Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
This is a screenshot of the explosive release for a well east of the Rush Lake 2 thermal facility. Facebook
PAYNTON – The Rush Lake blowout Cenovus experienced on May 7 is still ongoing, and has led to the shutdown of two Lloydminster thermal facilities with a normal output of 16,000 barrels per day combined. However, on July 17, the company reported a reduction in the vapour cloud that had been emanating since May 7. Pipeline Online received photos and a video taken of the area that day that seem to confirm there was no longer a cloud coming out of the ground.
Rush Lake 2 on July 17. Facebook
Over recent weeks people in the area have been sending Pipeline Online a regular stream of photos and videos, including drone videos, showing activity to bring the ongoing blowout under control. A continual plume of steam is evident in these photos and videos, as well as a bubbling pool of black liquid. A trench has been dug from the bubbling pool to an area further away, from which pumps are being used to pump the black fluid to two large containment rings, similar to frac water rings.
On July 10, Cenovus representatives spoke to locals at Paynton about the issue. Paynton is located 11.5 kilometres south-southeast of the blowout, and the scent of hydrogen sulfide has been reported that far away. However, videos Pipeline Online has received show workers standing just metres from the ongoing, bubbling blowout who were not wearing supplied air or self-contained breathing apparatus, indicating H2S levels were low enough to be safe to stand nearby. More on that later in the story.
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Before the July townhall meeting, Clayton Ulrich, senior manager for Cenovus’ Upstream Division at Lloydminster spoke to reporters. A recording of that press scrum was published here by the Lloydminster Meridian Source.
The facility in question is Rush Lake 2, which is adjacent to Rush Lake 1. The pad affected by the blowout has eight well pairs, comprised of eight injectors and eight producers. That pad is due east of the main Rush Lake 2 production facility, which itself is approximately 700 metres due east of Rush Lake 1. The pad with the blowout is on flat land just before the start of the North Saskatchewan River valley. According to Google Earth, the blowout is 1.9 kilometres from the riverbank.
This undated photo shows the Rush Lake 2 site of the blowout. Based on later activity, this photo was taken very early in the event. The North Saskatchewan River can be seen in the background, 2 kilometres away. Facebook
Asked what was leaking, Ulrich said it was really hard to determine volumes. He said, “It is muddy, silty water that is actually coming to surface, from steam injection. Unfortunately, with that, the vapour molecules are trapping some of the H2S, which is giving off a lot of the odour people are smelling today.
Ulrich told reporters that H2S levels were measured in parts per billion, as opposed to parts per million. He did not provide specific numbers, but said it was “well below health concern thresholds.”
Cenovus has 24 different monitoring units in place between perimeter monitoring and mobile monitoring. That data is shared with the Minister of Energy and Resources, the regulator, on a daily basis. The Ministry has been collecting their own data, with drones and air monitoring systems, he explained.
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“We’re still going through a thorough investigation to understand it. We feel that we have a casing leak, for sure, on location. But it’s been very, very difficult to work through that process with eight pairs on site. So we’ve got eight producers and eight injectors on site, and so (we’re) working through that process to identify exactly what it is will have to come through the investigation.
“Currently, on any given day, we’ve got 140-ish people on site, working the response. In the evenings, during the night, it’s roughly the around the same. We’ve done a lot of work. So initially it was continuing, making sure we didn’t get any fluid off-site, we have not. So we’ve done a tone of earth work, which you will be able to see some of the pictures that we have inside – building berms, geo berms, managing and trenching fluid so we can pump the fluid to our C-rings. We’ve had, at times, two coil tubing units on our lease, two service rig and two drilling rigs to help bring the well under control.
“With eight pairs, it was sort of hard to identify exactly which one it was, although we knew we had a leak, until we actually worked through that sequence. Currently, we have 15 of the 16 wells stabilized, and the site is stabilized. We’re still working on that last well right now,” Ulrich said.
He explained that the 15 wells were “killed” or isolated. “And then the last well, of course, we know we have some issues.”
He said on May 7 they immediately shut down Rush Lake 1 and 2 facilities, and all the producing wells within that complex have been shut down since May 7. “And we have not started anything back up,” he said.
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While it was not discussed during the press scrum, previous reporting by Pipeline Online noted Cenovus indicated the original development cost, per “Lloyd Thermal” facility, all-in, was initially around $250 million range, with later projects in the $350 million range. And that number is consistent with what Strathcona Resources has reported its similar facilities across the river cost. As Rush Lake 2 is one of the newer facilities, with the well in question just eight years old, according to Ulrich, that would likely put the cost closer to that $350 million.
The red starburst in the centre indicates the approximate location of the blowout, as correlated from the photo above. This is a map of wellbores in the area, according to the Saskatchewan GeoAtlas
Asked about the financial impact of shutting down 16,000 barrels per day of production, Ulrich said it was “lots.”
That 16,000 bpd number showed up on the company’s production numbers as reported by BlincSoftware’s Canadian Petroleum Registry, using publicly available data. In Saskatchewan, Cenovus’ production fell from 129,188 boepd in April to 112,440 in May, according to the Canadian Petroleum Registry.
This is the data that registry posted for the Rush Lake 2 facility for April, 2025:
“But at the end of the day, our concern isn’t really the dollar amount, we’re focusing in on that production. We realize we’ve got an issue with the “P” pad. We know we’ll never product that pad again. We’re putting that pad to bed. Our major concern, right now, is just getting to resolve the last well with our well control program. And we’re working with the government agencies to work the next steps on that investigation process, so we can see where we land,” Ulrich said.
He did not provide a dollar value for the costs to date when asked.
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Killing the wells
Asked what they’ve tried to kill the well, Ulrich said, “We’ve tried a number of things on the one well, particularly. We’ve tried heavy brine fluids. We’ve tried barites. We’ve tried cement. We’ve tried a number of different things.
“Now, the location of the casing issue has caused us a number of issues landing that product so it can stabilize out, hence why we brought in drilling rigs to help us come in from a different angle. So we’ve tried a number of different things.
“On the producers, we typically would go with a walnut kill, then follow up with cement,” Ulrich said.
Regarding walnuts, according to Atdmdrilling.com, “Walnut shells are highly porous, which makes them effective at absorbing excess fluids. When added to drilling mud, they help reduce fluid loss by filling voids and creating a barrier that prevents further fluid escape. This property makes it a valuable additive in maintaining wellbore integrity.”
Atdmdrilling.com added, “In formations prone to fluid loss, this serve as an effective lost circulation control agent. They can be mixed with other materials to create a robust Lost Circulation Management system that addresses fluid loss in real-time, ensuring continuous drilling operations.”
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Lack of press release
Questioned why there wasn’t an immediate press release back when the blowout first happened on May 7, Ulrich said, “At the time, obviously we didn’t think the duration would be as long as it did, for one. Two, when we get into an emergency response situation like that, our first concern is the public, and the people in the immediate area, and getting notifications out to them, and our people on site. So that was our primary focus.
“I get it. We were probably late getting it out to the community, and we recognize that, and that’s something we’re going to put more rigor into as we move forward.”
To Ulrich’s knowledge, no livestock had been moved as a result of the blowout.
He could not provide a timeline for cleanup or remediation.
“What I can tell you right now is my focus is getting resolution, and getting this last well under control, so we can go in and build that plan, after the fact. We’ve talked about it, and started to look at what that looks like, but right now we’re really focused in on getting the actual pad under control,” Ulrich said.
As for exactly where the leak is coming from, Ulrich said they still need to work through the investigation.
“It is something that is impactful to the people in the community, and it’s something that we’re very mindful of. I mean, I live in the community, and I plan on being here for many, many years, and we employ a lot of people in the communities. Quite frankly, we understand it’s a nuisance, and it’s been a pain, and we’re working hard to communicate that as fast as we possibly can.”
In a July 17 email, Cenovus said, “Cenovus continues working to resolve the well release at its Rush Lake 2 facility. The work has resulted in a reduction of the vapour cloud on site. We are closely monitoring the work that has been done to date, and activity is ongoing. We will update the public once our well control program is completed and confirm it’s resolved.
“We continue to communicate with the community members affected since this began and sincerely apologize for the impact it has had on the communities.“
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