Canada funds methane capture in Saskatchewan

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) said February 22 it had provided C$20mn (US$15.7mn) from its Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) Onshore Programme to Steel Reef Infrastructure to help energy companies in Saskatchewan reduce methane emissions.

Steel Reef Infrastructure will use the funding to build key infrastructure to capture, gather and process methane that would otherwise be vented or flared during oil and gas production activities, NRCan minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a speech to the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.

“We are pleased to join with oil and gas partners in Saskatchewan to show our steadfast commitment to decarbonising the environment through greener and cleaner technologies,” he said. “This collaboration will help ensure we reach our 2030 climate and methane emission reduction objectives while maintaining jobs stability in the region.”

Crescent Point Energy, Surge Energy and Whitecap Resources are all successfully capturing emissions with funding from the ERF programme. They are among seven Saskatchewan companies pursuing 36 ERF-funded projects that collectively will capture 2.8mn metric tons of CO₂-equivalent (mtCO₂e) emissions in the first year following project completion.

That will make Saskatchewan the province with the highest expected emissions reductions from the first two intake periods of the ERF Onshore Programme, Wilkinson said.

“The Emissions Reduction Fund has helped accelerate Crescent Point’s efforts to fully eliminate emissions from 10 field projects across our Saskatchewan operations,” said Justin Foraie, vice president, engineering and EH&S, at Crescent Point. “As a result, we are expecting to permanently avoid the release of approximately 415,000 mtCO₂e of GHG emissions.”