Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
From left, unknown SGI rep, SaskBuilds Minister Sean Wilson, unknown SGI rep, Mike “Butch” Gering, Aaron Cugnet, SGI Minister Jeremy Harrison, CAOEC CEO Mark Scholz, Dennis Day, Mike Fowler, Estevan Mayor Tony Sernick. The photo was taken at an Aaron Well Servicing rig in the Viewfield area on Jan. 20. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
WEYBURN – For a very long time, the Saskatchewan government has been working on reducing interprovincial trade barriers. Some of these are relatively inconsequential regulatory affairs that don’t sync between provinces, having been developed independently.
Way back in 2010, then-Premier Brad Wall brought together western premiers into the New West Partnership Agreement, which had a stated coal to “avoid measures that operate to restrict or impair trade between or through their territories, or investment or labour mobility between them.”
Sixteen years later, apparently there is still work to be done. And with the US-initiated trade war that’s been going on, Canadian provinces are looking at reducing internal trade barriers which apparently still exist.
In this case, it’s SGI rules for service rig drivers. That was brought forward on Jan. 20, when Minister of Crown Investments Corp. and Minister Responsible for SGI Jeremy Harrison met with president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors in Weyburn. There, in the offices of Aaron Well Servicing, they signed a Memorandum of Agreement.
Behind them were Mike “Butch” Gering of Diamond Energy Services, Swift Current, Aaron Cugnet of Aaron Well Servicing, Weyburn, Dennis Day of General Well Servicing, Ex-cel Well Servicing and Eagle Sky Ventures of Carnduff and Oxbow, and Mike Fowler of Eagle Sky Ventures, Carnduff.
Back row, from left, Mike Fowler, Aaron Cugnet, Dennis Day, Mike “Butch” Gering, Front row: SGI Minister Jeremy Harrison, CAOEC CEO Mark Scholz, Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Previously, all Saskatchewan service rig drivers were required to get specific endorsements on their licence. They were also required to submit periodic medical fitness reports, similar to drivers licensed to operate other heavy vehicles.
As of Jan. 20, amendments to The Driver Licensing and Suspension (Mobile Mounted Service Rigs) Amendment Regulations will:
- Eliminate the G-Endorsement requirements for Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) member drivers.
- Remove the requirement for CAOEC service rig drivers to submit periodic medical reports to SGI.
Service rigs spend approximately 95 per cent of their time performing well servicing operations, with very little time spent in transit. When they are on roads, they are driven in convoys, at speeds not exceeding 80 km/h, and largely on secondary or rural roads.
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Service rig operators receive highly specialized training through a training program and certification process delivered by CAOEC, which is recognized by the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The regulatory changes also harmonize Saskatchewan’s standards with those in Alberta. In 2019, the premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta signed a memorandum of understanding to help remove provincial barriers to the movement of service rigs. This would build upon the progress the two jurisdictions have already made on harmonization, the government release said.
Scholz said, “This is a great a great day for service rigs in the province of Saskatchewan, reducing red tape, promoting harmonization across Western Canada. And really, I thank Minister about focusing on what these guys in the back here do best, which is producing oil and gas and reducing red tape and administration so that we can continue to create prosperity for all of Saskatchewan and produce some of the most responsibly and sustainable oil and gas anywhere on planet Earth, right here in the province of Saskatchewan. So thanks for your leadership, minister, and we look forward to, I think, continuing to do the good work here in the province that we do always well.
Harrison said, “Thank you for the work that you do and your members do every single day out there who are working hard to produce oil and gas, the energy that keeps us warm here, on cold winter days in Saskatchewan, and not just here in Saskatchewan, but around the world. And this really is the most sustainably produced energy of anywhere on the planet. And it’s because of the work that your members do every single day. And this is all about creating the conditions where we have that harmonization, where we have that red tape reduced, such that your members and our folks who are working out in the oil patch are going to be able to do their job even more effectively.
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Asked what exactly this was all about, Scholz said, “This is a new Memorandum of Agreement that our association has signed with the province of Saskatchewan that helps really our service rig members who are critical for the exploration and development of oil and gas in the province of Saskatchewan to focus on what they’re good at, which is staying in the field, producing the most responsibly and sustainably produced energy anywhere on planet Earth, to focus on staying in the field and focusing on what they’re really good at.
“So this is about reducing red tape. It’s about harmonizing with the province of Alberta, as well as by the end of the year, the Province of Manitoba, where essentially service re contractors, will have one set of transportation rules essentially all across western Canada that allows them to really reduce administration focus on what they’re good at, and staying in the field and producing responsibly produced oil and gas.”
He elaborated, “There are a few provisions in terms of the way that our restricted driver’s licenses are processed and administered in the province of Saskatchewan. So what we’re trying to do is really focus on the specialized, customized training that our association provides to drivers within the province of Saskatchewan, harmonizing with the province of Alberta, so that when our crews and our equipment move back and forth from both Alberta and Saskatchewan, in particular areas like Lloydminster, where there truly is no border that exists between Alberta and Saskatchewan from a commerce perspective in oil and gas. So we want to make sure that our crews can move back and forth between Alberta and Saskatchewan as efficiently and seamlessly as possible. And that’s what this agreement does.”
Asked why it took so long to get to this, Harrison thanked Scholz and the CAOEC and said, “This has been a very good discussion and a very good partnership in finding a path forward here that’s going to reduce red tape, that’s going to allow our service rig operators to do what they do best, which is produce oil and gas in the most effective and efficient way and sustainable way of anywhere in the world.
“So we’re always looking for opportunities to harmonize regulation, to make sure that we are able to do business. And I can tell you, from northwest Saskatchewan, my riding is nearly up to the Alberta border. This has been a challenge, and we’re always looking for these opportunities when they when they come to light, to harmonize regulation more important than ever, probably within this country, about knocking down interprovincial trade barriers.
“And, you know, having served as Minister of Internal Trade for many, many years in Saskatchewan, annoying that we’re we have more work to do, but we’re always looking for those opportunities, whether that be through the US partnership, whether that be through the Canada Free Trade Agreement, working bilaterally with Alberta, working bilaterally with Manitoba, to find these opportunities and then executing on them.
“So I think in this circumstance now, we are going to have a situation where service rates can operate under the same rules between Alberta and Saskatchewan. You know, we’re working with Manitoba to get there as well. But that is really going to increase efficiency, increase the opportunity for these service rig operators to do what they do best. And it’s something that we’re, we’re very, very happy to partner with industry on making happen in terms of the economic benefits.”
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