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The official publication of the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER • 2013 PM#40020055 Atlantic provinces put themselves on the map with plays ongoing offshore and onshore Safety first: Workers stay out of danger with some intensive training and cautionary measures PLUS Down the pipe: West-east pipeline poised to carry a steady surge of crude to Atlantic Canada
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Page 1: Well Construction Journal - Sept/Oct 2013

The official publication of the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER • 2013

PM#40020055

Atlantic provinces put themselves on the map with plays ongoing offshore and onshore

Safety first: Workers stay out of danger with some intensive training and cautionary measures

PLUSDown the pipe: West-east pipeline poised to carry a steady surge of crude to Atlantic Canada

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www.cadecanada.com september/october 2013 �

The official publication of the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers

DEPARTMENTS

4 President’s Message

6 tHe draWing BOard Editor’s note, member’s corner, news and notes, technical luncheons

9 MeMBer PrOFiLe

10 stUdent PrOFiLes

24 BY tHe nUMBers

26 driLLing deePer

FEATURES

12 eastern PrOMises Atlantic region a mixed bag of petroleum production with more on tap

18 dangerOUs territOrY Offshore safety can be chalked up to special training, constant awareness and quick recovery time to potential risks

20 tHe east energizes West-east pipeline poised to boost jobs and spark global oil markets

The mandate of the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers is to provide high-quality technical meetings and to promote awareness on behalf of the drilling and well servicing industry. With more than 500 members from more than 300 companies, CADE represents a broad spectrum of experience in all areas of operations and technologies. Through CADE, members and the public can learn about the tech-nical challenges and the in-depth experience of our members that continue to drive the industry forward. For drilling and completions specialists, CADE currently offers one of the best networking and knowledge sharing opportunities in the Canadian petroleum industry.

Canadian assOCiatiOn OF driLLing engineers1100, 540 - 5 Avenue SW

Calgary, AB T2P 0M2Phone: 403-532-0220

Fax: 403-263-2722www.cadecanada.com

President: Robert JacksonPast President: Eric Schmelzl

WeLL COnstrUCtiOn JOUrnaL editOr: Christian Gillis

WeLL COnstrUCtiOn JOUrnaL is PUBLisHed FOr CADE BY VentUre PUBLisHing inC.

10259 105 StreetEdmonton, AB T5J 1E3Phone: 780-990-0839

Fax: 780-425-4921Toll Free: 1-866-227-4276

[email protected]

PUBLisHer: Ruth KellyassOCiate PUBLisHer: Joyce Byrne

direCtOr OF COntraCt PUBLisHing: Mifi PurvisManaging editOr: Shelley Williamson

art direCtOr: Charles BurkeassOCiate art direCtOr: Andrea deBoerassistant art direCtOr: Colin SpencePrOdUCtiOn Manager: Betty-Lou Smith

PrOdUCtiOn teCHniCians: Brent Felzien, Brandon HooverCirCULatiOn COOrdinatOr: Karen Reilly

aCCOUnt exeCUtiVe: Anita McGillis

COntriBUting Writers: Justin Bell, Jacqueline Louie, Ryan Van Horne

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER • 2013

20

PRINTED IN CANADA BY ION PRINT SOLUTIONS. RETURN UNDELIVERABLE MAIL TO 10259 105 ST.

EDMONTON AB, T5J 1E3 [email protected]

PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40020055 CONTENTS © 2013 CADE. NOT TO BE REPRINTED OR

REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION.

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Well Construction Journal � september/october 2013

New Drilling Season Brings New ChallengesLabour shortages, new well design techniques, natural gas prices and pipelines are among concerns for the industry

Am very excited And proud to be serving as the CADE president for the 2013-2014 term. I’m grateful to the CADE executive and membership for this opportunity. The

CADE executive is a dedicated and enthusiastic team, and I’m looking forward to what this season will bring.

I wanted to use this issue’s President’s Message to talk a little about the challenges ahead of us, and some potential solutions.

Challenge #1: The Petroleum Human Resources Council estimates the Canadian oil and gas indus-try will need to add up to 84,000 workers by 2022. We’ll need more partnerships between the indus-try and educational institutions in order to ensure graduates are adequately trained.

Mentoring can help provide a “foot in the door” for individuals new to the industry. Last year, we were involved with SAIT and University of Calgary students to hold the first CADE Student Industry Night. The students left with a better understand-ing of the industry and new connections. I think the industry attendees (myself included) left very impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the new individuals joining our industry. CADE also has long supported a scholarship program for students of SAIT, NAIT, the U of C and U of A, as well as a bursary program.

Challenge #2: Well design is becoming more complex, and the “silo” model does not work any-more. Drilling engineers today require a very good understanding not only of drilling-specific topics, but also the implications of their design on every facet of the well’s life cycle, right through to aban-donment. The most critical portion of this under-standing and dialog is with completions. To that end, CADE has been moving to provide a blend of drilling and completions technical presentations at our monthly luncheons.

Challenge #3: Lower gas prices have made it very difficult to profitably drill new gas wells. With most industry forecasts showing little relief on the

horizon, the main driver in the economics of these plays is capital expenditure. Thus, the goal of the drilling engineer is (as always) to do it fast, do it cheap, and do it well. Often these are competing interests and it requires a great deal of innovation, hard work and new technology to reach that goal. While there is no silver bullet, being well connect-ed through industry groups will make you aware of what’s being attempted, and if there may be a solution to help achieve those goals. On the net-working front, CADE is hosting its second-annual golf tournament on September 16; please see our website for details.

Lastly, big differentials and the political climate are a challenge. As you know, the price for heavy oil in western Canada is often significantly lower than the WTI price that serves as the benchmark. This is primarily due to a lack of pipeline capacity to mar-kets. This differential hurts the economics of west-ern Canadian projects and reduces the royalty and tax revenues of our governments, so it has a wide-spread effect. Several options have been proposed to increase export capacity, but one I feel merits the most discussion is the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL has been proposed to connect western Canada’s production to these Gulf Coast refineries.

Objections seem to be set up as a straw man argu-ment where there is some unnamed perfect energy source that could be used instead of bitumen. In reality, the Keystone XL pipeline would displace oil currently coming into the Gulf Coast refineries on tankers, from places with much lower environ-mental standards than Canada. An IHS Cera study has shown there would be no material increase in emissions from this project. The project would help improve North American energy security as well. Is the project perfect? Are the oil sands perfect? Of course not. But in the real world there often is no perfect option, only a best option.

I encourage you to start a dialog with your friends and/or neighbours on this issue. We, as profession-als, have a duty to explain the “why.”

Jeff ArvidsonCADE President

MESSAGEPresident’s

I

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Page 5: Well Construction Journal - Sept/Oct 2013

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WCJ_Sept-Oct_13_p04-09.indd 5 8/26/13 9:10:36 AM

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Well Construction Journal � september/october 2013

President Jeff Arvidson 403 232-7100Past President Bob Jackson 403 615-9504Secretary Tammy Todd 403 613-8844Technical Chair Ryan Richardson 403 984-6644Membership Chair Andy Newsome 403 532-0220Education Chair Linden Achen 403 539-9338Social Chair Dan Schlosser 403 531-5284WCJ Editor Christian Gillis 403 265-4973Sponsorship & Marketing Christy Delaney 403 828-0844IT Chairperson Matt Stuart 403 605-3790Member at Large John Garden 403 265-4973Administrator Kali Charron 403 532-0220

BOARDThe Drawing

A Look Eastwardur 5th edition of the WCJ this year takes us baCk to the East Coast to see what is happening in the other big part of the Canadian oil and gas industry. The East Coast is a totally different culture than

that of the WCSB, it has more of an international feeling. As we have seen in the past, many exciting initiatives that come out of the East Coast are Canadian content driven.

Our 2013 Technical Luncheon Presentations are getting ready to start back up and we are working on continuing to bring informative and technical presentations to our members and guests. Our first presentation will be held on October 9, 2013. Please watch for announcements with the upcoming topics and dates. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any ideas for upcoming topics or issues you’d like to see presented at the luncheons or in print. We are also looking for topics that tie into our journal focus for each month. We hope to see more of this over the course of the year and hope you, the member-ship, will participate and continue to make these events interesting and successful. If you have any issues you’d like to see covered, please e-mail me and we will do our best to get the story.

The second-annual CADE golf tournament will be held at Bearspaw Golf Club on Monday, September 16. Visit the CADE website for more information and to register as a

OE D I T O R ’ S N O T E

CADE Executive Team 2013/2014

E X E C U T I V E T E A M

group, single or hole sponsor for the event.Don’t forget; we would like to publish any of your

information and announcements on new products, new technologies and senior personnel changes for publication each month. Please forward any announce-ments to us, as we would be excited to run them in our new feature section.

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to seeing you at the upcoming luncheons.

Christian Gillis, EditorCanadian Well Construction [email protected]

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september/october 2013 � www.cadecanada.com

Welcome NeW members

Linden AchenOLOwAtOsin AdebAyOMicheLLe bALkOALLAn bOuwersOsOndu hArrisOn chukwueMekerOss cLAncytien dAngsiAvAsh MOrtezAee FArdMike hAzeLtOnbrent kAwALiLAkPAxtOn LivingstOnMehdi nOOrMOhAMMAdikeLvin eFeturi ObukOFeAugustine OMObhuderuturrAj PAAtiLkevin PLAyFAirscOtt sherMAnbrAd sMeAtOntyLer stePhensOntyLer thOMPsOnchristiAn tOAnchinA

Why become a caDe member?

As of 2013, the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers (CADE) has been active for 38 years. With more than 500 members from more than 300 companies, CADE represents a large spectrum of experience in all areas of operations and technologies.

For drilling and completions spe-cialists, CADE currently offers one of the best networking and knowledge sharing opportunities in the Cana-dian petroleum industry. The skills and knowledge obtained by your participa-tion in CADE will benefit you and your employer, with direct application to your professional career.

CADE offers various means for members to connect and share their insights. Monthly technical lun-cheons are held with topical industry presentations. Other membership benefits include our monthly pub-lication Well Construction Journal and a membership directory, which is the who’s who of the Canadian drilling industry. Our website – www. cadecanada.com – is an excellent focal point for industry events, blogs and other news. We are also active on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Who caN become a caDe member?

CADE members can be anyone em-ployed in the drilling and completions industry or with merely an interest in the industry.

Typical members include drilling

and completions engineers, geologists, technical personnel, sales personnel and students. Student memberships are available to any post-secondary student interested in learning more about drilling and completions.

Please feel free to share information about CADE with all the people in your organization who are interested in the drilling and completions industry.

caDe membership reNeWals

CADE’s membership year is from Sep-tember to September. During the sum-mer, CADE members will receive an email and link for the renewal process on our website.

Please remember the benefits of be-ing a CADE member include APEGA’s professional development hour, stay-ing abreast of technological and in-dustry advances, drilling conferences and a great opportunity to network. Thank you for your support.

caDe membership chaNges

Log on to www.cadecanada.com to become a member or to update your contact information.

M E M B E R ’ S C O R N E R

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Well Construction Journal � september/october 2013

BOARDThe Drawing

T E C H N I C A L L U N C H E O N S

Save the Date

Luncheon TicketsMEMBERS: $47.50 (plus GST)NON-MEMBERS: $55 (plus GST)FULL TABLES OF 10: $475 (plus GST)STUDENT: $20 (plus GST)WALK-UP: $55 (plus GST)

N E W S A N D N O T E S

CNRL picks up Barrick Energy Inc. for $173MCanadian natural resourCes limited (Cnrl) has aCquired Barrick Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation, for $173 million and royalties on certain lands at Nipisi, according to a news release. “This acquisition further strength-ens Canadian Natural’s light oil asset and production base in key operating areas and contributes to the light oil balance in the Company’s diversified portfolio,” says CNRL president, Steve Laut. “We look forward to working together with the staff currently employed by BEI.”

The current production, before royalties, from the working

interests acquired is about 4,200 barrels per day (bpd) of light crude oil and NGLs and 4.4 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. The assets include Alberta-area properties of Worsley, Puskwa, Sturgeon Lake, Retlaw and Red Earth, plus approximately 92,160 net acres of unproved land at Nipisi.

CNRL funded this acquisition with operating cash flow and available bank facilities, the release says. The senior oil and natural gas production company has operations in Western Canada, the U.K. portion of the North Sea and Offshore Africa.

Our popular Technical Luncheons will resume October 9, 2013. We are in the process of planning an exciting new se-ries for 2013/14. What topics would you like to see covered in the upcoming year? Membership input is valuable to us and we want to make sure we are covering the topics that are important to you.

GST REGISTRATION #R123175036Visit www.cadecanada.com for all ticket purchases

Please call or email with your great ideas: Christian Gillis, Managing Editor, Canadian Well Construction Journal [email protected] (403) 265-4973

Talisman Energy’s Q2 profit falls 51 per centtalisman energy inC. posted a q2 loss, Citing weak production from its North Sea operations. The company, Canada’s No. 5 independent oil producer, has added its Norwegian oil fields to the list of properties up for sale. Talisman says it has opened a data room for potential buyers of its assets in Norway’s North Sea, which produce 13,000 barrels of oil per day, adding to current plans to sell stakes in two Canadian shale-gas fields and its stake in Colombia’s Ocensa pipeline.

“Initial interest is strong, says Hal Kvisle, Talisman’s chief executive operator. “There’s a number of interesting attributes to our Norway business over and above the production volumes.”

The company has scaled down its exposure to the North

Sea operations, selling a 49 per cent stake in its UK fields to China’s Sinopec for $1.5 billion in December.

But the operations in Britain’s North Sea contributed to Talisman’s surprise loss. The company said in March it ex-pected North Sea production of 41,000 to 46,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), but now it expects the region to average 34,000 boepd in 2013.

Talisman says full-year production would likely be at the lower end of its forecast range of 375,000 to 395,000 boepd as unreliable facilities at its UK fields cut output.

The company also cut its outlook for cash flow, saying it now expects cash flow of between $2.1 billion and $2.3 billion for the year, down from its prior expectation of $2.5 billion.

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september/october 2013 � www.cadecanada.com

PROFILEMember

By Shelley Williamson

Andy Newsome

B

Click before you dig

efore drilling a well, it’s important to do your research first.

That’s the premise behind what XI Tech-nologies does, according to the company’s

vice-president of drilling services, Andy Newsome. “There are a lot of companies that offer data within the oil and gas industry. We all do something differ-ent,” he says. “Our niche is addressing the specific needs of our clients, in a unique way.”

A software company with a hybrid data and anal-ysis focus, XI Technologies is intent on saving its cli-ents time. Over the past 15 years the company has built up a current roster of about 180 clients, many of them with some pretty big names. The company, itself, has grown from a three-man entrepreneur-ship to its current staff of 28, and has seen plenty of changes in technology over the years. “When I joined, we were just stepping into the world of digi-tal delivery,” Newsome muses.

Data is great, but you can get overwhelmed with it, he notes. “Nobody wants to spend $2 million to drill without having done some research. But research takes time, which means money,” says Newsome. “We’re able to help our clients quickly digest and make sense of the information that is out there.”

A passion project for Newsome over the past year has been the building of XI’s newest tool, Offset Analyst, providing instant access to drilling data for over 100,000 wells drilled across Western Canada.

It gives clients a portal to learn everything they need to know about the drilling of historical wells with a few clicks of a mouse. All the drilling information that is captured on a tour sheet at the rig site – typi-cally available in PDF format – is now delivered to clients digitally within this web-based application. Access to this information eliminates inefficien-cies and minimizes the cost associated with tour research, when searching for offset wells. From bit records, mud records and time log summaries to drill curves and well comparisons, it lets users view the history of a single well, or compare multiple wells. “There’s lots of data out there. I’m focused on helping clients quickly find answers to the questions related to offset research,” says Newsome.

All data in Offset Analyst is pulled from TourX-change, XI’s interactive database that includes infor-mation from more than 80 operators, including BP Canada, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy and Talisman Energy. It allows users to research pacesetters, under-stand historical problems and analyze competitors’ drilling practices, while being able to look at wells via Google Earth as well.

Newsome says access to this digital data eliminates the need to order reports on nearby wells from the Alberta Energy Regulator (formerly the ERCB), wait for them to arrive and then pore over the research.

“Clients are telling us this can cost up to 40 man hours, and we’re now able to get that same work down to a matter of a couple hours, maybe even minutes,” he explains. “Time is money, and that’s why the major operators in the oil and gas drilling business turn to XI Technologies,” says Newsome.

XI Technologies and Newsome have been active in the Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers (CADE) nearly since the company’s inception, host-ing technical luncheons and supporting CADE as a gold sponsor for the past five years. Newsome also joined the executive recently and now wears hats of membership and communications chair. “I have been a card-carrying CADE member for 12 years,” he says. “CADE has been where I’ve connected with people I’ve watched, learned from, and worked with throughout my entire career. It’s great to be able to now give back and help the association.”

Andy Newsome and XI Technologies bring well data to drillers’ fingertips with web-based search software

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Well Construction Journal 10 september/october 2013

Tyler StephenSon completed hiS BSc in Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2010 with a specialization in nano and functional materials. Ty-

ler immediately began pursuing his PhD for Materials Engineering and is currently studying at the University of Alberta in the final year of that program. His research has centred around nanomaterials for energy storage applications, anti-corrosion coatings for nuclear reactors functioning under supercritical conditions and phase identification sensors for wellbore logging tools.

His current research project pertains to the study of fouling behaviour of heavy oil and bitumen in

Young TalentHighlighting tomorrow’s best and brightest

Student PROFILE

Tyler StephensonMaterials EngineeringUniversity of Alberta

HELP WANTED: Career Department

What’S your pay Grade?

While careerS in oil and GaS are knoWn to pay Well, compensation varies from employer to employer, province to prov-ince and job to job. Rates of pay are usually dependent on your level, but here is a sample of pay scales in the industry, according to careersinoilandgas.com.

Professional Engineers:The average salary for professional engineers in the oil and gas industry ranges from $50,940 to $215,000 per year, which varies based on the engineering occupation, designations re-ceived, level of experience and responsibility in the position.

Drilling and Service Rig Operators:The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) recommends minimum wage schedules for individuals working in the drilling and service rig industry. Compensation varies based on job title and experience. Drilling rig crews are paid hourly base wages, ranging from $27/hour for leasehands, to $42.20/hour for drillers.

Service rig positions range from $22/hour for trainee positions, to $33/hour for operator jobs. Some companies offer subsistence allow-ances, overtime, shift differentials, and bonuses to workers employed in camps.

Engineering Technology Professionals:Base salaries for junior technicians and technologists in oil and gas range from $67,990 per year for junior positions to $156,972 per year for ex-perienced senior manager or specialist/team lead positions. Some com-panies offer overtime and bonuses. Salaries are also dependent on level of experience, education and level of professional designation achieved.

Geologists and Geophysicists:The average salary for geoscience professionals in oil and gas ranges from $51,615 to $199,700 per year for geologists, and $78,400 to $200,000 per year for geophysicists. Salaries vary and are dependent on designations received, level of experience and responsibility in the position.

refinery infrastructure. He is the co-founder and president of the University of Alberta Inventors Club, as well as a co-founder of the Alberta Col-laboration of Entrepreneurial Students (ACES). Tyler is well-versed in the fields of petroleum chemistry and materials characterization, and plans to continue to leverage his talents in the oil and gas industry here in Alberta.

Tyler also has strong aspirations to become an entrepreneur, and to that end, has recently become the director of technical services and research for Camber Resource Services, a start-up company which provides production well chemical treatments to producers in the Western Canadian Sedimentary basin.

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DRILLING SLANG

If you want to walk the walk on a drill site, it helps to talk the talk. Here are some terms and phrases often heard out in the field.

Junk basket: A large, rectangular steel box, usually with sides made of expanded metal to facilitate seeing what is inside. The junk basket is used by the rig crew to store an as-sortment of relatively small parts of the drilling rig, ranging from drill bits to crossover subs to lifting subs to spare kel-lys. Dimensions vary, but a typical junk basket on a land rig is 2.5 metres wide by one metre deep by nine metres long.

blind ram: A thick, heavy steel component of a conven-tional ram blowout preventer. In a normal pipe ram, the two blocks of steel that meet in the centre of the wellbore to seal the well have a hole (one-half of the hole on each piece) through which the pipe fits. The blind ram has no space for pipe and is instead blanked off in order to be able to close over a well that does not contain a drillstring.

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HELP WANTED: Career Department

To receive a media kit or to book your advertising, contact:

Kathy Kelley, Venture Publishing

Telephone: 780.990.0819 (265)

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Canada’s Drilling Industry

If you have products or services that demand the attention of the drilling industry and want to reach this key market, Well Construction Journal provides a unique forum to access almost 100% of the drilling industry’s key decision makers. Well Construction Journal is accepting external advertising – a development that offers suppliers unprecedented access to this target market.

ENGINEERS CANADA hAS CREAtED A NEw wEbSItE, fuNDED by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, to provide international engi-neering graduates information on how to become a licensed engineer in Canada. The site was created with the support of the 12 provincial and territorial regulators of the engineering profession, in response to the common complaint newcomers are not well informed about the licensure process, are often unaware of the length of time it takes for licensing and that engineering requirements can vary by province.

The website, at http://newcomers.engineerscanada.ca, was created to help international students overcome challenges and com-mon roadblocks to integration into the Canadian engineering work-force. The site is written in plain English so those who may not be na-tive English or French speakers can manoeuvre the site and gain useful information on getting licensed, finding jobs and integrating into the engineering profession in Canada.

The new Academic Information Tool also allows users to compare their undergraduate engineering education to programs in Canadian engineering schools, to see how they measure up and are likely to be received in the country and industry.

ONLINE hELP fOR INtERNAtIONAL ENGINEERS

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Well Construction Journal 12 september/october 2013

REPORTSpecial

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september/october 2013 13 www.cadecanada.com

t’s common to lump the four AtlAntic provinces together, but when it comes to petroleum develop-ment they are unique.

New Brunswick is embracing its onshore poten-tial and has new regulations for hydraulic fracturing, but boasts no offshore development. Nova Scotia’s onshore development is in a holding pattern as it reviews fracking. While its offshore production is dwindling, the Play Fair-way Analysis is jump-starting exploration.

Newfoundland and Labrador has a healthy offshore in-dustry with four fields in full swing, but the absence of a pipeline prevents the commercial production of natural gas. And Prince Edward Island is at a standstill, with no exploration licences and no call for bids.

locAtion: Atlantic Canada (N.B., N.S., N.L.)

resource: Oil, natural gas

estimAted recoverAble reserves: Natural gas 137.6 Bcf; Crude (refining capacity), 300,200 Bbl/d (N.B.); Natural gas, 275.4 Bcf; Crude (refining capac-ity), 81,800 Bbl/d (N.S.); Crude 914.2 MMbbl (N.L.)

production: Crude, 266,628 Bbl/d (N.L.); Natural gas, 273.7 MMcf/d; LNG, 6,318.2 Bbl/d (N.S.)

mAjor producers: BP Canada, Chevron Canada Resources, Canadian Hibernia Holdings, ExxonMobil Canada, Contact Exploration, Nalcor Energy, Shell Canada, Statoil, Suncor Energy

*Source: Canadian Centre for Energy

i

By Ryan Van Horne

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Well Construction Journal 14 september/october 2013

Eastern Promises

hough change is in the air with future plays and a proposed west-east pipe-line, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia face mounting debts (New Brunswick’s is $11 bil-

lion and Nova Scotia’s, $14 billion), while trying to slay post-recession deficits. There is pressure in both provinces to create jobs and generate revenue.

In a January 2012 report of the N.B.-based Atlantica Centre for Energy, president John Herron outlined the challenges New Brunswick faces, which also apply to Nova Scotia. “Our govern-ment’s shortfalls in annual revenues, reliance on fed-eral support, and our loom-ing demographic crisis combine for a very daunt-ing forward outlook,” Herron writes. The centre has proposed a change of royalty regimes and sup-ports maximizing revenue from non-renewable resources. Still, it recognizes the need to be com-petitive with other jurisdictions so that it can attract investment.

new BrunswickShale gas is driving the bus in New Brunswick, which hopes to duplicate the success U.S. states such as North Dakota have experienced. “New Brunswick’s potential in the oil and gas sector is immense. Studies performed on our deposits in the southern areas of the province have shown our po-tential rivals major oil and gas producing jurisdic-tions,” says Craig Leonard, the province’s minister of energy and mines.

New rules – introduced in February – have changed the game after a thorough public con-sultation process that developed strict regulations,

which even industry embraces. “What they require is clarity in the rules under which they operate to ensure they meet the expectations of government and the public,” Leonard says.

He says there are fears about fracking based on practices that occur elsewhere, but which could not occur in New Brunswick. The province’s rules re-quire companies to use recycled wastewater or non-potable water to reduce the drain on freshwater resources and lay out strict guidelines on the most

important aspect of fracking – the construction of the well bore. “Well bore integrity en-sures what is intended to stay within the well, stays within

the well and our standards and monitoring will constantly confirm that is the case,” Leonard says.

Increased local natural gas consumption means less gas is going to New England via the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. In 2012, total gas consump-tion in the Maritimes represented 90 per cent of the regional supply. While most of that has come from Nova Scotia, Corridor Resources’ McCully field near Sussex, N.B., has bolstered that supply. The McCully field taps into the Hiram Brook sandstone and has a gas reserve of 103 billion cubic feet (Bcf). McCully was drilled in 2000 and began gas production in 2003, making it the first well to produce natural gas in New Brunswick in 90 years.

In 2007, Corridor built a lateral line to con-nect to the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. Corridor is just scratching the surface. In 2009, it hired GLJ Petroleum Consultants of Calgary to assess Corridor’s other lands and GLJ estimated 67 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas are in place in the Sus-sex/Elgin sub-basins.

T

REPORTSpecial

Atlantic region a mixed bag of petroleum production with more on tap

By Ryan Van Horne

“new Brunswick’s potential in the oil and gas sector is

immense.”

“new Brunswick’s potential in the oil and gas sector is immense.”

– Craig Leonard, New Brunswick minister of energy and mines

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Eastern Promises

Further east and south of Moncton lies the Stoney Creek oilfield, which is operated by Contact Exploration. First discovered in 1909, the reservoir lies in the Dawson Settlement sandstone and has tight oil and gas with estimated reserves of 1.9 million barrels (MMbbl) and 7.9 Bcf. Contact announced in March it has partnered with Pieridae Energy Limited to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Goldboro, N.S. There is an estimated 10.9 Tcf of natural gas in the area that Contact will develop on its land. Two months later, Pieridae an-nounced that it inked a 20-year deal with E.ON Global Commodities SE to sell five million tons of LNG per year from the Goldboro plant.

Stephen Rankin, a spokesman for Maritimes and Northeast, says it is an open-access system and welcomes the opportunity, “to provide viable transportation solutions to key developments in our region.”

At moment, most gas flows from Canada to the U.S., but if an LNG export facility were built in Goldboro and more gas came on-stream in New Brunswick, a reversal could be an option.

Meanwhile, TransCanada Corp. announced in early August it would build a pipeline to ship 1.1 million barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta to Montreal, Quebec, and Saint John, N.B. The same day, Irving Oil unveiled plans to expand its Canaport facility and add a marine terminal. The joint venture with TransCanada will cost $300 mil-lion and provide a deepwater, ice-free harbour for exporting Western Canadian crude.

Nova ScotiaCanada’s Ocean Playground lives up to its nickname when it comes to oil and gas, as Nova Scotia is still looking for its first onshore producer. Every play has been offshore starting with the tapped-out Cohasset-Panuke oilfield from the 1990s. The Sable Offshore Energy Project’s gas reserves are dwindling as it completes its 14th year of production and Encana’s long-awaited Deep Panuke, which finally got the green light to flow gas in early August, complete the roster.

The Play Fairway Analysis has jump-started interest in Nova Scotia’s offshore. Since January 2012, Shell and BP Canada have

WELL HiStoRY iN NEW BRUNSWicK

•TotaloilandgaswellsdrilledinNewBrunswick:324•Firstwelldrilledin1859.•Thereare30producingnaturalgaswells.•Since1990,ninehorizontalwellshavebeendrilled (fouroilandfivenaturalgas)•Since1990,49wellshavebeenhydraulicallyfracturedin NewBrunswick.•Allknownnaturalgasis“sweet”i.e.Nohydrogensulphide, tracecarbondioxide(<0.05%)

Jack-up drilling platform Rowan Gorilla III, left, and Seajacks Kraken liftboat are berthed in Halifax harbour prior to being dispatched to Deep Panuke.

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REPORTSpecial

committed to spend $1 billion each to explore some deepwater offshore parcels.

“Our Play Fairway Analysis suggests that both Shell and BP are going after significant oil po-

tential,” says Sandy McMullin, the executive director of the Petroleum Resources Branch of the Nova Scotia Department of Energy.

The Play Fairway Analysis provided a fresh look at the geology and was done to a stan-

dard that super-majors were accustomed to see-ing. The result is a better understanding of source

rocks and “a compelling story that we have lots of potential outside Sable Island,” McMullin says.

Shell is already doing seismic testing in the Shelburne Basin and is using 3-D wide-azimuth technology. “It’s not blindingly new,” says Shell spokesman David Williams, “But it’s the first time it’s been done in offshore Canada.”

The seismic program will continue until next year, with results determining a potential drilling program in 2015 or 2016. BP’s four blocks cover almost 14,000 square kilometres and are 300 kilo-metres off the coast, but nearer to Sable Island than Shell’s parcels. “(It’s) a significant piece of geology, one of the most promising new deepwater areas to be licensed in recent years,” said Mike Daly, BP’s executive vice-president of exploration.

Onshore, the government has said it will not ap-prove any projects involving hydraulic fracturing until some studies are completed. That hiatus will last until early to mid-2014, McMullin says.

That has made it difficult for operators such as Forent Energy to find a partner for its Alton Block.

Forent drilled for oil and is seeking a partner to con-tinue work. While its quest for oil in the Gays River Reefs is a conventional play, there is some Horton shale gas potential in the rest of the block. “(That) brings interest from other parties and certainly makes partnering with us more attractive – if the potential resources can be turned into producible reserve in the future,” says Forent Energy president Richard Wade.

The outcome of the hydraulic fracturing review will play a big part in any new companies entering Nova Scotia’s onshore scene. “In all honesty, a lot of people are waiting for clear, defined guidelines for doing business,” Wade says.

Eastrock Resources Limited holds two conven-tional exploration agreements in Cumberland County area near the New Brunswick border. The company drilled an exploration well in December 2011 and didn’t discover anything, but Michael Volcko, Eastrock president, says it plans to drill two to four additional wells in the “gas-prone” block. “We are looking for a partner to share some of the risk,” Volcko says. “And we’re still continuing with our geological analysis of the plays.”

Elmworth Energy, the Canadian subsidiary of Triangle Petroleum Corporation, has a production lease for Nova Scotia’s first onshore shale gas devel-opment, but it is on hold while it awaits regulatory changes.

NewfouNdlaNd aNd labradorThe Rock has been the source of much oil over the past 15 years as the province’s three oilfields in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin have produced 1.35 billion bar-rels. “With the majority of main fields past peak production, it is important to continue to develop near field discoveries as well as to encourage explo-

well HISTorY IN NoVa SCoTIa

•TotaloilandgaswellsdrilledinNovaScotia: 133onshoreand207offshore.•Firstwelldrilledonshorein1869;firstoffshore welldrilledin1967•Todate,23significantandeightcommercial hydrocarbondiscoverieshavebeenmade offshoreNovaScotiawithadditionalwells encounteringnumerousoilandgasshows.•26wellshavebeendrilledonshoreinthelast eightyears.•Noexplorationwellshavebeendrilledoffshore NovaScotiasinceDecember2005.

Statoil’s West Aquarius drilling rig.

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Well Construction Journal september/october 2013 17

WELL HISTORY IN NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

•TotaloilandgaswellsdrilledinNewfoundland'soffshore:330 (between1966and2010)•Explorationbeganinthelate1950s;firstwellwasdrilledin1966; firstdiscoverywasin1979.•TherearethreeproducingoilfieldsinNewfoundlandand Labrador(Hibernia,WhiteRose,andTerraNova)withafourth– Hebron–scheduledtobeginproductionin2017.•AllproducingfieldsandHebronareintheJeanned'Arcbasin.•StatoilhasfoundoilintheFlemishPassBasin.•Productionrate:Productionpeakedin2007,butitisstill300,000 barrelsperdayfromthreefields.•Since1964,2.1millionsquarekilometresofseismicdatahasbeen recordedintheoffshore.•Nonaturalgas:Newfoundlandoperatorsre-injectnaturalgasback intotheground,butthereissometalkofproducinggas,including apreliminaryproposalfromHuskyEnsergyearlierthisyear.

ration,” says Tom Marshall, Newfoundland and Labrador’s minister of natural resources.

Newfoundland’s offshore regulator approved the Hebron project in January. The joint venture of ExxonMobil, Chevron Canada, Statoil, Suncor Energy and Nalcor is a $14-billion project scheduled to be-gin producing oil in 2017, expected to produce 700 million barrels of heavy crude.

Statoil, which in June announced the discovery of light, high- quality oil in its Harpoon prospect, has started its drilling program in the Flemish Pass Basin with the spudding of the Harpoon O-85 well. “We are optimistic that this will encourage increased offshore exploration activity, particularly in the province’s deepwater areas,” Marshall says.

Statoil plans to conduct additional appraisal drilling and continue exploration efforts in the Flemish Pass.

“We are still proving up the volumes,” Statoil spokeswoman Caron Hawco notes of the company’s first discovery in Newfoundland’s off-shore. “This is really good news. We’re on our way to becoming a producer and operator.”

In January, Shell won exploration rights in five areas of the Laurentian Sub-basin south of Newfoundland. “It’s an exciting entry into a new deepwater basin,” says Shell spokesman David Williams.

Old Harry, the largest known, undrilled offshore structure in the Atlantic region, has the potential to contain up to five billion barrels of light oil but has been the subject of intense scrutiny since Corridor Resources acquired the licence in 1996.

Corridor is preparing its final environmental assessment for the

parcel, which lies off the west coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In other activity, Chevron has brought the drill ship Stena Carron and planned to drill the Margaree Prospect in the Orphan Basin – its third well in the deepwater basin. Husky has tabbed several prospects which are ready to drill in the Jeanne d’Arc basin.

A tugboat passes the Hibernia platformoff the coast of Newfoundland.

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Well Construction Journal 18 september/october 2013

Out in the field is an obvious place for natural gas operators to look for cost savings, but rationalizing office operations can also help contain costs.

O

Dangerous Territory Offshore safety can be chalked up to special training, constant awareness and quick response time to potential risks

REPORTHealth & Safety

By Justin Bell

ff the coast of NewfouNdlaNd lies oNe of the most prolific offshore oil rigs in Cana-dian history, Hibernia. It sits on the Hibernia oilfield, where more than a billion barrels of

oil remained locked under the sea 300 kilometres southeast of St. John’s.

It can be a dangerous place to extract oil, with massive rigs taking the brunt from angry seas and sea ice posing an ever-present danger. And while some concerns remain constant between both lo-cations — fires and explosions are an ever-present danger on any drilling site — offshore of Canada’s Atlantic coast requires special training, starting with the simple act of getting to site.

Transportation to and from any offshore rig add new dangers, while the environment itself poses big concerns for drillers. But like any operation, any risk can and will be mitigated.

“When it comes to safety in our industry, most of the lines of defence against any safety incident is really no different offshore than it is onshore,” said Paul Barnes, manager of Atlantic Canada for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). “When it comes to offshore, it’s not that much different on the safety side; except in one area, which is that you are working in a marine environment that is quite a distance from shore.”

Crew members working on offshore rigs go through a five-day basic training course to ensure they are prepared to face any issues while on the job. This includes reacting to offshore safety, firefighting and helicopter safety, one of the most important parts of the training.

Rigs off the coast of Newfoundland are up to an hour away by helicopter, so ensuring worker safety is a major part of any safety training. “Helicopter is

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Well Construction Journal september/october 2013 19

really the only way we transfer people to offshore rigs,” said Barnes. While the helicopter ride is up to an hour, transferring staff by boat can take up to 14 hours, and crew [members] have to be lifted on to the deck of the rig by crane from the supply boat.

“There is a bit more risk by transporting people by supply vessel as opposed to helicopter.”

As technology opens deep-er waters to exploration, it adds to some of the risks facing rig crews. Further offshore drilling means longer transportation times from helicopters, add-ing to the time in the air.

“We can usually use the same helicopters,” said Barnes. “They have auxiliary tanks onboard, space normally taken up by passengers.”

Part of the safety course is learning how to escape from a helicopter overturned in the water. Workers are taught how to use a compressed air unit, much like a divers unit, and how to exit the aircraft after it rolls over in the water.

Safety standards for helicopter transport in Canada is regulated by Transport Canada and have comparable standards as those used in the North Sea and in the U.S., according to Jamie Long, presi-dent of Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd.

Hibernia is one of the biggest oil platforms in the world, and Long said they take safety at the rig seri-ously. Training is a major part of the safety routine, with specific training and regulations for new staff on the job.

“When new workers arrive on the platform, they receive a comprehensive orientation and a men-tor who accompanies them for the first few work rotations,” said Long. “Training is tailored to the workers’ specific roles; some may require additional training, such as fire team, first responder, confined space, working at heights, handling of hazardous materials, well-control training, major emergency management/command and control and compe-tency checks on specific operation or maintenance procedures.”

Staff are also encouraged to watch out for poten-tial safety concerns. The rig itself was designed to withstand the harsh operating environment off the coast of Newfoundland, and maintenance at the rig is put on a rigorous maintenance schedule.

“We strengthen these efforts with an active risk identification program, one that encourages all

employees and contractors to participate in iden-tifying potentially unsafe conditions,” said Long. “We continue this year-round by encouraging employees and contractors to talk to each other

about any safe or unsafe acts they may observe.”

Major incidents at off-shore rigs continue to get press attention. The Deep-water Horizon explosion and spill in 2010 garnered

worldwide media attention, with some of that focused on Canada’s offshore drilling practices and procedures.

“Major incidents around the world do bring focus to our local offshore here in Canada,” admitted Barnes. “The Canadian government has done a lot of review on offshore legislation.”

“Major incidents around the world do bring focus to our local offshore

here in Canada.” – Paul Barnes, manager, Atlantic Canada,

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

DIFFERENT TYPES OF DRILLING RIGS USED

JACK-UP RIGWater depth: 10 - 100 metresThese rigs rest directly on the sea floor. The rig itself can be raised to a desired height, based on the need to allow room for storm waves to pass below.

SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE RIGWater depth: 70 - 1,000 metres using anchoring system; more than 1,000 metres using dynamic positioning

These rigs float in the water, never touching the sea bed. In slightly more shallow areas they can be attached to the bottom with anchors and the tension on those lines keeps the rig in place. In deeper waters, computer-controlled thrusters keep the rig in place.

DRILL SHIPSWater depth: 200 - 1,000 metres for anchoring, more than 1,000 metres using dynamic positioning

The idea is the same as a semi-submersible rig, but the drilling system is mounted on a ship. The derrick operates through a large hole, called a “moon pool,” in the centre of the hull. These ships can operate in remote areas with all of the fuel, water and supplies needed.

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20 september/october 2013 Well Construction Journal

T

The East Energizers A west-east pipeline is poised to boost jobs and spark global oil markets

REPORTMarket

By Jacqueline Louie

ransCanada Corporation’s EnErgy East Pipeline project promises a secure source of oil for New Brunswick, and the creation of jobs and economic benefits in New Bruns-

wick and across the country. The $12-billion pipeline project, announced in

early August, will connect crude oil from Western Canada to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick using an existing pipeline. Energy East calls for “the conversion of natural gas pipeline capacity to crude oil service in about 3,000 kilometres of

TransCanada’s existing Canadian mainline, along with construction of up to 1,400 kilometres of new pipeline. The project has the capacity to transport up to 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day, enhancing producer access to delivery points in Montreal, Québec City and Saint John, N.B.

According to TransCanada, the project will provide Canadian refiners in the east with a secure source of oil from Western Canada and create jobs and economic benefits in New Brunswick and across Canada. Energy East, which is set to extend from Hardisty, Alberta to

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The $12-billion pipeline project, announced in early August,

will connect crude oil from western Canada to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick using an

existing pipeline.

Saint John, would connect refineries in Quebec as well as the Irving refinery in Saint John with access to lower-priced, stable western Canadian oil, according to TransCanada Energy East Pipeline president, Steve Pohlod. “The pipeline could eliminate eastern Canadian refineries’ reliance on crude oil imported from overseas, since Eastern Canada currently imports more than 700,000 barrels a day – 80 per cent of its refinery feedstock – from countries including Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela and Algeria,” notes Pohlod.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford is also pleased the pipeline is moving forward. “My government made a commitment to the project as part of our efforts to build new markets and get a fairer price for the oil resources Albertans own,” Redford states. “This is truly a nation-building project that will diversify our economy and create new jobs in Alberta and across the country.”

For New Brunswick in particular, the benefits of Energy East are considerable. “That’s very signifi-cant, in that the refineries in Eastern Canada that would be receiving this oil, today receive most of

their oil from the Middle East and North Africa, at higher prices than oil that is pro-duced in Western Canada. So it really is a win-win situation for Canada,” says John Van der Put, Energy East pipeline vice-president. “It’s a win for

western Canadian producers in that they’ll have a new market they currently don’t have, which is able to supply oil to refineries in Quebec and New Bruns-wick. It’s a win for those refiners, because they’ll have access to a new source of oil to replace that higher priced foreign-sourced crude with a more economic, more stable oil supply from Western Canada.”

In addition, Irving Oil and TransCanada will form a joint venture to develop and construct a new $300-million Canaport Energy East Marine Termi-

TransCanada Corp.’s Energy East pipeline will stop refineries like Irving’s reliance on overseas crude oil.

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REPORTMarket

nal at the Irving Canaport in Saint John, which will connect TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline to an ice-free, deep water port and allow Canadian producers direct access to world markets.

New Brunswick Premier David Alward called the joint announcement Aug. 1, “a game changer” for his province. “New Brunswick is poised to become an en-ergy powerhouse in North America, with Saint John as the anchor of that powerhouse,” says Alward.

“With the deepest sea port on the east coast of North America in Saint John, along with the largest and most modern refining facility right here where we are today, we are ideally suited to maximize the benefits of this massive project.”

This past spring, TransCanada held a binding open season to obtain long-term commitments from pro-spective shippers to place bids for space on Energy East. The company expects an in-service date in late 2017 for deliveries to Quebec and 2018 for deliveries to New Brunswick.

Craig Leonard, New Brunswick’s Minister of

Energy and Mines, describes Energy East as “a very substantial construction project. Once the pipeline is built, it would be a stable source of low-cost oil for the Irving refinery, which will help that facility. It would also open up opportunities for smaller value-added activities such as upgrading.”

Much of the product would be going to overseas markets, Leonard notes, adding he’d like to see any value-added activities taking place in Canada, in New Brunswick in particular, rather than offshore.

In terms of cost structure, “it’s all driven by the private sector,” says Leonard. TransCanada would build the pipeline and it would be oil producers who would be filling the pipeline and paying tariffs, he explains.

This project is also expected to create “upwards of a couple of thousand construction jobs,” Lenora says. For the longer term, he says, “permanent em-ployment would be dependent upon the level of activity that takes place. It would be hundreds of jobs monitoring the pipeline and the export facility”.

The west-east pipeline is slated to deliver to Quebec by 2017 and N.B. by 2018.

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The recent Lac-Mégantic, Quebec rail disaster will be a strong argument for the Energy East project. If this pipeline goes ahead, it will cer-tainly help western Canadian oil producers, says Larry Hughes, a professor in Dalhousie University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer-ing, who studies energy sys-tems and energy security.

However, Hughes thinks Energy East is not fuelled by concern for eastern Canadi-ans. Rather, “it’s being driven by a concern about how this essentially landlocked oil can reach tidewater some-where,” he says.

According to Hughes, Canada should be looking at the big picture. “The big picture is not just about energy security for the energy supplier, it’s also energy security for the energy consumer,” he says. “There is no guarantee the price of oil is going to fall because of the pipeline coming to the east. There is also the entire issue of greenhouse gas emissions, with the continued combustion of oil products.”

Hughes isn’t saying oil shouldn’t come to New

Brunswick. “What I’m saying, is that if we are going to use oil, we should be using it more intelligently. We should be trying to move Atlantic Canadians off of oil onto other products and biomass.”

Atlantic Canadians per capita use about 50 per cent more refined oil than the rest of the country,

for space and water heating. Expecting them to continue using as much oil in the future as they’ve done in the past makes little sense, Hughes says.

According to Hughes, another option would be to move oil by ship, from either Montreal or Quebec City to Saint John. “The facilities already exist in Saint John for dealing with oil by ship. So a pipeline is not necessary, but once a pipeline is built it will be here probably for 50 years. If we go with shipping, we at least have the option of throttling back on consumption. If we decrease our consumption, we can use fewer ships and we would need to ship less oil. If a pipeline is there, the tendency is to keep the pipeline as full as possible.”

“New Brunswick is poised to become an energy powerhouse

in North America, with Saint John as the anchor of that powerhouse.”

– New Brunswick Premier David Alward

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Well Construction Journal 24 september/october 2013

Canadian Rig Counts Aug. 2, 2013

Drilling Down Total Utilization

Alberta 213 380 593 36%

B.C. 43 23 66 65%

Manitoba 12 12 24 50%

New Brunswick 0 0 0 –

Newfoundland 0 0 0 –

Northwest Territories 0 1 1 0%

Quebec 0 1 1 0%

Saskatchewan 70 68 138 51%

Totals 338 485 823 41%Source: Divestco

NUMBERSBy the

Stats at a Glance

Alberta Rig Counts Aug. 2, 2013

Drilling Down Total Utilization

Northern Alberta 38 90 128 30%

Central Alberta 140 250 390 36%

Southern Alberta 35 40 75 47%

Totals 213 380 593 36%Source: Divestco

Top 5 Most Active OperatorsJuly 23, 2013

Active Rigs

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. 23

Progress Energy 23

Husky Energy 22

Cenovus Energy Inc. 16

Crescent Point Energy 14Source: FirstEnergy Capital

Top 5 Most Active Drillers in Western CanadaJuly 23, 2013

Active Total

Precision Drilling Corp. 77 188

Ensign Energy Services Inc. 49 117

Savanna Energy Services Corp. 33 70

Nabors Industries Ltd. 23 65

Trinidad Drilling Ltd. 33 60Source: FirstEnergy Capital

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www.cadecanada.com september/october 2013 25

Canadian Rig Counts Aug. 2, 2013

Drilling Down Total Utilization

Alberta 213 380 593 36%

B.C. 43 23 66 65%

Manitoba 12 12 24 50%

New Brunswick 0 0 0 –

Newfoundland 0 0 0 –

Northwest Territories 0 1 1 0%

Quebec 0 1 1 0%

Saskatchewan 70 68 138 51%

Totals 338 485 823 41%Source: Divestco

Alberta Well LicencesApproval issued by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board

Number of Licences Issued Jan. 2013 Feb. 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013

Development 821 591 525 265 587

Exploration 74 66 26 14 33Source: Alberta Department of Energy

Alberta Spudded WellsJuly 2013

Number of Wells Spudded

2011 2012

July 812 625

August 964 464

September 1,018 706

October 955 535

November 971 605

December 754 363

2012 2013

January 946 1,756

February 2,021 1,705

March 980 904

April 276 153

May 374 214

June 518 246Source: Alberta Department of Energy

Top 5 Most Active OperatorsJuly 23, 2013

Active Rigs

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. 23

Progress Energy 23

Husky Energy 22

Cenovus Energy Inc. 16

Crescent Point Energy 14Source: FirstEnergy Capital

Alberta Completed WellsJuly 2013

Number of Wells Completed

2011 2012

July 245 488

August 728 541

September 1,531 524

October 904 692

November 834 750

December 940 692

2012 2013

January 381 381

February 718 640

March 717 812

April 672 701

May 486 343

June 254 272Source: Alberta Department of Energy

Alberta Land SalesAug. 2, 2013

June 2013 June 2012 YTD 2013 YTD 2012

Oil and Natural Gas

Land Sales $20.5 million $57 million $405 million $643 million

Price Per Hectare $161.49 $564.29 $348.66 $461.69

Oil Sands

Land Sales $700,596 $516,566 $6.3 million $4.6 million

Price Per Hectare $48.87 $737.35 $81.16 $75.07Source: Alberta Department of Energy

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Well Construction Journal 26 september/october 2013

DEEPERDrilling

By Ryan Van Horne

One Ocean, Two Industries

Liaison group helps petroleum and fishing workers net agreement

Oil and water don’t mix, but one ocean has proven the petroleum and fishing indus-tries can collaborate.

In 2001, the Canada-Newfoundland Off-shore Petroleum Board called the two groups together for meetings and asked them to set up a liaison orga-nization to enhance their work-ing relationship. The next year, One Ocean was born and has proven some doubters wrong.

Maureen Murphy Rustad is the director of One Ocean, based at the Fisheries and Marine Institute at the Memorial University of New-foundland. She often gets asked why the organization has worked as well as it has. “It’s the commitment of the members,” she says. “They make this work.”

One of the keys to the increased collaboration was a policy that was set early on by former director Dr. Arthur May. The organization has equal represen-tation from the fishing and petroleum industry, so May recognized the futility of voting, which would inevitably lead to stalemates. “He would sit there and make them agree,” Murphy Rustad says. “Voting was too easy. We had to come up with a consensus. We talk it out and we agree on the best way forward for both industries.”

Murphy Rustad says another reason why One Ocean remains unique in the world is the structure of the fishing industry. Fish harvesters and proces-sors present a unified front and their “one-stop shopping” makes it easier for members of the Cana-dian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) to

communicate with them.In Nova Scotia, for ex-

ample, there are as many as 100 fisheries organizations, which can form a cumber-

some gauntlet.Murphy Rustad said there was a realization from

both industries early on that they were going to have to share some space.

“They work together rather than working against each other,” she says. Both industries had to learn about the other and One Ocean was the mechanism to foster that.

There have been some rough spots, but One Ocean has worked through them. One example is both sides agreeing to protocols for seismic testing – instead of setting rules. One Ocean meets four times per year – more if necessary – and the current makeup is six members from each industry, but it can go as high as 10.

“we talk it out and we agree on the best way forward for

both industries.”

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materials

Connect with Canada’s Drilling IndustryBecome a CADE Sponsor

2013 SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES ARE NOW AVAILABLEContact CADE at 403.532.0220 or by email at [email protected]

www.cadecanada.com

Support CADE by sponsoring our technical lunches, our website and the Well Construction Journal.

Thank You to Our SponsorsThe support of CADE sponsors plays an integral part in our association’s success.

Platinum SponsorsNCS Energy Services Inc.

Schlumberger

Gold SponsorsGlobal Steel Ltd.

Hardbanding Solutions

Pacesetter Directional Drilling Ltd.

Q’Max Solutions Inc.

XI Technologies Inc.

Ryan Directional Services

Silver SponsorsAkita Drilling Ltd.

Baker Hughes

Cathedral Energy Services Ltd.

Import Tool Corp. Ltd.

Lory Oilfield Rentals Inc.

Packers Plus Energy Services Inc.

Peak Completions

Tristar Resource Management Ltd.

Savanna Energy Services Corp.

Well Control Group

Energy Drilling

000WCJ-CADE_Sponsor-FP.indd 1 6/12/13 11:54:48 AMWCJ_Sept-Oct_13_p26-27.indd 26 8/26/13 11:17:34 AM

Page 27: Well Construction Journal - Sept/Oct 2013

For drilling and completions specialists, CADE currently offers one of the best networking and knowledge sharing opportunities in the Canadian petroleum industry. As you look to build your business and launch new technologies, new products and services in the drilling industry, a CADE Sponsorship offers you a cost effective way to deliver your message directly to the entire membership of the leading industry association for Well Construction Professionals in Canada.

YOUR SPONSORSHIP INCLUDES:• Ads in Well Construction Journal, full of relevant industry news and

articles, presented in a high quality, well-read magazine• Your logo in the “Thank you to our sponsors” feature on the CADE

website and in every issue of Well Construction Journal• Your logo on the “Thank you to our sponsors” display at every CADE

Technical Luncheon• Authorized use of the CADE logo on your website and in marketing

materials

Connect with Canada’s Drilling IndustryBecome a CADE Sponsor

2013 SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES ARE NOW AVAILABLEContact CADE at 403.532.0220 or by email at [email protected]

www.cadecanada.com

Support CADE by sponsoring our technical lunches, our website and the Well Construction Journal.

Thank You to Our SponsorsThe support of CADE sponsors plays an integral part in our association’s success.

Platinum SponsorsNCS Energy Services Inc.

Schlumberger

Gold SponsorsGlobal Steel Ltd.

Hardbanding Solutions

Pacesetter Directional Drilling Ltd.

Q’Max Solutions Inc.

XI Technologies Inc.

Ryan Directional Services

Silver SponsorsAkita Drilling Ltd.

Baker Hughes

Cathedral Energy Services Ltd.

Import Tool Corp. Ltd.

Lory Oilfield Rentals Inc.

Packers Plus Energy Services Inc.

Peak Completions

Tristar Resource Management Ltd.

Savanna Energy Services Corp.

Well Control Group

Energy Drilling

000WCJ-CADE_Sponsor-FP.indd 1 6/12/13 11:54:48 AMWCJ_Sept-Oct_13_p26-27.indd 27 8/26/13 9:39:07 AM

Page 28: Well Construction Journal - Sept/Oct 2013

Find out more at

slb.com/iPZIG

iPZIG is a mark of Schlumberger. © 2013 Schlumberger. 13-PF-0083

iPZIG service—the industry’s first gamma ray imaging and inclination service positioned directly behind the drill bit—acquires real-time measurements to reduce directional drilling risk in critical hole sections. With imaging data retrieved at the bit, geosteering can be adjusted immediately to stay within the target zone.

AT-BIT INCLINATION, GAMMA RAY, AND IMAGING SERVICE

Real-time, at-bit data for time-critical geosteering decisions.

“We Commit, We Deliver, No Excuses”

Founded in 1993, with operations in: Canada, Mexico, USA, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brasil, Argentina, and India.

Customer focus, innovation and leadership in applications make Q’Max Solutions Inc. the “Go To” company.

Head OfficeCalgary, Alberta, Canada Contact us at 403.269.2242Visit www.qmaxsolutions.com

Customized Drilling Fluids Solutions.

Duvernay & Cardium Experts

WCJ_Sept-Oct_13_p28-01.indd 28 8/26/13 9:41:36 AM


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