“If you take oil and gas, if you take Bonnyville, Canadian Natural provides thousands of jobs in the area, directly and indirectly. If those people lose their livelihoods, even the local grocer is affected. Even the gas station at the corner, the local mechanics, the pet store down the road, everyone is impacted.”
Kurt Muller, general manager for Jacknife Oilfield Services, expressed how curtailment regulations being enforced by the government are having major impacts on Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL).
While the company hasn't confirmed whether revisions to the curtailment formula will result in the shutdown of their ECHO pipeline, there are fears over potential job losses in the local area.
CNRL spokesperson Julie Woo said in an email to the Nouvelle's sister paper, the St. Paul Journal, “Unfortunately, we are continuing to wait for information from government today and I’m not in a position to comment right now. I’m sorry – we’re really trying hard to make this right for the region.”
“We’ve had discussions with Canadian Natural, but we can’t say at this point in time if this is something they’re going ahead with. That’s a decision made in Calgary. The gravity of the situation is such that this is a possibility if the government doesn’t relook at their formula,” Muller stressed.
As a result, Jacknife Oilfield Services, who works closely with CNRL, is encouraging their employees and the public to write letters to Premier Rachel Notley, Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, and the Production Curtailment Issues Panel.
In a letter of their own issued to staff, Jacknife Oilfield Services detailed the concerns at hand.
“The communication in the middle half of the letter is our ask to the Canadian government to relook at the formula that has been calculated for the curtailment issued to CNRL. This information came from CNRL,” explained Muller. “Effectively, if they were to close that pipeline, they would be doing so because of this curtailment."
He continued, “It’s just not feasible for them to push oil down there given the volumes the government is asking of them."
Local municipal leaders have also voiced their concerns over the topic.
MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk said in a release early Tuesday, "While curtailment was requested by the oil industry, the latest proposed revisions are concerning... We want the Alberta government and Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd to revisit the revisions based on the economic impact this will have on our communities, and ensure the curtailment is applied equitable across the industry, instead of placing the emphasis on certain producers."
Muller noted Canadian Natural and other industry leaders haven't expressed an issue with a curtailment being imposed, however "it's disproportionate to what CNRL has been asked, and that's going to affect Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and Elk Point."
Town of Bonnyville Mayor Gene Soblewski and City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland agreed.
In a release, Sobolewski detailed how CNRL had voluntarily throttled back production prior to mandatory curtailment.
At the time, they hadn't considered the formula being revised.
"I would also ask the province to consider all factors in the equation to ensure that jobs in northeast Alberta are protected," he stated.
“Our major concern is we’re a business. We have 80 or so people working for us, 98 per cent local labour, a lot of the people are coming from the surrounding areas and Aboriginal communities,” noted Muller.
He continued, “The nature of the work out here is that people are living pay-cheque to pay-cheque as it is. You take one pay-cheque away, you’re just one missed truck payment away from insolvency. All of these trucks and operators who have their own units, if they miss this payment because they have no work, there’s no coming back to it."
Copeland agreed that if not properly implemented, curtailment "threatens to be another economic blow in a region already embattled by a prolonged downturn."
“I think it’s very difficult for us, because the Bonnyville and Cold Lake community has been affected since this downturn since 2015. We’re three or four years into this downturn and we had hoped to find light at the end of the tunnel, instead something like this comes just when we think we’re at the tail end of this downturn,” Muller added. “There are so many companies like ourselves that give large sponsorships and donations, we do a lot of good in the community. I hate to see all of that end because of the miscalculation by the government."
Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs has also penned a letter to McCuaig-Boyd.
She noted the significant job loses the area would face "because of the changes your government made to the formula."
Muller stressed there is no confirmation CNRL is moving forward with shutting down the ECHO pipeline plant in February.
“There is no guarantee. I don’t want to say it is going to happen… We’re in support of them. This is us showing our support for Canadian Natural," he noted. “We’re on board with them, we’re supporting them in their discussions with the government and hoping that the government can see the likes so that it doesn’t impact the Bonnyville community; there’s too much at stake here."
