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SAHTU
As a number of major oil and gas companies are slated to continue exploring recently purchased land parcels in the Canol shale formation of the Sahtu region this winter, a small group of GNWT politicians and bureaucrats took part in a hydraulic fracturing fact-finding mission in Calgary last month.

David Ramsay, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, was among a contingent from the GNWT standing committee on economic development which went on a three-day fact-finding mission about hydraulic fracturing in Calgary. The contingent included MLA Robert Bouchard, front row, legislative assembly research analyst Alicia Tumchewics, Minister David Ramsay, MLA Norman Yakeleya, MLA Bob Bromley and MLA and Infrastructure Minister Robert Hawkins. In the back row are Kim Richardson of Husky Energy, John Butala of Husky Energy, Ian Butters of the GNWT Mackenzie Valley Petroleum Planning Office, Ken Hansen of Husky Energy, Adam Sparks of Husky Energy and Roy Sonenburg of Husky Energy. - photo courtesy of Office of the Premier and Executive Council

The contingent, which included David Ramsay, minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya and Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who is chair of the territorial government's standing committee on economic development and infrastructure, travelled for the hydraulic fracturing fact-finding mission Aug. 20 to 22.

The three-day tour was hosted partly by industry, including Husky Energy Inc. and Calgary-based hydraulic fracturing fluid services company Trican Well Service Ltd.

"It was very good," Ramsay said about the experience. "And I think as things progress in the Sahtu, I certainly look to perhaps get a number of the chiefs from the Sahtu in a similar exercise, where they could ask questions of regulators and industry.

"I think it's best for everybody to know exactly what (hydraulic fracturing) is, and how it works and how it can be done in an environmentally safe manner."

Husky Energy was one of the first major companies that led off the first winter program of the $534 million in oil and gas parcels bid on in the central Mackenzie Valley area last year.

"We were pleased to meet with minister Ramsay and members of the NWT's standing committee on economic development and infrastructure during their visit to Calgary last month, where they also met with a number of other stakeholders," stated Husky spokesperson Kim Guttormson following the minister's visit, which included a tour of a Husky oil and gas producing facility at its Moose Mountain site, and a tour of a research and development laboratory.

"At the delegation's request, we were happy to facilitate a tour of a service provider's research and development facility so members could gather more information on hydraulic fracturing," Guttormson told News/North. "We also provided a tour of a Husky oil and gas producing facility to demonstrate our commitment to safe and environmentally respectful development."

Husky hopes to advance plans on its proposed winter program at the Slater River project near Norman Wells, which would include the construction of an all-season road and further evaluation of two vertical wells drilled at the beginning of 2012.

The company has not yet announced plans to apply for unconventional extraction activities, such as hydraulic fracturing on its Sahtu lease, although following the Calgary fact-finding mission, Ramsay said he would suspect at least one of the energy companies active in the region will have a well drilled and fractured horizontally within the next 18 months.

"For the entire field to be developed, it looks like multi-stage hydraulic fracturing will be required to gauge the extent of the amount of oil that can be taken," Ramsay said. "That's what's going to be moving forward here."

Following the fracking fact-finding mission, Ramsay was optimistic about hydraulic fracturing activity possibly unlocking more than the estimated two to three billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Canol formation.

"Of course there's a lot of excitement here about the potential of the area," Ramsay said. "And if the resource is proven up to a point where it can be commercially developed and put into production, the potential is immense.

"We could look at another pipeline south from Norman Wells, we can look at a gas line south from Norman Wells, we can look at the possibility of an all-weather road being built south from Norman Wells. There's lots of optimism about the potential that the development could bring not just to the region but for the territory. It does have the potential to be very much of national significance should it prove itself."

In addition to industry, the GNWT delegation met with a cross-section of representatives during its fracking fact-finding mission, Ramsay said, including regulatory bodies such as the National Energy Board. He has also met with environmental groups in the past, including the Pembina Institute.

"I think we had a well-balanced agenda," Ramsay said.

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