The North's Resource Wealth
With more than two dozen unique geological formations running underground, the County of Grande Prairie is a significant player in the oil and gas sector of northwestern Alberta. This large market aids economic stability, with the Grande Prairie area maintaining steady levels of growth since 2018, as reported through both well licenses and completions.
The County and surrounding areas comprise a key regional service centre and are home to many major oil and gas regional headquarters and oilfield service firms. Companies include Seven Generations Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Haliburton, Schlumberger, and Trican, as well as numerous local entrepreneurs that service oil and natural gas activities in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories.
Experience in the North
Grande Prairie County No.1 produced 6.7 Billion m3 of natural gas in 2020, the 5th highest in the province and has increased 45.6% in the last 5 years. The County increased oil production by 32.2% in the last five years with 1.1 million m3 of oil in 2020. This production amount is aided by the continued issue of Drilling Licenses, with the first quarter of 2022 seeing a 45% increase as compared to issued licenses in the same period for 2021. Of these licenses for 2022 Q1, 87 were for oil, 155 for gas, and 9 for other industry-related wells.
It is estimated that over 150,000 Albertans work directly in the oil and gas industry, or in a related field. Of those, approximately 132,000 work in oil and gas extraction, 10,000 work in electricity, and 2,000 in both the coal and pipeline industries.
An Essential Hub
As a central hub of Alberta and Northern B.C.’s traditional oil and gas industry, the County of Grande Prairie is primed to meet the needs of additional heavy industry and large-scale projects, thanks to modern divided highways, rail access, flexible zoning bylaws, and robust telecommunications even out in the field.
Recent additions within the County have added to its prominence on the energy sector landscape.
Nauticol’s planned $2.6-billion USD world-class methanol facility is located within the County, 10 km south of the City. It will be one of the largest in the world, the largest in Canada, and is a sign of value-added opportunities in the region.
In addition, Tenaris’ manufacturing service centre, located west of Grande Prairie, is a $20-million USD investment constructed as a supply chain solutions base to support oil and gas customers in Western Canada, including the regional Montney and Duvernay shale gas formations.
