Hardy boys: Saskatchewan not for the faint at heart

Accepting change as a permanent condition is the key to adapting and surviving in the Saskatchewan resource industry. To illustrate the validity of this statement, this article provides a brief historical review of events in the province's resource industry beginning with the coal miners' strike in 1931. It was followed by the many ups and downs in the resource industry since then, and the direct, rapid and sometimes drastic effects on livelihoods of global economic forces. No change for the better is expected in the immediate future, although drilling for natural gas has doubled in 1998, reflecting the industry's change of targets in response to prices and pipeline projects. Unfortunately for Saskatchewan, its energy resources endowment is primarily coal and oil, consequently it is not likely to benefit from the growing increase in demand for natural gas. At present, the only bright spot is the effort of PanCanadian Petroleum and its partners to prolong the 45-year old Weyburn oilfield for another quarter century. PanCanadian Petroleum and its partners are investing $ 1.1 billion to realize a 65 per cent increase in production to 30,000 barrels a day with injections of carbon dioxide to tap up to 140 million more barrels of hard-to-reach reserves. As part of this project, a 15-year gas contract has been signed and construction has begun on a 323 km-long $100 million pipeline to import the carbon dioxide from Beulah, North Dakota. New drilling is scheduled to start this year followed by carbon dioxide injections in 2000, and hopefully increased production the following year. Beyond that, expectations are modest, with very little hope of recovery in the immediate future