Professional greens: environmental services show growth and staying power as a creative business sector to watch

Environmental protection was described as a growth sector in the oil and gas industry. Two major companies involved in this field, FX and Canadian Crude Separators Inc., (CCS) and some of their current or recent projects have been summarized to illustrate the growing importance and the opportunities avaialable in this field. FX specializes in a field generally referred to as 'remediation'. There are an estimated 30,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, plus contaminated real estate like former service station sites waiting to be cleaned up. A newly emerging service that is offered by FX is cleaning up after new oil and gas wells have been completed. Canadian Crude Separators are doing a $100 million a year business in oilfield waste disposal at 11 sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company has 225 employees and a network of contractors such as truckers. The newest of CCS's services involves burying waste from heavy oil wells 1,000 to 1,500 metres underground. The garbage goes down via injection wells into a vast salt cavern left behind after years of production by the Sifto organization. Beyond these more mundane but essential services, companies like FX and CCS also perform ecological studies prior to drilling site selection to preserve as much as possible the local flora and fauna. They help operating companies with early detection of environmental concerns and anticipate government action. Being able to undertake voluntary early compliance programs, the companies involved not only benefit from acquiring a 'greener' image, they also improve their chances and credibility to influence the processes of government and future regulation