Weyburn – When Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. founder and executive chairman Lane McKay took to the podium to accept the honour of Oilman of the Year on June 5 in Weyburn, he wanted to make something quite clear.
“This is a company award,” he said. Indeed, he said it several times.
He wanted to point out the relationships, saying, “What I really cherish is the friendships.”
He started by introducing Steelreef’s two key shareholders, Rob Duguid of Regina-based PFM Capital, and Greg Smith, of Toronto-based Instar AGF. Directors Steve Magus and Jamie McVicar were there, but Jonathan Stone and Robert Lehodey couldn’t make it.
McKay recognised their two special advisors, Dean Potter (who was inducted into the Hall of Fame that night, and Oilman of the Year in 1991), and Neil Roszell, who was the Oilman of the Year at the last oil show. “Those special advisors give us the technical capabilities to have confidence in these long term investments in Saskatchewan.”
Their recent foray into North Dakota had two other advisors, Ryan Kopseng and Clark Crawford, who came up from Bismarck.
“My two partners are here who helped start the company. We took two years to write the business plan. They would come over and we would write the business plan after work,” McKay said. They were Scott Southward, president and CEO, and Austin Voss, vice president and COO.
“This award’s for you, you just don’t get to take it home,” he said to Southward and Voss.
McKay pointed out that he’s the old guy, and their average age is around 28-30. “We have a very vibrant team, very bright, and all up to speed about what’s going on in the industry,” he said, indicating a number were at the table.
“The most important thing Steel Reef has is its customers. I would like to thank all our customers for allowing us the privilege of gathering and processing your associated gas and liquids. Without customers having the confidence in us to sign long-term contracts to build these facilities, we wouldn’t have a company,” McKay concluded.
