CAGC Column

The past two winters were busy with the amount of seismic activity in Canada. Despite the jittery world economy in 2012, companies report booking up already with winter coming up. With just ten land seismic companies left in Canada (depending upon how you count them) and the usual challenges with a seasonal industry and its human resources as it relates to peaks and valleys it is unlikely crew counts will surpass last winter’s. This may mean that some programs do not get shot in the winter and push into other seasons. With the ever increasing regulatory burden in Canada and limited number of crews going forward – PLAN AHEAD.

In Alberta we are holding our Annual Geophysical Seminar in Red Deer on Sept 19 and 20. See our website for further information and the full agenda.

October marks our Annual Seismic in Motion (SIM) field trip. Participants spend the day in the field observing the various aspects of seismic and have the opportunity to hear and see contractors performing seismic work. It is being offered October 2, 3 or 4, 2012. Location: outside of Calgary, AB Cost: $250 + GST per participant. Pick-up: Westin Hotel, downtown Calgary - 7:00 to 7:30 am. The day finishes at approximately 6:00 pm in the same spot. A hot lunch is provided. Good walking gear is required as there is some uphill and downhill walking. The CAGC will provide safety equipment, safety coordinator and a tour guide for each group. This event fills up quickly so book spots early. It is open both to industry and members of the public.

Once again we have teamed up with CSEG Outreach Committee, APEGA and the CAPP GEO committee to host 150 students from the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) system. We have broadened this to include students from SAIT, MRU and from U of C. This is an exciting partnership that produces an excellent opportunity for youth to see something of the Energy business and understand some of its intricacies. In addition we have hosted Industry folks, Oil Company Staff, Regulators, Interested Stakeholders, and the Media. The reviews have continued to be outstanding. Our efforts over the years have seen the SIM partnership win the Mayor’s Award for Excellence for Educational Partnerships and CBE’s highest honour, The Lighthouse Award.

This event has been hosted in Alberta from 2004 through 2011 with the 2005 event in BC. It features all aspects of seismic – from surveying to line cutting, from drilling to recording, and features special demonstrations of shooting seismic and observing a helicopter long line rescue operation. This event is put on by the contractors and is supported by the Oil Companies in a truly cooperative manner. Such an event takes a great deal of time, effort and resources to put together.

Over the years we have put together a DVD and CD of the event running about 15 minutes. One was fashioned after a Seismic 101 while the other was set up to highlight our various occupations and training through Enform. Another was geared towards the youth attending the event. The DVD or CD are offered free of charge through the Association in case you might have interest in viewing the activity. We have distributed this product amongst the industry, regulators and also to many educational outlets. A number of our members have used this footage in their public stakeholder engagements.

The event is characterized as a day out in the field. Seismic has become increasingly linear with various aspects separated by time and distance. Gone are the days when the office staff and/or even the geophysicists get out to the field to spend time observing operations. This opportunity presents itself as a benign version of seismic bringing all aspects to one location. In a safe and organized manner, individuals are able to spend the day on the ground viewing demonstrations, interacting with contractors who do the work and have the field expertise and gaining a valuable understanding of the challenges involved in the operations themselves.

Seismic in Motion (SIM) is the type of field trip that holds interest for any type of personality. The demonstrations are quick and move along seamlessly thus ensuring they keep the participant’s attention. As we have as many as two dozen contractors involved, participants have the opportunity to see many different aspects, many different equipment types and hear from many different individuals. The flavour of the day is variety. Whether the individual’s interest is piqued by hands on learning, by visual learning or by listening to presenters, this field trip has them all.

We limit the number of participants on each day for reasons of transportation and safety.

The event is generally fully subscribed so if you have interest we encourage you to register soon. Information and registration is available on our website – www.cagc.ca.

Hope to see you out there.

From the Thursday Files

As a civilization deteriorates, the intrinsic value of what they have decreases. The coinage gets debased and then eliminated.
– Sid Belzberg, a Canadian coin collector (re: the elimination of the penny in Canada)