Pipeline News May 2010

PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

May 2010 FREE Volume 2 Issue 12

Focus Edition:Focus Edition:Heavy EquipmentHeavy Equipment

Mid-sized dozers are commonly in de-mand by Saskatchewan’s oilpatch, ac-cording to SMS Equipment, Saskatch-ewan’s Komatsu dealer. See story on Page C14.

Photo by Brian Zinchuk

PIPELINE NEWS May 2010A2

NewsNotes

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

NuLoch Sanish Well averaged 205 bpd

NuLoch Resources Inc. announced on Mar.

29 that one of its horizontal Sanish oilwells (one

net) in Tableland, Sask., averaged 205 bbls of oil

per day over 30 days (including 19 continuous

days) since commencement on Feb. 2. Water cuts

are averaging 48 per cent.

Th is well has been followed up with four ad-

ditional Sanish locations (2.8 net at 70 per cent

working interest), the fi rst of which has recently

been fracture stimulated and was in the early

stage of fl ow-back. Th e second well was scheduled

for a frac in early April week. Th e third and fourth

wells were drilled.

NuLoch has licensed, with plans to drill, an

additional three (2.1 net) Sanish wells in Sas-

katchewan during the second quarter of 2010.

Th e company also has a well (0.7 net) cased

and awaiting completion in the Middle Bakken at

Taylorton, six miles east of the Sanish Tableland

well.

Painted Pony plans another 20 net

wellsPainted Pony Petroleum Ltd. plans to conduct

an active drilling program in 2010, with about 20

net wells planned for the rest of the year in Sas-

katchewan, primarily targeting oil in the Bakken

formation.

Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd. earned a $1.95

million profi t in the fourth quarter and increased

production through drilling and third quarter ac-

quisitions.

All of Painted Pony's light oil sales come from

Saskatchewan while sales of gas, condensate and

natural gas liquids are primarily from northeast

B.C.

Sales volumes in 2009 were weighted 58 per

cent towards oil, refl ecting the focus of the year's

capital program towards oil, as opposed to the 51

per cent oil weighting in 2008.

By Geoff LeePipeline News

Regina – Cha-Ching! Th e April sale of Crown

petroleum and natural gas rights registered a whop-

ping $190.1 million in revenue for Saskatchewan,

the second highest total for an April land sales – but

don’t expect this to become a trend.

“We don't expect the interest to be as high as

this in upcoming land sales, but with a rebounding

industry and the other spin-off s from its exploration

work, we are looking at a very exciting year ahead

for our oilpatch,” Energy and Resources Minister Bill

Boyd said.

Th e April sale blew away the total for the whole

year of 2009, which came in at $118.2 million.

Of the $190 million total for April, $139 million

was generated from sales in the red hot Weyburn-

Estevan area.

Th e Kindersley-Kerrobert area was next at $25

million, followed by the Swift Current area at $23.2

million and the Lloydminster area at $2.9 million.

“We’re very encouraged by these results,” said

Boyd. “It demonstrates increased interest and activity

in our oil patch in 2010, after a somewhat slower year

in 2009.”

April’s sale included 26 petroleum and natural

gas exploration licences that sold for $142.4 million

and 286 lease parcels that attracted $47.7 million in

bonus bids.

Th e highest price for a single parcel was $23.5

million, paid by Scott Land and Lease Ltd. for a

4,210-hectare exploration licence near Oungre in

southeast Saskatchewan.

Th e highest price on a per-hectare basis was $15,600.

Canadian Coastal Resources Ltd. bid approximately

$1 million for a 65-hectare lease parcel near Redvers.

Boyd noted the average price of $1,629 per hectare

for the entire sale is considerably more than the av-

erage per hectare prices recorded in the most recent

land sales in Alberta ($974) and British Columbia

($716).

Th e next sale of Crown petroleum and natural

gas dispositions will be held on June 7. Th e following

is an area summary with all numbers rounded up.

Weyburn-Estevan sale ($139 million)Th e total bonus received in the area was $139

million at an average price of $2,042 per hectare. Th is

compares to $26 million at an average of $618.45 per

hectare at the last sale.

Th e top purchaser of acreage in this area was

Scott Land and Lease Ltd., who spent $62 million to

acquire 10 lease parcels and four licences.

Th e top price paid for a single lease in this area

was $1 million paid by Canadian Coastal Resources

Ltd. for a 259 hectare parcel situated 1-km east of

the Redvers Tilston Beds Pool, 2-km northeast of the

town of Redvers.

Th e highest price paid for a single licence in this

area was $24 million paid by Scott Land and Lease

Ltd. for a 4,210 hectare block off ering predominantly

deeper rights and located partially within the Oungre

Ratcliff e Beds Pool, 53-km west of Estevan.

Th e highest dollar per hectare in this area was

received from Canadian Coastal Resources Ltd, who

paid $15,600 per hectare for a 64.75 hectare parcel

located 2-km west of the Bellegarde Tilston Beds

Pool, 5 km southeast of Redvers.

Kindersley-Kerrobert sale ($25 million)Th e total revenue received in the area was $25

million at an average price of $1,945 per hectare. Th is

compares to $4 million, at an average of $207 per

hectare at the last sale.


Scott Land and Lease Ltd. who spent $7 million to

acquire nine lease parcels.

Th e highest price paid for a single lease in this

area was $4 million paid by Windfall Resources Ltd.

for a 649 hectare parcel situated partially within the

Avon Hill Viking Sand (Oil) Pool, 6-km northeast

of Kindersley. Th is is the highest dollar per hectare in

this area at $6,104 per hectare.

Swift Current sale ($23 million)Th e total revenue received in the area was $23

million at an average of $719.42 per hectare

Th is compares to $4 million at an average of $275

per hectare at the last sale.


Scott Land and Lease Ltd., who dished out $13 mil-

lion to acquire one lease parcel and three licences.


area was $558,862 paid by Canadian Coastal Re-

sources Ltd. for a 259 hectare parcel situated 50-km

southeast of the Lacadena Milk River Gas Pool, 24-

km northwest of Herbert.

Th e top price paid for a single licence in this area

was $12 million paid by Scott Land and Lease Ltd.

for a 2,851 hectare block situated 2-km south of the

Rapdan South Upper Shaunavon (Oil) Pool, 2-km

southwest of Frontier. Th is is the highest dollar per

hectare in this area at $4,321 per hectare.

Lloydminster sale ($2.9 million)Th e total revenue received in the area was $2.9

million, at an average price of $834 per hectare. Th is

compares to $5.6 million at $272 per hectare at the

previous sale.


Prairie Land and Investment Services Ltd., who

spent $1.1 million, to acquire four lease parcels.


area was $402,928 by Prairie Land and Investment

Services Ltd. for a 259 per hectare parcel situated

9-km northeast of the Carruthers Cummings Sand

(Oil) Pool, 19-km southeast of Maidstone.

Th e highest dollar per hectare in this area was re-

ceived from Mineral Consulting Services Ltd., who

paid $6,523 per hectare for a 16 hectare parcel lo-

cated within the Edam West Mannville Sands (Oil)

Pools, 27-km northeast of Maidstone.

Land sale not sustainable

PIPELINE NEWS May 2010 A3

NewsNotes

Briefs courtesy Nickle’s Daily Oil Bulletin

Sask. Geological Survey Open House

Th e 41st annual Saskatchewan Geologi-

cal Survey Open House will be held at the Delta

Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon, Nov. 29 to Dec.

1, 2010. Last year, over 700 delegates, including

those from Brazil, China, Korea, Japan and United

States registered for the conference. Th is is the pre-

miere event to learn about recent developments in

geology and mineral exploration in Saskatchewan.

Current mineral exploration activity will also be

profi led. Registration is free, and will commence in

September, 2010. More information can be found

at www.er.gov.sk.ca

Stealth signs joint venture deal

Stealth Ventures Ltd. says it has signed a joint

venture with MOI Resources Ltd., a Saskatche-

wan based, private oil and gas company looking to

expand into the Colorado group of shales resource

play.

"We're excited to be entering into a partner-

ship with Stealth and see a lot of potential in the

Colorado. It's a good time to be entering into the

gas markets as we probably wouldn't have had this

chance if gas was $10 per mcf," said MOI Re-

sources chief executive offi cer Kerwin Mondor in

a news release.

Th e Cretaceous Colorado group in the West-

ern Canadian Sedimentary Basin is represented

almost continuously in a 1,000 kilometres east-

west profi le. Of the over 250,000 well bores that

penetrate the Colorado, most have been drilled to

target deeper horizons.

Derek Krivak, president and CEO of Stealth,

said there is more potential than his company

would ever be able to manage on its own and "so

we're excited to be expanding our eff orts with

MOI."

Lionel Kambeitz grew up in Sedley, not terribly far from the Weyburn oil elds that are now leading the world in carbon dioxide storage. Now his Regina-based company is poised to commercialize the carbon capture technology developed at the University of Regina and sell it around the world.

Years of CCS research ready to be implemented

By Brian ZinchukPipeline News

Regina –Th e conventional thinking behind car-

bon capture and storage is to put a great big plant

on the tail end of a large coal-fi red power plant, then

build a large pipeline to some distant oilfi eld in order

to pump the highly pressurized greenhouse gas un-

derground. While that is still the big prize of carbon

capture, what if you could do it on a small scale, right

at the wellhead?

HTC Purenergy of Regina says it’s ready to

do just that, with a modular carbon capture system

meant for steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)

operations. But they are also doing it in the large

scale, too.

HTC Purenergy (not to be confused with Ko-

rean smartphone maker HTC) is the sole licensee of

the carbon capture technologies developed over the

past 20 years at the University of Regina’s Interna-

tional Test Centre for CO2 Capture (ITC). Malcolm

Wilson, PhD, and director of the U of R Offi ce of

Energy and Environment, which includes the ITC,

has said over the past year that the technology was

ready to take the big leap into commercialization.

HTC Purenergy is ready to do just that.

Th e company has two major thrusts – the large

scale carbon dioxide capture associated with power

plants, and a smaller, modular system, that can handle

up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per day (tpd).

“At 1000 tpd, or larger it’s diffi cult for it to be

modular,” explained Lionel Kambeitz, CEO of HTC

Purenergy.

Kambeitz is the founder of the publicly-traded

company. Th e university owns some shares, and

Doosan Power Systems has about 15 percent. Kam-

beitz, the founders and managers own about a third.

“About 30 of our founding shareholders are from the

Weyburn area,” he said.

Th eir offi ces are within a stone’s throw of the In-

ternational Test Centre for CO2 Capture, within the

Innovation Place research park.

Major ND projectIn December, 2009, it was announced that HTC

Purenergy would be providing the technology for the

sister plant to the coal gasifi cation plant that already

provides CO2 to the premier carbon capture and

storage projects at Weyburn and Midale. Bismarck,

North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Coopera-

tive owns the Dakota Gasifi cation Company (Dakota

Gas), which is at the other end of the pipeline from

the Weyburn-Midale Project. Th e new project will be

at the nearby Antelope Valley plant, and will capture

3,000 tonnes of CO2 per day.

Put in perspective, that’s roughly the size of the

SaskPower Boundary Dam 3 project.

Page A6

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PIPELINE NEWS May 2010A4 EDITORIAL

Editorial

Th ere’s a spirit of optimism in the oilpatch that’s

in the air this spring. It was noticeable at the Estevan

OTS Bonspiel at the end of March, the big southeast

Saskatchewan social event that draws winter season to

a close. Moods were much more upbeat than they were

at the last Estevan OTS bonspiel, right around the

time oil was bottoming out and oilmen were looking at

a gloomy summer.

Th e optimism has become more noticeable as the

weeks go on. As soon as the road bans come off , watch

out! Saskatchewan’s going to be going great guns.

It probably has a lot to do with the whiff of oil

priced over $80, as it has been for several weeks this

spring.

Th ere’s nothing like a strong Crown land sale to

get people in the mood. Th e April 12 sale was a doozy.

At $190.1 million, it brought in substantially more

than the entire calendar year of 2009, which totalled

$118.2 million. It’s the second largest April land sale to

date. Th e bonus from that sale alone will go a long way

towards covering off the recent budget’s rainy-day fund

withdrawal.

It also looks like the increased seismic activity this

past winter we reported on has borne fruit.

Th e government isn’t expecting such strong sales

later in the year. Th ey might be in for a surprise. Th en

again, maybe they’re just being cautious, after the pot-

ash windfall or lack-thereof fi asco.

Early in 2010, one business told Pipeline News that

they expected 2010 to be bigger for them than 2008.

Optimism in the windSince then, we’ve thrown that out as a challenge, ask-

ing a number of businesses in the southeast in particular

if they felt that would be the case for their operations.

Most of the responses have been yes, they expect it will

be. Very few have responded that they weren’t expecting

a strong year. Since 2008 was the banner year for most

of these businesses, spread across several sectors of the

oilpatch, that’s the type of optimism economists swoon

over. Many of these companies have mentioned they

will likely be looking for additional staff in the coming

months, if they can fi nd them.

Th at could be a challenge. Saskatchewan’s drilling

rig count kept climbing from the beginning of the year,

reaching into the low 90s before road bans came into

eff ect. If drilling continues on that path, it will outstrip

the 2008 pace, and blow away 2009. We’ve heard of idled

rigs being reactivated this season.

Th e Williston Basin Conference, which alternates

between Saskatchewan and North Dakota each year, is

expected to be a big one this year, when it is held in Bis-

marck, ND, in early May. By April 20, the registration

was already in excess of 1,900, far outstripping previous

records. While a large part of that will be the tremen-

dous growth in the North Dakota oilpatch, some of it

will also be a refl ection of what’s going on here.

Saskatchewan’s oilpatch has two rounds each year.

Th e fi rst round is winter work, followed by a respite in

the corner known as spring breakup. When the bell rings

for round two, summer drilling, it’s going to ring loudly.

Fighters get ready, and come out swinging.


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

Email to: [email protected]

Brian Zinchuk

From the top of

the pile

Opinion

Geoff Lee

Lee Side of Lloyd

Th ose who smoke or drink alcohol were prob-

ably not in the mood to celebrate Saskatchewan’s

balanced spring budget that contained some good

news for the oilpatch.

While the budget hiked so-called sin taxes on

smoking and drinking, a strong measure of the $9.95

billion in the budget forecast is based on a WTI

(West Texas Intermediate) US$77.50 per barrel that

will help generate $1.1 billion in oil royalties.

Only $35.1 million will enter the coff ers from

increase taxes on smokes and booze, but those af-

fected in the oilpatch will presumably be healthi-

er and able to produce more oil – so it’s all good

news!

Th e extra tax revenues also allow the govern-

ment to declare a tiny surplus of $20 million in the

General Revenue Fund.

On the cost reduction side of the equation, gov-

ernment expense levels are reduced by 1.2 per cent,

while protecting important programs and services in

health, social services and education.

Th e budget is expected to generate 4,100 new

jobs in the budget year in a province that grew by

15,760 from Jan. 1 2009 to Jan. 1 2010.

Th e provincial population is now 1,038,018 and

counting according to the latest fi gures from Statis-

tics Canada on Mar. 25.

Th e population gain and the balanced budget

prompted Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer to wax

poetic on budget day about Saskatchewan’s positive

economy.

“Th e Saskatchewan economy remained strong

through the worst of the global recession," Gante-

foer said.

“And with the recovery now well underway,

there is plenty of reason for optimism.

“All the independent forecasters say Saskatch-

ewan will be one of the economic leaders in Canada

in 2010 and 2011. Saskatchewan’s economy is strong,

and this budget will give our province the solid fi scal

foundation it needs to stay strong.”

Another good sign for the energy sector is an

investment commitment of $16.6 million for the

Saskatchewan Research Council to continue its cur-

rent research and development projects.

Th ese projects include everything from en-

hanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration to

biofuels and oilsands science and technology.

Th e budget has also earmarked $3 million from

by Crown Investment Corporation for First Nations’

economic development initiatives.

No doubt that’s in recognition that more oil

and gas exploration development is taking place on

First Nation’s territory creating new investment and

training needs.

With road bans still fresh in our minds, the gov-

ernment will make the hauling of oil goods more ef-

fi cient and safer with $250 million in new highway

construction and repaving this year.

Th e budget includes $86 million to commence

or complete 470-km of work under the rural high-

way strategy.

Another $76 million will be spent to commence

or complete 600-km of resurfacing across the pro-

vincial highway system as well and $36 million to

repair or replace bridges and culverts.

Th e budget news however comes with this ca-

veat: If you choose to celebrate with a smoke and

drink, it will cost you – in more ways than one.

Somebody has to pay for the $126.9 million

funding increases to improve delivery of health care

services to Saskatchewan people.

Budget no cause for worries or parties

It didn’t get a lot of fanfare, but Canada and the

United States signed onto a fuel effi ciency agreement

this spring that will have a profound eff ect on our

lives, as well as the oilpatch.

By 2016, new cars and trucks will be required to

get 35.5 miles per gallon (15 km/L), up from current

rules mandating 25 mpg, a 42 per cent increase.

At the same time, carbon dioxide emissions per

mile must fall to 250 grams per mile, down from the

2012 regulation of 295 grams per mile. Since Canada

and the U.S. share an integrated auto industry, the

standards will be the same on both sides of the bor-

der.

If indeed these rules do hold and aren’t whittled

away by Congress, the vehicles we are going to be

looking at on the lots are going to be a lot diff er-

ent than the ones in our driveways. Th ink more Geo

Metro-types and fewer Ford Expeditions.

Th ey’re going to be smaller, lighter, likely with

less horsepower than what we’re used to.

Ah, yes, horsepower. We all want more. It’s a tes-

tosterone thing. “More power!” as Tim Allen would

say.

Th ere’s been a continual rise in horsepower for

decades, with each new model of vehicle typically

beefi er than the one before. My 2004 Buick Rainier

SUV has 265 horses under its hood, derived from an

inline-six. Two decades ago, that might have been a

decent rating for a one-tonne, and unheard of in an

SUV. Th e Rainier also sucks gas like a pickup, if not

a one-tonne. While I’ve got plenty of power to pass,

I can’t pass the gas station after 400-km, or I’ll be

walking. I usually get around 20 mpg, or 7.1 km/L

on the highway. I personally wouldn’t mind a more

effi cient vehicle, but one with the same capabilities.

Engineering-wise, improvement in performance

generally give you one of two things, more power, or

better effi ciency, rarely both. Th e market has almost

always trended more to the power side of the equa-

tion. Th at’s going to change.

While fuel effi ciency ratings have climbed, to see

such a dramatic change in such a short time is going

to mean compromises. Yes, engines are much more

effi cient today than yesteryear, but to make those

mileage gains, horsepower is going have to give way.

If, 10 years down the road, the bulk of the North

American fl eet is indeed 42 per cent more effi cient, it

means a drop in demand for oil, so much so that the

American refi ners are already squawking. Th at might

not be so bad in the long run, because peak oil theo-

rists might not be too far off the mark when it comes

to maximizing production in the near future. We

might just need those fuel effi ciencies to compensate

for the lack of ability to ever-increase oil production.

We will literally have to do more with less, driving

more effi cient vehicles because we won’t be able to get

as much oil as we used to.

It also has the eff ect of reducing emissions, not

just of greenhouse gases, but of all other air pollut-

ants. Higher effi ciency, as a general principle, is a

common good.

Th e question is, why has it taken so long to get

to this place? Why didn’t fuel economy standards rise

gradually over the years, instead of the big shock to

the system now?

Th e answer lies in an ineff ective Congress, too

hamstrung to actually do anything for decades. Now,

everyone has to play catch-up.

For the next several years, expect to see fl eet

purchases of pickup trucks follow the pattern of big

rigs. Each time the emissions requirements move up

a notch, there will be high demand for the previous

year’s model. No one wants to buy a more anaemic

truck if they can help it.

A decade down the road, we may see the power

levels return to their current heights, but with the im-

proved fuel effi ciency. Until then, expect the power

of engines to plateau or even drop over the next six

years.

So if you are a Tim Allen-type of truck buyer, go

shopping now, because your “Arr arr arrr” choices are

going to be limited.

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

More power days are numbered, at least for now


Modular CCS system to improve SAGD Page A3

Th e eventual aim of the project is to use the captured CO2 for enhanced oil

recovery close to the power plant with the CO2 subsequently stored underground,

according to Basin Electric. Th e CO2 will be used in the Dakotas, and possibly

Canada as well, Kambeitz said.

Using U of R research, HTC Purenergy may be providing the brains for the

project, but the brawn comes from power plant heavyweight Doosan Power Sys-

tems, HTC’s partner, one of the biggest power plant builders in the world. HTC

might be small so far, but they rated high enough to be mentioned in the fourth

paragraph of a Doosan corporate booklet talking about multi-billion dollar coal,

wind, combined cycle, nuclear and water plant projects worldwide. Th e booklet

states, “By making strategic

investments in and licensing

agreement with HTC Puren-

ergy, a leading Canadian CO2

management company, we

are now at the forefront of

carbon capture and storage

(CCS) technologies, which

will enable the signifi cant

reduction of the CO2 emis-

sions from existing and newly

built power plants.”

“Our business model for

projects over 3000 tpd is to

go in with a big company like

Doosan,” Kambeitz said. “We

say here’s the technology, and

here’s our partner who will

construct it and integrate it.

“When it comes to big

projects, you need companies

with billion dollar balance

sheets.”

Doosan has a strong pres-

ence in the UK, and last year

HTC Purenergy and the U

of R’s ITC spent six months

training Doosan representatives on the technology, up to 18 at a time, so that

they can now promote it the world over. HTC and Doosan joined CO2 forces in

late 2008.

Modular CO2 captureHowever, you don’t need to be the size of a multi-billion dollar power plant to

capture CO2. HTC Purenergy is in the process of rolling out its modular design,

which can vary from 30 to 1,000 tonnes per day in capacity.

“Heavy oil plays a very important role in Saskatchewan’s oilpatch,” Kambeitz

said. “Th e experience in heavy oil and CO2 isn’t substantial,” he added, unlike

Cenovus’ and Apache’s experience with CO2 in light oil.

“Everybody thinks it’s a pressurization technique,” he said. Th e big factor

of CO2 in enhanced oil recovery is not so much pressurization, pushing the oil

out, but rather miscibility. Th e carbon dioxide acts like a solvent, allowing for

increased recovery factors in the reservoir.

He can’t say who, but the company is working with heavy oil producers in

Alberta and Saskatchewan to fi eld the technology. Th e idea is a huff -and-puff

cyclic injection, injecting carbon dioxide with steam.

Th ese small scale projects diff er greatly from the large ones, in that there is no

major pipeline involved. Th e carbon dioxide is captured from the exhaust of the

SAGD boilers, and then re-injected, at low pressure, along with the steam, into

the well right there on site “exactly where you need the CO2,” Kambeitz said.

By getting rid of the high pressure compression, you also eliminate one of the

biggest costs of large scale carbon dioxide capture projects. Compression can add

$5 to $6 a tonne to the cost, according to Kambeitz.

“It’s an amine scrubbing system done at atmospheric pressure.”

You also don’t need to pipeline it great distances, saving an additional $2-$4

per tonne.

A SAGD boiler system can produce 250 to 500 tonnes of CO2 per day, he

said. Th e systems are often incrementally increased in size. HTC Purenergy’s

CCS Capture System is designed to be modular as well, so that it can grow with

the SAGD plant, capturing CO2 from two or three boilers. Th at allows the CO

2

capture to be brought into the fi eld incrementally.

Th is can have a strong impact on oilsands development, including Saskatch-

ewan’s own future oilsands,

according to Kambeitz. Th e

federal government has

pointed out it wants carbon

capture and storage to be part

and parcel with new oilsands

development. Th e vast major-

ity, 80 per cent, of the Alberta

and Saskatchewan oilsands

are not mineable, Kambeitz

noted. In situ techniques like

SAGD are needed to develop

them.

It was one of the reasons

HTC Purenergy brought

in Jim Carter, PhD, former

CEO of Syncrude, and chair-

man of the Alberta Carbon

Capture and Storage Devel-

opment Council, to speak at

the University of Regina on

Mar. 31.

“We have an opportu-

nity in Saskatchewan to re-

ally learn all about the in situ

development in Alberta,” said

Kambeitz. “We think that

steam and CO2, in various application protocols, are going to be a formidable

combination.

“I’m going to call that early in situ technology. I think the THAIs, Toe-Heel

Air Injection, and other technologies, are the very promising next generation

technologies. But steam and CO2 for light bitumen and heavy oil is going to be

the initial core technology.”

Ready for sale“We announced our commercial initiatives for Alberta, in Calgary 30 days

ago,” he said on April 6. “I think we’re going to tackle all of the opportunities with

this modular system. Th e concept is modularize, whether its 1,000 tonnes a day,

or 200 tonnes a day – to create enough of these modular systems and use CO2 as

a feedstock.

“If you wanted to buy one of these, we can have it supplied for you by the end

of this year,” he said. Manufacturing would be done right in Regina, by a company

that HTC has a fi nancial interest in, Pinnacle Industrial Services. “A traditional

system, we can have up and running in six to nine months. We’ve literally just of-

fered it to the SAGD industry.”

On the web:www.htcenergy.com

www.doosanbabcock.comwww.basinelectric.comwww.uregina.ca/oee/

The International Test Centre for CO2 Capture’s research is now ready to by commercialized. The ITC, seen here, is on the University of Regina campus.


*** Correction ***Chicken scratch in note taking resulted in a misspelled name in the April

edition of Pipeline News.In the story entitled “A little something for every season,” profi ling Phil’s

Oilfi eld Contracting of Radville on page A24, Cara Th ompson was mistakenly

identifi ed as Lara Th ompson. Pipeline News regrets the error and any confusion

it may have caused.

By Brian Zinchuk

Regina – Capturing carbon dioxide

and using it for enhanced oil recovery

isn’t just smart for the environment, it

also has the potential of substantially

increasing recoverable oil reserves.

Th at’s according to former Syn-

crude Canada CEO Jim Carter, PhD,

who is heading up Alberta’s eff orts

on carbon dioxide capture and stor-

age. Carter is chairman of the Alberta

Carbon Capture and Storage Develop-

ment Council.

Th e Alberta Carbon Capture and

Storage Development Council is a

partnership between governments,

industry and scientifi c researchers.

Established by the government of Al-

berta, the council will work towards the

implementation of CCS to ensure that

Alberta’s energy resources are devel-

oped in an environmentally sustainable

way.

Carter was at the University of Re-

gina on Mar. 31 presenting two lectures

on carbon dioxide capture and storage.

He was invited by Regina-based HTC

Purenergy, the sole licensee of the Uni-

versity of Regina’s carbon capture tech-

nologies.

He spoke to about 100 graduate

and undergraduate students in his fi rst

lecture and over 125 business stake-

holders in his second.

Between lectures, Carter spoke

with Pipeline News about carbon diox-

ide sequestration, and its relevance to

enhanced oil recovery.

Pipeline News asked where Carter

sees Saskatchewan when it comes to

carbon capture, where does it need to

be, and what does it need to do?

“I think Saskatchewan’s already got

a really good head start on this in terms

of building a body of knowledge,” he

said, pointing out the experience in the

Weyburn fi eld, with about 14 million

tonnes of CO2 already safely under-

ground.

Carter also referenced Regina-

based HTC Purenergy’s eff orts to de-

velop modular carbon capture technol-

ogy. “Saskatchewan has certainly been

putting eff ort into this, as has Alberta,

over the last few years. It behoves us to

do that, as two provinces that produce

a lot of Canada’s energy.”

He added Alberta and Saskatch-

ewan have huge coal reserves, and want

to continue developing that resource as

a sustaining part of our economy.

Coal is the keyWhere do we need to go next?

“It’s a matter of continuing to fo-

cus on the research and development,

and to be involved in the large scale pi-

lots that are being pursued around the

world, really, to further enhance carbon

capture and storage,” says Carter.

“Staying on the leading edge of

emerging trends and being part of driv-

ing that is I think is very important.”

“I see that happening, in my visit

here today, to the University of Re-

gina. With Saskatchewan’s heavy oil

reserves, and with its opportunity in

the oilsands, it just makes sense. Pro-

vincial boundaries don’t recognize 100

million years of geology. Th e oilsands

do in fact fl ow into Saskatchewan and

there’s opportunity here to utilize that

technology.

“On a global scale, it’s all about

coal. How do we continue to use coal

to generate electricity, and do it in a

way that reduces the carbon footprint?

One of the obvious ways there is to

utilize carbon capture and storage with

coal-fi red power plants. It just makes

sense for Alberta and Saskatchewan

to do that, because we rely heavily on

coal-fi red power.

“Th e United States, for example,

produces 50 per cent of its power to-

day from coal-fi red electricity. Th at

probably will not shrink, if you look

at demand going forward, and could

perhaps even increase. Developing this

technology and making it so it can be

used around the world I think is an op-

portunity.”

Retrofi tsOn the Boundary Dam 3 and

Sask-Montana carbon capture projects,

Carter said they are the kind of things

the industry in a broader sense will be

interested in. “An awful lot of what

we’re going to be able to do in the next

few years, at least in North America, is

retrofi t technology on existing coal fi re

power plants. Making sure that we’ve

got the right processes that utilizes the

least amount of energy to capture the

carbon and store it, are going to be very

important.”

Processes that can be added to the

back end of existing plants will be very

important to the developed world, he

said, where power plants are quite old

but still have useful life. “Th ese retro-

fi t technologies have a lot of value in

those circumstances,” Carter said.

Dirty oil? Carter took issue with the idea of

‘dirty oil’ from the oilsands.

“Th e carbon footprint of a barrel

of oil from the oilsands is about 10 per

cent higher than the footprint of a bar-

rel from the average crude oil available

around the world,” he said.

Page A8

Carbon storage could boost reserves

”


“ Page A7

“Th at’s down from about 15 per cent a few years

ago for a couple of reasons. One, the oilsands have

become more effi cient, in terms of energy use, and

reduced the energy per barrel by about 38 per cent

since 1990. Th e other factor is the oil available around

the world is getting heavier. A lot of people call that

‘dirty oil,’ and when they do, they are referring to the

carbon footprint. Th e carbon footprint is really not as

high as the moniker ‘dirty oil’ suggests.”

Asked about federal guidelines for carbon cap-

ture in future oilsands development and how that will

aff ect Saskatchewan, Carter pointed to the eff ort to

update the Fort Saskatchewan Scotford Upgrader to

capture carbon dioxide. Once that is done success-

fully, of which he has no doubt will occur, it will re-

duce the carbon footprint of oilsands oil to below the

average slate of crude oil available around the world.

It would drop from ten per cent higher to 10 per cent

below the average carbon footprint, he said.

Th e “Quest Project,” as the Scotford initiative

is known, was one of the projects successful in get-

ting money from the Alberta government’s $2 billion

CO2 capture funding, according to Carter.

“Th at sort of resolves the argument about it be-

ing ‘dirty oil.’

How much for CO2?When questioned on what the price of carbon

has to be per tonne for carbon capture to make sense,

Carter said, “It’s more in the $60 to $70 a tonne range.

What’s going to happen here as we develop these

commercial scale pilots? We’re going to bring down

the cost of the carbon capture and storage itself. Th e

cost is really in the capture and compression. “

He made a comparison to fl ue-gas desulfuriza-

tion, pointing out its cost has dropped by about half

since the initial work was done. “You’re going to see a

similar pattern in carbon capture. Th at will help bring

the cost down.”

“You’re going to see the value of carbon go up

over time,” he said, noting it would likely be in the

$60-$70 per tonne range in six-12 years.

“Th e impact of carbon capture on the oilsands

production could be about $8 or $9 a barrel, if the

cost of capturing it did not drop,” he explained. “It

only gets passed on [to the consumer] if the whole

world decides to do this. Otherwise, it’s a penalty that

hits our industry in Canada, and doesn’t hit the oil

producing nations elsewhere in the world. We have

to be really careful how we do this, so we don’t pe-

nalize our industry to the point where we make it

uncompetitive.”

Potential doubling of reservesJustifying the government of Alberta’s $2 billion

investment into CO2, Carter said, “Th ere are stud-

ies that indicate, if we can get CO2 available at the

wellhead, for all the enhanced oil recovery opportu-

nities we have in Alberta ...If you look at light oil, it

essentially would double the reserves of light oil we

could actually extract. It would add another 1.4 bil-

lion barrels of light oil to the reserves in Alberta. Can

you imagine, at $75 a barrel, you’re talking something

in excess of $100 billion in revenue, and $25 billion in

royalties to the government of Alberta.

“It certainly makes sense.”

He added there were issues around miscibility,

CO2 and heavy oil, and that research was needed.

In regards to how much oil companies might be

willing to pay for CO2 to be used in enhanced oil

recovery in southeast Saskatchewan, Carter said if

CO2 were available by pipeline at the wellhead, he

said the price of CO2 would come down, compared

to the over $100 a tonne it costs to truck it in. “We

used something in $35 to $40 per tonne,” he said in

their calculations.

“I would suspect we’ll end up with a price in that

range.”

Concluding, Carter said, “Every challenge has an

opportunity attached to it. We have an opportunity

for Saskatchewan and Alberta to make a diff erence on

a global issue. We have the educated folks at the Uni-

versity of Alberta, University of Calgary, University

of Saskatchewan, University of Regina – the research

institutes to enable that to happen. Th e companies

that are forward thinking, like HTC Purenergy, have

the opportunity to demonstrate to the world we’re

not only good at developing resources, but we’re good

at solving technology problems. “

Former Syncrude CEO now touts carbon capture and storage

We have an opportunity for Saskatchewan and Alberta

to make a diff erence on a global issue.

- Former Syncrude Canada CEO Jim Carter, PhD


Lloydminster – How

safe is your work place

and community? Th at’s

a question worth posing

during this year’s North

America Occupational

Safety and Health or

NAOSH week May 2-8.

NAOSH week is a

joint occupational health

and safety venture in-

tended to raise awareness

of health and safety issues

and importance of pre-

venting injury and illness

in the workplace.

Th e annual NAOSH

event is led in most Ca-

nadian communities by

the Canadian Society

of Safety Engineering

(CSSE) in partnership

with the Canadian Centre

for Occupational Health

and Safety and Human

Resources and Skills De-

velopment Canada.

National events are

held in conjunction with

the North American So-

ciety of Safety Engineers.

Th is year’s theme is

“Safety and Health: A

Commitment for Life!

How Safe Are You?” and

will be celebrate by vari-

ous community events in

Saskatchewan and Al-

berta.

In Lloydminster, the

week will be marked by

a barbecue and safety

tradeshow May 4 at the

Communiplex and fi re

extinguisher training

May 3-4.

Cam Peneff chair of

the Lakeland Regional

Safety Committee, a sub-

committee of the Lloy-

dminster Construction

Association that orga-

nizes the Lloydminster

events in the absence of

strong CSSE member-

ship, hopes more compa-

nies from the oilpatch get

involved this year.

“We don’t get as

many as we’d like to see”

said Peneff who runs his

own safety consultant

business. “We’d like to see

more participation from

the patch.

“Th e oilpatch and

construction is pretty

damn close – certain parts

of it anyway. We face a

lot of the same hazards

and the same issues. We

would love to see a lot

more oilpatch participa-

tion.”

Th ere will also be a

presentation about safety

awareness by a young

area farm worker who

was electrocuted when

his equipment contacted

an overhead wire. Th at

personal presentation

goes ahead May 5 at the

West Harvest Inn.

Th e Lloydminster

Construction Association

along with affi liated in-

dustry trade associations

is coincidentally holding

at “Try A Trade” con-

struction career expo to

be held at the Lloydmin-

ster Exhibition Grounds

on May 5.

Th e Try A Trade

event to be held from 9

a.m. to 6 p.m. will attract

students from all high

schools in Lloydminster

and surrounding area to

experience fi rsthand the

various construction ca-

reer opportunities that

are available.

In Regina, NAOSH

week kicks off May 4

with an 11 a.m. luncheon

at the Queensbury Con-

vention Centre in Re-

gina.

Th e guest speaker

will be safety advocate

Rob Ellis whose 18 year-

old son David died in

a workplace accident in

1999.

Ellis’s safety presen-

tation and story with be

broadcast to a similar

NAOSH luncheon to

be held at the same time

at TCU Place in Saska-

toon.

NAOSH week wraps

up May 5 in Regina with

a construction safety

trade show and barbecue

at the Tartan Curling

Club in Regina starting

at 11 a.m.

Safety week to focus on injury prevention

Work place safety is the focus of North America Occupational Safety and Health Week May 2-8. Safety is paramount at the construction site of the new Thorpe Recovery Centre in Lloydminster that is supported by donations from the oilpatch. The Centre also received $150,000 donation from an anonymous company in April.

Photo by Geoff Lee


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Story and photos by Geoff Lee

Kerrobert – Th e population of the Town of Ker-

robert is more than 1,100 today, not including a ghost

or two said to dwell in the historic court house build-

ing that now serves as the town offi ce and museum.

While news of apparitions might scare off some

visitors, what rattles Deputy Mayor Myrna Kissick

and administrator Michele Schmidt is the specter of

not having enough housing to accommodate new oil-

fi eld workers and families.

“It’s a huge need with the infl ux of people coming

in and looking for new homes,” said Schmidt. “Pres-

ently, we have three or four homes in town that are

listed for sale – some of them fairly new homes. Th ey

are priced up to that $200,000 to $250,000 range.

“If a young couple is moving to town, we don’t

have anything in a nice midsize. We don’t have a lot

of nice three bedroom homes – that average home –

[for] $150,000 to $160,000.”

Th e town continues to advertise for a developer

to build 30 new lots in two subdivisions. With no

takers in line, the town is resigned to service nine lots

itself, starting this spring near the landmark water

tower. Other lots within the popular nine-hole golf

course subdivision will follow in the coming years.

“It will be done in stages,” said Schmidt. “Unfor-

tunately, with the town being the developer, it’s pretty

tough to be able to develop those lots and hold that

fi nancial debt. We will service those lots in town this

spring.

“Right now, we have two lots in the older part

town that are presently for sale.”

Kerrobert is awash in rental properties that came

on the market during the construction of the Alberta

Clipper pipeline built in 2008-09 by Enbridge Pipe-

lines Inc., one of the major employers and infl uences

in the area.

“We have heard through the grapevine, there is

going to be some growth coming our way this sum-

mer,” said Schmidt. “We are hearing about an infl ux

or a reorganization of the oil and gas industry.

“We are hoping that will entice people to move

to our community because they can get a job with

Nexen or Enbridge or one of the other companies.

Hopefully, we will see the spinoff from that aspect.”

Alliance Pipeline Ltd., Enbridge Pipelines Inc.,

Inter Pipeline Fund and Plains Marketing Canada

LP, are some of the major oil and gas players in the

area, with pipeline links and storage assets at or near

the Kerrobert Terminal, east of town.

Th e terminal is the site of a co-generation pow-

er plant built SaskPower and NRGreen Power that

converts waste heat from Alliance’s gas compressor

station and generates it into fi ve megawatts of elec-

tricity.

Page A11

The Enbridge Kerrobert Station is a major oil and gas storage and pumping station just east of Kerrobert.

Kerrobert energized by word


of pending oil eld growth Page A10

Several oilfi eld service and supply companies are

also located in Kerrobert where Mynra Kissick has

lived since 1946 and knows fi rsthand what the indus-

try means to families likes hers.

“I’ve seen a lot of impact. Our son works for Nex-

en and our grandchildren have worked in the oilpatch

as various jobs. It’s provided lots of employment for

our family,” she said.

“My husband Adgey and I farm south of Ker-

robert, and the oil wells that are pumping on our land

kept us farming for a lot of years – through a lot of

bad years.

“My dad had a grocery store in town. At some

times during the poor years, he used to take shares

from the guys that maybe needed a little bit of help.

“Instead of paying for the groceries they would

give him some shares from Inter provincial Pipe Line

(1949) before it became Enbridge. It’s always been a

part of our lifestyle here.”

“We have a good core of service industries in

Kerrobert. Our young people can stay in Kerrobert.

Th e town’s average age is around 40.”

When Kissick was young herself, Kerrobert had

a bigger population than it does today, but a series

of fi res in the 50s and 60s wiped out core downtown

businesses and dealerships that never came back.

“I think the population will recover to that level,

but I don’t know if the business district will ever re-

cover because the larger companies are centralizing in

large communities,” said Kissick.

On the bright side, Kerrobert has a small town

lifestyle where everybody knows everybody and kids

can walk to school or the arena or the outdoor swim-

ming pool.

“We have three children and they have all made

their homes in Kerrobert,” said Kissick. Th ey all have

businesses in Kerrobert or work out of here.

“I have two of 10 grandchildren that live away,

and one of them lives in Lloydminster and comes

back here to work at the hospital. It’s an excellent

place to raise family.”

InfrastructureNew oil and gas industry workers and businesses

are helping to boost the tax base of the town for badly

need infrastructure projects including the recent con-

struction start of a new $4.5 million reverse osmosis

water treatment system.

“Th e project itself is a requirement of the prov-

ince to meet new standards for water treatment,” said

Schmidt.

Th e cost is partly off set by a $2.1 million grant

from Infrastructure Stimulus Fund from the provin-

cial and federal governments, and $500,000 from the

Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund. Th e town will

have to borrow approximately $2.3 million to pay the

balance. Page A12

Deputy Mayor Myrna Kissick and administrator Michele Schmidt are proud supporters of their community and the oil and gas industry.

NRGreen Power built this gas powered turbine generator next to the Kerrobert Terminal.

A12 PIPELINE NEWS May 2010

, ASME

New home construction needed

Page A11“Th at is a huge debt

load for a small commu-

nity this size, but we are

going to forge ahead,”

she stressed.

“We still have to

struggle with cast iron

water mains, and we have

been changing about two

to three blocks a year.

At some point, we will

have all of the mains re-

placed.”

Repaving and re-

pairing residential streets

and downtown beautifi -

cation are on the town’s

to-do list.

Meanwhile, an ele-

vator is being installed in

the court house building

with a $50,000 contri-

bution from the federal

government.

It won’t go to the

basement, where the sup-

posed ghost is thought to

have a connection with a

skull locked in an evi-

dence room and a 1931

murder trial that took

place on the fi rst level.

Th e town has com-

mitted $300,0000 to the

Kerrobert, Luseland &

District or KLD Foun-

dation that is raising

funds for the $18 million

capital cost of a new hos-

pital and nursing home.

“It’s very important

to our community that

we have a good well han-

dled health care facility,”

said Kissick.

“If we were to ever

have an oilfi eld accident

we need to be set up to

handle something like

that. We have hired an

EMO (emergency mea-

sures offi cer) to set up

plans and work with oil

companies on plans in

case we do have a prob-

lem.”

Oilfi eld donations

have helped the town

with the purchase of a

new fi re truck, upgrades

to the arena and the

rebuilding of the golf

course that was torn up

for a pipeline in 2000

and the list goes on.

“I appreciate the oil

and gas industry in that

it’s allowed me to keep

my family close,” said

Kissick. “I love to have

my grandchildren grow

up right under my nose.

“It’s supported a

lot of things. I have my

grandchildren playing

hockey and half their

sweaters have a logo or

their programs are print-

ed by a local oil company.

It lets us keep a whole

lot of our programs run-

ning.”

This functioning 1914 standpipe water tower is one of the main attractions in town that will mark its centennial next summer.

Crews work on a $4.5 million expansion and up-grade of the Kerrobert water treatment plant.

New affordable housing and lots are at a premium but the town will begin to service nine new lots this spring.


Lloydminster – It’s

early days, but prepara-

tions are underway to

draft an agenda for the

17th Annual Heavy Oil

Technical Symposium to

be held at the Lloydmin-

ster Convention Stockade

Sept. 15-16.

Th e event is orga-

nized by the Lloydmin-

ster section of the Society

of Petroleum Engineers

that has put out a call for

presentations.

Potential present-

ers are invited to submit

a brief biography and

an abstract of their talk

for consideration on the

agenda.

Th is year’s sympo-

sium will be held in con-

junction with the Lloyd-

minster Heavy Oil Show

under the theme, “Chal-

lenges, Opportunity,

Change.”

Suggested topics for

presentations include

new innovations for the

future, fi eld research and

pilot studies, workover

techniques, production

issues, operating cost re-

ductions and case studies

of oil production or treat-

ing.

Anyone interested

in delivering a presenta-

tion at the show is asked

to contact a SPE execu-

tive member noted on

the SPE website, at www.

specanada.org/Lloyd-

minster/index.html. Th e

deadline for abstracts and

biographies is May 31.

SPE president Beh-

rooz Fattahi, was the

guest speaker at the Lloy-

dminster lunch and learn

presentation in April.

Look for a report on

his presentation titled,

“Challenges of the Fu-

ture” in the next edition

of Pipeline News along

with more news about

the fall symposium.

Call goes out for heavy oil symposium

Story and photos by Geoff Lee

Th e Lloydminster Showcase tradeshow held at

the Lloydminster Exhibition Grounds in late March

featured a variety of home and garden, sport and lei-

sure products and services that are on the wish list of

many oilpatch consumers.

Th e three day show was well attended with warm

spring weather turning visitors’ thoughts to visions of

relaxing around the home and garden and enjoying

some of the leisure products on display at the show.

Ken Deleff, service manager for Rec-Tech Power Products, stands by a Can-Am Renegade quad.

Toys for oilpatch consumers draw a crowd

SPE president Behrooz Fattahi, Aera Energy LLC. Photo submitted

Myron Bassett, branch manager of Cummins Western Canada, showcased an RS 12,000 stand-by generator for the home powered by natural gas.


NEW LOCATION

6401 63rd Avenue, Lloydminister (Northwest of Kenworth)Phone: (780) 875-6604 • Fax: (780) 875-6634

In celebrating NAOSH Week we’re proud to announce our

New and Improved ISNet Compliant Safety Program managed by Owen Noble

our committed Safety & Compliance Manager

New State of the Art Facility exceeding Alberta and Saskatchewan Environmental and Safety Standards

By Brian Zinchuk

Weyburn – For a company that’s only been

around since last July, Legacy Oil & Gas was worth

$912 million in market capitalization as of April 21,

with most of their assets in southeast Saskatchewan.

Not too shabby, but then, perhaps that’s to be ex-

pected from a management team that makes a habit

of growing companies and then crystallizing the in-

vestment. Trent Yanko, the president and CEO, is

on his sixth venture.

Th e company held three open houses in south-

east Saskatchewan Mar. 19-21, in Weyburn, Creel-

man and Roche Percee. Much of the management

team was out for these events. So far, the company’s

staff only numbers 30 employees, plus contracted

production employees.

Th e message Yanko wanted to get across was that

while they may be a new company, they are familiar

faces and familiar with the area and have a proven

track record. Many of the players with Legacy have

been around in other capacities, with other compa-

nies.

“New, but with old names and faces,” said

Yanko.

Pipeline News got some one-on-one time with

Yanko, someone whose name came up frequently

in an interview last month with Grant Kook, CEO

of Westcap Mgt Ltd., the company that manages

the Golden Opportunities Fund. When Kook talks

about “tier one management teams,” the fi rst person

he mentioned was Yanko and his group.

Yanko, 43 is a professional engineer who earned

his degree at the University of Regina. He is origi-

nally from Regina, but is now based in Calgary. He

started at SaskOil, and moved to Lloydminster to

work for the company for four years. After that, he

began down the path of starting and growing com-

panies.

“We recapitalized Glamis. We took over the

company in July,” Yanko said. Since then, they had

completed fi ve transactions, raised $215 million and

purchased $535 million in assets. “Th at established

our production base and undeveloped base,” he ex-

plained.

“Th is is my sixth start-up of a new company.

All ended in some crystallization of values, a sale or

merger.”

However, he said there is no expiry date on this

venture. Th ey looked at issues that cause other com-

panies to fl ounder, like running out of capital or drill-

ing locations, and endeavoured to ensure that doesn’t

happen to them. “We can continue to grow over a

number of years,” he said. “Th e strongest position we

can be in is to have a clean balance sheet with low

debt to cash fl ow, and lots of drilling upside. We try

to keep the hopper full of drilling opportunities.”

At the current rate, they have fi ve years of inven-

tory, he said. Th ey were active in the April 12 Crown

land sale, but he didn’t want to say how much.

Th e company’s production is 97 per cent oil, and

just three per cent in associated gas. “We’re an oil

company in all defi nitions of the word,” Yanko said.

Th ey went after Connaught due to its Bakken

holdings. After that acquisition, the company was

renamed Legacy Oil & Gas.

Th eir main thrust in 2010 and 2011 is develop-

ing the Bakken. Th ey have in excess of 125 drilling

locations. If you include down-spacing, that number

climbs to 250.

Much of that is close to the U.S. border, south of

Estevan, where the wells are deeper that the typical

Viewfi eld-area Bakken wells. Th at makes them more

prolifi c, he explained, a function of depth and pres-

sure. “We have an interest in 320 net wells,” he said.

Page A15

Legacy Oil & Gas president & CEO Trent Yanko addresses the over 50 people who turned up for the company’s April 19 Weyburn open house.

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Page A14Th e company is looking to drill 78 gross, ap-

proximately 58 net wells in 2010. “We’re looking to

spend $117 million, $110 million to go in southeast

Saskatchewan.”

About two-thirds of that is slated for Bakken de-

velopment. However, he said, “We’ve never branded

ourselves as just a Bakken play.”

Th eir typical well will be a horizontal, multi-stage

frac, which Yanko said is standard now.

Th ey also looking at the Torquay, also known as

the Th ree Forks-Sanish, in the Antler area, where it is

approximately 900 metres in depth. “We see that as a

potential waterfl ood candidate,” he said.

Asked if they are looking at CO2 enhanced oil

recovery, as Tundra Oil and Gas is piloting just across

the Manitoba border, Yanko responded, “Yes,” but

added they would follow the typical primary, water-

fl ood, and EOR path.

“We can lever off their experience,” he said, using

information in the public domain.

Th eir Taylorton fi eld is just 16 km from the

Boundary Dam Power Station, where SaskPower is

working on a carbon capture project, and needs wells

to inject the CO2 into. Yanko said they are thinking

about it internally, and there may be an opportunity

to inject fl ue gas. He noted that the issue with carbon

capture and storage is proximity to the source, and

they are amongst the coal mining right now.

“I think people have been supportive,” he said of

their eff orts. “We’re not done yet. We’re just getting

going.”

Legacy Oil & Gas

Trent Yanko, left, visits during the Legacy Oil & Gas’ Weyburn open house on Apr. 19. Yanko is president and CEO of the rm.



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Lloydminster – Big

Bore Directional Drill-

ing is a relative new-

comer in the horizon-

tal directional drilling

market, but it’s already

a force to be reckoned

with.

Big Bore, owned by

Doug Fischer in Lloy-

dminster, was launched

in Red Deer, Edmon-

ton and Lloydminster

in August 2009 with

one drill and a lot of

promise.

Now the company

has four drills, 12 em-

ployees, and its fi rst

manager, Des Ross, who

is keeping crews orga-

nized and busy with

most of the initial work

in Alberta.

“We have been able

to expand our market

share and we plan on

continuing to do that,”

said Ross, who came

onboard Feb. 1.

“We are off ering

customers an honest

day’s work for an hon-

est day’s dollar – good

value. Th ere are a lot

of guys out there do-

ing directional boring,

and there are a lot of

guys out there doing it

poorly.

“We are trying to do

it as effi ciently as we can

and be the best guys out

there. Th at’s ultimately

what our goal is – to be

the best.

Big Bore has two

Ditch Witch bor-

ers and two Universal

HDD machines with

power ranges of 36,000,

80,000 and 140,000 lbs

of thrust and pullback

force.

Big Bore’s service

menu includes oilfi eld,

municipal and resi-

dential installations of

pipelines, utilities ca-

bles, fi bre optic cables,

and gas and sewer lines

crossing roadways and

waterways and other

environmentally sensi-

tive areas.

“Mostly what we

have been doing is oil

and gas pipelines. We

are always looking to

expand our market share

in every area,” said Ross,

who says Alberta is the

hotbed for Big Bore’s

services at the moment.

“Th ere is more

business out that way,”

he said. “Th ere is more

call for directional there

than there is here. Th ere

is a lot more pipelining

and single wells being

pipelined into a facility

and that type of stuff .

“Here in Lloyd-

minster all of the single

wells go into tanks and

it’s trucked. Th ere is just

more work in that neck

of the woods.”

Big Bore has a shop

in Red Deer, an offi ce in

Edmonton and a fl eet

of trucks trailers, pickers

and support vehicles.

Some of truck and

trailers are safety inspect-

ed and maintained at

Fischer’s Oil City Diesel

Repair in Lloydminster,

where business is also

picking up.

“We have done some

work around here and

we are looking at park-

ing more of the drills here

permanently.

“What I’d like to

see is a fl eet of 12 to 16

drills strategically locat-

ed throughout Alberta

and Saskatchewan,” said

Ross.

“I would like to see

us become number one in

the HD and boring busi-

ness.”

Currently, Big Bore

has a shop in Red Deer,

some staff in Edmonton

and a fl eet of trucks trail-

ers, pickers and support

vehicles.

Big Bore is poised

to capitalize on the trend

toward horizontal direc-

tion drilling as an envi-

ronmentally friendly, effi -

cient and safer alternative

to surface trenching.

“It doesn’t disturb

ground,” said Ross. “If you

are running a pipeline un-

der a road, you don’t have

to dig the road up. If you

are running your pipe-

line underneath someone

else’s pipeline you don’t

have to worry about dig-

ging their pipeline up.

Page A19

Big Bore directional driller quick out of the gate

Des Ross, manager of Big Bore Directional Drilling is dwarfed by this Uni-versal HDD 140 stationed at their Red Deer location. The company has a eet of four boring machines and its own support vehicles.

Photo submitted


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Page A18Th ere are also environmental considerations.

When you come to a river or a creek you can’t be

digging a river up, so you bore underneath it.

From a business perspective Ross knows from

experience that effi ciency is the key to profi table

oilfi eld drilling.

“Th e more effi cient you are the more effi cient

is your customer because they’ve got other equip-

ment tied up. Th ey are waiting for you,” he said.

Ross comes into the job with years of hands-

on and managing experience most notably with

Fischer’s fi rst business Allstar Oilfi eld Services

in Lloydminster that operated fl usbys, vac trucks,

pressure trucks, steamers and hydrovacs.

When Eveready Energy Services purchased

Allstar, both men worked together again with Fis-

cher as regional manager and Ross as an area man-

ager of employees and a fl eet of 68 units.

Eveready was in turn, bought by another com-

pany in 2009, and shortly after Fischer launched

Big Bore then off ered Ross a job.

“It’s a challenge,” said Ross of his new job. “A

lot of the stuff is new to me and I kind of learn as

we go. A lot of it is common sense too.”

As a safety coordinator Ross says it’s his job to

make sure all of his employees get home safely and

in one piece and not harm any equipment or the

environment.

“Our employees are some of the best guys in

the industry, so we were lucky that way,” he said.

“We rely on them to train any new hires. Right

now, we don’t have anybody on staff with less than

fi ve years experience.”

As for marketing Big Bore Ross said, “We are

fl ipping a lot rocks. We are knocking on doors and

advertising in your paper and growing by word of

mouth from some of the people we work with.

A satisfi ed customer is a repeat customer. Ul-

timately that’s the goal – every time we go out

there, we are leaving the guy happy, so he’s calling

us back.”

Experience shows that ef ciency is key

It seems selling heavy equipment at auction has its perks. Dave Ritchie is one of the

co-founders of Ritchie Bros., the big dog when it comes to heavy equipment auctions in

Western Canada. However, it was one of his own items going up for bid that drew head-

lines on Mar. 31.

Th e Financial Post reported that Dave Ritchie’s 220-ft. yacht Apoise sold for $46 mil-

lion in a public auction in the Cayman Islands on Mar. 30.

“Bidding for the ship, formerly owned by Ritchie Bros. co-founder Dave Ritchie,

opened at US $20-million and was sold within 15 minutes,” the Financial Post reported,

adding, “Not surprisingly, Mr. Ritchie said he was “really pleased” with the sale.”

Th e yacht was listed as the 89th largest in the world.

Ritchie Bros. co-founder sells yacht for $46 million


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Kerrobert – Erhard Poggemiller and his wife Evelyn, who own and operate

Kep Industries Ltd. in Kerrobert, are bilingual in “ag and oil speak” as a manufac-

turer and dealer of agricultural and industrial products.

With oil and gas now on the upside, most of Kep Industries’ business is con-

ducted in the language of their oilpatch clients for SGI inspections on trucks and

trailers, oilfi eld repairs, custom manufacturing, and auto air conditioning repairs

and service.

Farm talk is not heard as often, but Kep Industries stocks recycled air fi lters

and umpteen parts for oilfi eld related vehicles and the agricultural market that

used to dominate the business chatter.

“It’s switched,” said Poggemiller who voiced no worry about which hat to

wear for the interview.

“It used to be 90 per cent agriculture, and now we are about 75 per cent oil-

fi eld related and about 25 per cent agriculture.

“Th e oilfi eld kicked in big time in the ’90s and in the last number of years

especially. Ever since we had a change in government, there has been a fair bit of

increase in oilfi eld activity.

“Kerrobert is very uniquely positioned in the oilfi eld even in the existing

(original) oilfi eld which is Coleville and that area. We get a lot of business from

the whole area. It comes through town here.

“Now, we carry a lot of supplies related to heavy trucks and trailers in the

oilfi eld. We are kind of a general store for parts and supplies to do with the oil-

fi eld.”

Kep Industries has shelves fi lled with everything from hydraulic fi ttings and

bearings and seals to plumbing parts and nuts and bolts related to oilfi eld busi-

ness.

Th e resurgence of oil and gas exploration and drilling, pipeline construction

and oilfi eld servicing in the area, sends a steady stream of vehicles to the Kep

Industries’ shop for semi-annual and annual safety inspections.

SGI requires two inspections a year for a highway tractor, and one a year for

a trailer or a truck that doesn’t pull a fi fth wheel.

Page A21

Busy, bumpy oilpatch steer Busy, bumpy oilpatch steer business to Kep Industriesbusiness to Kep Industries

Erhard and Evelyn Poggemiller have owned and operator Kep Industries Ltd. since 1978. Photo by Geoff Lee


Page A20

“For inspections, we

do heavy duty stuff from

3/4 ton trucks and all the

way up,” said Poggemill-

er. “It’s a total inspection.

It takes about two hours

to do and that’s just an

inspection. Th at’s not

doing any work.

“We do some heavy

duty repairs related to

those inspections, and

we are also seeing a lot

of agriculture people

coming in here doing

the same thing – getting

their trucks inspected –

and bringing them up to

standard. Th e same rules

apply.

“Th e highway traf-

fi c guys – the RCMP we

know around here, are

telling us that with com-

mercial units, the safety

standards have greatly

improved on the roads,

which has been a big

help.”

Poggemiller is a for-

mer mayor of Kerrobert

whose sources tell him

oil activity could boom

this summer as it did last

summer to the benefi t of

the business community.

“It has started to pick

up now already, but from

what I am hearing it’s

not the big companies,

but it’s a lot of smaller

companies that are start-

ing to drill out here,” he

said.

“Th ere is usually a lot

of spinoff from that. Also

a lot of the stuff comes in

from Alberta, and anyone

who comes from Alberta,

and has a lot of vehicles

that are going to be in

the province for awhile,

is required to have certi-

fi cation to operate in the

province.”

Alliance Pipeline

Ltd, Inter Pipeline Fund,

and Enbridge Pipelines

Inc. are some of the ma-

jor energy companies

with pipeline networks

and facilities in the Ker-

robert area.

Enbridge, which op-

erates the Kerrobert Ter-

minal west of town built

a section of the Alberta

Clipper pipeline near

Kerrobert last year.

Poggemiller says

the buzz is that another

pipeline will be built this

year.

“I heard there was

going to be some other

oilfi eld lines coming

through here too from

other companies, but I

can’t remember what the

name is,” he said.

“Last year we had a

big year. Th e main line

(Clipper) went through,

and that helped the town

immensely. We were

running out of space to

accommodate people.

Some people bought

some lots and put camp-

sites on them.

“It’s a really big deal

and we were fortunate.

Th e pipeline crews were

very good in supporting

the local economy.

“Th ey didn’t bring

everything in and do ev-

erything on their own.

Th ey supported the local

economy.

“A lot of the stuff in

this community has been

done as a result of oil and

gas. A lot of the funding

that comes from diff er-

ent projects comes from

oil and gas. Kerrobert has

expanded not because of

agriculture, but because

of oil and gas.”

Th e growing oil and

gas industry also brings

in custom fabrication

orders that Poggemiller

says tend to be for one of

a kind projects.

“Usually, it is some-

thing they can’t just buy

off the shelf,” he said.

“It’s a one of a kind thing.

Th ey may want a stand

out in the oilfi eld that

will hold pipe or ladders

to fi t on tanks.”

At one time, Kep

Industries used to manu-

facture rebuilt air fi lters

but Poggemiller says

they sold that off a few

years ago and now have

two employees.

“It was very labour

intensive, and hard to

fi nd people for that,” he

said.

“Right now, we are

comfortable with what

we do and how many

employees we’ve got.

Th ey are trained to do

what they do. It’s a lot

less headache for us.

Inspection related Inspection related repairs keeps KEP repairs keeps KEP Industries busyIndustries busy

Kep Industries owner Erhard Poggemiller is kept busy with oil eld SGI safety inspections and fabrication in his back shop.

Foreman Mike Warkentin conducts an SGI safety inspection on an oil eld truck.


Are you getting your invoices out in time?

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Payroll&

Bookkeeping

Lloydminster – Businesses need to turn a profi t to succeed.

With that in mind, Doug Fischer who owns Oil City Diesel Repair and Big

Bore Directional Drilling launched Allstar Ventures Ltd. bookkeeping service in

March to help other small businesses keep track of their bottom line.

“Good bookkeepers are extremely important,” said Fischer. “Th ey know day-

to-day, how your expenses are compared to your income.

“A lot of owner-operators and companies don’t know where they are at re-

garding revenue to expenses. We should be able to let them know daily where

they are at.

“We will do any bookkeeping, but we will specialize in the transport area. We

know how to get permits for the tri-axles and how to deal with the Saskatchewan

government with big trucks and deal with the safety side of the operation of

trucking.”

Th e new business, spelled with a small letter “a” on corporate letterhead, is

headed by Dot Andrews, a former offi ce manager and Doreen Kilbreath, the staff

bookkeeper for Oil City.

“For clients, basically we are looking for owner-operators and small oilfi eld

service operations,” said Andrews.

“Th ey need an offi ce, but they don’t need an offi ce full-time. We’d like to pro-

vide full offi ce services for them. We provide almost anything in the administra-

tive line. We can do bookkeeping, make sure they meet their deadlines, and take

care of any reporting they have.

“In the transport area, we certainly understand the problems. Th ere are prob-

ably more regulations covering these guys, so we would like to help them meet

those regulations.”

Andrews was the bookkeeper for Fischer’s fi rst business, Allstar Oilfi eld Ser-

vices, that was bought out by Eveready in 2005.

When Eveready was in turn purchased last year by another company, Fisher

found an opportunity to start Big Bore and Andrews followed suit this March to

help launch Allstar Ventures.

“Dot has been a big inspiration,” said Fischer. “She has the experience behind

her with Eveready and Allstar Oilfi eld so she knows what she’s doing.”

Andrew is certainly excited about her new challenge as the head bookkeeper

and says he loves her work.

Page A23

Transport bookkeeping a specialty for Allstar Ventures

Doreen Kilbreath and Dot Andrews head up Allstar Ventures bookkeeping.


Page A22“I like to take something that’s really

messy and nasty with bookkeeping, and

I like to take it and put it into a structure

and a framework – and when you are

fi nished – it’s something everyone can

look at, and they know exactly what it

says from a fi nancial point of view.”

Fischer and Andrews are hiring ad-

ditional bookkeepers for Allstar to meet

a steady demand from owner operators

for added-value bookkeeping that meet

their line of work.

“Th e owner-operator wants to make

money,” said Fisher. “Th e less time he

spends on administration the more time

he’s available to be out earning revenue.

“We both know what we saw previ-

ously, and the services that the indepen-

dent owner operators received. We felt

we could do a better job. Doug brought

me over to do his bookkeeping.

“We thought we could take book-

keeping that one step further and pro-

vide them with more of what they need

than just a bookkeeping service.

“We found from our experience

with lease operators and the service they

were getting from their accountants – I

don’t think was very good.

“Th ey were accountants who just

did bookkeeping. Th ey didn’t have the

specialized knowledge that Doreen and

I do.”

Allstar Ventures will off er monthly

and annual bookkeeping services in-

cluding payroll, WCB reporting, E-bill-

ing services and GST reporting along

with acquiring permits, licensing, IFTA

International Fuel Tax Agreement re-

quirements and administrative safety

services.

“Th e specialized transport part of it,

you have to learn on the job,” said An-

drews. “Th ere is no place you can go for

training like that.

“Th ere are GST deadlines. Th ere’s

WCB reporting. You have your permits

and your licensing that has to be looked

after.

“You have to keep track of safety

tickets and orientations and safety issues

for your trucks.

“I think because you are so heavily

regulated you have to make sure all of

your reporting requirements are met.

“You are frequently pro-rated in

diff erent province so you have diff erent

WCB reporting and GST reporting.

We would like to bring it up to the point

where tax planning takes place.

“We can also write letters for them

depending on what they need.”

With Allstar Ventures in good

hands, Fischer is free to work on grow-

ing Big Bore Directional Drilling that

he started last August specializing in

pipeline boring. See related story on

Page A18.

“We are going to try to focus a little

more on the Lloydminster area. More of

our growth will come from Big Bore,”

said Fischer.

“It’s exciting, but the whole key to

running a good business is hiring the

right people,” said Fisher.

It’s in the books


Lloydminster – Th e

Lloydminster Lions

Club 2010 Border Bike

Rally, to be held June

18-19, promises to be

the biggest and best yet

with a fundraising goal

of $40,000 to $50,000

for community causes.

“We have increased

our attendance volume

every year,” said Lions’

fundraising and rally

chair Nick Laley. “Th is

is our fourth year. We are

expecting 700 to 1,000

bikes and we expect

about 200 classic cars.”

Th ere will also be the

ever popular biker rodeo,

bike and car show and

shines, a poker run, live

bands and a trade show –

for a summer event that

is drawing a lot of sup-

port from the oilpatch.

“A lot of people own

bikes and many people in

the oilpatch have a bike,”

said Laley. “Th ey see the

signifi cance of this.

“Th e Lions are pret-

ty big in Lloydminster.

We have been around for

more than 60 years in the

community. It’s a way for

them to be giving. We

are in turn, giving them

an event and a party.

“Oil and gas com-

panies also donate door

prizes or even make

prizes for us. Last year,

we had a welding shop

make a custom bench.

Th e oil and gas compa-

nies help us out quite a

bit. It’s awesome really.”

Western Plains Pe-

troleum Ltd., Raider

Well Servicing and Clas-

sic Oilfi eld Service Ltd.

are listed among the ma-

jor event sponsors.

In keeping with a

fundraising strategy to

add a new event each

year, Alberta vintage fl at

track bike racing will de-

but at the horse racing

track at the exhibition

grounds.

“We want to change

it a little bit every year so

people say ‘We gotta go

there.’ Th e fl at track will

be a big thing this year,”

said Laley.

“It’s the fi rst year

here, so it’s a non-sanc-

tioned race by the Al-

berta Vintage Flat Track

Racing Association.

“We are just trying it

out and see how it works

with the public. I think it

will work good.

“Th ey said this is the

best track they have ever

been on. It’s the wid-

est and the biggest. We

have even got some peo-

ple coming up from the

States.”

Th e Border Bike

Rally is the biggest and

most exciting fundraiser

of the year for the Lloy-

dminster Lions, boosted

by sponsorships and do-

nations from oil and gas

companies. Page A25

Motorcyclist from all walks of live will take part in the 2010 Border Bike Rally in Lloydminster.

Photo by B&R Photography Ltd.

Border Bike RallyBorder Bike Rallybecoming a well-oiled eventbecoming a well-oiled event


NEW LOCATION! Corner of Hwy 16 & Upgrader Road, Lloydminster

Kim LeipertPh. 306.825.5355

Cell: 306.821.2880Fax: 306.825.5356

www.heavyoilfi [email protected]

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Page A24“Th ey provide us with

funds and prizes,” said

Laley. “We sell them ad-

vertising for our program

guide, and they also help

to sponsor the bands.”

Th is year, there will

be fi ve bands including

Prism, Kenny Shields

and Street Heat booked

for the Saturday night

cabaret, and excitement is

beginning to build.

Hundreds of local

and out-of-town bikers

including many riders

from the oilpatch are ex-

pected to sign up for the

$10 per person poker run

that drew 315 riders last

year on a cold summer’s

day.

“Th is year we are

planning on going to

Vermilion, Wainwright

and back,” said Laley.

“We call it the White

Cane Run since all pro-

ceeds are donated to the

CNIB.”

Other proceeds

from the bike rally go

toward the Lions’s Quest

(Th rive) program for

youth citizenship pro-

grams off ered at most

area schools.

Additional funds

are raised from the sale

of weekend passes to all

events including over-

night camping without

power for $40 or admit-

tance to the popular Sat-

urday cabaret for $30 per

person.

Public admission

to the grounds is $5 on

the opening Friday with

children 12 and under

free. Saturday’s admis-

sion is $7 with children

12 and under free.

“It’s a family type

rally and we want the

public to come and see it

too,” said Laley.

“If you get a couple

of hundred muscle cars

and antique cars, it’s nice

to see too. Last year, we

had 140 cars at the show

and shine.”

Th e Classic Car

and Hot Rod Show will

be sponsored by the

Lloydminster Just Kruzin

car club.

Raffl e tickets are be-

ing sold at the border

bike rally website for

$20 each for a chance to

win the grand prize – a

1500cc Suzuki Boule-

vard motorcycle. Th ere

are runner-up prizes for a

50-inch Samsung plasma

TV, and a Garmin 660

GPS for motorcycles or

passenger vehicles. Th e

early bird draw is for a

$500 fuel voucher.

A bike rodeo will be included once again in this year’s Border Bike Rally. Photo by B&R Photography Ltd.

Border Bike Rally 2010 will feature more than 200 classic autos. Photo by B&R Photography Ltd.

Lions club president Rich McMahon who works for Frontier Peterbilt, and Nick Laley, Border Bike Rally chair, set up this raf e display for a 2009 1500cc Suzuki Boulevard motorbike at the Lloydminster Mall.

Photo by Geoff Lee

Excitement is beginning to buildExcitement is beginning to build


Before June 1st $40

At the Gate $45

BIKE RODEO 1 - 5 pm

Sponsored by CE Franklin and Full Tilt

WHITE CANE RUN (Poker Run)

Sponsored by Don’s Speed Parts in Wainwright

8:30 am - 1 pm Proceeds go to CNIB

SHOW N’ SHINE 2 - 5 pm

Sponsored by Layd-Rite Construction

CLASSIC & HOT ROD CAR SHOW N’ SHINE

Sponsored by Just Kruzin’ Car Club 11 am - 4 pm

www.justkruzin.com

FRIDAY NIGHT ICE-BREAKER WITH ONE CENT MELON & NO WEISER * BEER GARDENS * DOOR PRIZES

TRADE SHOW * SWAP MEET * ON SITE CAMPING (Free tenting for bikers) * DEMO RIDES * FOOD

LAYD-RITELAYD-RITE

CONSTRUCTION

Band Sponsor

Band Sponsor

Wainwright

Demo Rides

Draw to be made Saturday night at the Rally! Grand Prize - 2009 Suzuki

Boulevard C90T. Sponsored by Suzuki and RoughNTough Powersports

Tickets available on website and most sponsors. 2nd Prize - 50” Plasma TV

3rd Prize - Garmin 660 GPS

For more information contact

Nick at (306) 825 - 3852

Pre-order your tickets at

www.borderbikerally.com

Everyone Welcome!

Band Sponsor

Demo Rides

Victory Motorcycle dealer

LLOYDMINST

ER

LLOYDMINST

ER

Admission

ONLY $7!!!

12 & under FREE!

NEW FOR 2010! 1 - 5 pm

ALBERTA VINTAGE FLAT TRACK RACING

Sponsored by Action Towing & Recovery

SATURDAY CABARET - Earl Stevenson, PRISM and back

by popular demand - KENNY SHIELDS & STREETHEART !!

Cabaret tickets only $30

Available at Bo Diddly’s or online at

www.borderbikerally.com

Must be 19 or older

SATURDAY EVENTS

Demo Rides

Saskatoon –Th ere is a right tool for every job.

Th e handyman’s creed also applies to the light-

footed mulchers and shredders deployed by Maverick

Construction Ltd. to provide oil and gas customers in

Western Canada with top quality shredding and land

clearing services with minimal ground disturbance.

Maverick specializes in providing brushing and

mulching solutions for seismic clearing, lease site

preparation and access road clearing with environ-

mentally-friendly equipment based in Saskatoon and

Sylvan Lake in Alberta.

“We have a variety of diff erent machines, and

what we do is customize most of our machines,” said

company owner Ron Bodnar in Saskatoon.

“We have been in mulching business for 10 years.

We have certainly found out there is no such thing as

an off -the-shelf machine.

“It takes years to determine what you need for

the appropriate horsepower for the mulching end,

and the diverted power to the tracks.”

Maverick will order a shredding or mulching unit

from a manufacturer with a list of specifi cations, then

modify it for weight and power, and customize it to

certain widths and features.

“It’s our own customized brand,” said Bodnar.

“We will use diff erent parts from Caterpillar, John

Deere and Berko. We will go to a manufacturer and

say this is how we want it spec’d.

“Our specifi cations, our modifi cation and our

customizations are important. Th ose are the three

things we do to have the appropriate machine.”

All of Maverick’s versatile land clearing units are

equipped with GPS, 2-way radios and come with

customized bush guarding and auxiliary fuel storage

capacity.

“It’s important to customize the machine, but

after that, it’s important to place the appropriate ma-

chine for the appropriate job,” said Bodnar.

“With the equipment, we match the proper

mulcher for the proper job in size and power, and

with the imprint that we leave. We follow protocol,

so we don’t leave marks on the top surface, and there

aren’t all these tracks and divots.

“Ground pressure is a big thing in the environ-

ment. We will bring in the proper weight of the ma-

chines.

“Th e other part of being environmentally friend-

ly is to be as unobstrusive as you can possibly be in

the bush. You want to do the job of seismic clearing

and leave it like we were never there.”

Maverick uses biodegradable hydraulic oil in its

units for extra environmental protection and is in the

process of switching some of its older diesel engines

to a new fuel-saving diesel engine.

More equipment modifi cations are possible as

Maverick uses the spring break-up to maintain and

improve their machines.

“We are right around the corner for late spring

and summer work to start up again,” said Bodnar.

“We don’t take too much of a break. We just kind of

go through a full maintenance program.”

With oil steadily rising during the winter over

the $80 a barrel mark, Maverick picked up a lot of

seismic and road clearing work in northern Saskatch-

ewan and northern Alberta.

“For access reasons, most of the mulching and

clearing for oil companies is done in the winter time

in a lot of the northern areas because of the opportu-

nity to go on the muskeg,” said Bodnar. “We like to

use lighter machines. Th at’s a big thing with environ-

ment nowadays.

“Most of the work in Alberta is in the Fort Mac

area. If you were there this winter, you kind of wouldn’t

know there was a recession. Th ings are pretty busy.

It’s buzzing around.

“It seems to be the pace of work is picking up

faster than last year. I am pretty sure it’s got to do

with the dollar fi gure on oil. It’s a positive activity and

I think it’s also due to what’s happening in the Unit-

ed States. Economic recovery is obviously around the

corner.”

Maverick is also attracting more business from

the military lately as it latches on to the benefi ts of

environmentally friendly land clearing as an attrac-

tive alternative to using a heavy Cat or a chain saw.

“Th e oil and gas sector is the main focus of our

business,” said Bodnar. “Th ey are our number one cli-

ent.

“We take the hassle of working for a land clearing

company because of the fact we’ve got the experience.

We provide solutions. We provide scouting services,

a lot of GPS services, and a good past relationship

with customers.

“We are not a company that needs a lot of

babysitting. We provide solutions. Our clients like to

deal with us. Th ey want to see us on site.

“We continually strive to improve methods of

operation and increase productivity. Our team holds

a unique pool of knowledge and experience.”

Bodnar say he is also busy because Maverick is

known to follow all of the safety practices in Western

Canada and boasts a zero incidents record to date.

It also helps that that Maverick operates their

own equipment transportation company with a fl eet

of semis and support vehicles.

“Our semis are dedicated to hauling out units,”

said Bodnar. “One feature that our customers like is,

when we take our mulchers to the job site, the trans-

port units stay with the machines rather than custom

haul.

“You can’t demobilize fast enough. By the time

you book a semi and get someone else to come up in

two or three days – we can react right now, load up

and get the heck going.

“We can mobilize and demobilize very fast to the

site. We also have special equipment that can haul to

the seismic program.

“If you have a larger winter program that is spread

out over a few miles, we can move our equipment

within that program as well.”

Maverick has a new mulcher that reaches 22 feet from the machine for those hard to get areas.

Photo submitted

Oilpatch relies on Maverick for mulching solutions

Pipeline News is a proud sponsor of the Lloydminster Lions Club 4th Annual Border Bike Rally


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Lloydminster 306-825-2062 Regina 306-721-9710 Saskatoon 306-933-4022

Kerrobert – Th e Kerrobert Bakery and Coff ee Bar is the most popular fi lling

station in town for many oil and gas workers on the go who stop by to top off

their stomachs with a hearty breakfast and lunch in a bag.

Th e oilpatch has been good to bakery owners Tammy and Leighton Krahn,

who bought the downtown business two and a half years ago, in time for a mini-

boom from local pipeline construction.

“Our fi rst summer was fi rst major pipeline coming through, and it was a huge

boom for us,” said Tammy during a busy lunch hour.

Based on feedback from that fi rst season, the couple now opens at 6 a.m. and

sometimes earlier to serve breakfast and make lunches for early rising oilfi eld

crews.

“Th ey really appreciate that especially since they start so early,” said Tammy.

“Some of the guys will order for the next day, and we will have it ready for

them in the morning. Th ey can grab it on their way to work.

“Sometime when they are having safety meetings they will order lunch from

us. Th at’s pretty big for us too.”

Lunch is a soup and sandwich concept with made to order subs and wraps

with a mouth- watering lists of meats, cheeses, sauces, toppings and baked bread

to choose from.

“Th e bakery is the main part of the business because we also supply grocery

stores in at least half a dozen other surrounding communities” said Tammy. “We

do a lot of wholesale baking for restaurants too.”

Th e Krahns bought the bakery to satisfy their own hunger to own a business,

although that meant giving up their professional careers.

Tammy worked at the Royal Bank while Leighton was employed by IBM.

“We both had professional jobs, but we both got tired of sitting behind a

desk,” explained Tammy. “Th is is totally diff erent. My husband was working in a

basement basically, and he needed to get out.

“He likes to be face to face with people. He loves to cook and he loves to be

able to cook for people. He starts at 3 a.m. and does all of the baking.

“He will deliver and then go and have a sleep and be back in the afternoon

to do some preparation for the next day. I manage the restaurant, and the front

end of it too.”

Th e Kerrobert Bakery has been a fi xture in town for over 50 years and has an

appealing funky atmosphere and décor.

Th e dining area features an old fashioned u-shaped lunch counter with swivel

chairs as the centre piece that is great for single eaters and conversations.

“I think the locals enjoy it,” said Tammy, who hopes the talks she hears at

bakery about another pipeline project are true.

“We are hoping for this other pipeline – we have heard it is this summer, so I

guess we will have to wait and see.

“It brings a lot of people in. If they are staying in the area, then we get the

ones coming in for breakfast fi rst thing in the morning or we are making a lunch

for them.”

Kerrobert Bakery goodies energize the local oilpatch

Waitress Amber Richelhoff and Tammy Krahn react to the punch line of a customer’s joke.

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2010 marks

17 years

Lloydminster – It’s

one of those win-win

deals. Western Plains

Petroleum Ltd., a Lloy-

dminster Alberta-based

junior heavy oil producer

has acquired a 50 per cent

stake in Nordic Oil and

Gas Ltd.’s land holdings

and heavy oil wells in the

Lloydminster area for

$2.5 million.

Th e agreement was

announced April 13 with

Western Plains paying

Nordic $2.1 million in

cash and $400,000 of its

Class A common shares.

Th e agreement pro-

vides Nordic with much

needed cash for further

capital expenditures in

the area while allowing

Western Plains to play its

strong card as an opera-

tor.

“We are indeed ex-

cited at the opportunity

of working with Nor-

dic Oil and Gas Ltd. in

Lloydminster,” said Da-

vid Forrest, president and

chief executive offi cer of

Western Plains.

“Our strength has

always been that of an

operator and together,

with Nordic’s strong land

holdings in the area, I’m

sure both companies will

signifi cantly benefi t from

this agreement.”

Forrest has more

than 15 years experi-

ence developing heavy

oil plays located around

Lloydminster and Maid-

stone.

He founded IC En-

ergy Ltd., a private oil

and gas exploration and

production company,

building production to

approximately 750 bar-

rels of oil equivalent per

day, with petroleum and

natural gas leases totaling

5,440 acres, before selling

to Arsenal Energy Inc. in

2005, for $10 million.

It is anticipated that

Western Plains will com-

mence bringing on the

fi ve new wells that Nordic

drilled at the end of 2009

as soon as possible, result-

ing in almost immediate

production.

In addition, Western

Plains will also turn its

attention to some of the

maintenance issues facing

Nordic’s other nine wells,

meaning that all 14 wells

are expected to be on full

production in short order.

Under the agree-

ment, Nordic will retain a

50 per cent interest in its

Lloydminster land hold-

ings and heavy oil wells

and is already eyeing new

opportunities for growth

in the Lloydminster area.

“Th is is a deal of sig-

nifi cant magnitude and

importance for Nordic

Oil and Gas Ltd.,” said

Donald Benson, president

and CEO of Nordic.

“Firstly, it provides us

with a much needed in-

fl ux of capital which will

allow us to move forward

on numerous fronts.

“Secondly, we could

not be more pleased to be

associated and working

with Western Plains, an

experienced, competent

and successful operator in

the Lloydminster region.

“I am confi dent that

with their skill and exper-

tise, we will see the value

of our property strength-

en considerably in the

coming months, leading

to solid cash fl ow and

many new growth oppor-

tunities for us in Lloyd-

minster,” he added.

“Furthermore, I see

this strategic alliance as

a stepping stone to oth-

er deals with Western

Plains down the road.”

Nordic Oil and Gas

Ltd. is a junior oil and

gas company engaged

in the exploration and

development of oil,

natural gas and coal

bed methane in Alberta

and Saskatchewan.

Western Plains buys a stake in Nordic’s Lloydminster oil play

Nordic Oil and Gas Ltd. has sold a 50 per cent interest in its Lloy-dminster heavy oil wells and land holdings to Western Plains Petroleum Ltd. Here, a Nordic well is drilled last November.

File Photo


Phone (306) 825-6302 • Fax (306) 825-6305Box 796, 3702 41 Street Lloydminster, SK S9V 1C1

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Calgary –Smoother sailing is ahead for Diaz Re-

sources in 2010, as the Calgary gas and oil explorer

emerges from rough economic waters and the shelter

of heavy oil production in the Lloydminster area.

Diaz drilled three producing heavy oil horizontal

wells in the fourth quarter of 2009 and plans to put

them into production in coming weeks, according its

year-end results and reserves summary released April

1.

Th e company reports it has raised approximately

$1.2 million to fund its continuing Lloydminster

heavy oil development program and expects to exit

2010 with almost half of its production derived from

oil sales.

To further right its fi nancial ship in 2010, Diaz is

locking in approximately half of its anticipated 2010

natural gas prices at fi xed gas price contracts in excess

of $5.75 per Mcf, higher than current market values.

Th e new exploration and fi nancial course with

the focus on heavy oil follows a stormy 2009 as for

Diaz as noted in the summary.

Th e company’s total production for 2009 de-

creased 28 per cent to 642 barrels of oil equivalent

per day, compared with the prior year average of 886

BOE/d. Diaz’s total reserves before royalties at year

end were estimated at 3.8 million BOE.

In Canada, production for the year decreased

21 per cent as a result of the sale of production of

its Carmangay and Parkman fi elds and a signifi cant

drop in production from the Leahurst and Big Bend

fi elds.

In the U.S., production rates for the year fell by

45 per cent as mature well production declines com-

bined with the abandonment of the Black Owl fi eld.

Diaz was rocked by the eff ects of the global reces-

sion that nearly drowned the value of its U.S. natural

gas assets with an oversupply and drop in prices and

tightened borrowing in capital markets.

To keep afl oat, Diaz put in place fi xed gas price

contracts for half of its 2009 production and stepped

up its exploration and development on heavy oil proj-

ects.

Th e company also raised $4. 4 million in 2009

from the sales of properties in Canada and the U.S.

with plans to sell its remaining U.S. producing as-

sets, which area mostly natural gas, when gas prices

recover to more marketable prices.

Diaz’s fi nancial strategy, combined with some

fundraising, led to a reduction of debt from $8.5

million in January, 2009 to $5.8 million at year end

with available capital directed to exploration and

development in heavy oil.

In 2009 Diaz also acquired development proj-

ects in the Lloydminster Alberta area and in Shau-

navon, Bird Bear and Viking oil plays in Saskatch-

ewan.

Oil and gas explorer Diaz sails into calmer waters

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ALL Makes

By Geoff LeeRegina – Th e end of seasonal road bans incites

what Redhead Equipment Ltd. believes is one its

equipment sales wonders of the year at six locations

in Saskatchewan.

Th at’s the word from Craig Slobodian, sales

manager of Redhead’s construction division in Regi-

na, who said in late April, “As soon as road bans come

off , all hell breaks loose and our yard empties.”

Right now, the service side of the business is hav-

ing a fi eld day as Redhead’s service departments book

checkup appointments for the full line up of heavy

duty trucks and construction, agriculture, oil and gas

and forestry equipment the company sells.

“People are getting ready for a new season,” said

Slobodian.

“We see that on all sides. On the agriculture side,

guys are getting their equipment ready for seeding

and the construction guys – absolutely.

“Th ey are taking advantage of their uncontrolled

downtime due to road bans and making sure their

equipment is serviced and ready to go.”

Redhead also has approximately 30 fully equipped

service trucks to deliver vehicle and equipment ser-

vice in the fi eld.

“Redhead has built its reputation on service,” said

Slobodian. “We are basically like a lot car lot. We sell

it, service it, fi x it, sell parts, and we do rentals and

leases – basically touching all sectors of the construc-

tion equipment side.”

Redhead operates sales and service dealerships

for Case Equipment, Volvo Construction Equipment,

Mack Trucks and Case IH farm equipment in Lloyd-

minster, Saskatoon, Estevan and Swift Current.

Th e Regina sales location specializes in the sales

and service of construction equipment and trucks.

In general, the big movers in oilfi eld equipment

on Redhead’s sales lots are excavators, skid steers,

wheel loaders, crawler dozers, motor graders and

loader backhoes in many makes and models from

Case, Volvo, Terex, Takeuchi and Astec.

“With excavators you can do pipelining work

with them,” said Slobodian. “A lot of guys use wheel

loaders to move matting and pipe with pipe grap-

ples.”

Wheel loaders are often used for moving gravel

and dirt, while dozers and motor graders are often

put to work building or maintaining lease sites.

Th e backhoe is one of the most versatile vehicles

for all industry sectors with the Case backhoe top-

ping the sales charts at Redhead.

“It has a lot of history and a lot of features,” said

Slobodian. “A lot of guys have been running them

forever and when it comes time to buy another one

they look at Case.

“Case is in an innovator. Th ey have lots of produc-

tivity features and it’s just an overall industry leader.

Redhead has its roots in the construction equip-

ment market dating back to 1948, when it was a

Champion motor grader dealer under the name of

W.F. Fuller Machinery Limited.

Gordon Redhead bought and renamed the busi-

ness in 1968 keeping the head offi ce in Regina. His

son Gary purchased his father’s interest in 1980 and

still heads it today with more makes and models for

sale.

“Th e longest account we have is the construction

account,” said Slobodian. “We came from construc-

tion roots. Volvo bought Champion in 1997, and as a

result we were able to take on the full Volvo construc-

tion line.

“It’s been fantastic for us. Volvo has a great repu-

tation – good on fuel, quality and safety. Volvo makes

some equipment that is larger than what we have on

the Case side.”

Volvo makes rock trucks, motor graders, back-

hoes, excavators and loaders used by oil and gas com-

panies and contractors.

Redhead also sells a full range heavy haul trucks

by Mack including water trucks, pickers and vac

trucks for the oil and gas industry.

Th ey also sell some Astec horizontal directional

drill machines and a selection of mulchers.

Page B2

Redhead braces for après Redhead braces for après road ban sales frenzyroad ban sales frenzy

Case and Volvo construction equip-ment are prominently displayed at Redhead Equipment in Lloydminster.

PIPELINE NEWSSaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

B-SectionMay 2010

PIPELINE NEWS May 2010B2

Redhead equipment built on diversityRedhead equipment built on diversity Page B1

All Redhead locations off er customers short and long term rentals, rental

purchases and sales of rental equipment.

“Redhead has built the company on diversity,” said Slobodian. “If one sector

seems to slide a little bit, we’ve got another one that takes off .

“Every once in a while like in 2008, you have a year when all cylinders fi re and

there is no downside.

“Last year construction was down a bit and agriculture was up. All predictions

are that things are going to take off this year.

“Th e reports were that oil needed to be stable in the $70 to $80 (per barrel)

range, and we’ve been there now for awhile.

“We’ve got that stability going and we are into a new year with new

budgets for most of the oil companies.

“Saskatchewan doesn’t seem to be developed to the extent that Al-

berta has, so there is still a lot of exploration and drilling going on. Th ere

is a lot of new activity going on.”

Slobodian sees stronger oil activity ahead at all sales points with Es-

tevan, Swift Current and Lloydminster leading the way along

with steady growth in the agriculture sector.

“In Saskatchewan, it seems that every farmer has another

job,” said Slobodian.

“A lot of those guys who are work-

ing in the oilfi eld also farm on the

side. It does quite well for us. A lot

of our customers deal with multiple

sectors of our business.

“Farmers need to move grain so

they need trucks. Farmers have drain-

age problems so they need to dig a

trench with a backhoe or bury rocks.

Th ey use skid steers to feed their cat-

tle. It all keeps feeding each other.

“Th ere are a lot of guys who farm

who maybe drive a water truck or they

have a backhoe that they run as a contract in

the oilpatch and all that kind of stuff . Lots of

guys have duel jobs.”

Slobodian doesn’t expect a return to the boom times soon but the memory of

the “call of Alberta” as he puts it is still fresh in his mind.

“We had guys from all parts of Saskatchewan going and taking contracts in

Fort McMurray and Conklin and wherever,” he said.

“Because their roots are here, there were buying equipment here and taking it

up there to make their fortune.”

This Volvo wheel loader is made for moving gravel and earth. Rick Allan at Redhead in Lloydminster says the major manufacturers are focusing on reducing emissions to the highest Tier 4 standards.

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Making Waves in the Oil Patch

Lloydminster – As the steel frame

begins to rise for the new Th orpe Re-

covery Centre (TRC) so do expecta-

tions that the $16.25-million addic-

tions treatment facility will meet its $3

million capital funding raising target.

Th e Alberta government is con-

tributing $10 million toward the

capital cost with balance of funds

anticipated from the federal and Sas-

katchewan government.

Th e TRC has raised just over $1

million in its Building Hope Cam-

paign.

Plans are afoot to launch the fi nal

community-wide phase of its Building

Hope Campaign in June, but that’s

not stopping oilpatch companies

from continuing to donate to the cur-

rent leadership and major gift giving

phase.

“Th e building project started in

spring of 2009, and we really got ac-

tive in fundraising later last year in ap-

proaching industry,” said Stan Parke,

marketing coordinator.

“It’s been in what we call the quiet

phase. We haven’t made a big public

notice about it yet. Th at’s coming up

in June.

“It’s pretty public now, but we

haven’t put up a ‘thermometer’ yet or

put notices in the paper. We are ex-

cited.

All industries are telling us they

are coming off a tough year. We un-

derstand that, but we’re excited.”

Enthusiasm grows as large do-

nations make the news including

$125,000 from Husky Energy in

March for the naming rights to the

new youth dining room.

Grit Industries Inc. and Grithog

Sand Control Systems got the ball

rolling in February with their com-

bined $100,000 donation for the nam-

ing rights for two lecture rooms.

“Th ere are several diff erent lev-

els of naming rights left,” said Parke.

“Th ere’s the adult dining room as an

example.

“Th e biggest of all is the gymna-

sium. We’ve got everything from lec-

ture rooms and counseling rooms to

outdoor recreation courts and walking

paths that we have naming rights for.

Th ere are lots of opportunities.”

Th e Building Hope Campaign

also extends to local service clubs,

TRC board member pledges and do-

nations from recovered clients and

their respective family members.

“Th e next phase breaks out into

our community division,” said Danika

McCullogh fund development coor-

dinator. “Th at will include all aspects

of the community.”

“Because we are still in that quiet

phase, we don’t want people to know

about the whole donation process yet.

We are still trying to work around

more of the businesses in our leader-

ship and gift phase fi rst.”

Th e new TRC will provide a wide

range of services and support for

youths and adults seeking recovery

treatment for alcohol, drugs and gam-

bling addiction.

Th e facility will feature a 72-bed

residential treatment program and a

full suite of detoxifi cation, outpatient,

prevention services, post treatment

programs and family programs.

Th e new centre will make room

for 42 adult and 10 youth residential

treatment beds and 20 detoxifi cation

beds, up from the six in the existing

centre.

Tours of the new TRC will be

available as construction progresses

and Parke says he is eager to share

“our hope and vision” with oil compa-

nies who want to donate.

“Th e thing they need to know is

that when they are donating we are

accredited, but they are also making

a diff erence in people lives,” he said.

“We have being doing this since 1975

and we will make a diff erence.”

Parke is touring and speaking

with oil and gas companies in Alberta

and Saskatchewan where he says they

are beginning to see addictions in

the workplace as an occupational and

safety issue.

“Th e oil companies that have

stepped forward are very strong sup-

porters of us,” said Parke. Page B5

In the market for Thorpe naming rights

Management teams from Grit Industries Inc. and Grithog Sand Control Sys-tems Ltd and the Thorpe Recovery Centre visited the construction site of the new Thorpe centre in Blackfoot, Alta., west of Lloydminster. Grit do-nated $100,000 toward the cost of the new addictions treatment centre.

Photo by Grit Industries Inc.

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Lloydminster – If methane leaking from pipelines

were a clearly visible gas, phones would be ringing off

the hook to authorities to halt emissions, as methane

is 22 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse

gas.

Methane leaks from pipeline systems average ap-

proximately four million cubic feet per year, per leak,

and some of the largest leaks can emit more than

250,000 cubic feet of gas per day.

Th ese are some of the more alarming facts that

caught the attention of the March Lloydminster SPE

Lunch ‘N Learn audience during a presentation on

pipeline leak detection by Peter Wolski, president of

Gas Trak Ltd. in Medicine Hat.

Gas Trak is the developer of the SuprSnifr fl ame

ionization system that companies such as Pro Line

Locators in Lloydminster, Line Hunters Locating

in Drumheller and First Alert Locating in Grande

Prairie are using to detect pipeline leaks in Alberta

and Saskatchewan.

From 2000 to 2008, Gas Trak and its service pro-

viders, located 978 methane leaks, with more to be

added to the database from the last couple of years.

“Gas leaks result in the loss of a valuable resource

to the point of sale,” said Wolski, who noted the av-

erage leak costs producers about $50,000 a year in

the value of natural gas. It can also cost them ap-

proximately $35,000 to clean up soil contaminated

by produced fl uids.

Most leaks are primarily attributed to inter-

nal corrosion from sulphur reducing bacteria while

a small number are due to mechanic damage from

equipment, faulty welds and lightning.

Any produced fl uids spilled on the ground can

cause the soil to become hydrophobic, eventually de-

stroying surrounding crops and vegetation.

Wolski says the traditional and alternative meth-

ods of detecting pipeline leaks, including walking or

riding an ATV over the right of ways or aerial sur-

veys, can’t compare to the SuprSnifr when it comes to

speed, accuracy, cost eff ectiveness and safety.

Th e SuprSnifr uses an extremely sensitive and

stable fl ame ionization device mounted inside a

pickup. Th e truck is driven downwind of a pipeline

and the air is sampled continuously for hydrocarbons

through a calibrated collection apparatus.

“It’s an amazing tool for integrity management.

Companies are using this as a maintenance tool. We

conduct regular surveys as part of their due diligence,”

said Wolski.

“It’s the only real way they can know if their

pipeline systems are intact without having to shut ev-

erything down and do a pressure test.

“Th e cost of doing that is much more than us-

ing us, and we can fi nd much smaller leaks using our

system than doing a pressure test.

Page B6

Gas Trak SuprSnifr has a nose for pipeline gas leaks

Companies recognize addiction problems Page B3

“Th e industry recognizes the safety issues around people either working while

impaired or under an addiction of some sort. It’s a huge safety risk to these com-

panies and they recognize that.

“Because of the way we are structured we can off er almost immediately a bed

on a self-paid basis.”

Th e TRC operates as a nonprofi t society and also administers Harris House,

a 14-bed post treatment residence for men located downtown Lloydminster.

TRC will continue to operate its downtown outpatient and walk-in centre

that provides counseling, workshops and community awareness and prevention

services.

Th e current three-day program for families and friends of people in treat-

ment will expanded at the new TRC, located west of Lloydminster near Black-

foot on Highway 16.

Th e existing building has been sold and program inquiries are up as word

spreads about the construction of the new centre and its treatment programs.

“If oil and gas companies are looking for information on how to build a pro-

gram or how to build a drug policy, they can give us a call,” said Parke.

“We will come to you and give you a structure and something that will start

to work. We all know what to do when a person has an accident – we phone 911.

For addictions, 911 is not going to work.”

Parke says the questions he’s hearing from people in the oilpatch are, where

do I turn and who do I call?

“People have a legal obligation to seek treatment for employees,” said Parke.

“Addictions are recognized today more and more as a disease and therefore you

can’t turn a blind eye. Call us.

“An employer is a very powerful individual when it comes to seeking an em-

ployee’s treatment. We like to think that we off er a good solution.

“We also work with other professionals. We work with concurrent disorders.

We are one of the leaders in embracing that idea.”

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Most leaks have no visual indicators Page B5

“Also 90 per cent of leaks have no visual indicators.

Th e old way was vegetation surveying, but it can take

an enormous amount of methane before you detect

damage.”

Wolski noted it can cost between $60 to $100 per

kilometre to conduct an over-the-line survey on foot

or using an ATV, making it prohibitively expensive to

do an entire pipeline system on a consistent basis.

Woloski also noted the SuprSnifr method of de-

tecting pipelines is a lot safer that an over-the-line sur-

vey, as it can be done from a truck one mile from the

source.

“We are as safe as any motorist driving down the

road. We know before we go into the leak that’s it’s

already there, and we know where it is and how big it

is,” he said.

“It’s way safer especially on the sour gas systems.

With H2S, you have to worry about the person who is

doing the surveying collapsing in the fi eld.

“In most cases, they require two people plus a

backup and self-contained breathing apparatus so they

can go in safely and look for leaks.”

When a leak is located using the SuprSnifr, the

client or producer is notifi ed that they have a leak or a

suspected leak.

“Th ey can shut it down and bring in sweet gas if

it’s possible and we can pinpoint it that way or they can

just go look for evidence on the surface,” said Wolski.

“We can pinpoint it on the ground with a stake.

Th at’s the starting point for repair.”

Th e downside of the SuprSnifr is that readings are

not as eff ective or accurate in temperatures above 15

Celsius, but Gas Trak schedules most of its surveys be-

tween fall and spring or at nighttime.

Other gas leak detection technologies on the mar-

ket include passive infrared multi-spectral scanning,

laser-based diff erential absorption, hyperspectral im-

aging and tunable diode laser absorption.

Wolski reports the SuprSnifr boasts a detection

success rate close to 100 per cent in year-over-year

comparisons with ATV surveys on a large gathering

system with good visible trench lines.

Gas Trak grew 40 per cent a year for fi ve years

starting in 2004 to meet the demand, but business has

slowed recently with the drop in natural gas prices and

regulations in Alberta that mandate the need for a vi-

sual inspection.

“It’s the legislation, the way it’s written, that hin-

ders our progress because they (Alberta Energy and

Utilities Board) have made a visual inspection manda-

tory, and ours is not a visual survey even though our

system is much better at detecting leaks than any visual

survey could be,” said Wolski. “We are being sidelined

by a regulation.

“Because these companies are required to do that

at much more expense, they are not going to add a

duplicate service or do leak detection our way, even

though they know it’s not eff ective to do the right of

way inspections.”

On the bright side, Wolski says the demand for

pipeline leak detection is not just about due diligence

anymore for pipeline operators and producers.

“It’s about looking after environmental concerns,”

he said. “Th ey are looking for a solution, and up un-

til recently, we have not been big enough to provide a

solution blanket to the industry. We can only accom-

modate so much.

“Th at’s why we joined forces with Pro-Line Loca-

tors, First Alert Locating and Line Hunters Locating

so we are covering the province. Within a year, we will

be able to off er this to everyone.”


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Kerrobert – Hav-

ing blue chip companies

such as Nexen Canada,

Penn West Petroleum,

Enbridge Inc. and Plains

Marketing Canada in

their backyard motivates

Rev Energy Services Ltd.

in Kerrobert to beef up

their pipeline construc-

tion and oil maintenance

services to stay competi-

tive.

Rev Energy, owned

by Brian Burgardt, is

currently constructing a

bigger shop in the new

Burt Sample Industrial

Park at the south end of

town.

Th e new 300 by 110

ft. building will house

new pickers and track-

hoes along with exist-

ing maintenance trucks,

sandblasting and coat-

ing units, Bobcats, and a

loader, and will include

a fabrication/ welding

shop.

“We have been work-

ing with Penn West in

the Coleville and Hoo-

sier area for 15 years,

and we have taken on a

number of their tasks,”

said Frank Beausoleil,

Rev’s area supervisor

who spoke in Burgardt’s

absence.

“We have set up

for batteries, single well

completions and pipe-

lining, and are expanding

into the construction side

of the oilfi eld because we

felt there was a need for

it in this area.

“Th at’s why we are

expanding into the new

shop. We’ve got three

brand new trackhoes and

some new pickers rang-

ing from three tonne to

20 tonne.

“Right now, we are

doing a lot of “integrity”

digs for Enbridge, and

we are hoping to expand

that to Plains Marketing

and other companies that

need that type of work.”

An integrity dig in-

volves a variety of servic-

es from stripping, dig-

ging, sandblasting, pipe

checking, repairing pipe

(sleeving), coating, back

fi lling and reclamation.

Rev Energy also handles

all kinds of gravel prod-

ucts.

While pigging tech-

niques are being devel-

oped to locate and size

what’s called Stress Cor-

rosion Cracking (SCC)

in pipelines, the indus-

try still relies heavily on

manual inspection of the

pipe at various locations

to identify cracking.

In the Kerrobert

area, Rev Energy is called

upon often by Enbridge

to excavate sections of a

pipeline and remove the

protective coatings for

an inspection of the area

with magnetic particle

testing to locate and as-

sess the SCC area. Re-

pairs then follow.

“We have been do-

ing corrosion and SCC

digs for Enbridge for 17

years,” said Beausoleil,

who noted the compa-

ny has been around for

nearly 20 years.

“We basically set up

for Enbridge, but now

we are equipped to han-

dle any other customer.”

Rev Energy works

in tandem on integrity

digs with KB Sandblast-

ing and Coating Inc., co-

owned by Burgarht and

Scott Kissick.

“We blast for cor-

rosion or cracks or just

to maintain pipe,” said

Brenden Wilson, who

operates a sandblasting

unit on pipelines.

“We will sandblast it

to remove coatings and

heat it up for an X-ray.

If the client has to, they

will hang a sleeve (weld-

ed section) over top, and

we will come back and

sandblast again, and

paint it, and coat it.”

Rev Energy can also

respond to year-round

emergency digs and ac-

tively markets its safety

credentials with its Cer-

tifi cate of Recognition

(COR), IRP-16 basic

safety awareness training

and registration with IS-

Networld.

“When you have

companies like Nexen

and Penn West, En-

bridge and Plains – they

are all in your backyard

– they are the custom-

ers we want to look after

110 per cent,” said Beau-

soleil.

“With our oilfi eld

maintenance work, we

like to stay within driv-

ing distance of Kerrobert.

We do a lot in the Luse-

land, Coleville, Dodsland

and Plenty area.

“We don’t want to

have to drive out to Swift

Current or Hardisty. We

want to look after our

number one customers

right here.

“All of our guys have

to have their tickets be-

fore they can go on site,

and they are working ac-

cording to required safe-

ty codes and company

regulations. “

Rev Energy also

boasts quality control or

QC pipefi tting and QC

welding capabilities and

employs a safety coordi-

nator and a licensed gas

fi tter on staff .

“Diversity gives

us a lot of strength,”

said Beausoleil. “With

Petrobank out there, for

example, we can also do

steam fi tting, so if they

require some mainte-

nance work, we have the

people on staff that can

do that too.

“A lot of companies

nowadays like to make

a one-shop stop, so it

helps us big time, when

we go out there and they

need equipment.

“With our equip-

ment, the key there we

feel is [that] we have all

new equipment.

“Th e number one

thing we stress is that

we have operators with

three to four years of

hot line (pipelines with

fl uid) experience. Th at is

key.

“A lot of companies

have trouble keeping op-

erators. If I promise you

a hot line crew – if we’re

digging around the hot

line of one of Enbridge’s

large pipes – we have the

most qualifi ed and certi-

fi ed persons to go out on

that site.”

Rev Energy has

about 14 employees and

three or four crews that

also do oilfi eld main-

tenance, completions,

well tie-ins and pipefi t-

ting for a growing list of

clients including Penn

West, Nexen, Baytex,

BP Canada and Inter

Pipeline.

Beausoleil hopes to

do more business in the

future with Plains Mar-

keting that recently built

a new shop in Kerrobert

after moving some of

their operations from

Lloydminster.

“Plains is putting in

a pipeline up by Slave

Lake and we will be bid-

ding on that,” said Beau-

soleil. “Th e way we are

set up for construction,

we can go to the Mani-

toba border or northern

Alberta or wherever.

“I have meetings

with their people and

hopefully, we will have

a good relationship with

Plains to get things es-

tablished.”

Rev Energy expands its oil eld construction footprintRev Energy expands its oil eld construction footprint

Frank Beausoleil reports Rev Energy now has six pickers in its eet, including this 4-ton beast used for oil eld construction. Photo by Geoff Lee


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Calgary - A refi nanced and oil-weighted Wild

Stream Exploration Inc. announced plans for an ac-

tive drilling program this year.

Based on several acquisitions in the fi rst quar-

ter and better-than-budgeted drilling results, Wild

Stream set its 2010 exploration and development

capital budget to $60-65 million with increased drill-

ing expected in all core areas.

Wild Stream is the former Eagle Rock Explo-

ration Ltd., which was recapitalized, renamed Wild

Stream and given new management and directors.

Th e company achieved a 100 per cent success

rate on the fi rst quarter drilling program in which 11

gross (9.4 net) crude oil wells were drilled.

In the Shaunavon Area, Wild Stream drilled

four gross (3.2 net) Lower Shaunavon horizontal

wells. Two gross (1.9 net) have been on production

for multiple weeks with rates in excess of 100 bbls/d

of oil from each well. Two gross (1.3 net) wells are in

various stages of completion.

Th e company drilled one gross (0.93 net) Up-

per Shaunavon horizontal well. Th e well is currently

producing at rates exceeding 125 bbls/d of oil sig-

nifi cantly above initial expectations.

Wild Stream implemented the fi rst phase of

their waterfl ood in the Upper Shaunavon formation

which is expected to see positive results by the fourth

quarter of 2010.

Th e company also acquired 10,300 net acres of

exploration acreage in the Upper and Lower Shau-

navon fairway.

Around Dodsland, Wild Stream drilled three

gross (3.0 net) Viking horizontal wells. All wells

have been placed on production with average initial

production rates exceeding 50 bbls/d of oil per well.

Th ey have also acquired an additional 1,920 net acres

of highly prospective Viking lands in the Dodsland

area.

In Garrington area of Alberta, the company

drilled one gross (1.0 net) Cardium horizontal well. It

is producing at a restricted rate exceeding 200 bbls/d

of oil. Th ey also drilled one gross (0.75 net) Viking

horizontal well. It was operationally successful, how-

ever the well is producing at lower than expected

rates, according to a company release. A follow up

Viking horizontal evaluation well will be drilled in

the third quarter.

Based on its revised capital budget, Wild Stream

now expects to drill 16 (14.4 net) horizontal wells in

the Shaunavon area, 12 (12 net) horizontals in the

Dodsland area, six (5.2 net) horizontals in the Gar-

rington area and two (1.5 net) wells at unspecifi ed

locations.

Th e company now expects average production of

more than 1,700 bbls of oil equivalent (90 per cent

oil) a day with a 2010 exit rate in the range of 2,200-

2,300 BOE a day, which would be a 280 per cent

increase its 2009 exit rate.

Wild Stream budgets $60-65 millionExploration and development budget increased


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Kerrobert – Rock

chips, wildlife collisions

and other fender bend-

ers send a lot of personal

and corporate oil patch

vehicles to Kerrobert

Paint and Body Ltd. or

KPB.

From now on, all

paint jobs or touch ups

at KPB will be made

with water-based paint

that can turn any vehicle

into a looker.

KPB completed a

$300,000 switchover of

its solvent-based paint

system to water based in

early April, and business

owner Richard Ander-

son is excited with the

initial results.

“It’s the best paint

I’ve ever seen as long as

I have been in the indus-

try, and I’ve seen pretty

much every brand that’s

been used since day one,”

he said.

“Water-based is

more durable; the clear

coats don’t sun fade, and

it’s more environmen-

tally friendly. Th at’s the

main reason for this.”

Th e switchover is in

keeping with new Envi-

ronment Canada regu-

lations that require col-

lision repair facilities to

use only low volatile or-

ganic compound (VOC)

undercoats, clear coats

and surface preparation

products by June 18,

2010.

Environment Cana-

da’s regulations prohibit

the sale and import of

non-compliant prod-

ucts.

Th e new law

prompted Anderson to

upgrade his air move-

ment systems, tempera-

ture and humidity con-

trols, and invest in new

peripheral equipment

and training in order to

be compliant.

“Th is is the biggest

switchover we’ve had,”

said Anderson, who

started the company in

1974.

“We built a new ad-

dition on the back and

put in a new state-of-

the-art paint booth, get-

ting ready for this wa-

ter based paint. We are

pretty excited about it.”

Anderson has yet

to formally broadcast

the new improvements

to the community, but

when he does, oilpatch

workers will be one of

his target audiences.

“Th e oilfi eld brings

us all kinds of work. Th e

employees bring their

vehicles in, of course,

and the oil companies

bring us all kinds of

work. Th ey are a large

presence in our area so

they have a lot of vehi-

cles,” he said.

“Th ey come in for

various mishaps. Deer

hits are the most com-

mon ones we see. We do

a lot of their suspension

and front end needs as

well.”

As a collision re-

pair shop, KPB per-

forms wheel alignments

and repairs suspensions,

brakes, and air condi-

tioning systems along

with complete auto body

repairs and glass instal-

lations.

Th e only thing they

don’t do is work on mo-

tors or transmissions.

“Our main business

is the collision industry,”

said Anderson, who says

the new paint system

supports KPB’s niche

as a quick turnaround

shop.

“We are able to get

the vehicles in right away

and done right away and

keep our customers on

the road,” he said.

“So many people

in the oilfi eld use their

vehicle for work. Th ey

can’t do without it. Our

goal is to get the vehicle

fi xed properly and back

on the road real quick.”

Anderson sent three

of his employees to Van-

couver for a week of

training on the water

based system while an-

other employee logged

six weeks of training at

SIAST in Saskatoon.

“My staff is very ex-

perienced,” said Ander-

son during the week of

the changeover.

Page B11

Kerrobert body shop primed for vehicle mishaps

Company owner and former Kerrobert mayor, Richard Anderson has completed a $300,000 switcho-ver to water-based paint at his paint and body shop.


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Page B10“Some of the men

have been painting for

20 to 30 years already. It

was just a matter of go-

ing to school and learn-

ing any techniques that

go with water-based. It’s

fairly similar to spray on

as the previous paints.

“We’ve all been fully

trained, and the DuPont

rep is here for a week to

help with the changeover.

We feel really comfort-

able with it already.”

Ditto the endorse-

ment from 30 year vet-

eran painter Rick McNi-

col, who thinks the new

water-based paint will be

more abrasive resistant

to rock chips while driv-

ing on gravel roads in the

oilpatch.

“Th e water-based

paint is far superior to

anything I have ever

worked with,” he said.

“It’s a stronger base,

and it should retain its

integrity out here es-

pecially because of the

gravel that we get.”

Th e timing of the

switchover is expected to

work in Anderson’s fa-

vour as everyone in town

is expecting more oilfi eld

activity and road traffi c

this summer.

As a former mayor of

Kerrobert, Anderson says

any kind of new infra-

structure project, pipe-

line or drilling program

is good for business.

Th e last mini-boom

stretched from the fall

of 2008 through 2009

with various phases of

the construction of the

interprovincial Alberta

Clipper pipeline built by

Enbridge Pipeline Inc.

“With pipelines, you

get the transient work-

ers and they’re good for

business” said Anderson.

“It’s good for the restau-

rants and the hotels, but

we also have the perma-

nent employees who live

here.

“Th ey tend to be

good citizens involved

in the community. It re-

ally helps out the town to

have a good oilfi eld pres-

ence.

“It’s good for the

economy, and good for

all our businesses. We are

taxed to the limit some-

times, but we appreciate

the opportunity to be

that busy.”

Over the years,

Anderson has seen his

business grow from two

employees to 11 em-

ployees along with the

pace of the oil and gas

economy.

“I am positively

surprised by the growth

of the industry,” he said.

“It’s good to see. It’s

been a real boom for

our community.

“We also seem to

have more wildlife col-

lisions in the area and

we have our fair share of

fender benders as well.”

Matt Davis applies water-based paint to a vehicle part inside KPB’s pres-surized paint booth. Davis was once a Canadian Idol contestant.

Photo by Geoff Lee

Brennan Murphy, a frame and suspension technician performs service work on a Volkswagen.

Busy body shop

B12 PIPELINE NEWS May 2010

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Estevan – Pure En-

ergy beat out Fusion 7-1

in the fi fth end to win the

Estevan Oilfi eld Techni-

cal Society (OTS) Oil-

men’s Bonspiel on Mar.

28.

Th e event ran Mar.

25-28, and was the cul-

mination of the oilmen’s

bonspiel season in the

southeast.

“He didn’t have much

to shoot at the whole

game. My guys were

all shooting good,” said

Duane Lamontagne, the

victorious skip. His team

was made up of lead Jim

Blanke, second Michael

Bunz and third Aaron

Lamontagne.

“My style of game is

to have a lot of rocks in

play,” Duane Lamontagne

said.

“We stole one in the

third, two in the fourth,

and two in the fi fth,” he

explained.

Lamontagne said

there were lots of good

teams at this year’s OTS

Bonspiel, and that the ice

conditions were excellent.

Th e B-Event fi nal

lasted the longest of the

last draw, with Estevan

Meter coming out vic-

torious over Syntech.

Th ey played shorthanded

much of the tournament,

including the last game.

Skip Curt Johnson said,

“We kept drawing to the

button.

“Th ey tried to take us

out, then we drew. We hit

his back onto theirs, and

spilled out two red to keep

the yellows,” he explained

of the last shot. Th e fi nal

score was 9-7.

Th e C-Event went

to Jerry Mainil who beat

out Weatherford ALS

7-4. “It started out with a

steal of one, then we gave

up three. Th en we took

our own three to get back

in the game, and we stole

from there,” explained

skip Michael Mainil

Epping Energy took

the D-2 event, winning

6-3.

Brent Gedak Welding

was victorious in the D-1

event. Skip Brent Gedak

said, “We got a four-ender

in the fi fth end. X-site lost

a player who had to leave.”

Th e game wrapped up in

fi ve ends.

Th e bonspiel featured

54 times, down from 64,

according to OTS presi-

dent Jeff Mosley. At the

time of the tournament,

he said people are still re-

ally busy.

It’s typical for the

OTS to make a chari-

table donation from the

event. Mosley noted that

the OTS had paid off its

commitment to the new

Estevan arena several

years ahead of schedule.

“We’ve got some

ideas, we haven’t made

any fi nal decisions yet,” he

said.

Th e bonspiel had

curlers from all over West-

ern Canada, and features

breakfasts on the Friday

and Saturday. Th e ban-

quet took place on Friday,

Mar. 26. One company

came forward this year to

provide shuttle service all

weekend.

“All indications are

we’re in for a busy year

in the oilpatch,” he con-

cluded.

Pure Energy was the championship rink for the Estevan OTS bonspiel, Mar. 25-28. They beat out the Fusion team. From left are lead Jim Blanke, second Michael Bunz, third Aaron La-montagne, and skip Duane Lamontagne.

Pure Energy winsPure Energy wins


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The B-Event winners played shorthanded most of the tournament. They were, from left, third Seteven Chernenuk, skip Curt Johnson, and second Duane Martin. Missing is Chris Roche, who helped out.

C-Event winners Jerry Mainil were, from left, lead Calvin Tracey, second Bruce Miller, third Jeremy Maurer, and skip Michael Mainil.

There was plenty of action on all sheets of ice during the Estevan OTS Oil-men’s Bonspiel.

TS&M skip Arnold Marcotte throws a rock in the D-2 event nal at the Este-van OTS Oilmen’s Bonspiel.


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Regina – Th e boardroom table is

covered with geological surveys, and the

laptop on it has similar information on its

screen. Two men, a banker and a geolo-

gist, have been pouring over it, preparing

for the next Crown land sale. Welcome to

the birthplace of a new wildcat exploration

fi rm.

Perhaps birthplace is a bit of a misnomer,

as the company fi red up six months before, and

started buying land four months ago. Th e start-

up, Kingsland Energy Corp., is focused on fi nding

and developing new oil resources, and is still in its

infancy.

Mark Kilback and his partners are heading up

the eff ort, which is based at the offi ce of their

core business interest, Kingsland Capital.

It’s a Regina-based, energy industry mer-

chant bank, with its offi ce at the Innova-

tion Place research park, on the Univer-

sity of Regina campus.

“Our team is excited to pursue large

Saskatchewan oil resources,” Kilback says

over a coff ee in the atrium of Th e Terrace

offi ce building. “We’ve identifi ed some

exciting exploration projects and have be-

gun to secure strong land positions.

“We will leverage innovation and

technology to assist in developing these

assets. Th is industry is very competi-

tive. New exploration technology

and the skills and the global expe-

rience of our engineering team are

strong diff erentiators for us. Th e

experienced engineering team has

previously successfully developed

resources in Western Canada as

well as several projects overseas,

primarily in Iran and Chi-

na,” Kilback

says.

“We are also very fortunate to be working with

some of the top geologists in the province; I’m excited

how our team has come together.”

Kilback off ers some clues as to what they’re af-

ter. “We’re not only in the heart of the Bakken,” he

explains, as they have land interests all through Sas-

katchewan.

In addition to the Midale, Bakken, or the Torquay

(also known as the Th ree Forks-Sanish) zones, they are

also looking deep – very deep. Th ey have the engineer-

ing capabilities of looking right above the ‘basement,’

in the rocks formed during the Ordovician period. Th e

‘basement’ is the bedrock below the sedimentary rock

in which petroleum reserves form.

Th e company’s engineers have worked with deep

formations overseas, where it’s not uncommon to drill

deep, so they have no apprehension to do the same

here.“Th ere are a lot of deep drilling prospects in the

province. Th e challenge will be in developing the res-

ervoir.”

“We’re really trying to stay off the beaten path, to

use our experience, technologies and knowledge.”

“Th e time is right. I’m a believer in ‘peak oil.’ I

think we’re on the other side of that trade,” Kilback

says, adding there is some euphoria back in the energy

capital markets. He refers to the launch of new fi nan-

cial products enabling investors to trade oil and gas

commodities in a sophisticated way. “I’m a believer in

long term higher oil prices, absolutely.”

Kilback says, “We’re wildcatting. We’re going to

areas where there’s going to be the next big play and

signifi cant opportunity. We’ve acquired strong initial

land positions, and we’ll be looking at additional free-

hold and Crown land opportunities in the upcoming

months.”

As for putting holes in the ground, Kilback says

that’s a year down the road. “We’re going to target next

summer (2011), right after breakup.” Th e initial drill-

ing activity would primarily be vertical exploratory

wells for core analysis.

Asked how many wells they are looking at, Kil-

back laughs. “We’re focused on securing the resource,

and drilling the exploratory wells as required. Our

team is working hard to fully understand the resource

before we develop a comprehensive drill program.”

Pipeline News will be following the progress of

Kingsland Energy Corp in the coming months as it

goes through the early stages development for a junior

oil producer.

Mark Kilback and his partners are leveraging innovation and technol-ogy to uncover oil resources in Sas-katchewan.

Kingsland Energy Corp. in launch phase

B15PIPELINE NEWS May 2010

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Bismarck, ND – In March, Ron Ness, presi-

dent of the North Dakota Petroleum Council,

predicted there would be 1,500 to 2,000 registered

participants attending this year’s Williston Basin

Petroleum Conference. By April 20, that number

was already confirmed at over 1,900.

The Williston Basin Petroleum Conference

will take place in Bismarck, North Dakota, May

2-4. The conference is titled, “Bakken and Be-

yond!”

The conference alternates between Saskatch-

ewan and North Dakota each year, with the gov-

ernments of each jurisdiction playing a part. The

Williston Basin encompasses southeast Saskatch-

ewan, southwest Manitoba, northeast Montana

and much of western North Dakota.

The booths sold out months ago, and now the

core workshops are full, too. There will be 300

exhibition booths, double what they had in 2008.

There are also 25 outside exhibitors. If you want

a hotel room, you’re going to have to look in the

surrounding area, according to conference organiz-

ers. Th ey are still taking registrations, and do not

have an upper limit.

In previous years, the conference usually has

featured numerous speakers all addressing one large

group. However, with its sheer size this year, only

the keynotes will be speaking to one large group.

Th e rest of the sessions will be in smaller groups in

a breakout format. Th ere will be as many as three

diff erent sessions to choose from at a particular

time. There are over 70 speakers lined up.

North Dakota Governor John Hoven is one

of the keynote speakers. Saskatchewan Minister

of Energy and Resources Bill Boyd is also con-

firmed to speak

Other keynote speakers of interest include

Clarence Cazalot, president and CEO of Mara-

thon Oil Corp., James Volker, president and

CEO of Whiting Petroleum Corp.

On the web:www.ndoil.org

Williston Basin Petroleum Conference to set record


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By Brian ZinchukSaskatoon – After spending several years in the

crucible of cellular phone development, and having

just completed a PhD in electrical engineering, Dar-

ryl Jessie wanted a simpler life for his family. Five

years down the road, his company, Saskatoon-based

Raum Energy, is now making small wind turbines

that are meant not only to provide green energy, but

are also economically feasible.

A professional engineer, Jessie is the president

and CEO of Raum, as well as one of the major

shareholders. Th e Saskatchewan Entrepreneurs Fund

is another major shareholder, along with 10 other

smaller investors.

Raum is originally from Estevan. He lived in

Prince Albert for a while, then Estevan again before

attending the University of Saskatchewan’s College

of Engineering. He completed his degree in engi-

neering physics in 1993, a program at the time con-

sidered one of the hardest in the college. In 1995 he

completed his engineering physics masters degree,

and spent some time working on the linear accelera-

tor atom smasher that would form the foundation of

the current synchrotron.

It was tough getting a job in engineering in the

mid-90s, however. In the summer of 1995, he put out

376 resumes, and got only eight interviews.

In 1996 he would end up in San Diego, along

with his wife, Julie, who now works in admin with

Raum. Th ere he would work on CDMA cellular

technology with Qualcomm. Pulling a cellular phone

out of his pocket, he said, “Some of my designs are in

this phone.”

His group worked on four or fi ve chips that other

companies like Motorola, Siemens or Samsung would

buy, and then build a chipset around.

It was a rough year in 2004. Jessie’s father died

in February, and by that time, he “had enough of the

California life.” Besides, he loved hockey (which he

now coaches), and pointed out you can get across

Saskatoon in 15 minutes. So Jessie, Julie, and their

three American-born children, now 10, 8 and 6, came

back to Saskatoon.

“When I came back, it was a solution looking for

a problem,” he said.

Th ey had bought some land north of Saskatoon a

few years earlier, and he wanted to put up a wind tur-

bine for electrical generation. Th e idea wasn’t to live

off the grid, but rather to supplement grid power. At

the time, he found no Canadian suppliers, and three

U.S. suppliers had about 80 per cent of the market for

small wind turbines. A 10-kilowatt installation was

going to run around $70,000. Page B17

PhD returns to Saskatoon,

”“When I came back, it was a solution

looking for a problem.- Darryl Jessie, PHD


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designs wind turbines Page B16

Th e number of manufactures has

grown to around a hundred globally, he

explained.

(“Big wind” is considered the large

wind turbines, usually arranged in wind

farms that are seen in places like Swift

Current. Th ey and will often gener-

ate 1.5 megawatts of power for power

utilities. “Small wind” is generally small

installations, usually just one wind tur-

bine, generating a small fraction of the

power of a massive turbine. Small wind

is typical for places like farms.)

“At the time it was hard to get any-

thing,” he said, and in the credo of most

new entrepreneurs, Jessie thought he

could do better.

Most of 2005 he worked on his

own, developing the wind turbine gen-

erator. “My background is in electro-

magnetics.

“We incorporated in February,

2006.”

In Saskatchewan, it was quite bur-

densome to connect a wind turbine

to the provincial grid. “Th e policies to

connect to the grid were very bureau-

cratic,” he said. Th at wasn’t the case

in other jurisdictions, like California,

however. Th e big change provincially

came when ‘net metering’ was intro-

duced here in October, 2007.

Page B18

Darryl Jessie looks down a plastic wind turbine blade, used by Raum En-ergy for its ve-bladed turbines. Jessie, with a PhD in engineering, has worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan, which turned out to be a good way to recruit promising engineers.


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A turbine for every farm

This is the old school design of windmills. Raum Energy of Saskatoon would like to see modern windmills once again become a feature on every farm.

The generators for Raum Energy wind turbines are an example of simplicity: the generator has a permanent magnet, and is brushless with a gearless, direct drive. There are only two moving parts.

Page B17Net metering allows

a small power generator,

like a wind turbine or

solar set up, to sell ex-

cess power into the util-

ity grid. If during part of

the day the turbine cre-

ates more power than is

consumed by the client,

then the excess power is

sent into the grid, and

the power meter essen-

tially runs backwards.

When the generator isn’t

meeting the client’s de-

mand, such as when the

wind dies down, power

is drawn off the grid like

usual. At the end of the

month, the power bill is

assessed on how much

net power is consumed.

“Th at made it much

easier for us,” he said.

Some jurisdictions,

like Ontario, even pay

a premium for green-

power generated and sold

into the grid through

net metering. For wind

power, they pay 13 cents

a kilowatt hour, and 80

cents per kilowatt hour

for solar. To draw power

off the grid is approxi-

mately 10 cents per kilo-

watt hour. Th at means in

Ontario, every kilowatt-

hour of wind power you

generate on your own

is worth roughly a third

more than the power you

buy from the utility.

Saskatchewan does

not have that incentive,

however, simply buy-

ing and selling at the

same rate. And while

Jessie pointed out there

is no federal program in

support of small wind

generation, there is a

substantial grant in Sas-

katchewan subsidizing

small wind installations.

Support for green

energy doesn’t have to be

complicated, he added. A

simple tax break will do.

ManufacturingMost of their manu-

facturing is done in Sas-

katchewan. Th e make

two models, with 1.5 and

3.5 kilowatt outputs.

Th ere are a few key

parts to a wind turbine

set up. First, you need a

pole to put it on, which

can be lattice or a mono-

pole, similar to a light

pole. Th en there is the

generator itself, which

rotates 360 degrees at the

top of the pole.

Th e generator has

a permanent magnet, is

brushless, with a gearless,

direct drive. Th at’s an-

other way of saying ‘low

maintenance,’ because

there are only two mov-

ing parts.

Next are the blades,

which in this case, are

made of plastic, not fi -

breglass.

Most wind turbines

you see, big or small, have

three blades. Yet the two

Raum models have fi ve.

Th at’s because it was

easier for them to cre-

ate the moulds for fi ve

thinner blades than the

thicker blades a more

conventional three-blade

turbine has. “It’s easier

to manufacturer thinner

blades with our technol-

ogy,” he said.

Th e company has

a CNC machine in the

shop which is used to cre-

ate moulds for the blades,

along with other uses.

It turned out the CNC

machine was a little over

half the price of sub-con-

tracting out a mould.

Plastic also has the

benefi t of being low cost,

once the mould is made.

Th eir blades are fi bre-

reinforced.

Finally, there is the

connection to the grid.

You can’t just hook up

the wind turbine and go.

Th e power it produces is

not ‘clean,’ in that in a

‘wild wind’ turbine like

the Raum models, the

frequency of power gen-

erated varies with the

wind speed. Th e inverter

cleans up the output,

making it 240 volts, and

60 hertz. Th eir inverters

can also be used in solar

applications, an area the

company will be pursing

this year.

Raum now has 19

staff . Th ey were at sev-

en for two years, then

jumped to 15, and now

are hiring a few more, in

anticipation of the sum-

mer and fall big push.

About half of their

sales are Canadian, with

the rest coming from the

U.S., and a few overseas

sales. Of the Canadian

sales, about half of those,

or a quarter overall, are in

Saskatchewan.

“It’s got to make

sense fi nancially,” Jes-

sie explained, with low

capital costs, effi ciency,

and simplicity. Accord-

ing to Jessie, 3.5 kilowatt

Raum unit should pay for

itself in about seven years

in Saskatchewan, factor-

ing in the grant, or in

ten to 12 years without a

grant, depending on how

strong the wind blows in

that area. Th e smaller 1.5

kilowatt until has a lon-

ger payout.

Just as it used to be

said, “A computer in ev-

ery house,” Jessie noted,

“We want a wind turbine

on every farm.”

“I see no reason why

the majority of those

couldn’t have a wind tur-

bine on them.”


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Unity – It's a cliché,

but every day is a new

beginning, work wise at

least, for Grant Huber,

owner of Huber Ma-

chining Ltd. in Unity.

Huber Machining

makes and repairs parts

for agricultural and oil

and gas companies and

individuals in the Unity

area.

Th at could mean

anything from fi xing

drivelines and hydraulic

cylinders to rebuilding

parts for combines and

balers.

“Every day there’s a

challenge,” said Huber,

who runs the shop on his

own.

“Th ere is something

new that walks in the

door every day almost.

You have to scratch your

head and fi gure how to

repair it or make a new

one up for them.

“I enjoy the satisfac-

tion once you get it done.

Sometimes it’s frustrat-

ing getting to that point.

Once it’s done, it’s pret-

ty satisfying.”

His main tools of

the trade are a couple

of engine lathes, drill

presses, a milling ma-

chine, a 50-ton hydrau-

lic press, a small brake,

welders, and a plasma

cutter.

“I am a machinist

by trade, and I picked

welding up as I have

been going along. Th is

is my 22nd year,” he

said. “My work is half

agriculture and half oil

and gas.”

Th e North West

Terminal, and the new

North West Bio Energy

Ltd. ethanol plant and

Viterra provide Huber

with a lot of his corpo-

rate agricultural related

machining work.

For the ethanol

plant, he said, “I work

on their pump shafts

or stuff that their weld-

ers can’t do – machin-

ing. It generated a lot

of work for me when it

was being constructed,

but now it’s backed off

a little bit.”

He also fi xes pick

up rollers for combines,

and repairs a lot of baler

rollers for local farmers

during the fall harvest,

along with repairing

hydraulic cylinders on

farm equipment.

On the oil and gas

front, Huber says most

of his work is equip-

ment repairs for local

companies.

“Th e odd time it’s

drive shafts that get

damaged going down a

bad road or over a pas-

ture and hitting a rock,”

he said.

“Also I do a lot of

stuff for service rigs and

a bit of work for survey-

ors. Sometime, they are

bouncing around all over,

so I will weld in their tool

boxes and fi x things.

“My February and

March were really good

so we are hoping for a

busier year. Last year was

quiet. Th ere’s a bunch

of oilfi eld activity to the

west.

“Most of my busi-

ness is local – crews from

around town. We repair

stuff for them. If a new

crew comes to town, they

usually fi nd me pretty

quick.”

Th e raw materials

for Huber Machining

include a wide variety

of steel shafts from 3/16

to 4-inch diameter in

diff erent shapes includ-

ing square and hexagon.

Th ere is also a supply of

square tubing, angle iron,

black pipe, fl at iron and

channel iron.

When Huber added

a new addition to his

machine shop in 2000,

he installed a set of over-

head cranes to handle

most of the heavy lifting.

“Lots of time you

have to lift iron and lots

of times you might have

to replace a truck hoist,

so that crane can lift the

box off the truck,” ex-

plained Huber.

“At times it can be

a physically demanding

job.”

Page B21

If it’s broke, you can x it at Huber Machining

Grant Huber volunteered his time and skills to build these steel dugout frames for local minor softball.

Photo by Geoff Lee


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Page B20A forklift truck also

comes in handy to move

around his inventory of

metal sprockets, bearings,

seals, hubs and hydraulic

cylinder shafts including

chrome shafting for hy-

draulic cylinders.

Outside, Huber

stores a weighty supply

of square and rectangular

iron, angle iron and grip

struts and bar grating for

customers. He also sells

iron to people who want

to build their own stuff .

Huber says no matter

what the job is, the cre-

ative process for building

a new part or repairing

something starts with a

bit of detective work.

“First of all you have

to determine from the

customer how it broke

or how it failed if, and it

was from normal use or

abuse, and then you have

to go from there to make

it stronger or improve it

in any way,” he said.

“Sometimes the cli-

ent will have a drawing

to make something new.

If it’s parts all in pieces,

then you have to put it

together and make draw-

ings of it.

“I make a lot of

‘one-ofs.’ If you mak-

ing 10, you can make it

a lot cheaper than one,

but making something

is usually cheaper than

buying a new one.”

Huber says the rea-

son a lot of oilfi eld cus-

tomers comes to him is

because they can’t fi nd

the part they need or it

would take too long to

order.

“In the oilfi eld, the

sooner you can get them

going, the better they are.

Th ere is less downtime,”

he said.

When he is not busy

himself, Huber likes to

curl and volunteer his

time to help organize the

annual Unity Oilperson’s

Bonspiel.

“Someone has to do

it,” he said. “It’s fun once

you get going. Everyone

has a lot of fun.”

Th e day Pipeline News dropped by, Huber

had a set of metal base-

ball dugouts he volun-

teered to build ready for

delivery. Th e community

project is in keeping with

his “variety is the spice

of life” approach to ma-

chining.

Asked what he had

on his plate that very day,

Huber said, “We ma-

chined a fan for a seed

plant this morning. To-

day, I also put a hitch on

a fi fth wheel camper.

“I have a couple of

driveline to repair and re-

place yokes and u-joints.

Every day, there is usually

something diff erent. “

Every day is different

Above: Huber Machining carries a wide variety of iron stock. Right: The eye of the sprocket is the focal point of this photograph.


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C-SectionMay 2010PIPELINE NEWS

Saskatchewan’s Petroleum MonthlySaskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly

By Brian Zinchuk

Regina – Every few years, a major pipeline gets

built across Saskatchewan. Th e majority of contrac-

tors who work on those projects use mainly Cater-

pillar equipment to get the job done. As such, this

equipment plays a major role in the business plan of

Kramer Ltd., Saskatchewan’s Caterpillar dealer, in

ways that one might fi nd surprising.

Th at’s because, according to Tim Kramer, presi-

dent and CEO of the family-owned and operated

fi rm, not a lot of brand new equipment is purchased

by Saskatchewan clients. Th eir preference is for

slightly used equipment.

So when a massive project comes in, like the

Enbridge Alberta Clipper, which ran over 2008 and

2009, it’s a chance to bring in large amounts of iron,

put a few hours on them, knock down the price, and

then sell them to Saskatchewan customers down the

road.

Th e oilpatch makes up in excess of 10 per cent

of Kramer Ltd.’s business. At fi rst, it might seem like

this percentage should be higher, until one realizes

that Caterpillar’s equipment product line consists of

more than 300 machines, including above and below

ground mining equipment, generators, and highway

truck motors to name a few.

“We segment our market into diff erent divisions.

In fact, we recently looked at segmenting the oilpatch

as a market of its own,” Kramer said.

What do oilpatch customers require in terms of

equipment? “Th e mainstay is dozer power – track

type tractors,” he responded. Pipelayers, motor grad-

ers, excavators and integrated tool carriers (a varia-

tion of the wheel loader) are also in demand.

Kramer’s customers are a great mix of really large

players to the small contractors, everyone from Car-

son Energy Services Ltd. in Lampman to the people

with one D7 and a small tractor.

“It’s a real challenge for us, because there are so

many calls. We’re getting to the point where there’s

‘patch speak,’” said Kramer, pointing out the lingo is

diff erent in Lloydminster than other areas.

In recent years Kramer Ltd. has established

branches in Kindersley and North Battleford. Both

were set up as agricultural facilities, and within hours

of opening, they were handling heavy construction

and industrial clients.

“We’ve outgrown that facility already,” Kramer

said of their North Battleford location.

For that branch, about 40 per cent of Kramer’s

business is agriculture, 50 per cent is heavy construc-

tion while the remaining 10 per cent is oilfi eld, but

that 10 per cent is growing. Page C2

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PIPELINE NEWS May 2010C2

Big pipelines furnish equipment for Sask clients Page C1

Kramer is optimistic that rising oil prices will drive

demand for Saskatchewan’s oilsands.

Last year heavy construction sales were down, but

repairs were up. It was a nice breather, after a hectic

2008. “What we lost in heavy equipment, we picked

up in agriculture,” he noted.

“Now, things are fi ring on all cylinders,” he said,

adding, “It’s unusual. Typically in Saskatchewan, some-

thing is always going up or down.”

Pipelines key to salesOne of Kramer’s major clients is Waschuk Pipe

Line Construction Ltd., based in Red Deer. Th ey built

the eastern Saskatchewan portion of the Enbridge Al-

berta Clipper pipeline over the last two years. Kramer

points out that they are the only remaining family-run,

large-scale pipeline contractor in Canada. He said they

are tough as nails, but unique. Kramer Ltd. has a close

relationship with Waschuk.

“Customer relationships are important. It’s our job

to make our customers more profi table,” says Kramer.

A big pipeline project requires plenty of lead time,

and has a big impact on the business. “We’re already

ramping up for Mackenzie Valley,” he said, adding

there’s also the Keystone XL project in the works for

southwest Saskatchewan.

“We probably start a year in advance. You sit down

with your customers; look at their spread, what you’ve

got, what you are going to need.

“You’ve got to have a lot of guts. We took the ini-

tiative for this last run,” he said, speaking about Al-

berta Clipper. “We supplied the whole spread.”

Each of the major contractors, including Waschuk,

Robert B. Sommerville/Techint, Michels Canada, and

Bannister, rented much of their iron from Kramer, de-

spite larger Caterpillar dealerships to the east and west.

Th ere were lots of D6 and D8 dozers, 345D and 330D

excavators, 16M and 14M graders, and even Challeng-

er 85 rubber-tracked farm tractors. Pipelayers, i.e. side-

booms, however, are handled by an internal Caterpillar

division, since they are such specialized equipment.

All told, there were hundreds of pieces of Cater-

pillar equipment working on that project.

“When the fi nal numbers came in, we were abso-

lutely shocked. It was almost double what we thought

it was going to be,” said Kramer.

As such, they had to play a balancing act, to make

sure everyone had the equipment they needed, when

they needed it.

Rentals to startMuch of this iron went out as rentals, and some of

it is now back, in the yard, awaiting sale. Th e pipeline

contractors held on to a little over half.

“Being able to off er our customers an aff ord-

able piece of used equipment – one that has been

well maintained with minimal hours - is important,”

Kramer said. Such machines, he added, are “highly

coveted.”

Indeed, nearly all iron that goes out the gate starts

out as a rental. “Almost exclusively, they start with rent-

als,” Kramer said, noting it was the system of choice for

everyone.

“Th e object of our entire pipeline side of the busi-

ness is to bring value to our Saskatchewan custom-

ers,” he said. Th e vast majority want low-hour, price-

reduced equipment. Th e system works for the pipeline

contractors, too, because they need maximum produc-

tion with minimal downtime. Maximized productivity

on the line is so important that crews like the ditch

crew will have their own mechanic, on site, at all times.

“Th ey cannot aff ord down time,” Kramer said, which

is why they like to use new equipment.

Rentals are not the case in mining, however, where

the hard conditions usually mean the equipment is

bought outright.

When Kramer talks about rentals, most of the time

that’s a reference to rent-to-own, where a substantial

portion of the rental fees go towards the purchase price

of the equipment, if the contractor decides to buy it

out. “It’s a form of off -sheet fi nancing,” Kramer ex-

plained. “Th ere is always a risk they won’t buy it.”

Asked about the prospects for this year, after a

tough 2009, Kramer said, “When things go bad, they

go bad very quickly, and it takes a long time for people

to once again have confi dence in the economy.

“In Saskatchewan we were scared because every-

one else was scared, not because we had reason to be. I

told the chairman of Caterpillar the reason we weren’t

going to participate in the ‘recession’ was because it was

too hard to spell.”

“It has a lot to do with luck, more luck than you

know.”

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Redvers & District Redvers & District Oil ShowcaseOil Showcase

Redvers & District Redvers & District Oil ShowcaseOil Showcase

Guest Speaker - Brett HermanGuest Speaker - Brett HermanMr. Brett Herman has been appointed as President, CEO, Director of Result Energy Inc. Mr. Brett Herman has been appointed as President, CEO, Director of Result Energy Inc. Mr. Herman has extensive oil, gas and leadership experience in public oil and gas Mr. Herman has extensive oil, gas and leadership experience in public oil and gas companies. Mr. Herman was the President & CEO of TriStar. Previously, Mr. Herman was the companies. Mr. Herman was the President & CEO of TriStar. Previously, Mr. Herman was the Vice President, Finance and CFO of StarPoint Energy Trust.Vice President, Finance and CFO of StarPoint Energy Trust.

Fire Extinguisher Course - Safety SourceFire Extinguisher Course - Safety SourceThis course will show the general public and oil eld personnel the proper use and mainte-This course will show the general public and oil eld personnel the proper use and mainte-nance of re extinguishers. This course is hands-on.nance of re extinguishers. This course is hands-on.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER PHONE 452-3103TO REGISTER PHONE 452-3103FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER PHONE 452-3103TO REGISTER PHONE 452-3103

Friday, May 7th - 12:00 noon - 4:00 p.m.Trade show open to the public, free of charge

11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch available5:00 p.m. Cocktails • 6:00 p.m. Supper

Saturday, May 8th - 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. • Trade show11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch available1:00 p.m. - Fire Extinguisher Course

Call to register a booth for the show - Limited space is available

Gold Sponsors:Gold Sponsors: Three Way Power Tongs, Three Star Trucking Ltd., Winacott Western Star, Three Way Power Tongs, Three Star Trucking Ltd., Winacott Western Star, Saskatchewan Energy & Resources, P&M Oil eld Consulting Ltd., Town of Redvers, Saskatchewan Energy & Resources, P&M Oil eld Consulting Ltd., Town of Redvers, Enbridge, RBC Life Insurance Company, Crescent Point, Ensign/Big Sky, Essential Coil Tubing, Enbridge, RBC Life Insurance Company, Crescent Point, Ensign/Big Sky, Essential Coil Tubing, Dangstorp’s, Classic Vac, TS&M Supply, Sask Power, 3-D Enterprises, Swayze’s, McGillicky Oil eld Dangstorp’s, Classic Vac, TS&M Supply, Sask Power, 3-D Enterprises, Swayze’s, McGillicky Oil eld Consulting, Hei Bro Tech, 24-7 Enterprises, Grimes Sales & Service, Petrobakken, TundraConsulting, Hei Bro Tech, 24-7 Enterprises, Grimes Sales & Service, Petrobakken, Tundra

Silver Sponsors:Silver Sponsors: Millennium Directional Service Ltd., Parkside Oil eld Services, Eagle Oil eld Millennium Directional Service Ltd., Parkside Oil eld Services, Eagle Oil eld Services, Poplar Services Ltd., Impact Oil eld Management Team, Ener-Test Well Servicing & Rentals, Services, Poplar Services Ltd., Impact Oil eld Management Team, Ener-Test Well Servicing & Rentals, Estevan Plastic Products Ltd. Red Hawk Well Servicing Inc., Safety Source, Mid Canada Filtration Estevan Plastic Products Ltd. Red Hawk Well Servicing Inc., Safety Source, Mid Canada Filtration Solutions, Girard Bulk Service Ltd., Spectra Credit Union, Fast Trucking, Virden Ford, Frontier Peterbilt Solutions, Girard Bulk Service Ltd., Spectra Credit Union, Fast Trucking, Virden Ford, Frontier Peterbilt Sales, Greg Cousins Construction Ltd., NAL Resources, SE Electric, Moose Mountain Mud, TSL Sales, Greg Cousins Construction Ltd., NAL Resources, SE Electric, Moose Mountain Mud, TSL Industries Ltd., Precision Well Servicing, Equal Transport, Tremcar West Inc., Carson Energy Services, Industries Ltd., Precision Well Servicing, Equal Transport, Tremcar West Inc., Carson Energy Services, Tierra Alta, Prism, CJ1280, Palko Energy Ltd.Tierra Alta, Prism, CJ1280, Palko Energy Ltd.

ROAST BEEF,PIG ON A SPITLimited Dinner

Tickets Available!$20 per person

David Kell works on the track press, rebuilding an undercarriage. Behind him, you can see the robotic hydraulic torque wrench, which can re-move stripped bolts.

PIPELINE NEWS May 2010 C3

EXCELLENCE IS CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE DRIVEN.

WE’RE KRAMER. WE’RE CATERPILLAR. WE’RE THERE WHEN YOU NEED US.

WWW.KRAMER.CA

AS SASKATCHEWAN’S CATERPILLAR DEALER SINCE 1944, OUR RELATIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN BUILT ON A

FOUNDATION OF INTEGRITY AND MUTUAL RESPECT, AT THE WORKPLACE AND IN OUR COMMUNITIES. WE ARE

BOTH HONOURED AND HUMBLED TO BE RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF CANADA’S 50 BEST MANAGED COMPANIES.

Kramer Chairman of the Board Donald E. Kramer & Kramer President & CEO Timothy R. Kramer

By Brian Zinchuk

Regina – Vertical

integration is the name

of the service game for

Kramer Ltd., Saskatch-

ewan’s Caterpillar dealer.

“Send nothing out,

keep full control,” says

Tim Kramer, president

and CEO, as he takes

Pipeline News through a

tour of their Regina fa-

cility and headquarters.

“None of the trac-

tor leaves here until it’s

complete. We don’t send

out rads, turbochargers

or hydraulics.”

Indeed, when work-

ing on competitive ma-

chines, they’ll put Cat

parts on it, such as hy-

draulic components, es-

sentially turning them

into Cat hydraulics.

Based in Regina,

Kramer Ltd.’s headquar-

ters are comprised of

three on-campus build-

ings and an agriculture/

energy shop a few blocks

down the road.

Th e main building

houses the headquarters

offi ces upstairs with the

Regina branch down-

stairs.

Within head offi ce,

Kramer says, “All our

people are companies,

little internal compa-

nies.”

Your tractor calledAn example is a new

GPS division being set up

for agriculture and heavy

equipment. Th e automa-

tion of equipment is be-

coming so pronounced,

Kramer says, “It’s not far

from the tractor calling

us, saying, ‘I’m sick.’”

“Your tractor called.

You need a new turbo-

charger.”

Th e information

technology portion of

the dealership is growing.

It used to be that service

technicians would go to

a central computer area

to look up and order

parts. Now, each work-

bench has a laptop on

it, as much at home as

a half-inch ratchet. Th e

whole building is wire-

lessly connected. Th e

technician makes deci-

sions on whether to go

with a used part or a new

part, and place the or-

der right from the work

bench laptop.

“We found many

years ago, we couldn’t

get quality machining,”

Kramer says. So they

brought it in- house. Th ey

can now mill blocks and

heads to such tolerances

that they can be rebuilt

three or four times.

CellsTh e machining area

is just one of numer-

ous cells in the shop.

Another is dedicated to

rebuilding hydraulic cyl-

inders. “Everything is set

up as a cell. Th e goal is to

maximize wrench turn-

ing,” he explains.

Th ere are test bench-

es for both engines and

transmissions – as big

as they come. An en-

gine from a mammoth

D11 dozer can be found

in this area. Th e Dy-

namometer test bench

uses water pressure to

emulate a load, put-

ting the engine through

all its paces before it is

reinstalled into a trac-

tor. “Th is is the cheap-

est place for an engine

to fail. We don’t want it

to fail for the customer,”

notes Kramer.

Nearby is a similar

test bench for transmis-

sions.

Page C4

Keeping it all in-houseKeeping it all in-house

Heavy duty mechanic Ed Beday works on a massive motor.


Page C3

It’s all part of a quality control system that is

prevalent at every step. Th ere are several large parts

washers in the building. You’ll see plastic caps all

over the place, so that there are no exposed holes on

items like engines or hydraulics. Th e engine area has

a clean room for working on fuel injection systems.

“Dirt is the enemy,” Kramer says ironically, since the

function of most of the heavy equipment is moving

dirt.

If something does give, they do more than just

take a look at it with a Mark I eyeball. Th e failure

analysis lab will put failed parts under a microscope,

and even send pictures to Caterpillar.

Fort Mac service workTh roughout the repair shop, one fi nds several

examples of very, very large equipment, the biggest

that Caterpillar makes. Th ere’s two 589 pipelayers,

and a 24H motor grader. All are from Suncor, and

made the trip down to Regina from Fort McMur-

ray to be rebuilt.

“Suncor is a very large customer of ours. Th ey

discovered us by pure accident,” Kramer says. Most

of their Suncor repair work is done in Regina, but

they also spread it throughout the province.

In the undercarriage area, you’ll fi nd a robotic

hydraulic torque wrench. Instead of men hunched

over with impact wrenches, the machine will prop-

erly torque an entire set of tracks, and even remove

stripped bolts. It saves backs, time, and customers’

money, according to Kramer.

Th e paint booth has an electrostatic paint sys-

tem, which produces a factory-like fi nish.

Th e parts department receives a 45-ft. van trail-

er of parts each day. Th e daily delivery is broken

down by branch, and then shipped out. “As soon as

we built the [warehouse] building, it was too small,”

Kramer says, so they added a cold storage area.

Experienced PartsOther businesses may have used parts, but

Kramer Ltd. has “Experienced Parts,” something for

which Kramer is known around North America. It’s

a separate building, with a warehouse full of items

such as wrecked engines, frames, torque converters

and the like.

Th e third building includes a radiator repair fa-

cility. Again, it was a case where they weren’t satis-

fi ed with sending that work out to other shops, so

it was brought in-house 10 years ago. “It’s not high

tech, but it’s so strategic,” Kramer says of the wa-

ter recycling system. Th ey can straighten fi ns, repair

leaks, test and paint radiators.

Similarly, an air fi ltration area was brought into

the same building two years ago. Th e cleaner revers-

es the air fl ow, blowing out the accumulated dirt out

of the air fi lter as it is spun on a device similar to a

high speed lathe. Th ere’s a special room where fi lters

are baked as part of the cleaning process. Filters are

tested before being sold. An air fi lter can be reused

several times now, whereas they used to be simply

thrown away. Th e manager of the air fi lter cleaning

facility is a third generation worker with the com-

pany. Both Kevin Rittinger’s father and grandfather

were early purchasing agents. Kevin’s father, Ken, is

now the asset manager with the fi rm.

Vertical integration a quality control strategyVertical integration a quality control strategy

The large yellow piece on the right is the ripper apparatus for a 24H min-ing grader.

A welder works on the massive hook for a 589 pipelayer. The frame of the machine, on the right, has recently been sand blasted; part of a rebuild-ing process that will make the machine so much like new, it will be given a new serial number.


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Redvers – If you waited to get tick-

ets for the keynote speech of Redvers

Oil Showcase by Brett Herman, you’re

out of luck. Sponsorship has been so

strong for the event, to be held May

7-8, that they’re full up, as gold and

silver sponsors are each given a certain

allotment of tickets.

As of April 20, the showcase was

just about fi lled to its inside capacity

of 68 booths, and had 28 outdoor dis-

plays. Even so, calls were still coming

in. “It’s a continual, every day thing.

Within the last hour, I got four calls,

and one gold sponsor 15 minutes ago,”

said Colette Branigan, Redvers eco-

nomic development offi cer.

Indeed, they have nearly doubled

their sponsorship, compared to the

previous event two years ago.

Th e highlight of the event will be

a speech by Brett Herman, one of the

top executives responsible for growth

in the Bakken play.

Herman, president and CEO of

Result Energy until it was purchased

by PetroBakken in January, and former

head of TriStar Oil & Gas, will be the

guest speaker at 6 p.m. on May 7.

Th e event will take place at the

Redvers Recreation Centre.

Th e trade show opens to the public

at noon on, May 7, and is open until

4 p.m., allowing for the evening’s fes-

tivities to get underway. On May 8, the

morning kicks off with an exhibitor’s

breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Th e trade show will start at 10 a.m. and

wrap up at 4 p.m.

Also on the agenda is a fi re ex-

tinguisher safety course, to be put on

by Safety Source. Th e Virden, Man.-

based company has recently opened a

Redvers location.

Lot give-awayOne of the highlights of the last

Redvers Oil Showcase, held in 2008,

was the giving away of a commercial

lot in town to one of the exhibitors.

Classic Vac of Alida won the draw,

and ended up building a shop. Th e new

facility now is home to a new TS&M

Supply facility in addition to Classic

Vac.

It was a major coup for the small

town, scoring two new businesses. Th e

organizers are hoping to repeat their

previous success, off ering up another

lot along Highway 13. Th is one will be

just west of the new John Deere deal-

ership under construction, and there

will be an adjacent lot available for

purchase, if the winner decides they

would like more space than the 75-ft.

by 300-ft. lot.

However, if the winner decides to

forego the lot, they will have the option

of accepting a $2,500 travel voucher.

Redvers Oil Showcase May 7-8

A eet to be seenThe Fast Trucking eet at Carnduff is rarely seen all together like this, ex-cept during breakup. This photo captures just a portion of it.


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634-3009 Estevan

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634-314467 Devonian Street, Estevan, Saskatchewan

Estevan – Twenty-

fi ve years ago, Ed Turn-

bull started out with

a Bobcat and a dump

truck, doing landscap-

ing. From that humble

beginning, and through

several very tough years,

Estevan-based Turnbull

Excavating has grown to

a fl eet of several dozen

units and a Redi-Mix

plant. Th e company cele-

brated the opening of its

new Redi-Mix concrete

plant, on March 25, as

well as 25 years business.

Turnbull’s father used

to run the local Imperial

Oil bulk fuel operation in

Estevan. Ed began work-

ing for the family fi rm

after school, and stayed

for eight years. However,

the loss of a key contract

in 1986 meant the small

company had to down-

size. He had been do-

ing landscape work for a

year to that point on the

side. “Th ere was more

opportunity in the con-

struction business than

bulk petroleum,” he said

“Our hands were pretty

much tied for expansion.

When we lost the mine

contract, we really only

had work for one truck.

It was more important

for the other worker with

a big family to support to

keep his job.”

With that, Turnbull

decided to strike out on

his own in 1985.

“I’d been doing

landscaping when I

was working with him.

When I left, I started on

the construction side,”

he recalled. Small con-

tractors were the clien-

tele.

Ed was originally

partners with his late

brother Garry for the

fi rst few years, before

eventually buying him

out. Garry stayed on for

seven years after that,

but later took a job in

the oilpatch.

“We got on steady

with ASL paving. We

did a lot for them, and

learned a lot, about base

work and compaction,”

he added.

Page C7

Turnbull Excavating celebrates 25 years

Heather and Ed Turnbull are the owners of Turnbull Redi-Mix and Turnbull Excavating. In addition to running the business, the pair are active in the community. Shortly after this photo was taken, Heather was off to work on the local Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society, of which Turnbull Redi-Mix is a leading sponsor. Ed has spent many years active with the Estevan Motor Speedway.


Serving Southeast Saskatchewan, Southwest Manitoba &

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Page C6Rough start

Th e fi rst few years

were rough – hanging on

by the skin of your teeth

rough.

“Th ings were so

tough in our fi rst year.

Th ere was no snow in the

fi rst year.” Th at meant no

snow clearing, and no

winter revenue.

It made for a de-

pressing winter. Th ey

desperately needed to do

repairs on their equip-

ment, but had no money

to do it with. “Th at was

about the only thing we

could do – sweep the

fl oor. We didn’t know

what spring would be

like,” said Turnbull.

Spring turned out to

be a slow start. “What are

we going to do?” Garry

asked his brother.

“Get in the truck

with me, we’re going for

a ride,” Ed responded.

Th ey drove around

from construction site

to construction site, of-

fering their services. In a

few hours, they had lined

up two days of work.

“After that, it took off ,”

he said.

“We were at the

point where it was go

to work or have to bor-

row money to operate,

and there wasn’t a banker

around that would lend

to us, because we didn’t

have any receivables.”

“We started with

Bobcat and a dump

truck. We expanded and

bought a second Bobcat

and a second dump truck.

We needed more capacity

on the loading end, and

in 1987, we purchased a

loader from Case Power

and Equipment,” he ex-

plained.

Th ere was one prob-

lem. Th ey had no money.

“Case had a program on

new equipment where you

could fi nance your down

payment over six months,”

noted Turnbull. It was a

big purchase for the fl edg-

ling company - $54,000,

and those initial payments

were $2,400 a month.

Th ey delivered the

loader and the next day, the

salesman came along to

sign the agreement. How-

ever, Turnbull was driving

truck for someone else at

the time, and couldn’t get

away from it, so the sales-

man had to hop in for the

ride. “Th e fi nance agree-

ment was signed at the

corner of 2nd Street and

8th Avenue,” he recalled.

Page C8

"Get in the truck, we're going for a ride"

The new Turnbull Redi-Mix plant was built rst, and then the building was built around it. The challenge was to do the construc-tion while the plant was still in operation. Ed Turnbull got into concrete when digging basements led to a need to supply the concrete, as well.


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Page C7Th e loader was a big

help. “At that point, I was

able to dig basements, and

do bigger jobs. It worked

out quite well.”

His wife Heather,

who co-owns the business

and does work behind the

scenes, was supportive, he

said. “She knew that we

needed it, that we were

growing, and we were bus-

ier and busier.”

To this point, they

only had three staff , the

two Turnbull brothers, and

Terry Schwartz, employee

No. 1. “He’s still with us

today. He’s an operator/

driver,” said Turnbull.

Early projects

“We were fortunate

enough to go into business

at a time when the Raff er-

ty Dam and Shand Power

station were built.”

Th ose two projects,

plus riprap work at the

Mainprize causeway kept

them afl oat.

Th e Mainprize work

was brutally hard on their

equipment, but it was wel-

come work. “We loaded

rock from a farmer’s fi eld,

which was a really tough

job. We’d work all week,

and braced it up and weld

iron into the fl oor [of the

box] on the weekend,”

Turnbull said.

Th ose three projects

got them on their feet.

However, over the

years, there never seems

to have been a time when

they were fl ush. “We’ve

never had money in the

bank. We’ve been trying

to keep up with the times

as we expanded. Once in a

while, we’d buy a new piece

[of equipment],” he said.

Turnbull Motor SportsTh e lack of snow made

the winters tough, but in

1989, there was a change.

“It actually snowed that

winter, and there was no

one in the snowmobile re-

pair business,” Ed said. He

had four full time employ-

ees, including some talent-

ed, experienced repair peo-

ple. Th ey were put to work

fi xing snow machines.

He was off ered a Po-

laris dealership, and initial-

ly turned them down, then

reconsidered. Th at led to

the birth of Turnbull Mo-

tor Sports, which would

become an RV dealer. Th e

shop they had at the time

is where this newspaper is

now printed today.

By 1995, he wanted

out, but it took fi ve years

to sell Turnbull Motor

Sports.

Backhoe and concreteTh e next big step on

the excavating side was a

backhoe. Th ere were sever-

al other companies in town

doing similar dirt work,

and they all had back-

hoes, giving them the abil-

ity to do sewer and water

work. Developers wanted

the same company to dig

basements and install the

sewer and waterlines, not

just dig the basement.

“We were getting into

trouble with basements,

because we didn’t sell

concrete. Th ere was only

one concrete operation in

town,” said Turnbull.

Th at led to the 1990

purchase of a mobile mixer,

essentially a small concrete

plant on wheels, able to do

small batches with mini-

mal wastage. Th ey now

have two units like that,

and Turnbull feels strongly

that they have their place,

despite the fact the com-

pany now has a complete

Redi-Mix plant.

“Th e customers like

them,” he said. “Th ey’re

very convenient for home

owners and remote jobs.

You pour what you need,

shut it off and go home,

only charging for what he

uses. Th ey work quite well

for small jobs.”

ExpansionAt this stage, they

started getting into bigger

equipment, adding an ex-

cavator. Th e fl eet has since

grown to include four ex-

cavators, two backhoes, a

dozer, a grader, a scraper,

eight loaders, eight cement

trucks (including two on-

site mixers and six drum

mixers), fi ve dump trucks,

eight semis and trailers,

and an assortment of other

equipment. Recently they

acquired directional bor-

ing equipment, the fi rst to

be based in Estevan.

Th ey are now in their

sixth shop, and are plan-

ning to move into a new

one by this fall, on the east

side of Estevan. Turnbull

had put together his own

crew to assemble the shell

of the Redi-Mix plant over

the mixing unit while it

was still in operation. Now

they will go to work on the

new shop. Th e east side of

Estevan will work out bet-

ter for much of their haul-

ing, avoiding having to

drive through the down-

town with semis. “We’re

really on the wrong side of

town,” he said of the cur-

rent west-side location.

Th e Redi-Mix plant will

remain where it is, but the

current shop will eventu-

ally have new tenants.

In recent years, the oil-

patch has become a grow-

ing part of their business.

“Mostly sand and gravel,

site and lease cleanups,”

Turnbull said, adding they

also do some contaminat-

ed soil hauling.

Th ey’ve just about

completed their Cer-

tifi cate of Recognition

(COR), and have been

getting the staff up to

speed on safety.

“We didn’t start out in

the oilfi eld, but now we’re

into it,” he concluded.

Timing an important role in the beginning


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Estevan – On the

weekends during the

summer, it’s a sure bet

you’ll fi nd the Turnbull

family at Estevan Motor

Speedway, driving modi-

fi ed cars on the dirt track.

It’s a family aff air for

the Turnbulls. Ed, the pa-

triarch, started racing in

his teens. He did some

dirt bike racing until a

spill put him in the hos-

pital, then he chose to

stick to four wheels.

“I got adapted to

that at a very young age. I

had an older brother that

messed around with that

for a year. I was attracted

to the competition part. It

grew on me,” he said.

He put together a car

with some buddies, and

raced at the old speedway,

south of Estevan. “Once

you get it into your blood,

it’s hard to get rid of,” he

added.

Ed and Heather

Turnbull’s sons Tyson and

Aaron both race as well.

Tyson works with Turn-

bull Excavating, where he

runs pretty much every

piece of equipment the

company has, and often

fi lls in as a backup. Aaron

owns and operates Future

Signs, an Estevan sign

shop. Aaron is frequently

seen on the leader board

of the local race track.

“We spend the ma-

jority of our time together

in the evenings and week-

ends. It’s a good family

sport. Th e kids grew up

in it.”

All three Turnbulls

race in the modifi ed class,

with Ed driving the or-

ange No. 10 EH, Aaron

in No. 21, and Tyson in

the pink and black No.

10.

“When I’m at the

track, or even on the way

there, it clears your mind

of everything,” Ed said.

He was one of a

number of volunteers

who worked on putting

together the new mo-

tor speedway. Th e land

was donated by the local

mine, and they got several

fi rms on board. “I went

out there and did most of

the design for the track,”

he noted. “It was such a

group eff ort, I don’t think

it could have happened

anywhere else. And it was

all donated. Companies

came forward.”

You’ll nd them at the trackYou’ll nd them at the track

All three of the racing Turnbulls can be seen in this picture. In car 21 on the top is Aaron, while right behind him in the centre is Tyson, driving car 10. On the bottom is their father, Ed, in car 10eh.



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Family Business Since 1985

Gainsborough – Just about everyone in the Shaw

family of Gainsborough ended up in some sort of

entrepreneurial capacity over the years. Two of the

six Shaw children, Hank and Scott, run a successful

earth moving business today, one that has seen the

oilpatch become their major market.

Hank and Scott own and operate Shaw Earth

Moving Inc., a Gainsborough-based company that’s

grown from one scraper to a fl eet of over 30 pieces of

iron. Hank is 53, while Scott is 49.

“We’ve been in business for 35 years,” said Hank,

speaking for his brother Scott, who was away at the

time of the interview on April 16. “It was 1975 when

we bought our fi rst ‘buggy.’”

“When we fi rst started, we were doing all RM

work.”

In the mid-1990s, they started to get into the

oilfi eld, which soon accounted for a quarter of their

work. Now, 15 years later, the numbers have reversed.

Th e oilpatch now accounts for three quarters of their

business over the last two or three years.

“We primarily build leases, lease roads, and do

sand and gravel,” Hank explained.

Th eir main operations are run out of Gainsbor-

ough, but they have a small satellite operation of

truck and backhoe based at Carlyle, where Scott calls

home.

“Our main work goes from here to No. 1 High-

way to the north, and over to Weyburn. We do some

into Manitoba, mainly the CNRL fi eld around Pier-

son, and some around Sinclair,” Hank said.

“We’ve been really good the last three years, last

year was one of our busier years,” he added, pointing

out that federal infrastructure stimulus money has

been welcome. “We did more RM work.”

Th ey also benefi ted from good weather last fall,

which plays a major role with their scraper work.

Th at said, he anticipates 2010 will be busier, not-

ing 2010 is going to surpass 2008.

Page C11

35 years in the business,

Hank Shaw and his brother Scott own and operate Shaw Earth Moving Inc. Scott was unavailable for the photo.


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Daryl Burnett, standing, once asked if he could bring his tools to work, and has since spent most of his time in the shop of Shaw Earth Moving Inc. He also runs a grader occasionally. Bill Scott, seated, spends most of his time on this grader, which he is re lling with oil.

the last 15 in oilpatch Page C10 Th e fl eet is now made up of eight

scrapers, 13 dozers, four graders, two loaders, three

backhoes, an excavator, a sheepsfoot packer, two tan-

dem gravel trucks, an end dump, a belly dump, and

two lowboys. With so much iron, one truck is now

dedicated to lowboy hauling.

Off to the auctionTwo more dozers are on their way, picked up at

auction in Texas. One’s a D6T, the other is a D8T.

Hank regularly attends the big heavy equipment auc-

tions held by Ritchie Bros, where they pick up the

majority of their equipment. Of the recent purchase,

he noted, a D6 works better in the spring, while a D8

shines while ripping in winter.

“I’ll go to two or even three sales every year,”

Hank said.

“A lot of our equipment we buy with 3,000 to

5,000 hours. It’s getting down into our price range

that we can pay over fi ve years, and usually has a new

undercarriage.”

Pieces are typically disposed of once they get to

the 12,000 to 14,000 hour mark, hopefully before

major engine or transmission work is needed. “We’ll

put 1,500 hours a year on Cats,” he commented.

Th e company was originally founded by Hank

and Scott’s father, Jim Shaw, Sr. He farmed, had an

equipment dealership, and eventually bought a scrap-

er after working for another company.

Jim Shaw Sr., worked for RMs, running grader,

then for an Oxbow contractor, along with Hank. “We

bought a buggy in 1975. Th e next year, we were on

our own.”

Jim Shaw Sr., passed away in 1983.

“We got working around 1977 with Wes Carson

out of Whitewood. We worked together with him

until 1992.”

“By then we were up to about three or four bug-

gies and a Cat, a fairly small operation,” Hank re-

called, adding they had built roads all over east cen-

tral Saskatchewan. Page C12

C12 PIPELINE NEWS May 2010

Estevan Office:Phone: (306) 634-2681Fax: (306) 636-7227

WEYBURN SASKATCHEWAN - 306-842-8901ESTEVAN SASKATCHEWAN - 306-634-8912

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4500 meters of 1.5”, and 6700 meters of 1.25”. 7 sets of Class II blowout preventers, including two

remote accumulators and Class III capabilities.

We are actively working in Southern Saskatchewan.

Please call us for a list of all the services we provide.

If you are looking for a dynamic new career and live in the

area, fax your resume with a driver’s abstract to 403-580-8906

Page C11 Th ey built their fi rst lease around 1994, and expanded quite a

bit into that in the next few years. “As we got a little more experience, a little more

opportunity came to us.”

Th ey built more roads at fi rst, he said. “Th ere was more money in oil than

RM work,” he noted, but also pointed out they never forgot their roots, working

for RMs.

Do a good job“Wes Carson used to say, ‘It doesn’t take any longer to do a good job than

a poor job.’ Th at’s important for RMs. One hundred good jobs can be forgotten

about, but that one poor job gets remembered.”

Even then, a lot of the RM work is oilpatch-driven. “We do a lot of RM roads

that are paid for by the oil company, from maintenance to construction.”

Entrepreneurial spirit is defi nitely a family aff air. Hank and Scott’s sister,

Cheryl-Anne, owns an insurance agency that used to be run by their mother

Eloise. CA Shaw Insurance and Travel now has Gainsborough and Carnduff lo-

cations. Th at business was started by their grandfather.

Another sister, Judy, farmed with late husband, Bud. Cynthia, the third sister,

was a registered nurse, and used to own a store with her husband David. Cynthia

has since passed away.

As for Jim, Jr., he owned the Riverside Hotel in Gainsborough for many

years, before selling it in 2000.

Scott’s son Jamie currently runs buggy, having graduated from high school

last year. He’s looking at welding or mechanics, according to Hank, who adds he’d

like his son to see the world a bit, even though he has shown an interest in the

business.

In the summer time they have around 25 to 28 employees, and may have

more if they can fi nd them. Quite a number of their employees come from Mani-

toba, particularly from Deloraine, where about a half-dozen hail from. Th e com-

pany maintains two houses in town for accommodations.

However, most of the employees are local, with a few Alberta hands thrown

in.

With the end of breakup looming, things were already starting to ramp up.

“I’m going to have six Cats and three graders working next week, if it doesn’t get

wetter,” he said on April 16.

“We’re going to build a new shop and offi ce,” Hank forecast. “Th at’s on our

agenda. We’ve long outgrown our shop.”

“If you don’t get bigger all the time, you get left behind.”

Road builders nd growth in oilpatchHank Shaw, one of the owners of Shaw Earth Moving Inc. of Gainsbor-ough, talks with a Caterpillar mechanic about a pump replacement on a D6R dozer.

Estevan –Th ey start-

ed operations April 19,

and were working on

their fi rst building the

next day.

Integrated Th ermal

Solutions Inc., or ITS, is

a new building and insu-

lation company that just

fi red up in Estevan.

It’s owned by Brent

Gedak, but is a sepa-

rate and distinct opera-

tion from Brent Gedak

Welding. Both operate

from the same new shop

on the west side of Este-

van, where ITS will lease

space.

Mike Lavoie and

Kyle Luc are heading

up the operation, as the

respective fi eld and sales

managers. Combined, the

two have 15 years experi-

ence in industrial insula-

tion and metal buildings.

Th e company will start

with four people, and

both Lavoie and Luc will

be on the tools. Th ey will

have access to numerous

subcontractors.

Th e company con-

structs buildings out of

polyurethane insulated

panels. It’s essentially a

sandwich board, with

aluminum on each side.

Th ickness can vary from

1.5 to 6 inches, giving

corresponding R-values

of about R12 to about

R40, accordingly.

Th e panels are typi-

cally 33 to 48 inches

wide. When assembled,

aluminum channels are

used to join the panels

together. Th e walls are

self-supporting.

Roofi ng can be made

out of the same panels,

except that it is put onto

a welded truss system,

and a ridge cap is added.

“Once the roof is on, it’s

just like a house,” Lavoie

said.

Th e buildings can be

used for skid packages,

separators, water dispos-

als, or vessels. It can ei-

ther be prefabricated, or

assembled on-site.

ITS will also be

building ‘utilidors,’ basi-

cally insulated enclosures

around piping, so that

pipes do not need to be

insulated individually.

“It’s a complete, enclosed

building, like a mini-

building for pipes,” said

Lavoie.

“A big part of our

business will be pipe in-

sulation,” added Luc.

Th e company will

also off er spray foam in-

sulation and removable

covers.

“We’re not limited to

the oilpatch,” Luc said,

“Th ese panel buildings

can be used in agricul-

ture, garages, commercial

or residential. It could be

a doghouse if you want-

ed.”

He added, “We’re

not limited as to where

we can go. We’re willing

to serve Western Cana-

da.”

When asked why

get into the insulation

business, Gedak said it

is complementary to his

other business. “Th ere is

a market for this, and an

opportunity.

“I see potential in

these two guys, and

they’re going to run it

and manage it.”

Th e new shop has

built in anticipation of

the new insulation busi-

ness, and has doors large

enough to accommodate

some of the bigger pack-

ages.


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Cell: 421-2408

Calgary Sales Of ce: Tel: 403-237-7323 Fax: 403-263-7355

Chuck Haines, Technical SalesCell: 403-860-4660

Head Of ce:Estevan, Sask.

Tel: 634-3411 Fax: 634-6694Ray Frehlick, Manager

Cell: 421-1880Ken Harder

Warehouse ManagerCell: 421-0101

JASON LINGCarlyle, Sask.Cell: 421-2683

CHADSTEWART

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Swift Current Warehouse:Derek Klassen - Cell: 306-741-2447

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New insulated building operation

These panels have aluminum on the out-sides, and polyurethane in the middle. Combined, they make up the walls and roof of custom buildings that can go on things like skid packages or around pip-ing systems. Integrated Thermal Solu-tions Inc., or ITS, of Estevan, has just started operations producing these build-ings. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Photo submitted


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Early Safety Training

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Support safety training for young peopleWeyburn Golf Club – May 29For more info or to register call 848-2559

ATV Training

Assiniboia – May 29Weyburn – May 31

Backhoe Operator

Assiniboia – May 12

Cargo Securement

Weyburn – May 5

Confi ned Space Estevan – May 5; 13; 25Weyburn – May 17Oxbow – May 10Whitewood – May 7

Construction Safety Training

System (CSTS)

Assiniboia, Estevan, Weyburn, and Whitewood

Crawler Operator


Excavator Operator


Fall Protection Awareness – ½ day


Fire Control on the Spot

Estevan – May 4

First Aid (Standard)

& CPR & AED

Estevan – May 3-4; 8-9; 18-19; 25-26

Weyburn – May 3-4; 10-11; 27-28Whitewood – May 3-4Carlyle – May 22-23Oxbow – May 12-13Assiniboia – May 20-21Indian Head – May 18-19

First Aid/CPR Refresher &

AED (must have a current

certifi cate)

Estevan – May 11Assiniboia – May 19

Forklift Assessment

Contact your local campus

for more information

Forklift Operator

Weyburn – May 13Assiniboia – May 15

Front End Loader

Operator


Grader Operator


Ground Disturbance Level II Estevan – May 12Weyburn – May 12Redvers – May 31Whitewood – May 6Indian Head – May 20

General Oilfi eld Driver

Improvement (GODI)

Estevan – May 18

H2S Alive

Estevan – May 6; 20; 27Weyburn – May 5; 14; 26Whitewood – May 5Oxbow – May 11Assiniboia – May 8

H2S Alive Challenge Weyburn – May 21

Heavy Equipment Operator Weyburn – June 15-July 23Indian Head – May 18-June 18Indian Head – July 5-Aug 6

Motivating Employees

Whitewood – May 27-28

Motorcycle Training NEW!!

Estevan – May 14-16

Off Highway Defensive Driving

Weyburn – May 7

OH&S

Weyburn – May 6Assiniboia – May 26Whitewood – May 29 pm

Petroleum Safety Training (PST)

Assiniboia, Estevan, Weyburn & Whitewood

Rights & Responsibilities

(R & R)

Estevan

TDG or WHMIS On-line

Transportation of Dangerous

Goods (TDG)

Weyburn – May 7Estevan – May 19

Truck Driver Training

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Regina, Saskatoon

– A broader focus on

multiple sectors has Ko-

matsu well positioned

for growth in Saskatch-

ewan, according to Fred

Hnatiw, Saskatchewan

operations manager for

SMS Equipment based

in Saskatoon.

S a s k a t c h e w a n ’ s

Komatsu dealer, SMS

Equipment was formed

in 2008 by the amal-

gamation of Transwest

Mining, Federal Equip-

ment and Coneco. Glob-

ally, Komatsu is one of

the largest heavy equip-

ment manufacturers.

SMS has two Sas-

katchewan branches,

Regina and Saskatoon,

with about 28 employees

inclusive.

“Th e trend in 2010

is looking positive again

as activity in the oil-

patch heats up,” Hnatiw

told Pipeline News. “Th e

future in Saskatchewan

is bright in all sectors –

mining, forestry, oil and

gas, road building and

infrastructure.”

“We are seeing in-

creased activity in all

those sectors.”

Hnatiw said that in

the past, the southern

branch focused on min-

ing, while the northern

branch had its eyes on

forestry. Now, they are

broadening their hori-

zons.

Cliff Jones looks af-

ter the Regina branch of

SMS, having moved to

the Queen City last year

after a two-year stint in

Yellowknife, NWT.

Jones said the oil-

patch is a substantial por-

tion of their Saskatch-

ewan business, about 35

per cent overall. Out of

their Regina location,

it’s about half. “It’s really

grown in the last three to

four years,” he said.

Most of the equip-

ment the oilpatch has

been buying from them

falls under three types

– dozers, wheel loaders

and excavators.

Dozers are typically

mid-sized. Th e loaders

are usually the WA 150,

200 and 250 series, and

will often see work on

drilling rigs or in road

building. Excavators can

vary in size from the

PC 200 to the PC 300

range. Excavators tend

to be numbered accord-

ing to weight in metric

tonnes, with a PC 200

being roughly 20 metric

tonnes, and a PC 300

being about 30 metric

tonnes.

As for dozers, D65

and D85 models are

common, mid-sized doz-

ers, at 200 hp and 246 hp

respectively.

A new grader model

is anticipated in the com-

ing months, a heavier de-

sign, Jones said. “As this

new model comes out, it

will be a new ball game,”

he said.

Do Saskatchewan

clients prefer new or

used? Th at depends on

the economy, according

to Jones. “Last year, we

sold a lot of used equip-

ment versus new, due to

the economy.”

He noted there was a

lot of used equipment on

the market. “Now, we’re

seeing some good pricing

on new,” he said, point-

ing out that the Cana-

dian dollar’s rise against

the U.S. dollar has made

equipment more aff ord-

able.

Komatsu’s equip-

ment is manufactured

worldwide. “Sometimes

we get a crawler from

Brazil. Wheel loaders

are being manufactured

out of South Carolina,”

Hnatiw said.

Page C15

Future bright in all sectors for Komatsu

There’s plenty of visibility from the cab of a Ko-matsu 155AX dozer.

C15PIPELINE NEWS May 2010

DUSTIN DUNCAN, MLAWeyburn - Big Muddy

35-5th Street NE, Weyburn, SK S4H [email protected]

(Tel) 842-4810(Fax) 842-4811

(Toll Free) 1-877-842-4810www.dduncan.ca

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Excavators, dozers and wheel loaders are the usual pieces of iron Sas-katchewan’s oilpatch is looking for when it comes to SMS Equipment, the local Komatsu dealer.

Page C14Komatsu will send

equipment from wher-

ever they need to in or-

der to satisfy demand,

according to Hnatiw.

KomtraxTelemetry systems

are becoming more com-

monplace on highway

trucks and even passen-

ger vehicles. For the past

four years, Komatsu has

off ered the Komtrax sys-

tem, as a standard option

on all its machines, simi-

lar in concept to General

Motor’s OnStar system.

According to Hnatiw, the

GPS/telemetry system

not only tracks location,

but can be a key com-

ponent in maintenance.

Th at’s because its satellite

communications ability

will let the owners know

what’s going on with the

machine. “It’ll send us an

error message if there’s

a fault code, calculate

operator use, and even

give how many hours in

power mode, economy

mode, or idling. It’s great

for fl eet management,”

Hnatiw explained.

It will even tell you

when it needs periodic

maintenance, like oil

changes.

Hnatiw added there

is no charge to the equip-

ment owner for the ser-

vices. “It’s a phenomenal

piece of software.”

He’s even tracked a

piece of equipment from

the time it left the facto-

ry, following its progress

along the highway to the

delivery point.

“Most guys say, ‘I

don’t need it,’ until they

have it.”

Th en they don’t know

what they did without it,

according to Hnatiw.

“Komatsu is a tech-

nology driven company,”

he concluded.

Komtrax calls home


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Gainsborough – When

a piece of heavy equipment

is in need of serious repair,

it’ll be put on a lowboy

and sent to the ‘hospital,’

or shop. However, a lot of

the time the ‘doctor’ does

house calls.

Th at’s the role of fi eld

service technicians like

Rick Davies, who works

out the of the Estevan

branch of Kramer Ltd.,

Saskatchewan’s Caterpil-

lar dealer. Pipeline News had the opportunity to go

out with Davies on a ser-

vice call to Gainsborough,

where two of Shaw Earth

Moving Inc.’s dozers were

‘sick,’ and in need of repair.

For most oilpatch com-

panies, spring break-up is

spent doing maintenance,

ramping up for the sum-

mer season.

Davies is a journey-

man heavy duty mechan-

ic, having worked with

Kramer Ltd. for several

years, fi rst as an appren-

tice, then as a journeyman.

Assisting him on this day,

April 16, was fi rst year ap-

prentice B. J. Bolen.

“I’m a designated

fi eld service tech,” Davies

explained as he plucked

tools from his toolbox.

He drives a Ford F-550

truck equipped with a

service body, air compres-

sor, and crane. When you

work with big equipment,

you need big tools. Davies

fi nds himself working in

Kramer’s shop, in other

companies’ shops, or in the

fi eld, repairing anything

from small skid-steer

loaders to large D11 doz-

ers at the local coal mines.

He has large air tools

up to 3/4 inch drive, and

“as many tools as I can

buy.” Th e majority of the

hand tools are Davies’

own personal collection,

but nothing out of the or-

dinary. Any specialty tools

come out of the shop, as

needed.

While he’ll have

some standard parts, like

bolts and hose clamps, the

wide variety of equipment

he may encounter limits

what he can carry. “Th ere

are too many kinds of

machines to carry all

the fuel fi lters, stuff like

that,” he explained. “If

this machine was in the

fi eld, we’d take air fi lters

and fuel fi lters for the

machine, if that’s what

we need. It is the cus-

tomer’s dime, so fewer

trips are better.

Page C17

The ‘doctor’ does house callsThe ‘doctor’ does house calls

Journeyman heavy duty mechanic Rick Davies swaps out a HEUI pump on a D6R dozer. Davies is a eld service technician with Kramer Ltd., Saskatchewan’s Caterpillar dealership.

A service truck for a heavy duty mechanic is like a shop on wheels.


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Page C16“We usually pack a lunch.”

Th ey run 12 hour shifts, and

have 24-hour on call service. “If a

drilling rig is down at two in the

morning, we will go out there,” he

said.

For this job, Bolen is tasked

with removing the starter on a

D8T, while Davies tackles a hy-

draulic electronic unit injection

pump, or HEUI. In this case, Da-

vies brought out a pump and in-

jectors, as well as a starter.

Th ere was a time when some

of the more sophisticated tools for

mechanical diagnosis included a

stethoscope to listen to the engine.

Th ese days, Davies said, “It’s all

done by laptop. You do electronic

tests with the system. You can usu-

ally identify a problem, say with a

pump or injector.

“I always have a laptop with

an air card, so we can order parts

from the fi eld.

“It depends on what you’re

trouble shooting. Sensors are usu-

ally pass/fail. Th ey’re usually pretty

accurate.”

It’s also easier if you’re not

approaching the problem blind.

“Most operators are good at say-

ing ‘Th is is what it’s doing,’” he

said. Sometimes it’s easy, other

times, there is a lot more trouble-

shooting involved. “Sometimes it’s

‘Th e engine isn’t sounding right,’”

he added.

Even with all the electronics,

it’s still very much a hands-on job,

as Davies sits on the less-than-

comfortable tracks, pulling out

the HEUI pump from the engine

compartment of the D6R. Within

about four hours on site, the repair

is nearing completion.

A typical service call will run

from a couple of hours to a day

and a half, according to Davies.

Th e typical pattern is to go out,

troubleshoot the problem, get the

parts, and return to install them.

Davies took his training at the

Kelsey campus of the Saskatche-

wan Institute of Applied Sciences

and Technology. You can say turn-

ing wrenches is in his blood. “My

dad was a mechanic at SaskPower,”

he said.

Davies is from Estevan, and

has spent most of his life there, ex-

cept for schooling.

B.J. Bolen, a rst year heavy duty mechanic apprentice with Kramer Ltd., gets under a D8T dozer to get up close and personal with a troublesome starter.

Following a heavy duty Following a heavy duty mechanic in the eldmechanic in the eld


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Saskatoon – Moody’s Equipment of Saskatoon got into heavy equipment six

years ago, and is continuing to grow the line, with the opening of a new location

at Balzac, Alta., near Calgary this past January.

In mid-April, the company also opened a new facility for its agriculture side

at Unity.

Moody’s is a New Holland dealership which started in Perdue, but is now

headquartered in Saskatoon.

New Holland refers to their heavy equipment line-up as their construction

side. It was launched in 1998, but really has been around for several decades, un-

der various brands. Th ere was a Ford backhoe, for instance, as well as a Fiat wheel

loader. A New Holland skid-steer loader was prototyped around the same time

Bobcat came out with their initial model. Now those brands have been consoli-

dated under one brand, New Holland Construction.

Parent company CNH also has a Case line of heavy equipment, but that is

distinct from the New Holland Construction division.

Moody’s was started by the Moody brothers – Burke, Darrel and Pat. Burke

has retired as president, Pat left in 2004, and Darrel is still a silent partner.

Of the new ownership, John Mathison is the senior partner among eight

partners. He said a lot of agriculture customers’ needs overlapped into using con-

struction-type equipment, such as skid-steer loaders and backhoes. Page C19

Moody’s Construction line growing,new Balzac location opened in January

Saskatoon-based Moody’s Equipment opened a new location at Balzac, Alta., near Calgary in January. Photo submitted


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Page C18Moody’s Equipment

got into the construc-

tion side in 2004 after

being in business for

over 35 years on the ag-

riculture side. “We saw

it as another opportuni-

ty to build the business,”

explained Aaron Gross,

construction sales man-

ager for Moody’s.

Th e bulk of the deal-

ership’s business is agri-

culture. Of their approx-

imately 140 employees,

there are about a dozen

workers strictly dedicat-

ed to construction, plus

administration, parts

and service personnel

who are shared by both

divisions.

Moody’s has loca-

tions spread throughout

the western side of the

province. Th e construc-

tion locations are Saska-

toon, Lloydminster, and

Balzac. Olds, Alta, will

become a construction

location as well, accord-

ing to Mathison, who

said it is in the works for

this year.

Last year Moody’s

bought Alberta-based

Belsher Equipment,

giving them locations

in High River, Olds and

Calgary. Th e Calgary site

was not a good location,

and was very tight to get

in and out of, according

to Mathison, necessitat-

ing the move to Balzac.

Th at location is about

evenly split between ag-

riculture and construc-

tion. “We had to move

it out of town to get ac-

cess to more wide open

streets,” he said.

Having agricultural

location spread all over

the place helps as these

can be used as support

stores for ordering parts

and the like.

For service, the

company has several

mechanics trained for

both the agriculture and

construction sides. Th ey

have fi ve service trucks

based in Saskatoon,

three in Lloydminster,

three in Balzac, and a

satellite at Rosetown

that services the Kinder-

sley-Kerrobert area.

Mathison said they

had to upgrade their

service trucks, because

the demands of con-

struction are greater

than agriculture. Th ey

needed service bodies

and cranes on the trucks

to work on excavators,

for instance.

However, because

so much of their equip-

ment out there is new

and under warrantee,

there aren’t a lot of re-

pairs needed just yet.

Most of Moody’s

clientele in the oilpatch

to date has been in

general oilfi eld main-

tenance, according to

Gross.

Moody’s terri-

tory for New Holland

Construction is north-

ern Saskatchewan and

eastern and southern

Alberta. Th ey also carry

Kobelco excavators for

all of Saskatchewan and

most of Alberta. Kobel-

co excavators have the

pioneering Bladerun-

ner design, with a six-

way dozer blade and a

beefed-up undercarriage

to match. It’s an excava-

tor and dozer, wrapped

into one.

Th e Bladerunner is

easily their best moving

excavator, according to

Gross.

Moody’s also car-

ried Sakai compaction

equipment.

Breaking into a mar-

ket with a new brand

product where there are

long established players

requires you to go out

and show your prod-

uct, according to Gross.

“We’re steadily increas-

ing our market share

each year, even last year,

in the down year. In ev-

ery category, everything

went up,” he said.

Th eir primary focus

has been on new equip-

ment sales. “We still do

quite a bit of rentals, or

rent-to-own.”

For bigger jobs, cli-

ents may come in and

rent some equipment,

and that in turn converts

into a sale. “Th e major-

ity end up buying out

the equipment,” Gross

said. “It’s a great way for

guys to try our product,

for a three to six month

rental, and then buy it

out.”

Th eir oilpatch cli-

ents tend to go for exca-

vators, backhoes, wheel

loaders, skid-steers, and

some smaller 95 hp doz-

ers for fi nishing work.

As for the future,

Mathison says they are

looking at another loca-

tion right now, but won’t

go into too much detail

just yet. “We see the

business continuing to

grow for us,” he said.

Moody’s Equipment of Saskatoon got into the heavy equipment business in 2004. Photo submitted

Mixing in a little bit of oil eld


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By Brian Zinchuk

Weyburn – Seeing an

opportunity in the ever-

growing fi eld of oilfi eld

safety, Wayne Ebel and

his wife Karol Ruckaber

decided to set up Edge

Safety in Weyburn.

Edge Safety & Sup-

ply Inc. started opera-

tions on Jan. 4, and held

its grand opening on

Mar. 25, with a barbecue

serving up burgers and

hot dogs for visitors.

Ebel is a fi xture in

the community, as owner

of United Centrifuge.

Ruckaber is the owner of

Edge Safety, while Ebel

acts as manager.

“We originally start-

ed Edge Oilfi eld Servic-

es in 2002. Its main fo-

cus was fi re extinguisher

rentals on drilling rigs

and selling and renting

H2S odour control sys-

tems,” explained Ebel.

In 2009, they

changed their focus to

be more safety related.

“With increased aware-

ness of safety, we noticed

there was no one that

carried any amount of

safety equipment for the

oil industry or construc-

tion industry in Wey-

burn,” Ebel said.

“We were ordering

safety gear. Why don’t

we have a store that sells

it here? Everyone’s going

to Regina, why not keep

that money here?” he

reasoned.

In addition to safety

equipment and training,

he added, “We decided

to expand our line into

oilfi eld supplies, focusing

on service rigs.”

Th ey now have items

like slings, tank truck

hoses, pipe valves and

fi ttings. At the far end

of the building is a hy-

draulic hose setup for

new hoses or repairing

existing hoses. Th ey still

carry H2S odour control

systems. Th e granular

substance reacts with

H2S, becoming sulphur,

dirt and water, Ebel ex-

plained.

“I was part of the

people trying to get the

Energy Training Institute

to come to Weyburn,” he

said. When that failed to

materialize, they decided

to off er their own train-

ing.

A key focus of the

business will be safe-

ty training. Th ere’s a

12-person classroom in

the building. Th ey’ve

brought on Morley Fors-

gren, who is former dep-

uty chief of the Weyburn

Fire Department. He’s

spent 22 years working

in emergency services,

fi rst aid and EMT for 12

years, then the last 10 with

the local fi re department.

“I came over to do

this, basically to do more

training,” he said.

Page C21

Edge Safety res up in Weyburn

In addition to safety gear, Edge Safety & Supply also stocks hardware for service rigs.


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634-6081

Wayne Ebel, manager of Edge Safety & Supply in Weyburn, displays large slings they now carry.

Page C20His certifi cations

fi ll a two-inch binder.

Among them are level II

fi refi ghter, hazmat tech,

fi re extinguisher and cer-

tifi ed fi re extinguisher

tech. He teaches fi rst aid,

WHMIS, TDG and will

soon be doing fall pro-

tection training. Forsgren

also can do face mask fi t

testing.

“I’m a certifi ed rope

rescue technician,” Fors-

gren added. “Fall protec-

tion and confi ned space is

something I delve into.”

“Most of my train-

ing is going out to their

equipment, and using

their equipment specifi -

cally.”

Ebel noted, “We

found an area where

Morley’s more fl exible

to train on evenings or

weekends to fi t with the

oilfi eld schedule. If oil-

fi eld workers are unable

to come here, we will go

to them, and use their fa-

cilities.”

Asked if there has

been a lot of uptake, Ebel

said, “Yeah, we’re provid-

ing training right now for

a number of local service

rig companies, plumbing

contractors, re-certifi ed

red cross volunteers and

seismic crews.”

In regards to safety

training, Forsgren noted,

“You can only do you job

if you know what you

need to do. Th e element

of an emergency is add-

ed stress. Th ey’ve got to

know what they need to

do in an emergency.”

“I’m a strong be-

liever in people know-

ing CPR and how to use

AEDs (automated exter-

nal defi brillators). In the

last year, we’ve had two

saves [locally] because of

AEDs.

It’s a busy time right

now for fi re extinguisher

maintenance. “Every-

body does their annuals

during breakup,” Ebel

said. “We brought in the

latest automated, state of

the art fi re extinguisher

recharging and hydro-

testing equipment.”

Th e company plans

on servicing southeast

Saskatchewan, primar-

ily the Weyburn region,

but up to and including

Carlyle.

Th ere are four em-

ployees, including Karie

Ruckaber, administra-

tion, Jeff Wagner, sales,

John Smolinski, sales,

and Forsgren in training.

Edge Safety offers safety and training supplies

John Smolinski services a re extinguisher with the latest in equipment refurbishment gear at Edge Safety & Supply.


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Regina – Bobcat

created the category of

skidsteer loaders, and to

this day, the name is syn-

onymous with that type

of equipment. And while

most heavy equipment

manufacturers focus on

being big, Bobcat focuses

on being small.

If you move dirt in

the oil patch, it’s a good

bet you have a Bobcat in

your fl eet, especially for

the close-in work.

Th ere are Bobcat

dealerships in Regina,

Saskatoon, Moose Jaw,

Yorkton, Kindersley and

Lloydminster within

Saskatchewan.

Gary Graham has

been with Bobcat for 28

years, working with dif-

ferent dealerships since

April, 1982. Most of

that time was in service,

but now he’s the general

manager for Bobcat of

Regina.

“I used to go down

to the factory and pick

them up,” he said.

Despite having a di-

versifi ed line that runs

from min-excavators

to small utility tractors,

the bread and butter is

still the old faithful. “It’s

mainly the skid-steer.”

Graham said. Units see

use in general construc-

tion, agriculture, and the

oilpatch as well.

Two models in par-

ticular are common, the

S185 and S250. Th e

model numbers are based

on lifting capacity. A

S185 will safely lift 1,850

lbs from top to bottom,

for instance. “It’s double

that for cab-high, before

it wants to tip over,” Gra-

ham explained.

Tracked versions,

with rubber tracks that

reduce ground pressure,

became available about

2000. Th ey are quite pop-

ular, and becoming more

so all the time, accord-

ing to Graham, account-

ing for about a third of

skid-steer sales. “Th ere’s

conditions like this – it’s

been raining for two days.

You’ll be able to go to

work sooner, because you

have fl oatation, whereas

with a rubber tire, you’ll

get stuck in the ruts,” he

said.

Th ere’s also an im-

provement in tipping

load.

One Moose Jaw cli-

ent went from three rub-

ber-tired units to three

tracked units. Th e result

was less down days and

the ability to lift more

products.

In recent years they

brought in a model of

skidsteer does something

novel – it actually steers,

as opposed to skidding.

A little wider that com-

parable models, both

axels can steer. It can also

be used in conventional

skid-steer mode. “Th is

sets us apart from anyone

else,” Graham said.

Most landscapers

have some form of skid-

steer loader. “In some

cases, they’re a glorifi ed

wheelbarrow, but they

save a lot of man-hours,”

Graham said.

Page C23

As common as a wrench in a toolbox

The safety bar across your lap is a key safety fea-ture of the Bobcat skidsteer loader.

The Toolcat combines features of a pickup truck, skidsteer loader, tractor and utility vehicle


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Page C22Th e list of possible attachments is almost as extensive as the imagination,

but some attachments are pretty common. Typical ones include a smooth bucket,

used for levelling and backfi lling. A toothed bucket is more for digging, and will

be the width of the machine. A smooth bucket might be a little larger. A snow

bucket is bigger yet.

“At some point or another, pretty much all do it,” Graham said of snow clear-

ing, explaining there’s not a lot of money in it. “For one, it doesn’t snow that often,

and it’s hard on guys.”

Augers are also common for digging holes.

Th en you get into the specialty attachments. Th ere are asphalt planers, pallet

forks, landscape rakes, rototillers, forestry cutters, the list goes on and on.

One attachment, a backhoe, grew into its own product line. In 1986, the com-

pany began to sell mini-excavators, small rubber-tracked machines that can get

into tight spaces and replace a lot of back-breaking shovel work.

A recent addition to the line is the Toolcat. It’s a utility vehicle that’s a com-

bination pickup truck, skid-steer loader, tractor and utility vehicle with four wheel

steering. Attachments can go on the front or back, and it has a box to carry your

load.

A utility vehicle will be introduced in June, Graham added.

Most Bobcat models are manufactured in North Dakota, where the company

is based. It got its start at Gwinner, ND, in the late 1950s, and has been there ever

since.

All Bobcats are diesel-powered and used Kubota engines.

“We now off er operator training, and we do that in house,” Graham said.

“Most people have run them for years, and it’s old hat.”

Th e training includes videos, a test, and practical hands on experience. Th ey

go over items like safety equipment, getting in and out, attachments, and driving.

Th e course takes most of a day, and they try to keep class sizes to eight at a time.

Gary Graham is the general manager of Bobcat of Regina. He’s been work-ing with various Bobcat dealers for 28 years.

Construction,agriculture,and the oilpatchare all onBobcat's resume


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LECLAIRTRANSPORT

General Oilfield Hauling

McTaggart – A dev-

astating fi re wiped out

the shop and half their

fl eet of lay-down trucks,

but Pipe Hustler of

McTaggart is back in

the swing of things and

beginning the rebuilding

process.

Until the Mar. 9 fi re,

Pipe Hustler had four

lay-down trucks, and a

spray truck, what they

call a spray hustler, ac-

cording to Jason Balab-

erde. He’s a partner in

the business, with his fa-

ther Les and uncle Dave

Balaberde.

McTaggart is a small

community 13 kilome-

tres northwest of Wey-

burn.

In addition to the

shop and two lay-down

trucks, several personal

vehicles were lost. “She

was a complete and to-

tal loss,” Balaberde ex-

plained.

“It was an electri-

cal fi re. Th e power box

shorted out.”

Jason had just talked

to Dave on the phone

at around 10 p.m. on

Mar. 9. He got a call 10

minutes later, saying the

shop was on fi re. Jason

lives in Yellowgrass, and

arrived around the same

time the Weyburn Fire

Department did. Th ey

had no fi re hydrants, and

could do nothing but

watch it burn. Th e im-

age of the fi re was seared

into Jason’s mind. “It was

pretty horrifi c,” he said,

noting it’s an image he’ll

remember for the rest of

his life.

It has been tough on

his father and uncle, too,

he added, but they’re on

the rebound now. “Work’s

starting to come. Break-

up’s over, we’re getting

busy.”

“Work just kind of

went crazy.”

Th ey have insurance,

but lay-down trucks are

hard to come by. Balab-

erde said they are the only

company in Saskatchewan

doing that type of work.

Th e plan is to fi nd another

used truck and bring the

fl eet back up to three.

Th ey are also work-

ing on quotes to rebuild

the shop, in the exact

same spot, he added.

Pipe Hustler on the reboundafter shop re

An electrical re destroyed Pipe Hustler’s shop, two lay-down trucks and several personal vehicles on Mar. 9.


106 Souris Ave. N., Estevan, Sask.

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

ASAS&& OILFIELD OILFIELD OPERATING LTD.OPERATING LTD.

Shelley Schroeder• Construction Safety Of cer

• Health & Safety Administrator

• External Safety Auditor

Cell: (306) 421-3351

Andy Schroeder• Battery Operating/Oil eld Consulting

•Construction & Pipeline Supervision

• Service Rig Supervision

Cell: (306) 421-9288

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Does your oilfield waste go to a safe place?

There is a safer way to dispose of your waste.

For more information Phone (306) 728-3636 Or look us up at www.plainsenvironmental.com

Did you know that Plains Environmental is the first class 1A rated disposal facility in Saskatchewan and that our facil ity secures your waste from ground, water, as well as airborne contamination?

Did you know that our facility is the only one in Saskatchewan fully licensed to accept Upstream, Midstream, Downstream, NORM and Industrial waste?

Spring BBQARC Resources held BBQ on April 16, 2010 at Cowan Oil eld shop in Gainsborough. The event was in appreciation for work done in the recent Goodlands, Man., project. Calgary reps were in attendance to deliver the appreciation speech and to give hand outs. Blaine Chrest and Jim Er-mantrout were on hand cooking steaks on their TS&M BBQ.

Photo submitted


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When you can’t be there,

Stay Close to Home.

3841 Eastgate Drive

Regina, Saskatchewan S4Z 1A5

Toll-free 1-877-522-4434

www.homesuites.ca

Gainsborough –

Many hotels in small

town Saskatchewan

these days are that in

name only. In reality,

they’re the local bar, and

stopped renting rooms

years ago. However,

the Riverside Hotel in

Gainsborough still does

rent rooms, as well as

cook up some pretty

good grub, to boot.

Just four kilome-

tres west of the Mani-

toba border, and 19 km

north of the U.S. bor-

der, Gainsborough is at

the extreme southeast

corner of the province.

Being a small farming

community, it ’s benefit-

ted greatly from having

the oilpatch around.

The Riverside Hotel at

lunchtime has plenty

of workers from lo-

cally operating Cowan

Oilfield Maintenance

and Shaw Earth Mov-

ing Inc., as well as other

firms, at the tables. “My

rooms are always full of

riggers,” said Veronica

Fisher, owner for the

past 10 years. “I’ve got

some guys from a rig

driving back and forth

from Frobisher because

they like the food,” she

added.

The rooms tend to

be full, except for dur-

ing road ban season.

“The the rooms are full,

that’s my gravy.”

However, some-

times the gravy is on

the food plates. Fisher

reports up to 100 peo-

ple coming in for wing

nights, and the Wednes-

day noon smorg is also

popular. They also have

a steak pit that runs

every night except for

some Sundays. It takes

two very large hands to

fully grasp their signa-

ture Riverside Burger.

Enough people come in

for the food to make up

for the slower years.

“The oil definitely

helps, and my rooms are

cheap,” she said.

A hotel that’s still a hotel

If you can manage to eat this huge home-made burger without requiring a few napkins, all the power to you. The Riverside Burger is a highlight of the menu at Riverside Hotel in Gainsborough.


#306 Wicklow Centre - 1133-4th Street, Estevan, SK#306 Wicklow Centre - 1133-4th Street, Estevan, SK

SUN VALLEY LAND LTD.

306-634-6684

www.sunvalleyland.ca • [email protected] Petroleum Ltd. and

the underwriters of a $25 million

bought deal subscription receipt fi-

nancing have agreed to increase the

size of the bought deal financing to

11.43 million subscription receipts

for aggregate gross proceeds of ap-

proximately $40 million.

In all other respects the terms

of the financing and use of pro-

ceeds will remain as previously

disclosed.

Renegade increases nancing

Edmonton – Tim

Cyr, who owns Nootka

Island Lodge on the

west coast of Vancouver

Island, hopes his recent

spring trade show tour of

Western Canada, hooks

new oil patch anglers to

test the prolifi c salmon

and halibut fi shing in

Nootka Sound this sum-

mer.

“We use to get a lot

of Americans, but we

don’t see quite as many

with their economy way

it is,” said Cyr, who was

interviewed while man-

ning a booth with his

son Matt at the Edmon-

ton Home and Garden

Show in March.

“Fortunately, we have

a pretty strong Canadian

group of people. We’ve

been doing a lot more

trade shows and stuff in

Canada, especially in Al-

berta and Saskatoon.

“We haven’t done

the home show before,

but thought we’d try a

diff erent venue. So far it’s

been good. Th ere is a lot

of interest and people are

stopping by.”

Nootka Island off ers

all inclusive packages for

individuals and groups.

As the web site

states, the rates include

two guests per boat with

a guide, all fi shing gear,

care of your catch, a room

and all meals.

More importantly,

Nootka Sound is known

for supporting large

number of prized Chi-

nook that can range in

size from 20 to 40 lbs.

“Fighting wise, it’s

about a pound a minute,”

said Cyr.

“We are fortunate in

that we have the second

biggest fi sh hatchery on

the coast in our sound,

so that helps to enhance

all the stocks. Fishing is

as good now as it was 30

years ago.

“Th e fi sh have to

come by us to get to the

rivers to spawn, so we are

very fortunate that way.

“Usually when they

start showing up, the

fi shing is consistent

throughout the season.

Th e forecast for the re-

turn looks bigger this

year.

“Th e fi shing season

begins in June, and we

go through to September

with Chinook, coho and

halibut all through that

timeframe.”

Th e Nootka Island

Lodge display booth is

plastered with photos of

happy anglers embrac-

ing their weighty catch

as proof the marketing

is real.

Cyr and his son

started their annual trade

show swing across the

west at Saskatoon Sports

and Leisure show in ear-

ly March with the wind

up at the Grande Prairie

Sports Expo in April.

“We are still after the

oilpatch client,” said Cyr.

“Th ere is lots of interest.

Th e only thing is with

northern Saskatchewan

and Alberta, we are com-

peting with the Prince

Rupert area for fi shing,

but it’s been good edu-

cating people about the

west coast of Vancouver

Island.

“Based on numbers

from the Department of

Fisheries and Oceans –

they do a catch to angler

ratio –our area is known

as one of the highest

catch to angler ratios.”

Th is season will mark

the 28th year that Tim

and his wife Sandy have

run the lodge along with

help from their daughter

Katie and son Matt and

his fi ancé Kym.

“We have been do-

ing this for 27 years, and

our repeat business is

very good and our word

of mouth from our re-

peat business is probably

our best advertising,”

said Cyr who lives in

Palm Springs in the off

season.

“We want to make

sure guests have a good

time to ensure they come

back.”

Nootka Island Lodge

was the subject of an ini-

tial Pipeline News story

last September shortly

after they began to ad-

vertise to the oil and gas

market in Saskatchewan

in the wake of the U.S.

economic downturn.

“We‘re getting some

interest from Pipeline News readers,” said Cyr.

“Th is is our second year,

so we will keep plugging

away, and hope we get

good responses from it.”

At the Saskatoon

Trade Show, Cyr gave

away a fi shing trip to the

Saskatchewan Wildlife

Federation to promote

the show and the lodge

and he did likewise in

Edmonton and Grande

Prairie.

Nootka Lodge is

more accessible than ever

for oilpatch workers es-

pecially for Albertans

who can fl y direct by

WestJet from Edmon-

ton or Calgary to Comox

on Vancouver Island in

about an hour and half –

at their own expense.

“From Comox, a lot

of people rent a car and

drive over to the other

side of the island,” said

Cyr. “It’s about an hour

and half drive and then

you jump on a fl oat plane,

and you are there in 10 or

15 minutes.”

Guests are allowed to

take home a total of eight

salmon and two halibut

in insulated foam cool-

ers that Nootka Lodge

supplies as legal carry-on

luggage.

“If you leave the

lodge at 2 p.m., you are

back home at 11 that

night,” said Cyr, noting

the fi sh will be cool and

fresh on arrival.

“We cater to indi-

vidual and groups,” he

added. “Th e nice thing

is about 20 people fi ll

the lodge. If companies

send groups of customers

or employees as a thank

you for doing business, it

works out quite nice.”

Th e Nootka Island

Lodge web site notes the

sound was discovered by

Captain Cook who sailed

into the area in 1778 on

the Resolution and Dis-

covery.

Asked if Cook and

his crew stayed at Nootka

Island Lodge to fi sh Cyr,

deadpanned, “We weren’t

quite open yet.”


738 5th Street (back door) Phone: 634-3522

24 Hour Service - 7 Days A Week!

• Two Way Radios• Alarm Monitoring

• Safety Checks

"We Dispatch for the Oil Patch"

902 - 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0W3 Business: (306) 634-2628 (24 hours)

Progressive RealtyLorna PylychatyBroker/Owner

For information on this or any of our other listings please contact us at 634-2628 or email at

[email protected]

Situated on the new truck bypass, all lots will be serviced to property line, all roads developed.

ByPass Industrial Park • MLS #365438

Your Commercial & Industrial Property Professional

Nootka angles for oilpatch guests

Matt Cyr talks with customers about shing at Nootka Island Lodge at the Edmonton Home and Garden show.


“MORE THAN JUST GRAVEL”• Top Soil • Gravel • Top Soil • Gravel

• Sand & Crushed Rock • Municipal & Oil Lease • Sand & Crushed Rock • Municipal & Oil Lease Road Gravelling • Aggregate Screening Road Gravelling • Aggregate Screening

• Excavating • Loaders • Graders • Lowbeds• Excavating • Loaders • Graders • Lowbeds

Cell: 577-7553Cell: 577-7553Fax: 455-2433 • ARCOLA Of ce:Fax: 455-2433 • ARCOLA Of ce: 455-2429455-2429

• Oilfield Graveling

• Gravel Crushing & Screening

• Sealed Trailers for Hauling Contaminated Waste

• Site Preparation

• Grading

• Excavating

• Heavy Equipment Hauling

• Car/Truck Wash

• COR Certified

TOLL FREE 1-888-532-5526Creelman, Sask.

Larry AllanCell: (306) 421-9295

Shop: 433-2059; Fax: 433-2069

- Oil eld Maintenance - Service Crews- Pressure Welding - Pipeline Construction

- Battery Construction - Rent or SellNew & Used Equipment

Randy: 634-5405 - Cellular 421-1293Darcy: 634-5257 - Cellular 421-1425 • Fax: 634-4575

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATEDBOX 843, ESTEVAN, SK.

24 Hour Service - 634-8737

OIL & GAS, CORPORATE & TRUSTS

THOMAS A. SCHUCK

319 Souris Avenue N.E.,Weyburn, SK

www.nswb.com

(306) 842-4654

Re-organizationsTaxation of Mineral Holdings

Mineral & Royalty TrustsFamily Trusts & Joint Ventures

Incorporation of Oil Field Companies

Big enough to meet your needs;Small enough to care that we do!

Artificial Lift ServicesBy integrating technology and service, Schlumberger can provide an optimum lift system for your well and optimize pump and well performance while reducing operating costs.

Other available services include Drilling & Measurements, Wireline – Open Hole and Cased Hole and Well Services.

Estevan, SK306-634-7355www.slb.com/artificiallift

For Sale: 2008 38 Cube

Heil Tank TrailerTriaxle, air ride, extra valves.

Less than 90 days of use. Current inspection. Brand new steering

tires. Located at Arcola, SK.

Phone: 306-455-2224Cell: 577-7970

Coming UpThe new Best Western hotel under construc-tion in Estevan should help alleviate accom-modation shortages of recent years.


Career

Career O

pportunitiesO

pportunitiesPIPELINE NEWS May 2010 C29

Brady Oilfield Services LP.

Truck Drivers Wanted

Weyburn, Halbrite and surrounding area, Oil eld Safety Certi cates an asset but

not necessary.Bene ts package available.

Attn: Scott JuravleP.O. Box 271, Midale, Sask. S0C 1S0

Fax: (306) 458-2768

HELP WANTEDCD Oilfield Servicing Ltd.

is currently hiring for all positions. All tickets & Class 3A License an asset,

experience preferred but will train the right applicant.

Call Adam at 204-851-2118

RIG MANAGERS / DRILLERS / DERRICKHANDS / FLOORHANDS

Ask about our competitive pay, excellent employee benefits and opportunities for advancement.

Applicants are invited to submit resumes along with driver’s abstract to [email protected] or fax to (306) 634-8238. We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those who will be interviewed will be contacted.

Eagle Well Servicing is a dynamic and rapidly growing company. We understand that a company is only as good as its people, and we’re proud of the exceptional team we’ve built. If you are looking to become a part of a fast paced and challenging team-based work environment, we are the place for you.

Estevan, Saskatchewan

email: [email protected]

IROC Energy Services combines cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art, equipment and depth of experience to deliver a product and services offering that’s unrivaled in the

oilfield services business. IROC.... we’re ready.

WELL SERVICING

www.eaglerigjobs.com

Fax Resumes to 306.482.5256 Apply online at

www.gregcousinsconstruction.com

Will be responsible for all aspects of oil field facility and maintenance construction, welding QC and

subcontractor management.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

QC Project Manager

Greg Cousins Construction Ltd.

Full Time Employment

for Picker Truck HelpersCall Mel at (306) 487-2525

Lampman, SK

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

3rd, 4th or Journeymen

MECHANICSRequired for Fast Paced Truck Shop.

Competive salary, benefi ts package

& opportunity for advancement.

Apply with Resume to Claude:Fax: 306-825-6305

Drop by: 3702, 41 Street, Lloydminster, SK

Phone (306) 825-6302 • Fax (306) 825-6305Box 796, 3702 41 Street Lloydminster, SK S9V 1C1

Three service rigsThis trio of Rearden service rigs could be found on the west side of Wey-burn on April 6.


Experienced Crew ForemanFOR LLOYDMINSTER AREA

MUST: • Have Valid Drivers License & Be A Team Player• Safety Tickets • Picker & Bobcat Experience An Asset

C’s OFFERS: • Top Wages • Benefits Package• Performance Bonuses • Scheduled Days Off

• Opportunity For Advancement• C.O.R. Safety Program • AB & SK B31.3 Q.C.

• Premium Equipment

DUTIES: • Daily Operation Of A Light Picker Truck• Pipe-fitting & Construction

Apply inconfidence to:

Fax (780) 808-2273

OILFIELDCONSULTING & CONSTRUCTION

SERVICE LTD.

Fax: (780) 872-5239

PLASMA TABLE OPERATOR

Applicants must have welding background.Driver’s license required. Reliable, team player.

Wages depend on experience. Benefi ts available.Performance bonuses.

Only those to be interviewed will be contacted.

Apply in confi dence to: Fax (780) 808 - 2273

www.suretuf.com

Full Time Employment

for

1-A Truck Drivers• Winch experience an asset

Call Mel at (306) 487-2525

Lampman, SK

Phoenix Technology Services is a progressive Calgary based directional drilling company that is seeking motivated, team oriented individuals to fi ll the following positions for both domestic and international:

Measurement While

Drilling (MWD) OperatorsSeeking dynamic individuals who are detail oriented, have strong communication skills and willing to work in a rig environment. Previous MWD, rig experience or petroleum background would be an asset. Both employees and consultants required.

Please forward MWD applications to:

[email protected]

Directional DrillersPrevious drilling/oil fi eld experience is required for both junior and

senior positions available. Excellent interpersonal skills are required in addition to analytical capabilities.

Please forward Directional Drilling

applications to:

[email protected]

Pheonix Technology Services LP

11400-27th Street SE

Calgary, Alberta T2Z 3R6

TRICAN WELL SERVICE LTD. is one of Canada's fastest growing well service companies, providing a comprehen-sive array of specialized products, equipment and services utilized in drilling, completion, stimulation and reworking of oil and gas wells in the Canadian and International market-place. At Trican, we base our recruitment practices on the belief that a company's greatest asset is its people.

Trican provides services in Fracturing, Cementing, Acidizing, Coiled Tubing, Nitrogen and related services in our field bases ranging from Fort Nelson, BC to Estevan, Saskatchewan.

WE ARE CURRENTLY HIRING:

• SUPERVISORS• OPERATORS • DRIVERS

• FRAC HANDS• HEAVY DUTY DIESEL MECHANIC

• YARD/SHOP PERSONA valid Class 1 required as well as prior experience in the above pressure pumping operations.

Trican offers a dynamic work environment and a competitive salary and benefit package. Please apply in person to any of Trican's field bases or forward your resume and references, in confidence to:

Trican Well Service Ltd.Box 849

Estevan, SK S4A 2A7Fax: (306) 637-2065 • Email: [email protected]

Bucyrus International Inc. is a NASDAQ traded company and a world leader in the design and manufacture of high productivity mining equipment for surface and underground mining. In addition to machine manufacturing, Bucyrus manufactures high-quality OEM parts and provides world-class support services for its equipment.

Bucyrus has one of the most skilled, highly trained and talented workforces of anyone in our industry. Our employees work together to achieve success and growth in a highly competitive, international marketplace.

Bucyrus Canada Ltd. Offers a competitive compensation package with excellent opportunities for growth and advancement.

HOW TO APPLY:

Fax: 780-482-7858 or Email [email protected]** Write the position title in the subject line

www.Bucyrus.com

Reliability at work

CUSTOMERSUPPORTREPRESENTATIVE

We are seeking an individual to support the Saskatchewan area.

This position is primarily responsible for retaining good customer relationships, supporting customer machines, and helping Bucyrus Canada reach yearly sales and bookings goals. Essentially this position will cultivate Bucyrus Canada customers. This will include but not be limited to scheduling customer visits, resolving customer concerns, and forecasting/supportingfuture customer requirements.

Qualifications and Experience

Post Secondary Degree or Diploma5 - 7 years experience in a customer service role within a mining/manufacturingenvironmentProficient in MS Office SuiteKnowledge of Bucyrus products is an asset Demonstratedorganizational and communication skills

Career Career OpportunitiesOpportunities

Contact your local pipeline sale rep. to get 28,000 Circulation on your career ad!

Speci c Targeting


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C & B Oil eld Services Inc.

Aaron Folkerts306-483-7258Frobisher, SK

OIL / INDUSTRIAL / AGRICULTURAL / AUTOMOTIVE

352-7668

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

[email protected]

TOLL FREE 1-877-778-7460WEEKDAYS

7:30 A.M. - 5:30 P.M.SATURDAYS9 A.M. - 1 P.M.

STOCKING ENGINE PARTS

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

Dale (306) 861-3635 • Lee (306) 577-7042Lampman, Sask.

• Complete Trucking Services

Saskatchewan Owned & Operated

Bulk Agency

912 6th Street, Estevan

634-7275Toll Free: 1-866-457-3776

TERRY DODDS(24 hrs.) (306) 634-7599

Cell. (306) 421-0316

“All Your Construction and Maintenance Needs”SPECIALIZING IN: ENGINES, PUMP UNITS, UNIT

INSPECTIONS, PIPE FITTING, TREATERS AND PRESSURE TICKET WELDING

Box 1605, Estevan, Sk. S4A 2L7Cell. (306) 421-3174, (306) 421-6410, (306) 421-2059

Fax: (306) 634-1273

M.E.T. OILFIELDCONST. LTD.

Box 208 Estevan, SK S4A 2A3

461-8471 • 461-8472 • 461-8473

Call: Clinton Gibbons

311 Kensington Avenue, Estevan • 634-1400

www.pennwest.com

COR Certi edEstevan, Sk.

634-7348

VegetationControl

(Chemical or Mechanical)

Southeast Tree Care

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

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

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]


Documents

Pipeline News May 2010