Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Stampede Drilling Rig 2 is one of the first rigs out of the gate this year. This photo was taken several years ago, when it was working near North Portal. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
The last week in January has seen a notable uptick in drilling in Saskatchewan compared to December, with 44 drilling rigs active on Jan. 24.
That’s according to data from the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC), as published by RiggerTalk.com.
The next six weeks are typically the height of drilling activity for the year, so it’s a good time to take note of certain trends. Cenovus Energy, the province’s largest oil producer, had only two rigs drilling. But Whitecap Resources had likely the highest number its shown in this province to date, with ten rigs working. That’s the highest number of rigs seen employed by a single company in Saskatchewan since Crescent Point dramatically scaled down its activity several years ago. And Crescent Point had just two rigs working, with notable absences in its Shaunavon and Flat Lake core areas.
January has also seen several companies pop up that are unfamiliar to Pipeline Online. That includes two working in northwest Saskatchewan, one of which appears to be wildcatting is in a totally new area in the Battle River Valley, west of the Battlefords.
There were 21 rigs working in southeast Saskatchewan, with notable clusters near Lampman and Glen Ewen. One of those rigs was drilling for Western Potash at Lajord.
Starting from the southeast corner, Burgess Creek Exploration Inc. had a rig drilling north of Storthoaks. Aldon Oils had a rig working just outside of Manor. Trinidad Energy had one rig just east of Arcola.
In the Glen Ewen cluster, Midale Petroleums was drilling northwest of Carnduff, Adonai Resources II Corp had a rig between Glen Ewen and Carnduff, Anova Resources was drilling north of Glen Ewen and Saturn Oil & Gas had one rig north of Oxbow.
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Within just a few kilometres of Lampman, five rigs were drilling, with another two a bit further out. Just southeast of the townsite, Surge Energy Inc and Whitecap Resources Inc had two rigs drilling side by side. Whitecap had another rig working north of Lampman. South of Lampman, Surge had another rig going. And south of that, Hummingbird Oil had a rig working in its core area. Sixteen kilometres east of Lampman, Tundra Oil & Gas had one rig drilling. Ten kilometres east of Benson, Whitecap had one more rig making hole.
Crescent Point had one rig drilling 16 kilometres north of Stoughton. Their second rig was drilling south of Griffin. Notably, these were the only two rigs Crescent Pont had drilling in Saskatchewan, with none drilling in the southwest. It wasn’t too many years ago the company would have over 20 rigs drilling in this province. What’s also significant is that two of their principle core areas – Flat Lake (south of Torquay) and Shaunavon had no rigs working.
Whitecap had one rig drilling on the edge of the Weyburn Unit at Halbrite.
Harvard Resources had one rig northwest of Colgate. Vermilion Energy Corp. had one rig drilling south of Radville, which is significant as it has been quite a long time since Pipeline Online has seen any drilling in the Radville area.
Three rigs were drilling in southwest Saskatchewan. Two were drilling for North American Helium, at Success and Mankota. Whitecap had one rig northwest of Gull Lake.
Fourteen rigs were working in west central Saskatchewan. Whitecap had one rig southeast of Elrose and another just outside of Plenty, with a third and fourth north of Coleville. Teine Energy had a rig east of Plato, Stranraer, and two at Kiyiu Lake, south of Dodsland. Baytex Energy had one west of Herschel and another west of Kerrobert.
Ish Energy was drilling south of Major.
Strathcona Resources had one rig southwest of Cactus Lake.
Prairie Thunder had a rig north of Macklin. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. had a rig southeast of Senlac.
Six rigs were drilling in northwest Saskatchewan. Strathcona had a rig northwest of Winter and another at Meota.
A new entry Pipeline Online has not seen before is Lineup Resources, which had a rig in a totally new area, six kilometres west and four kilometres south of Delmas.
West Lake Energy Corp., had a rig south of Waseca.
Cenovus Energy Inc had on rig north of Maidstone and a second northeast of Paradise Hill.
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