306-242-7113

Regina306-721-9333

Lloydminster780-875-6860

Winnipeg204-694-3600

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Owner Jason Trail, Kennedy, Sask.

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Cory BjorndalDistrict Manager

Downhole Tools

93 Panteluk StreetKensington Avenue NEstevan, Saskatchewan S4A 2A6PHONE: 306-634-8828CELL: 306-421-2893FAX: [email protected]

311 Kensington Avenue, Estevan • 634-1400

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SONAR INSPECTION LTD.Head Of ce1292 Veterans CrescentEstevan, Sk. S4A 2E1E: [email protected]

P: 306-634-5285F: 306-634-5649

“Serving All Your Inspection Needs”UT - LPI - MPI

Wayne Naka 306-421-3177Taylor Gardiner 306-421-2883Cory Rougeau 306-421-1076

4” Hevi Wate Drill PipeBrad Lamontagne

(306) 577-9818 or (306) [email protected]

Midfield Supply ULCP.O. Box 1468 402, #9 Service Road South

Carlyle, Saskatchewan S0C 0R0 6:7c

Bus: 306-453-2728 Cell: 306-577-8085Cell: 306-482-7755 Fax: 306-453-2738

[email protected]

JUSTIN WAPPEL - Division Manager

401 Hwy. #4 S. Biggar, SaskatchewanPO Box 879 S0K 0M0Ph (306) 948-5262 Fax (306) 948-5263Cell (306) 441-4402 Toll Free 1-800-746-6646Email: [email protected]

a l t u s g e o m a t i c s . c o m

Specializing in well site and pipeline surveys

Yorkton

306.783.4100

Weyburn

306.842.6060

Regina

800.667.3546

Swift Current

306.773.7733

Lloydminster

780.875.6130

Medicine Hat

403.528.4215

Edmonton

800.465.6233

Calgary

866.234.7599

Grande Prairie

780.532.6793

Fresh Water HaulingCustom Bailing & Hauling

Gordon HartyBox 95 Marwayne, AB T0B 2X0

Bus. Phone(780) 875-9802

Fax No.(780) 847-3633

Res. Phone(780) 847-2178

Lloyd Lavigne • Kirk ClarksonOwners/Managers

6506 - 50th AvenueLloydminster, AB

Phone: (780) 875-6880

5315 - 37th StreetProvost, AB T0B 3S0

Phone: (780) 753-6449

Fax: (780) 875-7076

24 Hour ServiceSpecializing in Industrial & Oilfield Motors

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www.silverbackhydrovac.com • [email protected]



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Pipeline News August 2009