Estevan– Mid-February to the first week of March is traditionally the peak of the year for oilwell drilling activity. And on Feb. 22, there were 31 drilling rigs working in Saskatchewan, down markedly from the previous two years. According to Rig Locator (riglocator.ca), in 2020 there were 65 rigs working on the same date, and 52 rigs working on that date in 2019. During the boom years, from 2008-2014, there would be closer to 100 rigs working. While the current number couldn’t be considered great by any means, it is significantly higher than the zero rigs that were drilling in the first part of the summer of 2020, when oil markets were initially recovering from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Regina – Husky Energy, which was acquired by Cenovus Energy, had been Saskatchewan’s top oil producer for the first 11 months of 2020. According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Resources, from January to November, 2020, Husky produced 31.7 million barrels of oil. It has been the dominant player in northwest Saskatchewan. That will now revert to Cenovus, as of Jan. 1, when the deal closed. Crescent Point Energy Corp. came in second, at 27.7 million barrels. Crescent Point is the leading player in southeast and southwest Saskatchewan, and an active driller in west central Saskatchewan. Whitecap Resources Inc. was third at 15.8 million barrels. Whitecap is active in southeast and southwest Saskatchewan.
Whitecap Resources Inc. was third at 15.8 million barrels. Whitecap is active in southeast and southwest Saskatchewan. Teine Energy Ltd. came in fourth at 9.2 million barrels. Teine is the leading driller in west central Saskatchewan. Baytex Energy Ltd. is also active in west central and northwest Saskatchewan. It came in fifth at 8.3 million barrels. Serafina Energy Ltd.’s operations are centred in the Meota area, north of North Battleford. Despite being so tightly focused, they still came in at sixth with 6.1 million barrels. Canadian Natural Resources Limited, one of Canada’s largest oil producers, is active in northwest and southeast Saskatchewan. It had 5.8 million barrels for seventh place, despite doing minimal drilling for the past several years.