The Government of Saskatchewan has launched the Accelerated Site Closure Program (ASCP) to utilize $400 million in federal funding for the abandonment and reclamation of inactive oil and gas wells and facilities. The program is scheduled to run until December 31, 2022 with the primary purpose of this program to put Saskatchewan people and companies back to work. It is estimated that up to 8,000 inactive wells and facilities will be abandoned and reclaimed over the life of this program. This funding is expected to support approximately 2,100 full-time equivalent jobs in the Saskatchewan service industry. The ASCP will be rolled out in several phases. Phase 1 of the Program has been initiated and will allocate up to $100 million in funding to Saskatchewan service companies contracted to complete abandonment and reclamation activities. The ASCP will be overseen by the Ministry of Energy and Resources (MER) and administered by SaskBuilds and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC).
Town hall video-conference meetings were held this week to discuss the current state of the program and answer questions from oil field and environmental service providers. The government representatives indicated that eligible licensees were assigned their funding allocations and are in the process of nominating wells and facilities through the Integrated Resource Information System (IRIS). Once the nomination process is complete, SRC will prepare and compile work packages consisting of 10 and 50 wells and/or facilities. These work packages will be prepared using an area-based approach to maximize efficiencies and create economies of scale. The work package allocation has yet to be determined, however government representatives stated that the will use a fair approach to ensure all eligible Saskatchewan service providers receive a portion of the funding to keep more Saskatchewan people employed.
An additional town hall video-conference meeting will be held June 9, 2020 via the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association (SIMSA) website https://simsa.ca/. This meeting is designated for Saskatchewan subcontractors to discuss the program and elicit communication with “prime or lead companies” that will be applying to become eligible service providers through SaskTenders.
North Shore will continue to share information and work with potential subcontractors service and eligible oil and gas licensees to ensure we are positioned to effectively and efficiently maximize program benefits and opportunities. For additional information on how to work with North Shore, please contact us by the email below.
