Estevan– Drilling activity in Saskatchewan was down substantially for January 2016 compared to the same month in previous years, but not as low as might be expected at a time when oil kept dipping well below US$30/barrel WTI.
Two things you don’t see every day showed up as well on sister publication Rig Locator (riglocator.ca) on Jan. 25.
Northeast of Porcupine Plain, in northeast Saskatchewan, Savanna Drilling Rig 440 was drilling for Saturn Minerals Inc. For an 855 metre well, it had spudded on Jan. 6 and was still being reported as active on Jan. 25. This is on Saturn Minerals’ Bannock Creek property, where their first wildcat well, drilled a few months previously, had failed.
About as far as you get from Porcupine Plain to the southwest, and still stay in the province, another curiosity was being drilled by North American Helium Inc. This well at Battle Creek is in the extreme southwest corner of the province, approximately 40 kilometres east of the Alberta border and 35 kilometres north of the U.S. border. Savanna Drilling Canada Rig 410 got the privilege of working on that unique well.
On Jan. 25 there were 44 active rigs in Saskatchewan, down two from the day before, when Crescent Point Energy Corp. had 26 active drilling rigs. On Jan. 25 that number dropped to 24 active rigs, a count that still by far outshone the number 2 driller, Tourmaline Oil Corp., at 12 rigs, and number 3 driller, Progress Energy Canada Ltd., at 12 rigs
At the same time in 2015 there were 65 active rigs. In 2014, there were 103.
Reflecting their recently announced efforts to sell large portions of their conventional production in Saskatchewan, Husky Oil Operations, currently the number 2 oil producer in the province, had just one active rig northeast of Lashburn. That was the only rig working in northwest Saskatchewan.
The Viking play in the Kindersley area had nine rigs turning to the right. Crescent Point had two rigs drilling side-by-side just northwest of Kindersley and a third northeast of Eston. Whitecap Resources was drilling west of Kindersley. Raging River Exploration had two rigs east of Kindersley. Teine Energy Ltd. had two rigs, one near Dodsland, and the other near Eston.
Also in the southwest, Crescent Point had all four of the active rigs near Shaunavon.
In the southeast corner, activity was, again, dominated by Crescent Point. In the Oungre and Torquay area they had three rigs, with one more at Tatagwa. All seven rigs working around Stoughton and Kisbey were Crescent Point rigs. Three rigs in the North Portal/Roche Percee area were Crescent Point, as well. Finally, one rig northwest of Oxbow was Crescent Point.
Of the remaining southeast rigs, Red River Oil was drilling north of Antler. Vermillion had one rig near Northgate. Spartan was drilling in the Pinto area north of North Portal. Torc Oil & Gas had one rig north of Alameda. Steppe Petroleum Inc. had one rig east of Torquay. Cenovus was back in play with a rig at Goodwater, as was Enerplus Corporation north of Lake Alma. Finally, Astra Oil Corp. was drilling south of Weyburn.
Five rigs were working for potash projects; one near Moose Jaw and four near Esterhazy.
