REGINA - Dan MacLean has informed the Petroleum Technology Research Centre’s (PTRC) board of directors that he will be retiring at the end of 2021 from his position as CEO and president of the centre.
He informed his staff of the decision in August, after the PTRC’s July board meeting.
“I arrived at PTRC four years ago, in May of 2017, and quickly came to appreciate the impact of its expertise in carbon management and environmental research in the oil and gas industry. The world is changing, and the PTRC was and still is on the cutting-edge of science and emissions mitigation technologies,” said MacLean.
MacLean oversaw the development of a new vision and strategy for the PTRC, one that focuses research and development (R&D) activities on all the various forms of subsurface energy – from oil and gas, to the potential for using stored carbon dioxide (CO2) for geothermal power generation, to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to field sites, to the creation of blue hydrogen, to the identification of elements like lithium and helium in the brines of deep saline aquifers and oil/gas wells.
“In many ways it is difficult to be leaving PTRC at a moment when so many opportunities for energy R&D are opening up, but it’s also important to leave the organization in a time of strength and allow for continued growth under a new leader.”
Kristal Allen, chair of PTRC’s board of directors, commented on MacLean’s impending retirement: “On behalf of the board of directors of PTRC, I offer my sincere congratulations to Dan on his forthcoming retirement. Over the course of his tenure at PTRC, Dan led the organization through a period of transformational change in the energy industry. Dan worked tirelessly to promote the extensive work PTRC has performed in research and development of EOR and CCUS technologies throughout its history, and crafted a strategy to expand its leadership in the development of sustainable energy in Canada. Thank you, Dan, for your significant and numerous contributions to PTRC.”
MacLean’s most recent project is the work being done on his new cottage near Kenora, Ont., on Lake-of-the-Woods. PTRC staff – still working from home during the COVID pandemic – noted with great amusement the sounds of saws and hammers in the background during his Zoom meetings.
“I am proud of my work at PTRC, and will keep in contact with many of the excellent colleagues who worked with me,” he noted. “But I’m also going to be swimming and fishing a lot.”
