Combined with Trican’s idle reduction technology, the fleet will lower overall fuel consumption and emissions, key components in Trican’s commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance initiatives. 

The conversion to Tier 4 DGB engines will provide industry leading reductions in emissions and lower fuel costs for our customers. 

The Company will be upgrading 48,000 hydraulic horsepower from conventional diesel engines to the Tier 4 DGB engines, bringing Trican’s total Tier 4 fleet to 84,000 HHP.

The Tier 4 DGB engine displaces 85% of diesel with clean burning natural gas, reducing CO2 and particulate matter emissions.

The Company is in advanced discussions with several customers on multi-year contracts that meet Trican’s required return metrics. These customers have made commitments to improve the sustainability of their operations and see the deployment of Tier 4 DGB powered hydraulic fracturing fleet as a critical part of their strategy to achieve their ESG goals.

Hydraulic Fracturing Asset Requirements

Trican’s hydraulic fracturing equipment is specifically designed to meet the demands of the higher intensity regions of the WCSB, including the Montney, Duvernay and Deep Basin formations. These regions account for approximately 80% of the required hydraulic horsepower demand in Canada. Additionally, Trican’s fleet also includes an industry leading 170,000 HHP of conventional dual fuel engine Tier 4 fracturing pumps, which displace higher particulate diesel fuel with cleaner burning natural gas.

The existing dual fuel fleet will be complemented by an additional 48,000 HHP when the second Tier 4 DGB fleet with deployment anticipated to be spring of 2022. These investments reflect Trican’s commitment to becoming an industry leader in ESG practices by reducing the environmental footprint of our operations.

About Trican

Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Trican provides a comprehensive array of specialized products, equipment and services that are used during the exploration and development of oil and gas reserves.

Source(s) and Image(s): Trican

The result was a whole new E-World that ultimately will make us more versatile, globalized, and resilient.

When people stopped flying planes and the world pretty much shut down, people had to implement new business models for marketing, sales, hiring, investor relations, PR, supply/vendors and processes, partnerships, and more.

This new E-world means harnessing zoom and teams platforms and ensuring online meetings are connected and professional even if you were meeting from your bedroom.

While we now start to get back to a ‘new normal’ and travel becomes more available, the power of E-business will forever play a role in how we expand and grow from here forward.

See it as an opportunity rather than a problem.

Six E-Sales Opportunities To Grow Your Company In The New Digital World

If you want to sell a product or position your company for an important bid, how are you going to accomplish your goals in Covid times?  

When we are working from home, using zoom, or dealing with outside distractions, how can we succeed? Those are the challenges of the day. It is a new challenge, to find ways to keep ourselves and our clients connected, online.

Believe it or not, with creativity and engagement, we can have an effective E-Work environment that can out-perform old sales models.

1. Think about it, less travel, more meetings, less cost, more communication. It adds up. Business is nothing more than a network of conversations. People who organize meetings effectively, stack meetings, and create an E-Flow work environment will win the game of the E-work world.
   
2. Building great relationships that create trust and rapport is still the foundation of any relationship. Having clients get to know, like, and trust you is key; so, the rules have not changed. Building rapport still means a professional appearance online and an appropriate zoom background. It means good communication, understanding your client, finding common ground, discovering needs, sharing experiences, matching mannerisms and speech, future pacing, and finding solutions. 
   
3. Quickly adapting to this new E-World means recreating the outside world inside the computer world. It means finding new ways to connect and get personal with relationships so that there is a strong foundation of trust established online.
   
4. Computer advances and algorithms have taken over the laborious job of research and client acquisition. Business development costs came down, workflows became more efficient, and sales grow from there. 
   
5. The E-world will expedite globalization, and before we know it, doing business anywhere in the world at any time will be an affordable proposition. Global commerce is emerging, and the opportunities are truly endless.
   
6. We must look into the future and see where nations will unite in common goals. Languages will merge, and borders and boundaries will fall away. Free markets will be the foundation of the global playing field of business as we grow exponentially with E-Business automation and processes.

PAAS – PUBLISHING AS A SERVICE

As publishers of a global energy magazine, The OGM served clients around the globe ensuring suppliers and energy companies got their message to the right market.

Publisher Tina Olivero says, “During the pandemic it became apparent that tradeshows and flying to meetings was not an option for us or our clients. E-meetings became the norm and suddenly, the world got much smaller. Client contact became easier, faster, and automated. Computer advances and algorithms took over the laborious job of research and client acquisition. Business development costs came down, workflows became more efficient, and sales took off for us. That would not have happened, except for the pandemic. Long story short, there’s a silver lining in everything, when we are willing to embrace the challenges, we then reap the rewards.”

PaaS is a client solution that searches out potential clients, matches content with buyer and seller and creates an automated lead generation system. Where traditional advertising could be hit and miss at times, PaaS connects those interested, with those selling and the computer algorithm does all the work of bringing them together. As a result, expanding into new markets is now affordable. Finding your exact right client is now easier. All of this is because of the new E-Work environment and computer AI.

Visionary Tina Olivero says, “The E-world will expedite globalization and before we know it, doing business anywhere in the world at any time, will be an affordable proposition. Global commerce is emerging, and the opportunities are truly endless.”

WHAT INDUSTRY SAYS

Ryan Burrowes, CEO of Warehouse Transport Group and head of Canada/Guyna operations said, “As a CEO of a growing logistics and investment company, I was in dire need of new digital technology to take my business online. We needed a marketing and sales enhancement solution and a way to scale. I found everything and more with Tina and TheOGM Agency team. Having lived all over the world, Tina is a visionary who sees things from a global perspective.

Our operations have a foothold in Guyana, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. So Tina and her team are a perfect fit for us. The OGM’s new digital business development solutions are strategic and sustainable for the new world order where everyone is doing business on Zoom.

The OGM digital tools come with algorithms and automation that provide us with a flow of never-ending, high-level opportunities to quote on new work. Not just any work but leads with key decision-makers for our business. That is invaluable. The OGM is a platform with new digital tools that we all need in a business in this day and age. This new digital game is entirely different and capitalizing on that makes for really exciting times. Tina and her team have gone over and above our contractual agreement and, honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s the people we want to work with. Already, I consider her a part of our family, for now, and for the future.”

Ryan Burrowes CEO, Warehouse Transport Group Canada-Guyana – WarehouseTransport.ca

PICK THE RIGHT PARTNERS

There are many companies out there that are trying to adapt online. For energy companies choosing the right partners who have extensive experience in the energy industry is key.

Tina Olivero says, “The most important part of outreach and communication right now is content. You have to partner with key marketing and sales people who speak “energy”. Otherwise you are trying to bring your clients into your world, with someone who does not understand your business and most importantly, doesn’t understand what your clients need. That’s a one way ticket to no success.

Aligining with The OGM as 30-year publishers of energy content, coupled with our digital media agency, makes The OGM a premium choice. When you have that level of business competence, communication is easy. Adapting with new digital processes and creating automations has to be routed in powerful words, which create powerful actions, which create powerful results. It’s that simple. These are truly incredible times. Reach out and lets what we can create.

www.TheOGM.com

About the Author Tina Olivero

Tina Olivero is a conscious entrepreneur, managing a publishing company – TheOGM.com, a digital media firm – DigitalCollateral.ca and a new Sales Engine company – TheOGM.ca. She has 30 years in the marketing and sales business in the energy sector. She is committed to energy and sustainable development with her Our Great Minds. This innovative magazine shares the great minds and collective intelligence that are combating climate change and eradicating carbon emissions. 

 “Preem’s production of renewable petrol is an important piece of the puzzle that Sweden must solve to achieve the climate goals. Residual products from our Swedish forests have a unique potential and this is an exciting step in our work to develop the fuel of the future,” said Peter Abrahamsson, Head of Sustainable Development at Preem AB.

To meet Sweden’s long-term goals of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, fuel suppliers must reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. Co-processing of biomass-based pyrolysis oil is one method to reduce the carbon intensity of transport fuels at the refinery compared to blending of biofuels downstream. Pyrolysis oil produced from sustainable solid biomass materials such as sawdust or agricultural residuals is a low carbon feedstock suitable for refinery upgrading. Biomass-based pyrolysis oil can qualify as an Annex IX Part A feedstock under the European Union Renewable Energy Directive, which is directly supported by Sweden’s Integrated Energy and Climate Plan. Pyrolysis oil co-processed in an FCC is an economically attractive method of meeting RED biofuel mandates for Advanced Biofuels.

Ben Owens, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions stated, “UOP is excited to support Preem for the production of low-carbon transportation fuels. FCC co-processing of biomass-based pyrolysis oil is an integrated production solution using existing refinery infrastructure to convert sustainable feeds into advanced biofuels.” 

FCC co-processing technology is part of a portfolio of renewable fuel solutions offered by the Sustainable Technology Solutions group at Honeywell UOP. Using the UOP Optimix GF Feed Distributor system, many types of bioliquids can be successfully co-processed in an FCC unit.  Refinery co-processing is one method for meeting biofuel mandates and produce low carbon fuels. Preem AB is the largest fuel company in Sweden, with a refining capacity of more than 18 million cubic meters per year. Preem refines and sells gasoline, diesel, heating oil and renewable fuels to companies and consumers in Sweden and worldwide. By 2030, Preem will produce approximately 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels, and thereafter aims to become the world’s first climate neutral biofuels- and refining company. Honeywell recently committed to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035. 

This commitment builds on the company’s track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. About half of Honeywell’s new product introduction research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers. Honeywell UOP is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries.

Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions, a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries. Honeywell is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.

Source(s) and Image(s): Honeywell and Preem

The Company will be upgrading 48,000 hydraulic horsepower from conventional diesel engines to the Tier 4 DGB engines, bringing Trican’s total Tier 4 fleet to 84,000 HHP. The Tier 4 DGB engine displaces 85% of diesel with clean burning natural gas, reducing CO2 and particulate matter emissions. Combined with Trican’s idle reduction technology, the fleet will lower overall fuel consumption and emissions, key components in Trican’s commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance initiatives. 

The Company is in advanced discussions with several customers on multi-year contracts that meet Trican’s required return metrics. These customers have made commitments to improve the sustainability of their operations and see the deployment of Tier 4 DGB powered hydraulic fracturing fleet as a critical part of their strategy to achieve their ESG goals. 

CAPITAL BUDGET UPDATE

The cost of the upgrade for the second low emissions fleet is expected to be approximately $28 million with $18 million in capital to be spent in 2021. Accordingly, the Company’s 2021 capital budget has been increased to $58 million. The remaining $10 million will be incurred in 2022 with deployment of the equipment anticipated in the spring of 2022. 

The Company anticipates that its capital program will be funded from cash on hand and free cash flow if required.

Adjunct assistant professor of geophysics Abash Kumar and professor William Harbert of the Department of Geology and Environmental Science worked with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Lab researcher Richard Hammack to develop a new method of detecting low-frequency earthquakes that could signal the release of significant volumes of oil and natural gas.

The previously undetected resources could be a windfall for an industry expected to produce an average of 90.3 billion cubic feet per day of dry natural gas this year and an average of 92.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“I want to emphasize that often, these sorts of measurements are not collected,” said Harbert. “Geophysicists previously had the opinion that they don’t need to look for them. Abhash has turned this around to where I hope the techniques he’s pioneered are routinely used to monitor all kinds of deep subsurface activities.”

  Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is the process where pressurized water and chemicals are pumped into strategically drilled underground wells in an effort to create and expand cracks in rocks to allow gas and oil to flow more freely for easier extraction.

Typically, explained Kumar, companies conduct the process in ways that are designed to widen and increase the amounts of preexisting fractures and produce instantaneous improvement in energy flow. Targeting rocks that are already cracked requires the use of borehole geophones, which measure seismic activity underground, or fiber optic sensors, which record subsurface sound and temperature.

“During the fracturing process, a small magnitude earthquake is created. Based on the location of the micro seismic earthquake, you can try to create a picture of overall quality of rock that’s been fractured. Based on that volume, companies can anticipate how much oil and gas they are going to produce,” he said.

For years, conventional wisdom has been that rocks worthy of targeting will show signs of fracturing not long after the process begins, which is known as brittle deformation.

However, research by Kumar, Harbert, Hammack and former NETL intern Erich Zorn has indicated that rocks with higher contents of clay and other soft materials don’t fracture immediately but, instead, release oil and gas slowly over longer periods of time during ultra-low-frequency earthquakes during a process called non-brittle deformation. They detailed the findings in the paper, “Geomechanical lithology-based analysis of microseismicity in organic shale sequences: A Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale example” which was published in 2017 in the journal GeoScience World.

“We found positive temporal correlation between low frequency earthquakes and increased fluid activity during hydraulic fracturing, suggesting that these unique events are generated in response to extensive reservoir fracturing, triggered by highly elevated fluid pressure,” Kumar said. “These low frequency seismic events of long duration are likely linked with non-brittle deformation in the reservoir during hydraulic fracturing and contribute both in the overall stimulation of the reservoir and gas production,” said Kumar.

Additionally, during field research at a West Virginia hydraulic fracking site, Kumar demonstrated the low-frequency earthquakes that signal plastic deformation and larger earthquakes could be detected using low-cost surface seismometers placed on the ground rather than borehole geophones and fiber optic sensors, which are much more expensive and requires a well to be drilled specifically for monitoring.

Combined, the findings could give oil and gas industry executives more precise methods to extract greater amounts of energy, cheaper equipment to get the process started and a broader view of the types of areas that are worthy of exploring.

“Our analysis proposed that overall deformation due to hydraulic fracking doesn’t belong to one particular type of deformation, it undergoes both types, brittle and non-brittle,” said Kumar. “Taking both into account can increase overall estimates of fracturing volume of rock, therefore estimate of oil and gas productivity will be much higher.”

Hammack said the theory still needs to be proved at other well-characterized sites that feature geophysical models and he’s hoping the team will be able to monitor less-characterized areas near Pittsburgh and Morgantown sometime this year.

And while he credited the work of Stanford University geophysicist Mark Zoback for the first work involving low-frequency earthquakes in shale gas wells, he said Kumar’s work with seismometers helped to advance that to new heights.

“No one else had ever gone the lengths to build a whole new science behind it,” Hammack said.

^{In Norway, state-owned oil projects often have upwards of 60% ownership in their oil and gas projects. This model of investment in the energy industry has served them well. Norway is now sitting pretty with the largest nest egg in the world; A sovereign wealth fund with over US$1 trillion in assets, including 1.3% of global stocks and shares. In May 2018 Norway’s fund was worth about $195,000 per Norwegian citizen. It also holds portfolios of real estate and fixed-income investments. Newfoundland should do precisely that.}

^{The trillion-dollar Government Pension Fund that Norway has created, pushes for more transparency and focuses on doing the right thing. It shuns individual companies and entire sectors like tobacco peddlers, and nuclear weapons makers because it’s the right thing to do. They operate from a higher good. They can afford to. That is a smart oil and gas strategy and societal formula. One we can all aspire to!}

^{Newfoundland, through Nalcor Energy, has marginal ownership in producing oil projects, ranging from 4.9% to 10% equity shares. This model promotes jobs and short-term needs but loses on the long term investment growth and security model, that Norway has been so successful in achieving.}

^{Oil and gas production in the Norwegian Continental Shelf comes from 107 identified fields with 85 fields currently in production. Comparatively, Offshore Newfoundland has four oil-producing fields. It’s time to catch up!}

^{This year and the next Newfoundland will have upwards of six aggressive drilling players offshore, with an estimated 80+ wells to be drilled. Not only is our drilling/find ratio high, at one in five wells, but we also have unprecedented exploration happening like never before. One significant find and we are on a fast track to future projects and the same opportunities as that of the North Sea.}

^{But before we go any further, we need to be oil asset owners and managers.  Canada should be smart enough to realize that oil and gas is the catalyst to new energy both from a monetary and infrastructure perspective.} 

^{Clearly, the smartest thing we can do with oil and gas is own our projects and use oil and gas to build new sustainable energy infrastructure. Oil and gas is the foundation of new energy coming on stream and given world demand it’s not going to be one energy source or the other; it’s going to be an energy mix of resources for the next 40-50 years. Those are the facts.}

^{It’s time for Canada to invest in our offshore projects and create investment successes like that of Norway. Why not? We have a proven infrastructure, the perfect investment climate, and unprecedented world-class opportunity offshore Newfoundland.}

^{If Canada doesn’t get the perspective right when it comes to oil and gas, perhaps it would be right for Newfoundland to join Norway.  In a time of globalization, aligning with the world’s energy giant and masterful investment strategist just might be the ultimate solution for our kids here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Having said all that, it looks like the next 2 to 5 years will see the most prolific growth in the industry to date, offshore Newfoundland.}

^{I often wonder what would happen if Newfoundland left Canada and joined Norway.  I imagine a different future. Aligning with the Norwegian model of developing our oil and gas, fishery and tourism sectors would allow Newfoundland to flourish as Norway’s has.}

^{That idea would entirely change Newfoundland history.}

Honeywell will design and supply a UOP Russell modular cryogenic plant with refrigeration and dehydration units. The plant design streamlines project schedules and is customized for the unique gas composition in the Basin.

“Cogent Midstream selected the UOP Russell plant because it is a proven and reliable technology and because the modular design vastly reduces the time before the plant can go into production,” said Neil Eckersley, UOP Russell general manager at Honeywell. “With the addition of this new plant, Cogent’s processing capacity at its Big Lake Plant will increase to 400 million cubic feet per day.”

How it works

Cryogenic gas processing plants cool natural gas until the heavier and more valuable NGLs form into valuable liquids including propane, ethane and butanes that can be used as fuels, fuel blending components and other valuable petrochemicals. The plants are built in modules in controlled factory conditions and shipped by truck to remote locations where they are quickly and easily assembled. This significantly reduces construction time and expense, enhances reliability after start-up, and enables customers to begin processing gas and earning revenue more quickly than with field-constructed plants.

The plant is designed to accommodate the NGL-rich gas in the Wolfcamp Formation. Its low capital and operating expense and high NGL recovery enable Cogent to meet producer processing needs, while also ensuring downstream pipeline specifications are met.

Cogent operates the largest private greenfield gathering and processing system in the Southern Midland Basin. Approximately 650 miles of pipeline and three active processing plants serve Coke, Crockett, Glasscock, Irion, Mitchell, Reagan, Schleicher, Sterling and Tom Green counties. Cogent’s customers represent many of the most active drillers in the Permian Basin.

About Honeywell

Honeywell UOP (www.uop.com) is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Honeywell UOP is part of Honeywell’s Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group, which also includes Honeywell Process Solutions (www.honeywellprocess.com), a pioneer in automation control, instrumentation and services for the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, chemical and other industries.

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.  For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Gas alert, gas alert! Those are words you hope you never hear. Hazards left unchecked put people in danger. Your best chain of defence against unimaginable outcomes and explosions is to ensure that gas detection and monitoring is well thought out and executed in your organization.

Are you prepared?

Poisonous gas puts people at risk. Are you prepared?

WHO USES GAS DETECTORS?

At an industrial facility, on oil rigs, in manufacturing facilities, processing units, and throughout the firefighting sector, gas detection has become common place as a foundation of safety! And with good reason, our team’s safety depends on a working environment gas monitoring is a priority and sensors that alert you to the presence of gas leaks are readily available. 

Gas detection and monitoring devices can be found in industrial plants, refineries, manufacturing plants, fumigation facilities, paper pulp mills, aircraft and shipbuilding facilities, hazmat operations, waste-water treatment facilities, vehicles manufacturers, distilleries, indoor air testing and even in our homes.  Applications are varied and wide.

PORTABLE GAS DETECTORS

Portable detectors are used to monitor the atmosphere around workers on the job and are either hand-held or worn on clothing or on a belt/harness for convenience sake. These gas detectors transmit warnings via audible and visible signals, such as alarms and flashing lights, when dangerous levels of gas vapours are detected and they may be monitored at another location especially in the case of remote gas monitoring.

FIXED GAS DETECTORS

Fixed type gas detectors may be used for detection of one or more gas types and are generally mounted near the process area of a plant or control room, or an area to be protected, such as a residential bedroom. Industrial sensors are usually installed on fixed type mild steel structure and a cable connects the detectors to a SCADA system for continuous monitoring.

HOW DO GAS DETECTORS WORK?

Gas detection equipment is used to detect a gas leak or other emissions and can interface with a control system so a process can be automatically shut down. A gas detector can sound an alarm to operators in the area where the leak is occurring, giving workers the opportunity to leave safely. There are many gases that can be harmful and it’s your job to understand those hazards and mitigate them if you play a role in your companies safety regime.

HOW DO GAS DETECTORS WORK?

Gas leak detection is the process of identifying potentially hazardous gas leaks by sensors and alarms that alert people when a dangerous gas has been detected. Exposure to toxic gases can also occur in operations such as painting, fumigation, fuel filling, construction, excavation of contaminated soils, landfill operations, entering confined spaces, so it is important to ensure the right type of gas detectors are used with the right application.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAS DETECTORS?

Common sensors include combustible gas sensors, photoionization detectors, infrared point sensors, ultrasonic sensors, electrochemical gas sensors, and semiconductor sensors. More recently, infrared imaging sensors have come into use.

CEO, Lee Parmiter of EnviroMed Detection Services in St. John’s, Newfoundland says, “At the end of the day, we want to ensure people to come home safe to their families. Gas monitoring is essential, and gas leaks must be detected so that hazardous environments are eliminated.  Gas detectors can be used to detect combustible, flammable and toxic gases, and oxygen depletion so they are essential in the infrastructure of most industrial companies and any business really that has processing facilities.”

WHAT IS GAS LEAK DETECTION ALL ABOUT?

Gas leak detection is the process of identifying potentially hazardous gas leaks by sensors. These sensors usually employ an audible alarm to alert people when a dangerous gas has been detected.  Today technology is so advanced that systems not only alert to a gas leak but also alert incidences and failures in systems.  We have vastly advanced the gas detection world with the advancement of new tracking and monitoring devices.

Gas leak detection is essential in your facility.

HOW TO SELECT YOUR GAS DETECTOR

How to select the gas detector primarily depends on your operation, and it’s functions. You will want to consider what systems will ensure the safety of workers and help your company save time and money.

Lee Parimeter says, “There are several models with constantly evolving technologies are available on the market. It is therefore essential to understand the available features and options to make an informed decision.  Understanding the systems that are out there and ensuring your system is right for your facility is key.”

SELECTING THE RIGHT SYSTEM
5 KEY POINTS FOR GAS DETECTION & MONITORING THAT YOU MUST KNOW

According to Don Galman of Honeywell Analytics, selecting the right gas detection considers the following, “There are many gas detection products on the market that might appear to be the same, but a closer inspection of specification, functionality, and features reveals major differences in what products can do and the potential value they can offer. Similarly, individual applications are also unique in their respective designs, needs and processes undertaken.

1. DO A RISK ASSESSMENT

Before beginning to consider gas detection equipment, a risk assessment needs to be conducted. Any company employing staff should conduct risk assessments to identify potential hazards, and these can include potential gas, vapour or Oxygen deficiency risks. If gas hazards are identified, gas detection is applicable as a risk reduction method.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR PRIME OBJECTIVE

Depending on the processes being undertaken and the gases being detected, remote or off-site alarm notification plus event data logging/reporting may also be required for Health and Safety management records. Another factor impacting on the need for enhanced reporting functions might be regulatory compliance or a condition of insurance.

3. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Having identified the primary objective, the suitable equipment is selected by asking a number of key questions. These fall into three broad categories:

• The gases to be detected and where they may come from

• The location and environmental conditions where detection is to take place

• The ease of use for operators and routine servicing personnel

Identify the gases to be detected and where they may come from

The risk assessment should identify the gases to be detected; however, experienced gas detection equipment manufacturers and their approved distributors are often able to help in this process, based on their experience of similar applications. However, it is important to remember that it is the end user’s responsibility to identify all potential hazards.

It is also essential to identify the potential source of a gas release as this helps determine the number and location of detectors required for a fixed gas detection system.

4. CONSIDER THE ENVIRONMENT

The performance, accuracy, and reliability of any gas detection equipment will be affected by the environmental conditions it is subjected to. Temperature, humidity and pressure levels at the location all have a direct bearing on the type of equipment that should be selected. Additional factors such as potential variations resulting from a production process itself, diurnal/nocturnal fluctuations and seasonal changes may also affect the type of device which is suitable.

5. UNDERSTAND THE PRODUCT

The next area of consideration relates to additional product functionality. Aspects like wiring configuration are important, especially when retrofitting into an existing application. If the apparatus is being integrated into a separate safety system, certain communication protocols may also be required such as HART®, Lonworks or Modbus®.

Consideration will also need to be given regarding the requirement for local displays on transmitter units, and local configuration of the unit and gas displays may also be a useful addition.

MEASURE EASE OF USE AND MAINTAINABILITY

Routine maintenance is another important consideration. Some gases and vapours can be detected with a number of different sensing technologies, e.g., Hydrocarbon gases with catalytic beads or Non-dispersive Infrared NDIR. Catalytic beads do not provide fail-to-safety operation and therefore can require a high frequency of routine maintenance; however, NDIR based solutions tend to have a higher initial purchase price but may require less routine maintenance. In-house resource to undertake such routine maintenance needs to be identified, and in the absence of such a resource, budgeting for third-party maintenance is an important factor in selecting the right equipment.”

ENVIROMED DETECTION SYSTEMS

EnviroMed Detection Services, located in St. John’s Newfoundland has been serving the industrial based businesses in the region for 30 + years. EnivroMed is a safety/environmental instrumentation company specializing in the sale, installation, and servicing of life-saving detection instrumentation. As an ISO 9001:2008-certified, a full-service laboratory, EnviroMed offers repairs, N.I.S.T. traceable calibrations, maintenance, service and training on most of the equipment it provides today.

In addition to its specialization in gas detection equipment, EnviroMed also sells, rents and leases a wide variety of products in the areas of Gas Detectors, Water, Soil & Noise Monitors, Ambient Air, Indoor Air Quality, Meteorology, and other specialty areas related to safety/environmental instrumentation.

EnviroMed’s expertise and instrumentation inventory assist in providing an additional three-month labor warranty on most equipment purchased, refurbished, or calibrated at its facility. All installations, stationary or portable, must meet our quality assurance/quality control program, verified by a preventative maintenance schedule. Working closely with our clients, EnviroMed continues meeting today’s environmental challenges while understanding industry’s regional and economic requirements.

CEO, Lee Parmiter says, “The complexities of choosing, installing and maintaining gas detectors can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve created a full-service detection and monitoring company that ensures we support our customers in the best possible way.  We work every day to ensure that people onsite, in confined spaces and requiring a high level of protection, get what they need.

The Blackline G7 Gas Detection Safety Monitor reports back to your head monitoring office. The Blackline G7 is state-of-the-art technology and is Ideal for remote location monitoring.

DON’T FEEL UP TO THE JOB OF SELECTING YOUR GAS DETECTOR?

For many people not directly involved in the gas detection and monitoring sector of their industry, the whole process can be overwhelming. Lee Parmiter says, “EnviroMed Detection Systems, with their gas detection consulting specialization, take the headache out of assessing and implementing your safety worksite systems. Are you bump testing? Did everything calibrate and is it up to date? Know who’s safe and not safe on site? Does your team know how your systems work and are they compliant right now, in the field today? Can I locate a person in the field in real time if something goes wrong? These are the safety questions that EnviroMed will take care of you.”

With the EnviroMed locally serviced and supported wireless real-time monitoring system, sensor deterioration and other unit shortfalls are relayed in real-time through the customer’s choice of media and with an established protocol to its operators and supervisors for appropriate recall and the avoidance of false alarms creating unnecessary downtime expense in operations.  Lee says, Our products are new state-of-the-art systems that are fit for the times, for example, EnviroMed G7 Gas Detection Tracking and Monitoring System covers all the bases of your situation. In my 35+ years of using, servicing and promoting safety in gas detection applications, this system hits a ‘grand slam home run’!

For more information go to www.EnviroMed.ca

YES, I WOULD LIKE A FREE CONSULT WITH ENVIROMED ABOUT MY GAS DETECTION AND MONITORING SYSTEM

[contact-form-7]

Dr. Ciaran O’Shea, a co-founder of AOMS, has acted as the Director of Occupational Health and Medicine providing Governance for all medical operations while his wife and owner, Laura O’Shea, overseeing day to day operations until their son Liam took over the day to day operations. Dr. O’Shea said, “We are proud of the clients that we have in this region and are honoured that they continue to seek our services and advice. We work hard with our clients every day to maintain our title as a Best in Class in Oil and Gas service provider.”

Having safe, healthy workers is key to any oil and gas company or contractor, and therefore the treatment of offshore workers medically has to be thorough and diverse. The vision for AOMS is to provide medical solutions that embrace a full range of physiotherapy and occupational services utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and advanced therapies.

Liam O’Shea, Chief Executive Officer of AOMS, explains their offerings, “We have an established network of designated physicians across the island of Newfoundland and in Labrador, and in other provinces throughout Canada, as well as abroad. AOMS physicians perform pre-employment medicals and independent medical assessments on behalf of our oil and gas clients. We are extremely excited about the expansion of our business to include our new Rehabilitation Suite. Our services now include outpatient physiotherapy services and occupational rehabilitation services. We feel that the introduction of physiotherapy and occupational rehabilitation services in collaboration with the occupational physician management will greatly enhance the currently available models in the Province. Our model will also serve the public, and the Occupational physician will collaborate with the treating GP whenever possible to engage all primary health care providers and get the patient back to work/full fitness expeditiously and safely. The true collaboration between occupational physician, third party care practitioners and treating GP’s should be the model from our perspective here at AOMS. Finally, AOMS also will be offering tele-health solutions to any individuals that are in remote environments or rural areas across the island, but this is a conversation that our Physio and Occ Rehab clinic team will have with you!”

Rehabilitation Clinic
Treatment of Orthopaedic conditions including: Low Back Pain, neck pain, whiplash, post-surgical rehabilitation, osteoarthritis, sciatica, tennis elbow, sport-related injury, overuse injury, plantar fasciitis, jumpers knee, Achilles tendonitis, general strength, and conditioning programs.

New Clinic Services & Equipment
Occupational Rehabilitation:
AOMS is now offering a full suite of Occupational Rehabilitation services including Functional Capacity Evaluations, Targeted Functional Evaluations, Work Site Occupational Rehabilitation, Work Station Reviews, Adjudication Assessments, Physical Demands Analysis, and the Progressive Goal Attainment Program for the treatment of pain-related disability.

Specialized Equipment:

TDX spinal mechanical traction: a specialized mechanical traction device offering the latest technology in spinal traction to assist with back pain, herniated discs, spinal movement disorders and other disorders of the spine.

Shockwave Therapy:
AOMS has acquired a Shockwave Medical Device from Shockwave Canada that has been shown through peer-reviewed scientific studies to improve clinical outcomes for the following conditions significantly: Achilles tendonitis, tendonitis of the elbow, wrist, and hand, plantar fasciitis, patella tendonitis, rotator cuff tendonitis, calcific tendonitis of the shoulder and frozen shoulder. Clinical improvements typically seen in shockwave treatment include decreased recovery time, reduced pain, decreased movement loss, decreased the lost time from employment and sporting activities and decreased time delay for return to full function. Tendonitis, one of the common on-the-job complaints.

More information on AOMS services

I thought a lot about that and realized that discontent comes from the disparity between where we are and where we can be. It’s that uncomfortable edge that has an annoying call that just won’t quit. There’s a reason for it. When it comes to Newfoundland’s offshore oil exploration and production rate, there is that same level of discontent. A disparity between where we are and where we could be.

Most other oil nations of the world have far surpassed our drilling success in the same amount of time.  Places like Norway and Abu Dhabi are booming and have their own investment funds which will secure their future. It took a national mindset with state-owned oil companies to get there. Underdeveloped countries like Guyana are setting out at a record pace. Check out Guyana

What’s stopping us?

Back in 1992 when John Crosbie, Cabot Martin, and other esteemed business community members, took the bull by the horns they invited the federal government to invest in our first offshore oil project, Hibernia. The federal government became a critical partner to ensure the project went ahead. That one move alone, ultimately became the catalyst for our offshore industry as it exists today. Government driven, that was entrepreneurial minded. We need more of that.

The Hibernia oil platform looked like it was never going to happen in the early 1990s when project stakeholder, Gulf,  pulled out of the project. At the time, the Canadian government had already offered $2.7 billion in loan guarantees and grants and then went on to further take an equity stake in the project. It proved to be an undeniably profitable move. The government still owns its stake in the Hibernia project and has done so for twenty years. In 2017, the government garnished $75 million in profit. The overall project picture is positive for the nation with $1.8-billion in dividends garnished since oil started flowing in 1997 which is an average of about $100-million a year. Investing in further offshore projects simply makes good business sense.

Fast forward to today. While I’m really proud of our four world-class oil-producing projects, I am also discontent with the disparity between our resource potential and our resource output. I’ve seen other oil regions of the world far surpass our drilling and finding ratio’s offshore. Not because we don’t have oil. We do. We are 1.5 times the size of the North Sea. And by all indicators have just as much oil, or more.

Newfoundland could have been as lucrative as the North Sea.  So why aren’t we?  Some say it’s political. Others say it’s regulatory issues.  Some say it’s the cost of labour and unions. Everyone has an opinion as to why we aren’t there yet. But where do those opinions get us? They get us a whole pile of reasons and justifications as to  “why not” and don’t really advance us. What we really need is the team that will make it happen regardless of the challenges.  The answer to our success is having people make it happen. Those who are willing to go beyond the status quo, like John Crosbie did, all those years ago, and make the “damn thing” happen. Get the job done.

That’s the attitude and leadership we need to drive exploration and drilling offshore. We need to get the federal and provincial government to step in like we did so many years ago and built our own oil exploration programs. Offering seismic data for other companies to become stronger, profitable and global in our region is one thing. Exploring and producing ourselves is another. We could be the “owners” of our own drill bits. And friggin’ well, why not?

Oil exploration is the key to oil industry growth in the region.

Oil Potential: The difference between a ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ province.

We have accumulated 60 years of data offshore, identified 650 leads and prospects and analyzed 112 offshore wells. All that data is available on the Nalcor Ness system designed to inform, educate and attract investors. Lets use that important information and invest in ourselves.

We have 20+ basins offshore Newfoundland and Labrador with very strong oil indicators. We could be so much further ahead. The conversation that it’s still “early days” doesn’t feel so good when we look at the North Sea having drilled 6000 + wells in about the same amount of time. Compared to the North Sea, offshore Newfoundland is 1.5 times bigger and we have drilled less than 200 wells offshore Newfoundland. 

With 20 + basins, does it mean that we could potentially be 20 times the offshore industry we have now? I feel it right down to my fog-filled bones; the answer is yes. Imagine 20 oil-producing basins with 3 or 4 oil projects producing in each one. An industry 20 times that of what it is today. Now that’s a game worth playing.

In this part of the world, we build castles in the sea. Giant concrete castles that bring oil to the surface. The greatest technological advances in the world happened here. The greatest minds are here. We don’t need the transfer of technology from other regions any longer. We are the technology.

With all that potential the only difference between being a “have” and a “have not” province is the decision and leadership to do so.  Shag the deficit, lets rise above all that and be profitable as a province and a nation, with energy.

Offshore Newfoundland: Nalcor Energy has identified 20+ basins. Graphic: Nalcor Energy

Invest in ourselves

Why are we waiting for other companies to invest offshore Newfoundland when we should be putting much more skin in the game and further investing in ourselves. That’s what entrepreneurs do; they take a huge, massive leap of faith and jump. That’s what the Feds did with Hibernia, and it worked to the tune of $billions in royalties for Canada and Newfoundland. That’s what Danny Williams was doing when he was in office creating equity for the province in our own projects. Thanks to the foresight of the Mulrooney government all those years ago, that initial federal investment paid off in spades. All indicators suggest that when it comes to oil and gas, investing in ourselves works. Newfoundland and Labrador has enjoyed yearly royalty returns of as much as $2.8 billion from the offshore oil industry. Imagine what that figure could be if we owned majority shares in our projects. All indicators point to one thing “do it yourself”.

That’s what Norway did with Statoil (STATE OIL). Today, it is a national oil company of stellar, record performance. Statoil was formed by the 2007 merger of Statoil with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro. As of 2017, the Government of Norway is the largest shareholder with 67% of the shares, while the rest is public stock. The ownership interest is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Newly named Equinor, Statoil has evolved with a new brand and identity that embraces the new energy era. “The world is changing, and so is Statoil. The biggest transition our modern-day energy systems have ever seen is underway, and we aim to be at the forefront of this development. Our strategy remains firm. The name Equinor reflects ongoing changes and supports the always safe, high value and low carbon strategy we outlined last year,” says chair of the board in Statoil, Jon Erik Reinhardsen.

We can wait for the oil price to be right, we can wait for other companies to explore but it’s slow going bye’s. Slow as molasses, and it costs us our potential and global advantage. When I think about the 40,000+ Canadians who lost their jobs because of the oil price drop, you quickly realize that we have not secured our own future in Canada. We have not created a scenario of success regardless of market trends and outside influences. Provincially, we have not created the “no fail” solution for our offshore industry. Why haven’t we, when clearly the best insurance we have, is in developing our own resources ‘with’ our own resources?

Focus on what ‘can’ be done

We know that we have 25.5 billion barrels of oil and 20.6 trillion cubic feet of gas potential. Let’s get the stuff out of the seabed now because there is no promise of tomorrow. Let’s find that oil and double, triple or quadruple our current discoveries. We need to be like pirates going for the gold. Driven beyond driven. Not only does it take the tremendous seismic work that Nalcor did, to make oil and gas happen at the rate it should, but it also takes us having the guts to put our money where our mouth is and invest in ourselves, explore for oil ourselves, find oil ourselves. Forget fighting over Muskrat Falls project overruns. Focus on what ‘can be done’. It’s the fastest route to success.

Five years is the window of opportunity that we have for oil and gas exploration and infrastructure development before things dramatically change. Things like world oil demand in developing countries, world oil markets changing, pipeline access and security, established shipping lanes to market, global trade alliances, developing oil nations, the emergence of new energy and exponential technological advances will all impact our ability to succeed with oil and gas. We have five years to become the ‘owners of our destiny’. I’m afraid the 2030 plan may be a little too late.

Oil exploration and production have a lot of moving variables. We have to be strategic and laser sharp focused like the oil companies and get in there and make it happen. You have to ask yourself, are we going to act and be globally competitive and overcome oil market variables or are we going to sit around fighting with each other about policies and procedures and environmental agendas of nay-sayers. Do we have time for that?

We need to be a ‘hotbed’ of oil discoveries in this regions because success breeds success. We could have the entire world’s eyes on us as we show the world how to succeed with our resources. That’s exactly what Norway did with oil and gas and their fishery. That’s what Silicone Valley did with Technology. That’s what Dubai did with real estate. It’s a business play, and we can be in that game.

If we are not leaders, we will be followers

If we are not leaders, we will be followers, and we will feel the “direct impact of being a follower” and all the angst and loss that comes with it. Money loss, taxes loss, medical system loss, lifestyle loss, job loss, pension security loss, health, and wellbeing loss. We already saw it happen with the oil price drop and it wasn’t pretty. Imagine if we lose our oil foothold globally as the number three oil resource-rich nation in the world. We won’t be talking about oil environmental policy then, because we’ll be busy fighting for a job to pay the rent.

It seems like the federal focus is on new energy which is great and will provide us with a sustainable future. But people who work in the energy business know that new energy won’t happen without oil and gas. Oil and gas is the bridge to new energy. You can’t have one without the other. Oil and gas is the foundation of everything else we do. Oil is the one resource that makes every other industry work. Think of transport. Think plastics. 

With an idealistic view, as honorable as it may have seemed at the time, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, had the vision of a zero-free carbon city until they realized it wasn’t possible without oil and gas. Let global experiences be our teacher.

The entrepreneurial mindset

When I started The OGM magazine six years before we had any oil in this province, I had no resources, no money, and no experience. But I created something from nothing. All guts as they say. No major credit to me because I’m not the only one. The majority of businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador are small to medium-sized companies who all did the exact same thing. We, as Newfoundlanders are bullish for business. We are hearty people, full of guts and determination. We had to be, we came from the fishery. That level of stamina and our “make it happen” attitude is our greatest resource.

I am now 55 years of age and have lived my life through the eyes of the oil and gas industry. I am informed and experienced enough to know that we aren’t even close to where we could be as an oil and gas nation and as a new energy provider. I want to be proactive and secure our future and the future of our companies and families. This is the place where the new energy mix arises. Where oil and gas will remain the leader in energy consumption overall. It is a time of exponential technological advancement. It is a time to strategically make it happen. It’s now or never.  It’s bull by the horns.

Sources, Graphics and Pictures:
ExxonMobil, Equinor, Nalcor Energy, Masdar, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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STORIES OFFER PERSPECTIVES AND INFLUENCE

If you would like to create content for the new digital era please let us know.
We will get your message to the market.

TINA OLIVERO: Publisher & Content Strategist for clients worldwide.

To gain more insight into digital media support and training please contact:
tinaolivero@theogm.com.

Tina Olivero

“It is time to reimagine the traditional trade show and focus on education and training for the energy industry,” says Wes Scott, President and CEO of EventWorx Corporation, which purchased the Show from dmg events in 2017.

Scott says exhibitors want to see more of the right people attending, and the right attendees want access to more education, training, live demonstrations and networking options.  “We have spent a lot of time talking to exhibitors and attendees, to help us shape a new focus to a more grass-roots approach,” says Scott.

“A lot of business still needs to be done face-face – large contracts in the energy sector are built on relationships and fostered by face-face interactions. We look forward to generating a refreshed platform for both companies and individuals to get together to find innovative supply chain solutions.”

Like the industry it supports, the upcoming Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show is evolving to include clean technologies, renewables and environmental technologies.  For the first time in the Show’s history, for example, the Newfoundland & Labrador Environmental Industry Association will be hosting a new clean technology pavilion.

Kieran Hanley, Executive Director of the Newfoundland & Labrador Environmental Industry Association, (NEIA), says the association’s new clean technology pavilion will include members with environmental, clean and renewable technologies. NEIA is celebrating its 25th year in 2018.

 “What we want to do through participation in the Show is to start telling the story about the connection between cleantech and oil and gas, and continue to build that story and encourage others to really get involved and explore opportunities in that space,” says Hanley.

 The pavilion is important as it begins to shift the Show from primarily an offshore oil and gas event, towards becoming Canada’s east coast premier all-energy event.

 “We’re a not-for-profit association of businesses that are involved in the development of cleantech and the growth of the green economy here in Newfoundland & Labrador,” says Hanley.  “The Government of Canada is now aggressively supporting clean technology, environmental sustainability. Newer studies have shown that if Canada is to gain a competitive advantage in the clean technology business it’s likely going to be related to our natural resource sectors,” says Hanley.  “NEIA sees a real opportunity for Atlantic Canada to leverage its expertise in ocean industries and ocean technology to really become competitive globally in the clean technology space. And of course, from a Newfoundland & Labrador perspective…we see a great opportunity to really become leaders on a global scale in terms of how clean technology can apply to oil and gas.”

Curtis Jerrom, President of DHVI (Downhole Video & Intervention), is a long-time supporter of Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show. DHVI, a Calgary-based company supplies the oil and gas sector in Canada with downhole video camera and calliper inspection services for leak detection, fishing assistance, fluid entry surveys and mechanical failures.

Jerrom has been exhibiting at the show for 12 years.   “One of the things I like about Newfoundland it’s a different type of oilfield environment. They’re down-to-earth people. They’re easy to talk to. They still do business the old way. They like to do meetings face-to-face,” says Jerrom, adding the Show is a great place for him to get exposure for his company. “We’re bringing new technology. By the time we get to that Show, we’ll have our latest and greatest camera sitting in that Show for the first time.”

The Show is proudly held in conjunction with the Newfoundland & Labrador Oil & Gas Industries Association’s (Noia) annual conference.

“People don’t want to just come and walk the aisles – they don’t have time for that,” says Scott. “They need solutions to their challenges and have questions answered.  Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show will allow for that real connection and collaboration.”

Atlantic Canada Petroleum Show will attract 125 exhibiting companies and over 2,000 attendees. Fresh content on the Show floor includes the “Meet the Experts” Series – a parade of experts on a variety of different topics across the supply chain, which allows attendees to get questions answered during scheduled meet-ups. Live, interactive demonstrations and ample networking events will add more value to the Show experience. Networking experiences include the VIP Industry Reception with live entertainment, food and refreshing cocktails from the Martini Ice Bar; The Fish and Chips Day on the Show Floor on June 21, and Craft Beer Tasting to close out the last two hours of the Show on June 21.

The biggest influencer on oil price is supply and demand. When world oil supply is high oil prices most often go down. When the supply of oil is low and demand is high, oil prices often go up.

Supply and demand are impacted by population, politics, economics and a range of other factors. Let’s take a look…

POPULATION

Our ever-expanding global population and the importance of energy in developing countries creates higher oil demand.

Just how much will oil and gas be impacted by population growth? Oil demand is expected to increase by close to 100 million barrels of oil equivalent a day (mboe/d) between 2015 and 2040. That figure remains even with renewable energy coming on stream. It’s not an either-or situation – it’s both.

OPEC

OPEC stands for The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC is a consortium consisting of 13 of the world’s major oil-exporting nations including Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Venezuela.

OPEC manages the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market. The goal is to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries. OPEC countries act together as if they were a single producer and is able to fix price for oil without unnecessary competition and market disparity.

Oil Production and Consumption

Because of so many oil influencers, even OPEC doesn’t always get it right. In 2014 OPEC maintained its production level of oil despite lowering demand in Europe and China. The result was an oil excess in the market and a falling oil price which had a negative impact on the world.

In 2015, US shale oil producers steadily increased and pushed US oil production to 9.4 million mbpd, reducing the OPEC market share. The result was an increased supply of oil in the world oil market and a historic drop in oil price which we have all just experience. It also created a shale oil boom for oil producers in the US simultaneously. Things ebb and flow.

IMPACT OF LOW OIL PRICE

The direct impact of low oil prices spans far and wide. It affects oil producers, major contractors, suppliers, supporting industries and the people who work in them. To give you an example of how hard-hitting low oil prices can be, consider this: In 2015, oil exploration and production declined significantly. The number of drilling rigs declined 44 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

How did that impact the world’s oil exploration, production, drilling progress, oil supply, companies, and employees? The magnitude was staggering. Of the more than 440,000 layoffs that happened globally during the recent depressed oil price regime, it is estimated that:

178,466 or 40 percent of those jobs were lost in the United States;

124,000 or 28 percent of the layoffs were from the UK North Sea,

and 46,000 people or 10 percent lost their jobs in Canada.

The employment situation that resulted from the low oil was a global tragedy.

Job loss has a domino effect in terms of; spin-off business in the oil and gas sector, overall economics, individual spending, household income, individual health and well being, family health, quality of life and many other socio-economic impacts. It was tragic and may have been prevented with stronger, global collaboration.

The ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ Combats low oil price

To combat low oil prices and its impact on the energy sector and the world, on November 30, 2016, OPEC extended production cuts to 1.2 million barrels per day to the end of 2018. This ensured that high demand and lower production would drive the price of oil back up.

Reacting to the global demise, on December 2016, a decision of the 11 non- OPEC producing nations also agreed to voluntarily make production adjustments over the same time period as OPEC. The drawdown of the stock overhang and bring the oil market rebalancing forward. These adjustments by a total of 24 participating nations, now known as the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’, have since been renewed to the end of March 2018. The price of oil rose to that it is today. $70 and rising. It worked.

OTHER INFLUENCING FACTORS

Seasonal weather conditions impact oil based on consumption. For example, winter’s colder weather results in higher energy consumption which in turn increases oil demand.

The dollar price impacts the price of oil. When the dollar declines, oil revenues decline and simultaneously costs go up. Recession impacts the price of oil. In a domino effect, the most likely scenario of a recession is an economic decline, that leads to a spending decline, an oil consumption decline and then an oil price decline.

Natural disasters impact the price of oil. For example, Hurricane Katrina affected 19% of the US oil supply in 2005 causing prices to climb $3 per barrel.

Political dynamics impact the price of oil. In January 2013, oil prices rose when Iran played war games near the Straits of Hormuz causing a potential threat to this oil shipping lane. Based on a perceived decrease in supply, by February 8, oil had reached $118.90/barrel. That sent gas prices to $3.85 a gallon by February 25, 2013. The strait of Hormuz transports oil and gas from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Any disruption to this region will have significant effects upon global crude prices, given the impact on supply.

Today, we are experiencing a number of factors impacting oil and gas price; The volatility in Venezuela impacts oil as Washington is considering sanctions against Venezuela. There is an increase in demand for Nigerian oil, however, there are ongoing Nigerian domestic problems causing an unstable exploration and production climate. China has been at unrest in the South China Sea. Before this article is published there will be more.

We will always have political influence on oil production so it’s really about how we unite to mitigate and manage them. Political variables and circumstance change constantly and come with their own set of policies, negotiations, and cultural discourse. They move with time and leadership. We can understand the regional implications of political influence on oil and gas but it’s now time to look at the big picture overall and make global political decisions simultaneously understanding regional influence. Media could be paramount in achieving this.

The Oil Price Spike: Being Smarter

The current upward spike in oil price is a great indicator of how variables merge and create changes rapidly. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in price in a matter of months. The game is unpredictable at best, economically devastating at worst. But without oil, life as we know it would come to a screeching halt. Not having oil as an energy source, is not an option. So these are the times of global perspective, unity among nations and energy collaboration for the good of all. This era demands that we be smart with oil and gas and use it for it’s highest good. We must use oil to bridge non-renewables to renewable energy sources. Oil and gas will bring in new energy as it is the foundation of that energy play. It willfuel new energy into existence.

We need to be ensured of energy supply with a cleaner energy source for the survival of our growing population and our beautiful planet.

Right now, the oil price is hovering between $75 – $80 per barrel. We will never perfect the oil price game because there are too many moving parts. But we can lessen the degree of impact and mitigate risk.

Our global goal should be to unite where possible, make global production decisions that benefit all, mitigate natural disasters and climate change where possible by ensuring our planet is clean and safe.

Given that every person on the planet is impacted by oil and gas, we need to make global decisions rather than local ones. The Declaration of Cooperation is one step closer to global unity. Next, it’s to harness the potential of developing nations and bring them into the equation in an inclusive and energy conscious way.

If we have learned anything from the recent oil price decline and it’s impacting global demise, it is that values of cooperation and unity are not soft skills and fluffy ideals, they are the foundation of our future.

Our oil and gas plan moving forward is clear; take careful consideration of as many oil and gas impacting variables as possible and when all is considered, then and only then, take the best action forward.

Just as it is our duty to ensure we have clean air to breathe on a pristine planet, it is also our duty as a global energy consuming world to ensure it’s availability. They work together.

Holistically, we must leave our people, places and things in better shape than we found them.

Source: OPEC.org

ISource, Charts, Graphs: www.OPEC.org

Publisher and CEO, Tina Olivero says, “Creating a globa publication that bridges to readers and buyers around the globe is what we do.  Perhaps our client wants to attract investors or garnish new hires from around the world, we pride ourselves in finding creative ways to make that happen. We love the challenge of using new programmatic technology and algorithms to bridge the gap between the seeker and the solution. It’s a creative process that bridges the business development gap for our clients. I’m hoping in the not too distant future there won’t be any such thing as marketing, just ‘direct to sale’. That would make life alot easier for everyone. We have the solution that’s the closest thing to it!”

The OGM network spans over .5 million viewers online and has special print distribution for exhibitions and subscribers. It’s world class presentation puts it in a league unto itself. It’s credible, positive and always focused on connecting and uniting the industry.  The game of business takes a tribe of committed and dedicated people and The OGM has the privilege of working with those people every day.

Take a video adventure through some of The OGM’s great brands and realize just how many companies entrust their message with The OGM.

Ask us about programmatic solutions where we can reach people who searched for your product or services by broadcasting out to over 2000 other magazines, thereby reaching 1-2 MILLION viewers in a month! The results are simply the most cost effective in comparison to any other medium on earth. Programmatic solutions are the future folks, so learn everything you can about it.

LEARN ABOUT PROGRAMMATIC NATIVE CONTENT
Find out more on programmatic native content right here:

SEE PROGRAMMATIC IN ACTION
See how our clients used programmatic native content to fill up their CAD training program with strategic content, a multi-media mix, and a lead generator.

HERE’S WHAT OUR CLIENT HAD TO SAY:
“Rounding up students for our CAD training was a real challenge and to be hones, we were getting nowhere. After several months of spending huge sums on traditional advertising, in came Tina Olivero from The OGM who completely revamped our marketing approach. It felt a bit like Gordon Ramsey Boot Camp. But coming out the other side, we began to see real results. The problem flipped to being overwhelmed by responses!  The winning formula Tina developed combined targetted social media with sponsored content. In simple terms, our internal team managed the social media messaging which included a link to the OGM article with a call to action. The key her was the combined effects of targeted social media messaging reinforced by the OGM article which was effectively a third-party recommendation. Three months on and we’re still up there on google with a constant stream of inquiries from around the globe. The world is suddenly much smaller!”  Gareth Owen – Partner and General Manager, Metroworth & North Atlantic Technical.

Enjoy the ride!

Tina Olivero

GREAT BRANDS IN THE OGM

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE MY BUSINESS GOALS WITH THE OGM. Please contact me.

Tracking and Responding

Technology has allowed our workplaces, remote locations and hazardous environments to be much safer. New detection, tracking and responding devices are taking over the scene and allowing us to feel much better about our workspaces and goals of zero incidences on the job. Technology is now working where it matters most – safety. With safety alerts, monitoring, tracking and full transparent communication, workplaces are now connected and much safer.  Knowing who’s on your site, where people are, how they are, where evacuation needs to take place, real-time response, remote area access, real-time incidence response, and following leading indicators of “near misses”, are all possible with the new state-of-the-art G7 Blackline system.

Lee Parmiter, CEO of EnviroMed Detection Services says, “Technology mitigates risk. It’s that simple. New advances in detection and response are so effective these days that we reduce human error dramatically. For example, the Blackline G7, which is a real-time, state-of-the-art, electronic gas detection unit is far outperforming what humans can do in much less time. Detection and reporting are replacing human reporting. Extensive gas detection training is no longer necessary. These day’s people have full access and communication in difficult places, remote locations and hazardous regions. This is the future of safety”

The G7 tracks workers and their performance and positioning. For example, if a worker trips, falls and goes down a G7 alert is triggered, transmitted and help is on the way within seconds. It’s all automated and immediate.

The G7 is breaking new ground through no motion detection, fall detection, missed check in’s, gas detection and just about anything you can think of on the job. It provides operator tracking, real-time tracking and communication, remote communication, third-party communication, in-house monitoring with two-way voice communications and on-the-spot Reporting. The system itself takes care of data logging so that follow-up and paperwork becomes a thing of the past.

Think Ahead

The G7 excels in proactive safety protocols. It provides an SOS Pull-Station Emergency feature for on the job emergency situations. It also allows for gas detection monitoring and “PREDETERMINED” maintenance execution which mitigates the possibility of accidents in the future.

Lee says, “offshore or on land this G7 devise works via satellite or cellular, allowing a full scope and range of communication, tracking and detection. We are extremely proud to be supplying such an advanced system to the industry because at the end of the day, our goal is the same goal as our clients – zero incidence.  We sleep at night knowing that the technology we provide keeps people safe.”

Would you like to know about the upcoming Blackline G7 device for your company?

Let us know how to reach you and we will have an ENVIROMED representative contact you.

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[contact-form-7]

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Publisher & Content Strategist

Tina Olivero is the Publisher and Content Strategist for clients around the globe through TheOGM.com and The OGM magazine.

With a passion for progress and a sustainable high tech future, tina combines digital strategies into a conversation that builds your business.

SPEAK TO TINA:  
To gain more insight into how content can support your business goals please contact:
tinaolivero@theogm.com

The NOIA Outstanding Contribution Award recognized exemplary individuals who have influenced the development of our local oil and gas industry and who have demonstrated qualities of vision, integrity and leadership through their work and lives.

Noia awarded this honour to Bill Fanning, president and country manager for Kvaerner Canada. Bill is a senior oil and gas executive with over 30 years of international upstream oil and gas experience who has held many management positions throughout his career.  For most of the first two decades, he worked with Mobil Oil Canada in western and east coast Canada.   He moved on to work with HMDC and the Hibernia Project for 10 years, and since then has served as director of Atlantic XL Inc. (which he also co-founded), president and CEO of Spectrol Group and senior vice president and GM with SNC Lavalin. For the past six years, Bill has held his current position with Kvaerner Canada.  Bill has also served six years on Noia’s Board of Directors and was a key leader in the development of Noia’s Redefining Oil strategy.  He currently sits on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Oil & Gas Industry Development Council.

Rising Star Award
Stephen Edwards, ExxonMobil Canada

The Rising Star Award was launched in 2014 to recognize the talents of an impressive individual who are 40 years old or younger and have made remarkable strides in their role in the local oil and gas industry.

This year’s NOIA recipient was Stephen Edwards, P.Eng., engineering & HUC manager – Hebron Project with ExxonMobil Canada. Stephen has been directly involved in the Hebron project since joining the project team in 2010. His work over the past seven years has significantly and directly impacted design and operational decisions taken on the project and contributed to the project’s success, culminating in first oil on November 27, 2017.

Both Bill Fanning and Stephen Edwards were celebrated at Noia’s Industry Achievement Awards luncheon on Friday, March 9, 2018.   CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!

^{For this team, Stamped is the act of making an impression and imprinting a seal of commitment and standard that they stand behind. It’s a code of service dawned for the new era of Engineering that includes innovation, creative solutions, the harnessing of technology and the work ethic that is demanded in these times.}

^{Proudly Albertan with their head office in Edmonton, Stamped Engineering is committed to your “stamp of approval” on their offerings. This fit for purpose lean engineering consulting firm unpredictably specializes in 24/7 on-call support and design engineering.  This model allows Stamped to execute efficient turnaround times with a high-quality final product.  This is what makes Stamped Engineering Corporation an industry game-changer. A state-of-the-art Engineering approach responding to the demands or projects and partners that require the job gets done on budget and on time.}

^{The Stamped Engineering team are multi-disciplined professional engineers and technologists that are strategically garnished to meet Alberta’s Engineering needs in the sectors of oil and gas and other industries such as nuclear and aerospace. With such a broad range of sector service and assertive growth plans Jeenu Riat, P. Eng., Chief Executive Officer of Stamped Engineering Corporation says, we have a very talented team and we are expecting strong growth in 2018.  We know that with current commitments and work to come we will be hiring in the following areas and we’d encourage interested applicants to send in their CV’s”.}

• ^{Business Development Specialists}
• ^{Senior Process Engineers}
• ^{Senior Mechanical Engineers and Designers}
• ^{Senior Civil Engineers}
• ^{Senior Structural Engineers}
• ^{Senior Pipe Stress Engineers}
• ^{Senior Electrical Engineers and Designers}
• ^{Senior Piping Designers}
• ^{Senior Engineering Manager}
• ^{Senior Construction Manager}

HR Manager – Tracey Quesnell                           CFO – Jay Riat                                      CEO – Jeenu Riat

^{ENGINEERING IS CHANGING}

^{With the onset of the internet and the ever-changing work landscape, Stamped has created a service offering that ensures clients get what they need to succeed. Jeenu Riat says, “The decline in the price of oil has really made us all focus on what industry “needs” and how to deliver that most efficiently. Every cost measure counts. Every new innovation that saves time and money is a must.  Having talented workers who do it right the first time is key.”}

^{“Taking advantage of technology and all that the internet and software have to offer in the field of Engineering is critical. These are fast-moving exponential times. So it’s a matter of being technology savvy and ensuring that our clients benefit from smart intelligence in their engineering projects.  Jeenu Riat says, with this in mind, our offerings include:}

• ^{On-Call 24/7 Support, Engineering Consulting}
• ^{Engineering Design, Process Engineering}
• ^{Electrical Engineering, Multidiscipline Engineering}
• ^{Chemical Engineering, Structural Engineering}
• ^{Civil Engineering, Drafting, Design & CAD Support}
• ^{Clarification on Complex Technical Documents & Drawings, Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP)}
• ^{Feasibility Studies, Risk Assessments, Cost Analysis & Cost Reduction. Field & Design Engineering}
• ^{Engineering Economics, Energy Emissions Sustainability”.}

^{THE DIFFERENCE}

^{“What clients really want is to be heard, understood and to get the highest level of service at fair and reasonable cost. At Stamped, we declare that our level of engineering practice would go beyond meeting clients needs, day and night and that we will really listen and ensure that our client’s considerations are paramount.  At the same time, we want to ensure our expertise comes to the table and provides our clients with a scenario where we can over deliver because of the level of talent we have on staff.  The talent that focuses on doing it better, faster, more efficiently and ultimately saves our clients time and money, proclaims Jeenu Riat.}

^{OUR PEOPLE}

^{At Stamped Engineering innovation, teamwork, honesty, open communication and integrity have a chance to shine. “As we grow our team of experts we are determined to build the right team, with the right skill set and experience to fit our clients’ needs.  Our continued commitment to our employees allows us to create an atmosphere where they can be the best versions of themselves at work, home and at play. “Human Resources Manager, Tracey Quesnell}

^{GIVING BACK}

^{Beyond the commitment to customized fit for purpose solutions, Stamped has a strong commitment to giving back to the people of Alberta. Chief Financial Officer Jay Riat P.Eng., M.Sc.Ch.E.,Dip.Mgt.Sci. says, “At the end of the day if you can’t give back to your community, then what’s the sense?  We believe that everyone succeeds when our community succeeds and it’s our baseline proclamation that 5% of our net income profits are donated to those in need here in Alberta. We are excited to see how we can be of service to others and how we can make a difference.”}

^{For more information on Stamped Engineering please go to www.stampedengineering.com}

But despite the undeniable benefits of these advances, the march of progress can sometimes be a slow one, especially in industries with longstanding precedent like the Oil & Gas industry. Legacy data monitoring systems currently being used in oil production only provide limited downhole visibility, necessitating that operators physically check each well regularly, regardless of individual need. Not only does this waste operator time and company money, but it also facilitates human error/oversight, leaving problem wells untended and expensive equipment potentially damaged. Additionally, significant installation costs aim these products squarely at top tier, high performing wells, and are simply uneconomical to apply to the less prolific, mature wells that comprise over 80% of the market.

The oil production industry is overdue for a technological makeover. Management teams want comprehensive, real-time well visibility, they want it cost efficiently, and they want it in the palm of their hand. Enter Ambyint.

Ambyint sensor

Ambyint is on a mission to take the legwork out of the day-to-day operations associated with managing low-producing wells. The company began selling its market-leading leading controllers and VFD packages to customers in Canada in 2006 under the name Pumpwell Solutions, and by 2012 was actively acquiring data, monitoring, and optimizing over 1,000 horizontal and vertical wells across Western Canada at an unheard of data sampling frequency of 5 milliseconds. In 2014, the team rebranded, and the freshly minted Ambyint first introduced the immense power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to Western Canada’s oil patch. Utilizing the already massive pool of data gathered from its Pumpwell days, Ambyint set about taking optimization technology to an entirely new level. Through combining and leveraging proprietary hardware (IoT or ‘edge’ devices based on embedded systems electronics, you’re your smartphone) with “best-of-breed” software to deliver a data-powered reporting, analytics, and recommendation engine, Ambyint hopes to give every oil well in operation the compelling ability to benefit from intelligent optimization.

From its inception, Ambyint has consistently shown its products to be superior to the incumbent product offerings. With 20%+ in operating expense reductions and 10%+ in production improvements to E&Ps, Ambyint’s customers benefit from <6-month paybacks, even on low-value stripper wells. Ambyint’s magic formula is the ability to remotely collect, monitor, and analyze data from every single stroke of a pump to enable a level of intelligent automation that takes the density of human interaction out of the equation.

By digitizing the visual input from over 33 million dynamometer cards (or dynocards, for short), Ambyint’s AI-based platform can perform micro-pattern analysis to diagnose downhole and surface anomalies, optimize well parameters, and even predict potential system failures.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

Since the 1960’s, production engineers have largely relied on a control system called SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) to collect their well data. SCADA gathers information, such as pipeline pressure readings, transfers the information back to a central site using programmable logic controllers and discrete PID controllers to interface with the process plant or connected machinery. The system alerts the home station that an out-of-bounds (based on manually configurated alarms) pressure event has occurred via the operator interface, which enables monitoring and the issuing of process commands such as controller setpoint changes. Then, real-time control logic is performed by networked modules, which connect to the field sensors and actuators. This allows SCADA to carry out necessary analysis and control, such as determining if the leak is critical and then display the information in a logical and organized fashion.

However, “logical and organized” doesn’t always equate to ease of use, and it certainly doesn’t mean the data coming in is comprehensive. SCADA has a data sampling rate anywhere upwards of 30-second intervals, meaning that any anomalies that occur in between those 30+ seconds might go unaddressed – and that can spell big trouble for well operators in the long term.

AMBYINT BYPASSES SCADA

Ambyint has provided what they think is the next logical step in the evolution of SCADA. Thanks to connected, pump-mounted sensors and secure wireless networks, essential data from onsite machinery is now collected at a fraction of the cost it once did. Moreover, at 5-millisecond intervals, Ambyint’s High-Resolution Adaptive Controller (HRAC) procures pumpjack data at an order of magnitude increase in sampling data rate over SCADA, meaning more downhole clarity and significantly fewer unnoticed problems.

Once data is collected, the HRAC transmits it to a modern, user-friendly platform where it is analyzed and structured into a single configurable interface, meaning fewer clicks and faster cycle time to well optimization for well operators. Google-like full text and parameter driven search also allow for finding problem wells easily without having to scroll through pages of wells.

After the analysis of each well, the HRAC automatically and autonomously reads and initiates specific micro-adjustments to each individual pump stroke, thereby maintaining optimal production and efficiency – all without the operator having to lift a finger.

But here’s where it gets even cooler: that captured data can also be used to predict the future. By tracking the wear on machinery, Ambyint’s proprietary algorithms can preempt possible equipment failure, alerting operators to pending disruption and thereby minimizing machine downtime, not to mention increasing site safety. Effectively, you end up with an autonomous, self-driving well. The only thing left for the operator now is to figure out what to do with all that extra time…

Alex and Chris Robart – Twin brothers overseeing Ambyint operations in North America

ALEX ROBART

CEO, Ambyint 
Alex Robart is an entrepreneur with a fervent passion for technology and energy. He has launched, built and sold two data/research companies focused on upstream oil and gas, and has proven himself as a savvy investor in numerous early-stage energy and technology startups. Alex’s past consulting efforts have focused on market analysis and strategy development, as well as investment due diligence for oilfield services, equipment, consumables/materials companies, and investors. 

As someone with deep expertise in the complex oilfield services value chain and market, as well as the emerging “digital oilfield” landscape, Alex is excited about Ambyint’s future.

“My twin brother and I are focused on the North American market,” Alex explains. “I oversee the entire company from Canada while he is driving the USA business from Houston. We are excited about Ambyint because of the value we deliver to our customers. In short, Ambyint saves operators time and money.”

“We have been extremely fortunate to have some of the world’s leading minds in well optimization come to the table with Ambyint. Our investors include Mercury Fund, Statoil, GE Ventures, Cottonwood Venture Partners, Station Houston and Unconventional Capital. Our investors understand the power of digital oilfield technology and the advances that predictive computational horsepower will bring to the industry.”

Ambyint saves operators time and money in several distinctive ways:

SITE VISITS

Ambyint incorporates an exception-based management system to monitor data inputs from the well, so operators only need go on-site visits when a problem is identified. Ambyint’s tech has shown an 87% reduction the need for in well site visits by operators.

WELL PERFORMANCE

By monitoring and optimizing based on weather conditions, time of year, electricity pricing, oil pricing, etc., Ambyint improves overall well performance by 10% on average. In a case study, Ambyint increased production revenue across five wells by over $52,000 –that’s almost $10.5k per well.

REDUCING EXPENSES

A physics-based analysis is complemented with artificial intelligence on Ambyint’s scalable cloud-based platform, resulting in high-performance output. This ultimately reduces lease operating expenses for operators by 20% on average, a figure that is currently unsurpassed in the market. In a trial with one customer, Ambyint saved $100k in annual operations costs across 40 wells.

MAXIMIZING WELL POTENTIAL

Ambyint harnesses the full oil potential of a well with a full and complete feedback loop. Because the tech is tied to the Internet of Things, it is constantly refining and improving its knowledge, tracking, and feedback. Predictive modelling takes over, integrating the most current best practices for optimization potential. Ultimately this provides operators with a consistent ever-efficient dataset that keeps their wells at peak performance. In fact, Ambyint provides on average a 19% reduction in strokes per day and a 69% average reduction in callout cycle time.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MEANS SAVINGS

The proprietary Production Optimization Platform (POP) provides for monitoring, operations, management, and optimization. It can integrate with customers’ existing SCADA infrastructure, or deploy in combination with Ambyint’s HRACs, which provide higher resolution data and control/optimization capabilities.
Ambyint delivers unparalleled insights with POP but can deliver improved insights and real-time actions at the well site with the end-to-end solution that leverages its HRACs. Typical SCADA total cost of ownership (TCO) is about $35,000 and the Ambyint TCO is $5000. 1/10 of the cost.

AMAZON WEB SERVICES

Allowing scalability, computational modeling, and intelligent systems to interact with well data, Ambyint has elevated its platform using cloud-based Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon Web Services allows Ambyint to focus on well optimization while they provide a scaling platform model for expansion and efficiency. AWS provides the speed, security, flexibility and pay-as-you-go options needed for Ambyint to ultimately save operating costs for their clients.

Security is also a factor in drilling data. The Ambyint HRACs, operating under the AWS platform, deliver secure cloud-based operations that are immune to attack and allow for encrypted storage. Operators having to piece together that model of operation on their own would simply not be cost-efficient.

The traditional production operating methodology was “visit every well, every day”. Thankfully that era is now over. Pump by Exception operations have advanced to new and exciting heights with digital technology, and it’s happening at exponential rates.

So at a time when operators are constantly struggling to improve performance while reducing costs, Ambyint, AWS, and digital advances are extremely good news.

And we’ve only just begun….

Branching out of Nisku Alberta, Norm Spence, President of Spence Corrosion Services Ltd. has seen the potential for expansion in Newfoundland and Labrador.  With a new location in the city of St. John’s, Norm expects that his company will be hiring 40 – 100 people to facilitate contracts in the corrosion business in the oil and gas sector as well as other industries province-wide.

Gerry Sullivan the National Business Development Manager is radically supporting efforts in the region, bidding on contracts and setting up operations. He say’s it’s been an exciting time, a time of enormous work and commitment to enter and succeed in a new market. But it’s worth it. This summer Spense had an official launch and opening, announcing to industry their vision and intentions. Since then they have been diligently developing the infrastructure necessary for new contracts.

Currently working on projects in the province and positioned for new projects, Gerry Sullivan says, “It’s our time to build and grow in this region. We have been implementing an assertive business plan and we expect to support the corrosion challenges that come with offshore developments, weather conditions and other corrosion factors.  We have a new office location on Job Street in St. John’s and I am excited about starting this endeavour from the ground up!”

Having secured a maintenance contract with the Hebron project and poised for West White Rose, Spence is committed to battling corrosion problems within major oil and gas projects.
Additionally, the company is working with Vale in the mining sector and are positioned for other diverse industrial sectors.

Corrosion is a part of industrial operations in any project and it’s also a challenge to mitigate risks associated with Corrosion. Spence Corrosion is designed to mitigate corrosion risk as well as prevent and maintain operations where corrosion is a factor.

The Brad Gushue Team taking the Brier 2017

What does curling have to do with recycling?

Well, nothing really.

But the latest green-innovation for industrial workwear has just raised a game-changing flag.  It’s a new-age solution for industrial waste management that has captured the attention many including, World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Brad Gushue.

Brad Gushue won the 2006 Winter Olympics gold medal for curling. Brad and team Gushue took home Canada’s first Olympic gold in men’s curling and Newfoundland’s first gold medal in any sport. Since his Olympic experience, Brad has become a Canadian household name. He is currently the owner of several companies in Newfoundland including Orangetheory Fitness in St. John’s, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt in St. John’s and Mt. Pearl, a he is a real estate investor and a public speaker. As well as an entrepreneur Brad is a strong supporter for innovative solutions that serve our people.

Brad recalls, “I met Tom Legare at a golf tournament near Red Deer, Alberta. We had a great time together and I could see Tom’s passion for his safety apparel business. As I learned more about his business I felt they were doing something really great. With everything going on in the world today, it is becoming more and more apparent that we need to take care of the place we live. We all need to start thinking about the world we are going to leave to our kids and our grandkids. If we can make use out of something that has been used before, we should do it. That’s what this project is all about. I admire this project because the end result is that the product they make is just as good, if not better, and everyone gets a chance to do that little bit extra to help.”

The new workwear solution – Recycled workwear

Recycling Industrial Workwear – It’s a really GREAT idea!

Most of us in the industrial business world, wear safety clothing but we don’t really take the time to think about where our safety gear goes after we are finished with it. Discarded Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) workwear is typically disposed of in landfills which mean that 85% of our collective apparel ends up creating mountains of clothes.

Workwear is often non-biodegradable, chemically treated, and potentially toxic. Discarded safety clothing usually ends up in the garbage and ultimately landfills. This makes industry and government huge contributors to industrial waste and to landfills. This is not only long-term harmful to the environment it also is expensive in terms of disposal costs!

Industrial waste accounts for about two-thirds of waste in landfills. Over the last 50 years since the development of man-made, fire resistant fibers and fabrics for workwear this type of industrial waste has had a big impact on landfills. Industrial workwear that is fire retardant or chemically treated also may also carry harmful chemicals that, over time, could also leach from the landfill and potentially be damaging to the environment.

The landfill disposal solution becomes a concern when you consider that landfills create Methane. Methane gas is far more dangerous to the environment than C02 emissions.  Methane gas is 21 times more potent than CO2 and 22% of methane pollution in Canada comes from landfills. Reducing methane emissions is key in the fight to reduce greenhouse gases. If we reduce waste sent to landfills, we can reduce methane gases from being released into the environment.

Recycled inventory in various colours and sizes

Here’s the good news!

Recognizing that safety and fire resistant workwear is a potential hazard to the environment, Canadian entrepreneurs Ted Parker and Dave Kasper, set out to find a better solution for used work wear than landfills. The answer came in recycling. Taking old fire retardant work clothes and recycling them into brand new fire-resistant clothing. What a full-circle concept!

Through innovation, much persistence, significant investment, and extensive R&D efforts, the founders of General Recycled came up with a game-changing solution.  A solution that allows companies and their employees to be “green” with work wear.

This is a recycling solution that is a win-win for all stakeholders involved:
1. It’s a win for the companies that purchased industrial clothing and now have a new green disposal solution.
2. It is a win for the environment that benefits from the reduction of methane and CO2 emissions.
3. It’s a win for future wearers of PPE clothing in that the recycled goods are equal to and or better than regular PPE work wear, meeting PPE safety clothing standards and demands.

It’s a practical, cost-effective, feel-good solution all the way around. Your company would be environmentally conscious!

Recycled Fire Resistant Jackets

Meeting standards

Recycle enthusiast Ted Parker said, “Rather than disposing of used garments and sending them to landfills, the technology that we have developed allows us to recycle the fiber from used coveralls and reprocess it into new ones. Based on thorough testing of the recycled fabric, it has been proven that the recycled material has the same properties and performance characteristics as that made from virgin aramid fibers, and meets or exceeds the North American “flash fire” and “arc flash” standards for personal protective equipment. (CGSB 155.20-2000, NFPA 70 E).”

Partners make perfect

Recycling technology was an exciting breakthrough in the research completed by General Recycled. The next step was to ensure they had a partner in the workwear apparel business that could elevate the solution into industrial sectors like the oil and gas industry. With consideration or the partner that was in the apparel business and had a Canada wide presence, Ted and Dave chose to partner with Apparel Solutions International.

Apparel Solutions International’s (ASI) has a 30-year history in the PPE clothing industry. CEO of Apparel Solutions, Thomas Legare said, “For many years I have pondered solutions for the accumulation of used PPE clothing. A few years ago I did extensive research and even approached the Alberta Government as to some possible solutions and at that time nothing was available. Two years ago we met Ted and Dave from General Recycled and saw that they did have a viable solution, we are delighted to partner with General Recycled to spread the good word, take on the challenge of further promoting the recycling of PPE and other clothing. We now need industry and government’s partnership for success.”

Through a unique combination of vision and talent these partners we were able to see a better future for PPE clothing, recycling, and industry. The process has enabled them to provide an environmentally responsible and economically sound closed loop cycle solution for fire-resistant workwear that meets industry standards.

Cofounder Dave Kasper said, “The formula for delivering this green project is built on key processes for creating recycled garments, through industry partnerships, we:
Collect, clean and shred
Reconstitute, creating fibre
Spin the fibre back into usable yarn
Weaving or knit and dye the fabric
Converting back into certified wearables and goods.”

When it feels right, do it!

When great minds like Tom Legare, Ted Parker, and Dave Kasper get together and make the world a better place, and when celebrity athletes like Brad Gushue embrace green initiatives like this, it makes us realize that we can all make a positive impact in our own way.

Clearly, we all play an important role in transforming the way we live and work. Ask yourself where your safety clothing is going in your organization and ensure you have a solution that is sustainable for your company and your community.

Recycling Workwear – It could be the next industry standard for clothing on the job!
____________________________________________________________________________

www.apparelsolutionsinternational.com

Yes! I’m very interested in my company recycling workwear.
Please contact me with details:

[contact-form-7]

Increasing efficiencies and productivity are the name of the game in the oil patch these days. With the oil price drop and no major price increase in sight, companies have had to re-invent themselves and find thier ‘new normal’ for operations.

For strategic energy companies, that new set-point includes embracing technology to increase operational capacity. Operational efficiencies of 20-50% gains are considered a significant contribution to profitability margins.

According to the 2017 PwC Oil and Gas Trends report, “Companies will explore new forms of technology deployment….Digitization should be a lever for innovation that improves productivity and efficiency in the field.” For instance, robotics are likely to become more commonplace in the industry, handling complex and repetitive tasks such as connecting pipes and replacing broken machinery, which in turn will reduce labor requirements. In some cases, technology will be acquired through partnerships. GE has announced an array of agreements with large and small oil companies to implement digital devices, databases, and sensors that could predict equipment breakdowns before they occur and expand exploration and production efficiency in deep sea and offshore oil platforms.” And then there are platforms…

Platforms going beyond oil rigs

Computer platforms are raging these days. They offer the exponential model of scale that every entrepreneur dreams of having. On the business to consumer platform scene think Uber, Airbnb, and Facebook. In the business to business platforms arena think Dropbox, Alibaba, DHgate, Global Sources, and more.

Powered by online technologies, cloud-based, game-changing platforms are sweeping across the global economy and changing everything we know about business. It’s exciting to think about what’s next…

Nick Candito – Founder and CEO of Progressly

An operations solution that is taking the oil patch by storm has bloomed out of Silicon Valley. It’s called Progressly. Progressly is the world’s first cloud-based Operational Performance Management solution, working on the premise that the process of business is no longer a process. It’s a progressive cloud solution.

Progressly is an all-inclusive centralizing platform that delivers real-time insights and an increase in efficiency by ensuring all company stakeholders are localized to a project. In other words, every process component is tied into the platform and therefore there is no lost information. Think about how much time we spend looking for stuff. Progressly fixes that.

You can better understand Progressly by seeing it as a solution that centralizes your own critical information, and delivers real-time operational feedback, all the while increasing efficiencies in a way that meets the growing demands of your own specific business – it’s customizable.

Progressly’s mission is to become the de-facto system of record for enterprise business processes. Enterprises today are plagued with difficult to use, antiquated business process solutions that hinder them to run their operations efficiently and effectively.

Nick Candito, founder and CEO of Progressly is a passionate leader who’s driven to build diverse products and teams that win. Nick says, “At Progressly, our vision is to empower every customer to innovate faster, perform better, and solve bigger problems than ever before. We see the opportunity for the energy sector to consolidate operations in new and innovative ways. Progressly takes that on.”

Ruslan Belkin

Progressly gained the interest of Silicon Valley Veteran Ruslan Belkin, who is a former Salesforce, Twitter and LinkedIn executive who believed that oil and gas companies today are hindered with difficult to use, siloed business systems that fail to simplify communication around processes and improve how businesses operate.

Now the Chief Technical Officer at Progressly, Ruslan said, “Progressly is poised to completely transform the way enterprises organize and execute their business processes and gain insights to improve business outcomes. I’m excited to join this incredible team that is deep-rooted in a culture built on transparency, execution, and teamwork.”

Nick Candito, acknowledges Belkin, “Ruslan provides strong vision and solid experience that will help us seize the opportunity to disrupt a market that’s long overdue for innovation. With this investment, we are in a great position to accelerate the adoption of our platform and help enterprises automate their processes that result in more profitable revenue, greater competitive advantage, and higher efficiency.”

Ruslan Belkin, Silicon Valley veteran and Chief Technical Officer at Progressly

Applications for your company operations

Nick says, “Progressly is the first SaaS platform that enables companies such as Valero, Comcast, and Shell to standardize and centralize processes with their operations. The platform provides powerful data-driven insights so teams can benchmark progress, improve the speed of collaboration, remove human error and manual activity and ultimately make better decisions about driving effective business change. Progressly currently integrates with existing productivity and collaboration tools including Outlook, SharePoint, Slack, Google Chrome, Confluence, and Jive.”

Integrating Progressly into your organization means you can:

• Replace paper-based forms and spreadsheets with an easy to use web interface (no coding required)
• Centralize health and safety activities to increase transparency and accountability
• Improve safety and mitigate risks by reducing the time to action
• Complete steps and capture data as work is done in real-time
• Access data anytime, anywhere and on any device
• Reduce operational costs by avoiding paperwork
• and improve business performance overall

What do executives think about Progressly?

500 global executives over a span of two months were surveyed to discover how they are pursuing key initiatives in operational excellence and the problems they’re encountering in achieving their operational goals. 65 percent of the executives surveyed were in the energy sector. “The survey findings further validate that businesses are increasingly aligning their strategy with operational excellence to drive scalable, enterprise-wide transformation like never before,” said Nick Candito.

Survey findings concluded that “Organizations are seeking operational excellence and digital transformation – and getting IT aligned on business goals and driving excellence will be a key initiative to getting there,” Nick said. “It’s also important to have visibility of what’s going on across the whole business in real-time and then adapt as needed. Change doesn’t mean an overhaul of everything in one go, nor ripping and replacing existing software. It’s much easier for organizations to model and build flexibility and efficiency within their existing infrastructure.”

Would you like to learn more about Progressly solutions for your company?

Yes! I’m very interested in speaking with a representative at Progressly!
[contact-form-7]

That’s the question people are “NOT” asking when it comes to the oil and gas industry in Canada.

Convenient Diversion

Rather than focusing on the impact of life ‘with less’ oil exploration and production, we find ourselves in other divergent conversations. Conversations like increasing provincial taxes, federal environmental regulation, and minority group concerns.

Oil has emerged as one of the most important commodities in modern day life. We use it for our cars, buses, planes, trains and other forms of transportation. We use oil to fuel the much-needed electricity that lights our homes. Oil is the foundation of our businesses, factories, and machines. And what most people don’t consider, is that oil and gas are the bridge to the renewable energy sector.

Oil is a raw material used to produce fertilizer which supports our food production and supply. Not only do we use oil fuel for cars, trucks, and planes but by-products from oil refining are used in the production of plastics and chemicals, as well as many lubricants, waxes, tars, and asphalts.

Gas provides electricity and is also used for cooking, heating homes and buildings, and gas remains a foundation for our day to day living.

Oil and gas fuel many industrial operations, including glass and steel foundries, aluminium or nickel smelters, and many manufacturing industries.

Gas takes the form of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a transportation fuel that keeps Canada moving forward.

Oil is a fundamental component of plastics which is an integral part of computers, phones, appliances, homes, day to day products like razors and kitchenware.

Synthetic fibres for clothing such as acrylic, nylon, and polyester all use oil.

Oil and gas are essential for living the standard of life we have created for ourselves.

Ask the far more important questions

Think about a limited oil supply that impacts the gas for your car or the planes that take, or the clothes that you wear. Think about oil and how it is a big part of that phone in the palm of your hand. Think about a declining Canadain oil industry, and it impacts on the economy and our social systems.

Think about the loss of meaningful work, if the oil industry were to collapse in Canada. It would mean millions of people; directly, indirectly and supporting the oil and gas sector, that will be impacted.

What would that do to our social confidence, our sense of purpose, our family relations and community health? These are far more pressing considerations that need the attention of the Canadian public.

Oil companies thrive with strong HSE, not at the expense of HSE.

What we know for sure is that the oil and gas industry is so important to the world’s oil demand, it has elevated at exponential rates over the last 50 years. As a result, it attracts the top engineers, construction teams, oil companies and major contractors to build the world’s oil and gas industry and make it profitable.

I believe the biggest fallacy in the perception of oil companies is that profitability comes at the expense of health, safety, and environmental responsibility. Nothing could be further than the truth.

Every smart CEO knows that profitability comes “as a result” of health, safety, and environment (HSE) being the top agenda. After all, what is the cost of sickness on the job? What is the cost of loss of life? What is the cost of environmental cleanups?

All of this is considered by oil companies in their exploration and development plans. Rest assured HSE is at the very top of the majority of oil industry players agenda in Canada. So much so, in fact, that Canada is now one of the most highly regulated and safest oil and gas sectors in the world.

Those complaining about oil and gas should not interrupt the people who are doing it.

The truth about the oil and gas industry in Canada is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world is a story needs to be told and understood. The public, special interest groups and minority groups need to understand the vast impact of oil and gas on the country and then consider personal agendas and how they may be impacted.

Take for example the most recent development and construction of the Hebron platform in Newfoundland. Hebron is a mammoth gravity base structure and topsides platform that is designed to withstand the toughest conditions in the world in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the project it required upwards of 7000 people to build the Hebron platform and cost over $14 billion to construct it over a five-year period. It required a conscious safe workforce to accomplish this, with some of the greatest minds on the planet executing this engineering feat. Undeniably one of the highest safety records in the world, the Hebron project boasts 40 million hours, without any lost time injuries. That’s truly incredible for a project of this size and scale.  Where’s that story in the mainstream media?  Why is that not the top conversation above all the complaints?

If Canada were strategic about health, safety, and the environment, it would use the oil and gas industry as a ‘model example’ of how our other sectors should be operating. By adopting oil and gas best practices to our other resource sectors, we would most likely be the greenest, safest, most environmentally responsible place on earth. We would be an example for the rest of the world to follow. That should be the Canadian energy goal.

Hebron oil platform with supply ships

The Canadian Strategy

Given the oil price decline and the shift into an entirely new model of business, the time is ripe to adopt a vocal advantage about a thriving industry that includes the world’s greenest oil and the world’s most socially responsible oil.

In Canada, we don’t have to go outside the country to hire cheaper labour. Quite the contrary we hire, contract and work with local people. In Eastern Canada, it is written into the legislation. The Atlantic Accord which governs operations in Eastern Canada requires operators and contractors ensure local benefits, employment, and royalties. Which in turn means not only jobs, an educated workforce and a thriving economy, but it also means royalties and taxes of which make up the third largest sector in Canada’s GDP.

In Canada, the entire oil and gas industry is a fair trade. Fair trade and environmental stewardship are in the DNA of the oil and gas sector. That’s something to be proud of, to celebrate, to make known publicly in the face of a minority of naysayers and dramatists with secular agendas.


Oil and Gas: The impact on Canada

Canada has proven oil reserves of 171 billion barrels, which means it’s number three in the world, behind only Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. That’s huge! The oil sands deposits in the province of Alberta account for more than 95% of the country’s reserves, and the remaining comes from areas like Eastern Canada where the offshore oil and gas industry is the primary driver of the economy in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Oil is so important to Canada that most of Canada’s oil exports are sent to the US at 77%. And in partnership, the United States accounts for 66% of Canada’s goods imports.

Oil and gas extraction in Canada is the one of the nation’s largest contributor to the GDP. Real estate is 13%, Manufacturing is 10.4%, and mining and oil and gas is 8.2%.

Canada’s oil and natural gas industry paid an average of $15 billion to federal, provincial and local governments in the form of taxes and royalties each year from 2013 to 2016. Those funds are a very important part of the pie that goes towards the roads you drive on, the teachers and schools who support your children, and your medical expenses to name a few.

Alberta’s upstream oil and natural gas sector delivered:
$2.9 billion in non-renewable resource revenues
$185 million in corporate income tax
$2.8 billion in personal income tax from direct and indirect employment
$1.25 billion in municipal property tax on upstream assets alone
Support for more than 20,000 businesses in Alberta, including 327 Aboriginal companies, representing about $4 billion in activity in 2015.

Who’s investing in Canada and why?

In 2016, Canada’s exploration and production (E&P) sector invested $37 billion of capital expenditures, a testament to their belief and long-term commitment to Canada. Land sales offshore Newfoundland in 2016, equalled $758 million and eight successful bidders offshore. The international interest from bids is impressive in the current global environment and is a testament to the confidence in Canada’s resources and stable political environment.

With low oil prices, the investment in companies and exploration has declined. The government of Canada and provincial governments that are smart and proactive will not only provide new investment options that mitigate investment risk but will decrease regulatory processes, so projects come on stream faster. That is a formula for success in a depressed oil price market.

7 new global investors in Newfoundland’s Offshore oil industry

Canada’s environmental review process

In June 2016 directed the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, there is to be an immediate review of Canada’s environmental assessment processes to regain public trust and help get resources to market. The reality is, the lack of trust in the public comes from a lack of knowledge not a lack of policy.

What works on land in Alberta will not work offshore Newfoundland

What works on land in Alberta will not work offshore Newfoundland.  There’s no one cookie-cutter solution. Rather each industry sector should scout out best practices, adapt, implement and get on with it with strong approval goals. What would it mean to investment if we ensured large project approvals took 12 months. Do you think that would be attractive to foreign investment? That one move alone, coupled with our safe political culture, could put Canada at the top of the investment list for oil companies.

Federal timelines for major energy project reviews have been longer than 36 months, and many have been substantially longer. That’s bogging us down and creating uncertainty for oil companies who want to invest here. It also undermines companies who are already established here and have a stellar track record when it comes to health, safety and Environment.

In a time when oil price is down, and we have are the world third largest holder of oil resources on the one hand, and on the other, we have the potential to be the next ‘North Sea,’ in eastern Canada, can we afford to wait for over extended regulatory approvals?

The single most self-sabotaging thing we can do is bog down the natural process of oil and gas business with red tape and taxes. A booming economy encourages investment incentives and reduces tax risk. This, in turn, creates exponential growth which ultimately feeds the GDP and Canadian social systems.

Where is the NATIONAL Energy Plan?

Alberta’s oil patch is not recovering from the recent downturn as fast as other jurisdictions. Not to be ignored, the writing is on the wall. A fast, disruptive solution for Canada is required. Where is our Strategic National Energy Plan?

A new report by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has proven that oil and gas companies have not ramped up capital spending in Alberta with the same pace as they have in the United States.

This puts Canada at a disadvantage given the fracking industry in the US is booming, and with Trump’s pro-oil policies, it’s only going to get stronger.

Canada needs to step up and compete otherwise there will be a lot more than 13 companies diverting spending from northern Alberta to U.S. projects.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, have identified 31 regulatory and policy areas it believes can be improved or streamlined to make Alberta more attractive for oil and gas investment. That’s where the focus needs to be. Let oil companies be responsible and recommend streamlined processes.

Oil companies have done a great job with health, safety and environment, so there is a foundation of proof already built in the industry that can naturally be transferred to processes and regulatory regimes. As well, the CAPP plan is touted to create thousands of jobs while generating $4.5 billion in gross domestic product and $200 million in additional income tax revenues. We can’t afford ‘not’ to adopt that level of industry intelligence into our bottom line.

We can’t afford to wait for a perfect storm, a crisis or even a Tsunami that comes in the form of localised narrow views or secular lobbyists.

When you consider that the energy industry in Canada is already made up of highly qualified and experienced people you have to ask yourself one question. Do I want the oil and gas industry implementing our health, safety, and environmental strategies or do I want politicians with limited oil and gas experience to do that for me?

Sources, Graphics & Pictures:
CAPP
NOIA
National Energy Board
Statistics Canada

What would that mean for your bottom line?

Optimizing oil wells is not a new topic. It’s not a new vision and it’s not a new conversation. What is game-changing, however, is the technology that is now so far advanced that literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in oil production costs can be saved for the price of a smartphone – and it all happens from the palm of your hand.

Orange is the new black

In 2014, fascinated with the power and potential of unlocking industrial data, Nav Dhunay, President & CEO of ambyint, took the first steps towards creating a unique well-optimization device with the potential to change the way wells are operated forever.

With the launch of ambyint, the immense power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) was introduced to Western Canada’s oil patch and, as a result, every oil well in operation was given the compelling ability to benefit from intelligent optimization. Utilizing a mass pool of data gathered from monitoring and optimizing over 800 wells for a decade, ambyint set about taking optimization technology to an entirely new level through combining and leveraging “best of breed hardware and software” to deliver a data-powered reporting and recommendation engine. Now fully integrated into the oil sands market, ambyint’s technology is busy identifying the best route to industry prosperity, one optimized self-driving pump jack at a time. ambyint’s magic formula is the ability to “remotely” collect, monitor and analyze data to enable a level of intelligent automation that takes the density of human interaction out of the equation. Nav says, “Although our technology itself is complex and combines elements of IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing and Machine Learning, what it achieves is not. ambyint simply builds technologies that help oil and gas producers make smarter decisions resulting in more efficient oil extraction.”

With the goal to ensure pumps are consistently running at optimal performance – meaning smoothly and efficiently and, importantly,without interruption – the ambyint technology has been designed to predict and alert operators of future issues within their wells, therefore, mitigating onsite risks, unscheduled costly maintenance and call outs. Preliminary data from the field suggests that implementation of the technology reduces operational costs of each well by up to 35%, increases production by up to 20% and delivers material reductions in maintenance costs.

Built-in Functionality

The ambyint system allows for real-time status reports and full control of VFD. Well managers are able to remotely start and stop a well and remotely control its speed. Alerts provide real-time notification of scheduled and unscheduled interruptions. ambyint software also monitors the subtleties of torque violation and provides VFD fault alerts. Torque trends are followed and automatically monitored 24 hours a day.

Nav’s vision for the advancement of the industry is to “make dumb objects smart. The dumber the products, the greater the opportunity.” He says, “The desire within the industry to experience the benefits that smart machines can deliver, is on the rise. The ambyint platform has come to a changing market at a unique time and with a very compelling offering. The ability to provide well managers with access to real-time information and remote control over each of their well assets is, alone, a huge differentiator within the industry. We believe being able to autonomously maximize the efficiency of every well and immediately alert producers to potential on-site issues is a major disruption not seen before in the oil patch.”

“Monitoring and maintaining an oil well can cost upwards of $200 dollars for an average well visit. If we can shave off a single visit per week to half the oil wells in Alberta, that equates to literally millions of dollars in cost savings across the industry,” Nav says.

Technical Expertise

“ambyint connects machines,” Nav says, “and captures performance data through the use of lightweight sensor devices and a wireless communication network. By running that data through predictive and prescriptive analytics, our system can automatically initiate micro adjustments to optimize an oil well’s pump stroke and, at the same time, detect minor problems before they become major problems.” As an example, ambyint’s sophisticated algorithms might pick up a high level of debris in the pump. “In that situation, we can initiate a ‘tap’ to try and release the debris,” says Dhunay. “If that doesn’t solve the issue, the system will send an instant alert to the operator and let them know they need to intervene.”

Nav says, “Today everyone has a smartphone in their pocket so we’ve created an app which gives rich, real-time information on what’s happening at that well. You can actually stand in front of a pumpjack and adjust its speed using the app on your phone. The low cost of the technology (approximately $1,500) makes it affordable for all wells, even those nearing the end of their production cycle. One of our clients estimated that ambyint could save them up to $150,000 per year in a single field.” Given the undeniable cost-saving benefits, with the number of wells in Alberta alone, ambyint has the very real potential to become an industry standard. This low cost, high functioning Industrial IoT solution is unique in its ability to address the challenges of today’s oil fields and could credibly save multiple millions of dollars of production expenditures in Western Canada alone over the next three years.

_____________________________________________________________________

Tina Olivero – Author & Publisher of The OGM, “Business is nothing more than a network of conversations”.

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Proponents of Hubbert’s “Peak Oil” theory have argued for years that this cost parity is imminent, since society is rapidly exhausting its limited supplies of fossil fuels. However, the shale gas and tight oil revolution in the United States has upended this calculus.

For wind, solar, and other utility scale electricity generation technologies, cost parity has proved to be a rapidly moving, and ever elusive, target as natural gas prices (and oil prices to the extent that they drive LNG pricing globally) continue to hover around all-time lows.

The year-end 2014 collapse in commodity prices has exacerbated once again the challenge that renewable energy technologies face in a world that continues to benefit from cheap and easily available fossil fuels.

Turbulence in the Oil Patch

In the wake of this commodity price collapse, as the oil and gas industry now retreats from the battlefield in order to cure its own excesses, renewables may have a chance to emerge as the ultimate victor. The two sides of the industry have proven to be the proverbial tortoise and hare, and renewables, with their slow but steady progress, have the potential to pull ahead.

Since OPEC decided in November 2014 not to curtail production, the crash in oil and gas prices from a high of $107 per barrel in June 2014 to lows below $30 per barrel in January 2016 has left the entire industry in shock and pain. Lower commodity prices have hit E&P companies via not only a reduction in revenues and cash flows, but also through a reduction in the value of their oil and gas reserves that remain in the ground. Given that these barrels are used to collateralize inexpensive debt in the form of revolving credit facilities, many E&P companies are expecting a reduction of borrowing capacity in 2016.

In addition, continued tightness in the public debt and equity markets (investors are treading cautiously until a potential recovery becomes more tangible) means that E&P companies lack the liquidity required to finance the drilling of new wells. In such an environment, the weakest companies can very easily fall into a death spiral whereby the inability to invest in new drilling means that revenues continue to decline and further erode the company’s ability to raise new capital or find credit providers. In the midstream sector, volume risk associated with reductions in upstream drilling activity and production volumes has translated to tempered growth forecasts, lower share prices, and wider yields.

In the oilfield services sector, excess capacity has resulted in reduced utilization, reduced revenues, and stacking and scrapping of equipment. In such a dire environment, many of the weakest upstream and oilfield services players will either go bankrupt or get acquired by their stronger rivals.

While the collapse in commodity prices started with oil, it quickly spread to natural gas as well. In December 2015 natural gas prices fell to nearly $1.50 per mmbtu from highs in 2014 of over $4.50 per mmbtu. As natural gas is a power generation fuel while oil is primarily a transportation fuel, the price of natural gas is more directly relevant to the health of the renewable energy industry than is the price of oil. In the United States, falling natural gas prices reflect an emerging oversupply as areas like the Marcellus and Utica prove to be more prolific than people expected even 12 months ago, and operators continue to improve drilling efficiency and drive down production costs.

As one would expect, the price of natural gas has fallen to near the break-even cost of some of the best wells in the country, signaling that the market needs to curtail the drilling of new wells. However, curtailing gas production isn’t as straightforward as curtailing oil production given that a large portion of the gas supply is the result of “associated gas” production from oil wells. So even if the gas price falls to uneconomic levels, gas will continue to be produced from oil wells. The good news is that the simultaneous weakness in oil prices and subsequent reduction in oil-focused drilling activity will help mitigate this problem.

In addition to the glut in production, the demand outlook for natural gas has weakened as well. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the United States are losing momentum as demand for U.S. LNG, which is priced as a margin to the Henry Hub gas price, has weakened in comparison to demand for spot LNG cargos that are priced as a ratio (historically ~1/6) to the oil price. Now that the price of oil has come down, long-term contracts with U.S. suppliers may not look as attractive as they did in 2014 when the price of non-U.S. LNG was much higher. Large consumers of LNG, such as Japan and China, are reducing demand for the fuel as well. Japan is restarting its nuclear fleet, while China is undergoing an overall economic slowdown as its economy shifts from industry-focused to consumer-focused.

 An Opportunity for Renewables

This destruction of operating capacity across the upstream and oilfield services subsectors suggests that the industry may not emerge unscathed from the commodity price downturn. While some adjustments will prove to be cyclical, and easily reversed (e.g. stacked rigs can be put back in the field), other changes have been structural and will require much more time to normalize. For example, the scrapping of oilfield services equipment (primarily dated, less efficient capital equipment such as older generation drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing fleets), will result in a semi-permanent reduction in the capacity of the industry to drill new wells.

In addition, the flight of skilled labor from the sector, driven by the approximately 250,000 layoffs to date, will be hard to correct; it takes time to train new workers and attract new college graduates back into the industry. These changes suggest that the industry may not be able to respond quickly enough if demand for oil and gas increases dramatically and unexpectedly.

Meanwhile, renewables have continued to make slow but steady progress. In December, 195 countries, including large fossil fuel consumers such as the U.S., China, and India, made historic commitments at the climate summit in Paris to reduce their total carbon emissions. Though the deal is not legally binding and falls short of the 2 degrees Celsius target that is supposed to represent the threshold of catastrophic warming, it will hopefully serve as a catalyst for unprecedented and much-needed cooperation amongst industry, policymakers, and individuals.

The newfound focus on reducing global carbon emissions will accelerate development of renewable and energy efficiency technologies and thereby help push the industry further down the learning curve. In the U.S., Congress recently extended the production tax credit for wind energy and investment tax credit for solar energy for another 5 years, providing much-needed policy visibility which should boost new capacity installations.

In India, solar developers are citing healthy returns driven by supportive government policy (India is pursuing a target of 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022) and a reduction in module costs. As such, in many parts of the world, renewables have already started to approach cost parity with fossil fuels as the levelized costs of wind and solar have fallen 61% and 82% (according to Lazard), respectively, over the past 6 years. IHS expects that the cost of wind will decline a further 26% by 2030, and the cost of utility-scale solar will decline another 50% through 2030. Furthermore, as more renewables are integrated into the power generation supply stack, the marginal cost of power should come down as renewables such as wind and solar have close to zero operating costs and will displace fossil fuel plants that have higher fuel and operating costs.

According to an analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, renewables will benefit from another tailwind inasmuch as they drive up the costs of traditional thermal plants by reducing their capacity factors. This combination of lower marginal power prices and higher operating costs for thermal plants will drive a positive feedback loop in which renewables continue to become more competitive.

Additionally, in this environment of oil and natural gas price volatility, which is expected to continue because OPEC has forsaken its balancing role, more and more homeowners, businesses, and governments are opting to increase investment in renewables as a long-term hedge against increases in the cost of fossil fuel-derived energy. At times of high commodity prices, the stability and predictability of the cost of renewables makes them an attractive alternative for consumers who want to lock in their energy spending. This realization has driven the growth of renewables especially in the commercial sector, where uncertainty in energy costs can wreak havoc on the budgets of businesses.

Companies like Google and Apple have signed several gigawatts of power purchase agreements at attractive rates. At the same time, seemingly paradoxically, the fear of low commodity prices is driving oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE to push towards renewables as well. The sustained low price environment of the past 18 months has dried up export revenues and strained the coffers of most oil-producing nations. Weaker members of OPEC, such as Venezuela, have repeatedly called for price floors and coordinated action to raise the price of oil, but the strongest members are intent upon driving upstart U.S. producers out of the market. But even the strongest are showing signs of fatigue. Saudi Arabia has cut government spending, is delaying payments to contractors, and issued sovereign bonds for the first time since 2007. Even for such oil-rich countries, investing in renewables is now becoming a necessity in order to diversify their economies and energy supplies.

Even if you don’t buy the argument for more renewables now, most industry participants would agree that the price of oil and natural gas will eventually begin to rise (albeit maybe not to previous highs). Oil and natural gas are not infinite resources, and extracting them from the ground will continue to get more expensive in most parts of the world. Ironically, the current period of low prices, which is reducing drilling activity and production volumes, and is placing much of the industry into irreversible duress, may be sowing the seeds for a sharp rebound in the commodity price.

As production from existing wells continues to decline and non-OECD countries steadily demand more oil and gas to drive improvements in living standards, supply will soon enough be exceeded by demand. Prices will have to rebound sharply to necessitate a flurry of new drilling activity, but by that time, whenever it may come, the slow and steady progress of the renewable energy industry may have already crystallized its lead.

Anadarko-Woodford (Cana-Woodford) Shale

This crude oil and liquids play lies beneath several counties of western Oklahoma, but was named after its Canadian County. Driven by five main companies, Devon Energy leads with holding 40% of drilling activity in this area.^[2] Lying at 8,000 to 16,000 feet deep, it is considered the deepest commercial horizontal shale play in the world.^[3] Even though horizontal drills did not enter the area until 2007, vertical drills were planted here as early as the 1930’s. Activity in this area declined in July of 2012, but has recently begun to stabilize.

Bakken Shale Oil Formation

This oil formation coined after Henry Bakken, the original landowner of where the first drill was planted, is considered to be one of the largest developments in North America. It spans across Eastern Montana, Western North Dakota and parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Consisting of three layers (upper shale, middle dolomite, and a lower level of shale) it is estimated to hold as much as 4000 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Many operators have put a hand in the Bakken Shale Oil Formation as holdings are thought to equal around 500,000 net acres,^[4] Continental Resources and Hess are currently leading the play. The Bakken Shale Oil Formation is perhaps the most promising play as recently new technology has helped tap into a much larger reserve. It is estimated that 400 billion barrels of oil equivalent may be present in this shale formation.^[5]

Eagle Ford Shale

With 200 working rigs, Eagle Ford Shale easily becomes the most active shale play in the world. Named after Eagle Ford, Texas, it resides directly beneath the Austin Chalk reaching depths of 4,000 to 14,000 feet. Based on capital invested, it is currently considered one of the largest oil and gas developments in the world.^[6] An astounding 4000 barrels are drilled per day and produces dry gas, wet gas, NGLs, condensate and oil. As a consequence, this formation is able to cushion the economy when natural gas dips in price.

Granite Wash

It carries approximately 70 active rigs stretching from Texas Panhandle to Southwest Oklahoma. From 7,000 to 15,000 feet, drilling is performed vertically and horizontally, with a combination of multi-stage fracturing. Bringing in new technology and combining drilling practices has had a strong positive influence over the oil and natural gas production in this formation. 2600 operating wells exist in the Granite Wash, Chesapeake Energy and Devon energy are among them.

Marcellus

Lies beneath much of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. The natural gas resides in organic rich shale found anywhere from 0 – 9,000 feet. There are approximately 450 wells at play in this region. The U.S. Geological Survey has released the possibility of the Marcellus Shale containing 1,925 billion cubic feet of natural gas, while industrial and academic estimations reach the trillions.^[7]

Niobrara

An up and coming oil and natural gas formation located in Northeastern Colorado and parts of Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas. Vertical and horizontal drilling are used in the formation that ranges from 3,000 to 14,000 feet in depth. Niobrara is often referred to as the “NeoBakken” due to the vision of its promising future. Many companies have begun investing in Niobrara, particularly Noble Energy who has already invested in 440,000 net acres.

Permian

Born in the 1940’s this formation spans eight counties in West Texas and is known to be largest oil field in the United States. 560 of the 900 working rigs in Texas are located in the Permian.^[8] Pioneer holds 825,000 acres and has begun using unconventional drilling methods to target untapped resources. Under covering new sources has re-ignited industry activity in the play. As new technologies emerge and are introduced into oil fields, leaps and bounds have been made in awakening an abundance of resource that previously remained dormant among these plays. The extractions of oil and natural gas have reached all time high records in both previously reliable and stagnant areas within them. By studying production in the seven shale formations discussed above, and understanding how new technologies can bring more efficiency to the field, an overall improvement in the global production of oil can occur. Working together to learn new strategies and developing ways to enhance current technologies will only create a more widespread technique that can be used globally to delve deep into the resources that lay beneath our feet.

^[1] http://www.ogfj.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-8/features/7-shale-plays-currently-driving.html
^[2] http://www.ogfj.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-8/features/7-shale-plays-currently-driving.html
^[3] http://www.naturalgasintel.com/canawoodfordinfo#top
^[4] http://www.naturalgasintel.com/canawoodfordinfo#top
^[5] http://www.bakkenshale.com
^[6] http://ww.eaglefordshale.com
^[7] http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/econresource/oilandgas/marcellus/marcellus_faq/marcellus_shale/index.htm ^[8] http://www.nasdaq.com/article/permian-basin-shale-leads-in-texas-oil-resurgence-cm378451

Up until several years ago, the domestic oil production in the U.S was declining steadily after its peak years in the 1970’s. During this decline, the Bakken formation was thought to be a minor play, as the oil and natural gas found in this area were sheltered in rock formations with low permeability and high drilling costs. What led to the unlocking of this area’s fertile zones is best explained by Mike Little, President of R-Cat Oilfield Corporation, “New fracturing technology has allowed companies to unlock the hydrocarbons economically.” Coupled with advances in horizontal drilling and pricing, the Bakken region has allowed the U.S. to obtain the energy independence it has always desired.

U.S Energy Administration | Drilling Productivity Report

The leading producers in this area include Continental Resources, EOG Resources, Whiting Petroleum Corporation, Hess Corporation and Oasis Petroleum. In 2004, Continental drilled their first of many Bakken wells. Today, they are the leading producer and one of the major leaseholders occupying over 1 million net acres. The Bakken-Three Forks play is already one of the top producing oil plays in the United Sates with the U.S. Geological Survey estimating the region is holding over 7 billion barrels of recoverable oil not yet discovered. Continental Resources is confident they have the technical ability to recover some of these reserves and continue to test new zones and expand drilling operations. According to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, over 95% of North Dakota drilling activity can be found in the Bakken and Three Forks formations, with an estimated 1,047,000 bpd produced. Of the 10,000 plus wells currently producing in North Dokata, 66% are Bakken wells.

EOG Resources Inc. is one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas companies in the United States with 94% of their reserves located here. EOG began exploration and drilling programs in the North Dakota Bakken a few years prior and have invested $100 million on a rail terminal and $200 million in three sand mines and two processing facilities in the Wisconsin area. EOG’s ability to continue expanding their drilling programs each year has been due to their refined completion techniques which utilize sand from sand mines they own and operate. This has allowed EOG to significantly reduce well costs, improve cumulative oil production and initial production rates and they plan to almost double their Bakken activity this year.

New pipeline infrastructure and rail services are jointly working to meet the current transportation demand and preparation for future demands are pressing with analysts predicting approximately 1.3 million bpd will be produced from this region by the end of 2015. In 2007, the North Dakota Pipeline Authority was created by the North Dakota Legislature in order to support the development of pipeline infrastructure that can improve the transportation and production of energy related commodities. Enbridge’s Sandpiper Project will add more than 200,000 bpd of capacity and will be a 616 mile pipeline stretching from the Beaver Lodge Station, a current Enbridge terminal, to Superior Wisconsin. Sandpiper will allow for the transportation of Bakken crude to both US and Canadian refineries and is slated to put into service in 2016. Transportation of oil is also improving with the Bakken Oil Express Pipeline being approved early this year by the North Dakota Public Service Commission. The pipeline is expected to replace more than 800 tanker trucks on North Dakota highways and will have the potential to transport 165,000 bpd across a 38 mile pipeline to the existing Bakken Oil Express rail facility in Dickinson. The Keystone XL Project, which has the potential to move 830,000 bpd, would be another alternative to move Bakken productions to the Gulf Coast.

The United States has been able to reduce their dependence on foreign sources of oil with the rapid development of the Bakken formation. As with any area that has experienced high production rates in the oil and gas industry, the economic impact has been immediately felt by neighboring populations. The town of Williston, North Dakota has felt the benefits and pitfalls that accompany an oil town. Comparable to Fort McMurray, Alberta, Williston currently has the highest rent in the United States at almost $2500 a month after the population nearly doubled in a few short years to over 30,000 residents. The stress on the town’s infrastructure has led to soaring rent prices, issues with transient populations and crime. Other areas that have had similar impacts include Watford City and Dickinson.

With the longevity of the Bakken boom in question, the current challenges faced by companies wanting to exploit this area include, labour, transportation of oil, services and skilled labour. One of the greatest concerns affecting operations is the need for skilled labor. With employment opportunities outnumbering the number of unemployed in North Dakota, companies are pitted against one another to pursue the skilled labour to join their workforce. To do this companies have resorted to offering premium perks including above market salaries, relocation benefits, housing location and assistance with purchase or rental and flexible hours with extra holidays.

Competition for rigs and services are also at a premium in this area and will continue to be so for the coming years. Environmentally, new fracking and flaring regulations have the potential to negatively impact the production rates in the future. However, with increased overall well productivity and lowered costs due to technology advances, companies have begun to develop long term drilling programs in the past couple of years. Even though the “Bakken boom” is thought to be at its peak right now, the true potential of the Bakken formation is unknown and the outlook programs for drilling in this area have the potential to span beyond five to ten year programs.

The original Tiger Dam™ System consists of a series of durable tubes filled with water (for temporary use) or concrete (for permanent use) which acts as a barricade between a threat and the area needing protection by replacing the need for sandbags. One tube is capable of replacing 500 sandbags and takes as little as 90 seconds to fill using a water pump.

Tiger Dams™ can be manipulated into almost any shape (circles, 90-degree angles) prior to filling to protect assets from potential damage. Once the threat has subsided, tubes filled with water can be drained and stored for future use making them a more cost-effective choice over traditional sandbags.

In October 2013, the 42-inch Super Tiger Dam™ product was awarded the Certificate of Compliance by The Association of State Floodplain Managers and FM Approvals for the product’s proven ability to decrease property risk.

Recently, Vickers has introduced a new application for the HAZMAT Tiger Dam™ System which has the potential to revolutionize hydraulic fracturing practices. Equipped with a “flow meter” and the capacity to hold one million litres of liquid (500,000 litres in each tube), the HAZMAT Tiger Dam™ is able to provide an accurate reading of fluid levels being used during the fracturing process.

Government regulating bodies, land owners, and residents of areas where fracturing takes place are constantly asking for answers as to what is going into their land and what is coming out. “They want facts, and now we’re going to give them facts. We can provide that information now in a very simplistic way,” says Vickers. The gauge is able to be read manually, directly onsite, but it also transmits the information electronically so that the numbers can be reviewed from anywhere in the world, on any device, including a laptop, mobile, or tablet.

Not only will the HAZMAT Tiger Dam™ System offer more confident numbers for fluids being used, the tubes also offer many environmental benefits as well. When comparing the Tiger Dam™ tubes to holding ponds (an open-water storage method commonly used in fracturing), the Tiger Dams™ offer a secure, enclosed storage option which protects the integrity of the freshwater source and contains the waste – water that is extracted from the well. While wildlife such as deer and birds can be harmed by holding ponds if the animals find themselves drinking from or landing in the pond, the Tiger Dams™ are completely enclosed and secured in place, protecting wildlife from the risks associated with the water sources.

Another environmentally-friendly aspect to the Tiger Dam™ System is the fact that the tubes are reusable. When extraction is completed at a site, the tubes can be properly drained and reused at other wells, greatly reducing the hazardous waste in landfills, and also saving hydraulic fracturing projects financially by reducing supply costs.

With an emphasis on environmental sustainability and the ability to provide accurate information, the Tiger Dam™ System has the potential to alter hydraulic fracturing practices currently used. When asked what the future may hold for U.S. Flood Control and the Tiger Dam™ System, Vickers stated, “[now that the product has been certified for flood protection, the] next step is to protect fracturing sites. [I envision] regulations changing since the technology is available.”

One such technology that has gained popularity for its feasibility and effectiveness in the petroleum extracting process is hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Fracking is used to extract natural gas found in shale formations using extreme pressure combined with cracking that results from horizontal drilling.

Fracking target zones are attacked with large amounts of fluid used to stimulate the rock and gain access to the rich reservoir within. The fluid is often mixed with sand or ceramic beads that help keep the fracture open, allowing natural gas to flow from tightly packed spaces. In Alberta, fracking has been common since the 1950s and has aided in drilling approximately 174,000 wells.

Hydraulic fracturing, though gaining precedence and momentum for drilling natural gas, has raised many environmental concerns leading to further studies that acknowledge both the benefits and risks of the process. Among top concerns is the amount of water needed to fracture the wells, “In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 70 to 140 billion gallons of water are used to fracture 35,000 wells in the U.S. each year.” In addition to misusing water supply, the list of chemicals and additives used for fracturing are not always released and are likely to contain human carcinogens, such as benzene. Furthermore, the effect on water consumption and air supply of the surrounding areas are still being studied. “Human exposure to fracking chemicals can occur by ingesting chemicals that have spilled and entered drinking water sources, through direct skin contact with chemicals or wastes, or by breathing in vapors from flowback wastes stored in pits and tanks.”

The environmental concerns associated with fracking have caused citizens to raise awareness of the issue and, in rare cases, has banned fracking in certain areas. In order to maximize the potential of hydraulic fracturing, a high standard for environmental and citizen safety requires that guidelines be put in place, regulated and followed in a strict manner.

In October 2013, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC), alongside 11 of its leading oil and gas company members, created and released a hydraulic fracturing code of conduct. The PSAC created the guidelines with community engagement, as well as industry expertise, in order to ensure that the concerns of all stakeholders were being met.

The PSAC document encompasses the following five key areas: water and the environment, fracturing fluid disclosure, technology development, health, safety, and training, and
community engagement. The aim of the association was to ensure that the recovery of natural resources could be maximized while the environmental effects remained minimal.

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is taking a proactive approach to fracking by revising and raising the standards of their guidelines that overlook: promoting water conservation, safeguarding water quality, monitoring and knowledge building, providing transparency, and ensure policies keep pace.

Water consumption is kept in high priority and already has strict measurements in place. “In Alberta for example, regulation requires that natural gas development provide an extensive barrier (both vertically and laterally) between any shallow stimulation interval and existing water wells, in addition to isolating the aquifer and the fractured zone. Alberta has increased the focus on water well education and standards in oil and gas producing areas.”

The province has strict restrictions in place that promote retrieving the abundance of our natural resource while maintaining the safety of the citizens through regulatory practice.

Hydraulic fracturing can be used as a tool with great beneficial momentum to boost our economy, however, as studies are furthering our knowledge on this practice, guidelines must continue to be revised and implemented accordingly to ensure that damage to the environment and to the human population is eliminated.

1. http://environment.alberta.ca/04131.html
2. http://www.earthworksaction.org/issues/detail/hydraulic_fracturing_101#.U1W6tz-PJdg
3. http://www.psac.ca/working-energy-commitment/
   
4. http://www.capp.ca/canadaIndustry/naturalGas/ShaleGas/Pages/default.aspx

Hydraulic fracturing (popularly known as “fracking”) is an industry employed for over 60 years. Outside of natural gas, fracking is responsible for bringing geothermal heat wells into commercial viability and enhancing the flow of water in wells. During hydraulic fracturing, the operator injects water, a small proppant (typically sand), and a chemical mixture underground at a high pressure to access these difficult to reach, geo-physically tight shale formations. This process creates small fissures in deep underground shale rock formations, releasing oil and natural gas for capture. These fracking fluids, composed of approximately 99% water and proppant and about 1% chemical additive are essential to the process of releasing gas deposits from shale and other deep underground formations.

As the United States’ energy market becomes increasingly reliant on domestic and neighboring natural gas production, any American regulatory and legal changes will have rippling effects on international systems. Ensuring high standards and best practices in production through efficient monitoring and strict regulation can mitigate these potential environmental risks; including but not limited to issues of contamination, excessive pollutants, and water use.

Modern hydraulic fracturing is a highly sophisticated, engineered, and controlled process. Any opportunity is associated with risk, but mitigating these risks makes hydraulic fracturing a viable process in obtaining resources from tight shale formations. With any energy source there exists potential environmental and community impacts. The application of reliable and sensible well design and construction, alongside responsible surface operations effectively limits many of these risks. The global community should take note of the state and federal laws in the United States in order to duplicate a similar regulatory regime.

Countries around the world, including Russia, China, South Africa, and the United Kingdom are looking to shale resource development as the key to unlocking energy security and independence (or less dependence on energy imports). The European Commission has reported that the 28 member states’ energy dependency rate has increased from 47.1% in 2001 to 65.8% in 2012. The percentage is calculated by dividing net imports by the sum of gross inland energy consumption plus fuel storage containers. This percentage illustrates the degree to which an economy depends upon imports so as to meet its energy requirements. The European Union (EU) is increasingly reliant on primary energy imports in order to satisfy demand, receiving imports from Russia and South Africa. The European Commission published a recommendation to member states on January 22, 2014, recommending “minimum principles for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons (such as shale gas) using high-volume hydraulic fracturing.” A future in using hydraulic fracturing in more EU member states is more likely pursuant to the publication of the commission’s recommendations.

Though ample resources and studies have been dedicated to understanding the impacts of the hydraulic fracturing process, illustrating its safety when properly managed, the debate persists globally as to whether these reserves can be safely acquired. The main question asked by citizens and government officials alike is whether potential environmental damage as a result of hydraulic fracturing outweighs the gains in retrieving the resource (energy security, autonomy, and economic benefits).

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, technically recoverable shale oil and gas resources account for 345 billion barrels and 7,299 trillion cubic feet respectively. In 2013 the United States surpassed Russia in oil and natural gas production; however, the U.S. currently accounts for only 17% of global crude oil shale reserves and 9% of natural gas reserves. Russia has the largest technically recoverable shale oil resource at 75 billion barrels and China with the most recoverable shale gas resource at 1,115 trillion cubic feet. To compete with U.S. production and exportation, Russia recently liberalized liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Supply and demand trends strongly indicate that unconventional natural gas will play a larger role in the future global energy portfolio. Natural gas has and will continue to aid in diversifying global energy supplies and improving energy security. This resource base is immense and extensively distributed geographically, with large shale formations in the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Morocco, and smaller resources in other locations worldwide. Current estimates indicate that total recoverable resources in shale deposits could sustain today’s production rates for over 250 years with all regions having recoverable resources equal to no less than 75 years of current consumption.

Many countries could benefit from increased energy production as a result of accessing their existing shale resources. Some countries, such as the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, and Morocco, see their shale resources as a geopolitical advantage, reducing their dependence on Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other conventional gas exporter countries like Russia. With more than half of the world’s shale oil resources located in Russia, China, Argentina, and Libya, the geopolitical advantage gained from shale resources is extremely valuable.

Some countries in Europe have been hesitant to take advantage of their shale gas resources due to environmental concerns. In 2011, France banned hydraulic fracturing due to public pressure over concerns of potential dangers to water supplies. Though France has upheld their ban on hydraulic fracturing after an October 2013 Constitutional Council ruling, the shale revolution shown in the United States will inevitably be rivaled overseas by Russia, China, and other countries. The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, announced regulation in February 2013 allowing for the exploitation of shale gas using hydraulic fracturing. The prize of energy independence is on the minds of leaders across the globe, bringing economic benefits and national security advantages.

Many elements are involved in energy security and there exist a large array of benefits stemming from this Holy Grail: technological, economic, and political. As pointed out by Daniel Yergin, founder of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, “the world’s global oil map is already being redrawn–not by politicians, but by technology.” The future of energy wealth is not in its overall quantity but in the amount of energy than can be produced from a small amount of a given resource: oil, gas, electricity, solar, wind, water, etc.

Yergin explains that “to maintain energy security, one needs a supply system that provides a buffer against shocks…it needs large, flexible markets…and it’s important to acknowledge the fact that the entire energy supply chain needs to be protected.” Energy security will not be obtained merely by implementing hydraulic fracturing; a larger system of protections ought to be established and put into place to maintain a secure system and account for externalities. Hydraulic fracturing, however, is a substantial weight that will tip the scale of energy production and security around the world, bringing nations on a steady course towards a future of self-sufficiency, economic prosperity, and geopolitical stability.

Five Areas of Impact:

1. Jobs

The job growth rate from 2009 to 2011:

2. Pay

“For industries paying more than 150% of the average American wage, Texas added 216,000 jobs, compared with 495,000 for the entire rest of the country. In other words, in addition, Texas added 49,000 positions paying between 125% and 150% of the U.S. average, compared with the rest of the country which lost 174,000 jobs in that category.”

3. GDP

Texas, with a GDP of $1.150 billion, is the second largest economy in the U.S. behind California with $1.735 billion.
The 2012 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that North Dakota had the highest growth rate in the U.S. at 13.4%, but Texas was in second place at 4.8%.

The 2012 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that North Dakota had the highest growth rate in the U.S. at 13.4%, but Texas was in second place at 4.8%.

4. Oil

The largest producers in the state:

5. Gas

The largest producers in the state:

The greatest opportunity for cost savings is with transportation.

Recycling and reuse of produced water sources are ways to reduce transportation costs as well as truck traffic. This approach is common in the Appalachian region of Pennsylvania, but has only recently been seriously considered in other basins across the U.S. Several water-recycling technologies are available and are constantly being refined. Treatment of water for recycling and reuse generally aims to remove petroleum hydrocarbons, suspended solids, bacteria, and polymers.

The values in red represent water volumes for the more conventional approach without treatment and recycle, while the values in blue show the effect on water volumes with the recycle of flowback water. In each case, we assume 300,000 bbl of water are required to frack each well and the flowback fraction is 25 percent of the fracking volume. For the recycle approach, we assume 90 percent of flowback water is treated for reuse and 10 percent is disposed offsite as non-recoverable waste.

Unit costs for each water-management step are based on experience in Texas and represent an example of potential cost savings. The approach that treats flowback water at the wellhead for recycle and reuse in the next frack reduces fresh water makeup demand from 300,000 to 232,500 bbl. Similarly, the volume of water requiring offsite hauling and disposal drops from 75,000 to only 7,500 bbl, a reduction of 450 truckloads to and from the site. The cost to source, transport, store, and dispose of water without recycle is $750,000 per well, while the cost for treating and recycling is $547,500. Thus, the recycle approach reduces water-related well costs by $202,500 per well. This may seem insignificant considering the cost of drilling a well, but when drilling 1,000 wells across a field, the savings are more than $200 million.

There are many ways to best manage water in shale plays. Trucking is generally the most expensive and increases liability and environmental impacts, so incorporating treatment for recycling and reuse is one way to improve economics and reduce truck traffic. Overall, careful planning, evaluation of options, and selection of the best treatment technology will lead to optimal water management.

The three-day National RE3 Conference to be held in Philadelphia in January 2014 will delve further into regarding treatment and management of contaminated soil, groundwater, and waste streams as it relates to daily operations, remediation, and redevelopment of oil and gas sites.

Bob Kimball, VP of the Industrial Services Group of CDM Smith, a global consulting, engineering, construction and operations firm offering a full range of services in water, the environment, transportation, energy and facilities.

“This is a transformational moment for the world-energy situation,” says Fleckenstein. “Until fracking technology was developed, nothing could be produced from the extensive shale resources found in some 26 states of the USA. The shale deposits here in the USA are massive—Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania have deposits nearly underlying their  entire areas. They’re 100s of miles long and 15 to 100 miles wide, and they contain an awful lot of oil and gas.” His excitement finds reflection in the 2011 Annual Energy Outlook, prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). According to the EIA, technically recoverable U.S. shale gas resources are now estimated at an impressive 862 trillion cubic feet.

Drilling for natural gas has now spread to many oil-prone formations, according to Fleckenstein. Anywhere there is oil and gas development, there has to be a source rock for it. There is uncertainty if the current technology, largely designed to extract  massive gas volumes from conventional reservoirs, is going to be good enough to produce it therefrom. “But the technology is really improving all the time,” adds Fleckenstein.

Will Fracking Level the Global Energy Playing Field? This is the question of the day.

In short, there’s an energy revolution going on. For anyone in tune with energy issues or even for those just tuning into the news—fracking is the buzz. The fracturing of rock strata using water and sand at high pressures to obtain oil and natural gas dates back in the 1940s. But the relative abundance of oil derived from more traditional methods and less sophisticated technology meant fracking took place less often. Those days are over.

At the moment, advances in drilling, especially horizontal drilling technology and rising prices for oil, have combined to allow for vastly greater developments in fracking. Resources not economically viable prior to the development of horizontal drilling technology are suddenly very much in demand. Fracking, in fact, is used to obtain both oil and natural gas, though news articles and stories generally emphasize its use in deriving natural gas.

“Fracking has led to the development of resources that were not either technologically or economically feasible to develop in the past,” explains Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado  Petroleum Association. Dempsey sees the possibility that the discovery of oil and natural gas deposits in places where they were never expected before may, actually, offset the need for  foreign imports.

Poland may contain Western Europe’s greatest shale gas resources. Over one hundred test wells are slated to be drilled in Poland in the coming years. The drilling gamble could result in trillions of cubic meters of gas for the country. In the process, it could free the country from the soot and pollution of coal—where 95 percent of its current energy is derived from, and also free it from dependence on Russian natural gas. Clearly Poland sees an unprecedented opportunity to turn from traditional natural gas consumer into its producer, amid all the energy  turmoil in regions such as France, Germany and Italy, and could position itself as a leader by tapping into its shale reserves.

Fleckenstein visited Poland in early January 2012, to present a workshop for members of the Polish government and regulators. The big issues discussed involved what needs to be done to make sure wells are safe. “Right now, Poland imports about 70 percent of their natural gas from Russia,” adds Fleckenstein. “But, first of all, they’d like to produce enough natural gas for their own economy. If they  can do that, they can back out of any dependence they have on the Russians. Further east is the Ukraine, part of the former Soviet Union, which also has abundant shale plays.  “It’s one way the grip of Russia on their former satellites will be loosened even further. In Romania, I’m soon to be involved in more workshops on how fracking is done, and how the wells are set up to protect surface waters,” adds Fleckenstein.

Talking about shale gas production globally, one can hardly avoid China with its 1,275 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources. In comparison, it surpasses U.S. analogue assets—almost doubling them.

Leading the world in coal production (3,240.0 million tons in 2010, according to BP), China still satisfies two-thirds of its energy needs through burning coal, and holds the title of world champion in polluting air  with enormous quantities of carbon dioxide.

Perhaps, because of the  questionable fame, but very likely due to the fact that traditional reliance was always on coal which evidently hindered economic development, China is now moving in a different  direction. Looking forward, Chinese authorities have shifted dramatically  the country’s 2011-2015 energy strategy and made the shale gas fields development a part and parcel of it.

For the time being, efforts are mainly focused on evaluating industry potential and identifying shale gas reserves. Concurrently, Chinese authorities, interested in receiving modern technologies, swiftly prepare the ground for potential Western investors, revising legislation related  to hydrocarbon production, and envisaging tax concessions and privileges for joint venture participants.

The plan is that the efforts will make it possible to increase the share of shale gas in total natural gas production 12 percent by 2020.  Along with China go Argentina and Brazil. Despite geographical remoteness, these South American countries resemble China in terms of potential large shale gas reserves and relative readiness of their industrial infrastructure, capable of facilitating commercial quantities of shale gas in a short period of time.

In Africa, the leading role to tap into shale gas reserves would belong to South Africa. This country remains dependent on natural gas imports. But it has very good prospects for a 180
degree shift from being a consumer to a producer, owing to its substantial, technically recoverable shale gas reserves, the largest on the continent, estimated at as much as 485 trillion
cubic feet.

According to an EIA initial assessment, South Africa’s shale gas resource endowment is interesting, “as it may be attractive for use of that natural gas as a feedstock to their existing gas-to-liquids (GTL) and coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants.”

Environmental concerns

While horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies help increase natural gas extraction by multiples, they can add to environmental concerns of people who live in close proximity to wells. They may fear water and air pollution, earthquakes and carbon dioxide emissions.

Having heard environmentalists’ concerns, France in 2011 became the first country in the world that has officially banned fracking. Explaining the decision made, the country’s environment minister said that the impact of fracking should be researched and evaluated more thoroughly.

In the United States, fracking technology is being increasingly tested by scientists. The results still vary. The findings presented by Duke University on methane in drinking water allow both opponents and supporters of hydraulic fracturing to draw arguments for debate. The study done by the state of New York is unequivocal. Fifteen different regulators from Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado haven’t found a single case of groundwater contamination caused by fracking.

In any case, with more funding  assigned by governments and other parties interested in exhaustive studies, more advanced and well-grounded results won’t be too long in coming and
with no doubt will help increase public confidence.

Despite remaining controversy, fracking technology is actively being taken on board by companies involved in shale gas extraction.

The dynamics of shale gas production look really impressive. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, it is now the largest contributor to the projected industry
growth. Shale gas has already become a “game-changer” for the U.S. natural gas market, and, by 2035, it will make a 46 percent share of the U.S. natural gas production.

Evidently enough, tremendous shale gas-related opportunities are currently open not only in North America but around the globe. Poland welcomes the international business community. Poland became the first and, so far, the only European country which has opened the doors for full-scale drilling. Prospective drilling carried out in Poland just recently by Marathon Oil, Orlen and San Leon Energy has brought promising results. Now Chevron is going to gain a foothold there. All this allows the Poles to praise a “new energy revolution” and foresee the start of commercially viable massive production of shale gas as soon as 2014.

Will fracking level the global energy playing field? There are so many variables at play that nobody can accurately predict the future, but what we can say for sure is that new fracking players will get a chance to appear on the stage. They will have a dramatic effect on foreign oil dependency, and fracking will make the global energy market more viable and sustainable.

Experts have known for years that oil and gas deposits existed in unconventional and older formations, but, until recently, the vast resources in these formations were not thought to be recoverable. Today, through the use of MSF, combined with sophisticated horizontal drilling, and major advances in available chemistry solutions, extraordinary amounts of carbonate and deep shale, oil and gas from across Canada and the U.S are being safely produced.

Typical fracking involves pumping large amounts of pressurized water, a proppant (usually sand) and very small amounts of chemicals into the rock layers where the oil or gas is trapped. The water pressure creates tiny fissures in the rock, and the sand opens the fissures, allowing the oil or gas to escape and flow up the well.

“With the advancement of relevant chemistries, we are able to eliminate the need for proppant in specific areas, and drastically reduce the use of fresh water,” states Dail Croome, President of StimSol Canada Inc. “Our chemistry breakthroughs have allowed us to continue to have success with more potent acid blends, mainly hydrochloric acid, but we have also had success with other acids with equally beneficial properties. We will continue to test the boundaries of our chemical solutions to allow StimSol to offer our customers alternatives so that we can respond to dynamic market conditions.”

Typically producers have been using diluted HCl, from 10-20 per cent blends. Because of its ability to dissolve rock, it acts as an excellent frac and stimulation fluid. The challenges with using HCl have typically been the potency of HCl. At specific downhole temperatures and conditions, HCI will often create an emulsion that leaves the producer with some significant post-frac problems. To add to that, as producers experimented with using higher concentrations of HCl, the emulsion problems increased.

Producers continue to experiment with various methods to reduce their emulsion challenges, without realizing the differences in results as they relate to chemical blends. Frac problems, such as acid fracs, are more likely relative to the chemical blend they use, than in the mechanics or operations methods used.

“I can very confidently say that the commonly accepted challenges that producers have been dealing with regarding emulsion are totally unnecessary when the proper chemistry is applied,” says Dail.

As a testament to the success of the StimSol’s chemistry, in an independent study, it was observed that,“The Swan Hills reef complex located in north central Alberta, did not receive broad attention until Arcan Resources became a 5,000 boe producer, using StimSol’s chemistry solutions exclusively. Arcan released its first well results showing significant productive potential of the formation, when using MSF and the right chemistry. To date, Arcan has over 20 wells in the public domain that trend above the mean/median curves for the area.”

Dail states, “Stimsol’s strategy is to deploy a ‘conscious’ management team with extensive oilfield experience, combined with access to a network of acid, solvent and chemical supplies. Our goal is to overcome environmental challenges, such as minimizing the use of fresh water, and minimizing disposal volumes. That is their key to our success. Additionally, having our own laboratory for research and operations, Stimsol Canada Inc. provides unparalleled support and customised product blends for new and innovative solutions.”

Chemical solutions coupled with a reliable delivery system through pumping services and transportation divisions places Stimsol in a very unique position to ensure environmentally conscious and responsible-results for this new and sustainable energy era. 

In order to maximize the production potential for a natural gas well, the shale formation must be hydraulically fractured. This video outlines and demonstrates the hydraulic fracturing process in Chesapeake Energy natural gas operations. For more information on fracking, visit www.hydraulicfracturing.com.

Hydraulic Fracturing

Then, as often transpires, when a seemingly intractable predicament beckons, technology and leadership combined come to the rescue. In the US, a new technology known as hydraulic fracturing – or ‘fracking’ – made the exploitation of exploiting shale gas possible. Combined with a then-high gas price, shale gas became both economically and technically feasible.

Terminals for LNG

A decade ago, the US was urgently building new terminals for the imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that was predicted would be needed as its own conventional gas and imports from Canada and Mexico failed to keep pace with demand. Shale gas changed all that. Now those LNG terminals may end up being used to export, not import, gas from North America.

Unconventional Gas Solution

However, shale gas is not just to found beneath the Appalachians. London based international gas consultant Nick Grealy sees shale gas as the interim low carbon energy solution for Europe, a solution which may render carbon capture and storage for coal generation emissions redundant. ‘The US has shown that unconventional gas is an energy solution,’ says Grealy. ‘It can be a solution for Europe as well’. However, he suggests that powerful forces will try and act against it.

Concerned Voices

‘We have seen opponents in North America talking about contamination of the water table by shale gas extraction,’ he says. ‘The same voices can now be heard in Europe. Gazprom, US environmental groups, the nuclear power lobby carbon capture, and storage promoters are all saying that shale gas “isn’t green”. “This despite the fact that there is no evidence that shale gas operations contaminate the water table; that is typically 200-300m down, and the gas is found at 2,000m, and the fact that converting from electricity generation from coal to generation from locally sourced shale gas represents a 60-70 per cent reduction in CO2. When shale gas is used for local combined hear and power (CHP) generation, that figure is closer to 80 per cent, helped by the lack of transmission losses.”

Shale Gas defined

Some confuse shale gas with shale oil, but the technology is completely different. Shale gas production is far less intrusive than people might think. Horizontal drilling means that one big rig can drill a well that may cover several square miles from one above ground location. A well head would take up to five acres in the drilling stage, but after a few months, the gas gathering equipment takes up the space of a small truck In comparison, suggests Grealy, carbon capture, and storage with its unproven technology on a commercial scale and uncertain economics, is not a contender. “CCS is betting on future technology, and I think it’s a dead end.”

He also says that an additional ‘green’ credential for shale gas is the fact that it can support intermittent renewables such as wind. “Wind power’s critics cite the fact that it only works for 30 per cent of the time and so needs backup,” he says. “Gas is the obvious backup, but the question in Europe is, then, whether Europe can rely on imported gas from Russia. Indigenous shale gas answers that.”

Europe’s Shale Gas

So, where is Europe’s shale gas? Some observers believe it is potentially everywhere, but Grealy says there is definitely evidence of an arc stretching from Poland across the Baltic Sea and then across to Britain. “US majors are working in Poland right now,” he says. “ExxonMobil, Chevron, Conoco Philips and Marathon all believe that Poland is potentially a new Klondike.” Also, this is no pie-in-the-sky project – Poland could be exporting gas – it already has the infrastructure because of importation from Russia via Ukraine – within four years.

Exxon in Germany

Exxon Mobil is also drilling in Northern Germany, and work is also taking place beneath the depleted conventional Groningen field in the Netherlands.

In North West England, just a few miles inland from the conventional Morecombe Bay offshore gas field, discreet test drilling for shale gas is taking place near the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. Of course, Europe is already reaping the benefit of North America’s shale gas windfall with the easing of the LNG market – as the US needs to import less LNG a global gas glut beckons. Grealy says that in this context, shale gas from Poland “is just Europe’s cream.” Others, however, think that an emerging European shale gas bonanza could damage LNG for good. Edwin Bowles, Director at RJ Energy, says that “the LNG dream died four years ago.”

Shale Gas Revolution

He calls the shale gas revolution ‘rock music’ which has caused the global LNG market to collapse. “Although LNG will retain a role,” he says, “in the future, for Europe, pipeline gas will be more important.” Ironically, Poland is currently planning an LNG terminal on its Baltic coast. Who knows, perhaps, like terminals on the US East Coast, that could yet be converted for export rather than import purposes.

UK Warnings

Meanwhile, just recently, there were warnings from UK energy regulator, OFGEM, that Europe was a few years away from the lights going out as old coal power stations were retired, that nuclear power stations had reached the end of their life and that the gas had started to run out. However, people are thinking differently now. BP CEO Tony Hayward says that the issue for Europe’s gas today isn’t supply: it’s demand. He calls UK energy policy ‘paranoid’ in terms of perceived security of supply problems.

Hayward firmly believes that Europe’s power generation future lies with natural gas. He told the company’s AGM in London in April that “It makes sense to promote gas for power generation as it is the lowest cost energy pathway. Gas is also easily the cleanest, lowest carbon fossil fuel, and the most versatile.”

Thus, with ambitious carbon reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy targets set in stone for 2020, what might Europe’s energy mix look like a decade from now? For the past few years, a low carbon vision of serried ranks of offshore wind turbines has come to sum up the aspirations of the proponents of ‘green’ energy, and wind energy will certainly play a role. But while it can be backed up by wave power and carbon capture coal generation, both of these are unproven technologies on a large scale.

New nuclear is certainly an option – France has been reliant on nuclear power for decades and is now starting to build new, third generation EPR nuclear power stations.

Dash for Gas

However, France apart, few European countries are contemplating anything but nuclear as a base load element of generation. With coal considered the ‘bad guy’ in European clean energy terms, unless CCS can rescue it, that means another potential ‘dash for gas’. Russia’s seemingly perennial dispute with its neighbour Ukraine over gas supplies means that that the key transit country for getting Russian gas to Europe is always a potential concern, and elaborate alternative pipeline routes to get gas from the Caspian east to Europe present their own challenges.

Shale gas on Europe’s doorstep might, therefore, represent an energy solution that while not zero carbon, is at least a lower carbon power generation fuel to conventional gas and coal. It also ticks the security of supply box if it is going to be sourced from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands or Northern England.