Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) president and CEO Dan MacLean came to Estevan on April 17 in part to speak to the Estevan Chamber of Commerce about the upcoming Williston Basin Petroleum Conference on May 28-29 in Regina.
The event will take place at the Delta Hotels by Marriott in Regina.
This show will broaden the perspective of the annual conference, which has typically focused on the Williston Basin in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. The theme of the 2019 Williston Basin Petroleum Conference is 鈥淪askatchewan Now,鈥� with an in-depth look at opportunities and innovations available in the Saskatchewan energy industry.
There will be core workshops held on May 27, the day prior to the main event. That evening will see an invitation-only VIP dinner.
The main portion of the conference starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m., with both business and technical events taking place. A conference reception and STARS Air Ambulance silent auction will follow at the Casino Regina ballroom at 6:30 p.m.
While the main event ends on May 29, a tour of SaskPower鈥檚 Boundary Dam Unit 3 Carbon Capture and Storage Project and the Aquistore project will be offered on May 30, starting at 8 a.m.
While in Estevan, MacLean noted that he started his current position just before the 2017 edition of the conference. He wasn鈥檛 impressed with it. But he was impressed the following year when the conference was held in Bismarck, N.D.
鈥淗ere鈥檚 what I heard from the governor, and the secretary of the interior: 鈥榃e, in North Dakota are at 1.2 million barrels of oil a day, we鈥檙e going to two million barrels of oil a day. We鈥檙e going to do it with CO2-EOR (carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery). We can see ourselves as a net importer of CO2 in the near future. We are removing barriers for installing flowlines and pipelines. We have six new gas plants that are starting up.鈥�
鈥淭he secretary of the interior says, 鈥極il and gas is great for the State of North Dakota, and it鈥檚 great for the United States. We are an environmentally conscientious producer.鈥欌��
That motivated him to seek to reinvigorate this years鈥� conference in Regina.
鈥淪o, we need to do this here. We need to demonstrate to people that Saskatchewan is a great place to invest in our industry. So maybe the Williston Basin is a bit mature, so we have reinvigorated this conference. It is still called the Williston Basin Conference, but with the catchphrase, 鈥楽askatchewan Now,鈥欌�� MacLean told the roughly 30 people in attendance.
With the business forums planned, he said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to talk about doing business here.鈥�
That includes talking about the mix of energy going forward.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to talk about social acceptance, and what is it that industry needs to continue to be aware of, and do, in order to continue to have favour in the areas we operate in.鈥�
There will be private equity representation and two technology panels. Those will focus on things like artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to talk with young people. We鈥檙e going to find out from them what鈥檚 important to them. What do they know, and don鈥檛 know, about our industry? What should we be aware of, as old guys and gals, so that, moving forward, it continues to be acceptable to them.鈥�
Registration information can be found at wbpc.ca.
