Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Deep Earth Energy Production president and CEO Kirsten Marcia, left presented to a standing room only crowd at the 2022 Williston Basin Petroleum Conference. There was ample interest in DEEP’s geothermal energy project. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
REGINA – The Williston Basin Petroleum Conference will be held in Regina on May 2-3, 2023.
Wait, what?
Doesn’t that conference alternate between Bismarck, North Dakota, and Regina, and wasn’t it held in Regina in 2022?
Yes, and yes. But there’s more to it than that.
The COVID-19 pandemic struck just weeks before the event was supposed to be held in Bismarck in 2020, so, like pretty much everything else, it was cancelled. Then in 2021, while much of Canada was under lockdown, and international travel was greatly restricted, Bismarck held the conference both in person and online. That led to the show being shifted one year, to Regina in 2022.
However, the Americans have asked that it move back to even years in their neck of the woods. That’s according to Norm Sacuta, spokesperson for the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, in Regina.
“North Dakota wants to get back to even-numbered years,” Sacuta said on Nov. 24, noting timing with election cycles.
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Most notably, perhaps the biggest moment in the conference’s nearly four decade history was in 2016. Donald Trump was the keynote speaker for the event, and that morning was the day he secured enough delegates in the presidential primary season to secure the Republican nomination for the 2016 election. Effectively, the final race for the White House occurred on that day, and started in Bismarck. National and international media were there.
Historically, North Dakota officials had some difficulty attending the Regina event on the odd years because unlike Saskatchewan, where the provincial legislature meets twice a year and passes a budget each year, North Dakota’s state legislature works on an entirely different basis. They meet only once every two years, and only pass a budget every two years, known as a “biennium.” And even then, they’re only allowed to be ins session 80 days. And that session usually just before or around the time of the conference, which made it problematic for North Dakota officials to take part, as many were busy attending to state matters.
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- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
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- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
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With the end of pandemic restrictions, many energy events in Saskatchewan that used to be staggered all ended up being held in 2022. That included the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Weyburn, the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, and Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. Going back to the old schedule will break that up a bit.
As for 2023, Sacuta said, “A big theme of it is going to be CCUS,” referring to carbon capture, utilization and storage. That happens to be one of the PTRC’s core specialties, as it backed the scientific research in the implementation of the Weyburn-Midale projects.
“We’d like to get more people familiar with CCUS across industries, and also other commodities for sure. Lithium and helium, those are all going to be looked at like they were last time,” he said.
There will be a trade show again held in conjunction with the show.
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- 0088 WBPC_2025_30SEC_PROMO0088 WBPC_2025_30SEC_PROMO
- 0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion0087 Lori Carr Coal Expansion
- 0086 Sask Gov Oil and Gas Incentive Programs0086 Sask Gov Oil and Gas Incentive Programs
- 0085 Turnbull snow removal call office0085 Turnbull snow removal call office
- 0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online0084 EMP Metals Pipeline Online
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0076 Latus only0076 Latus only
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
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