With a sharp focus on the drilling boom now taking place in the Colorado Rockies, the consulate general of Canada in Denver recently brought 15 Alberta-based oil-service companies to the Mile High City. The mission: introduce them and the technologies and services they provide to producers active in exploration and production throughout Colorado's oil and gas basins. The visit was a follow-up to the consulate's Colorado-Alberta Energy Partnering Mission in mid-2005 when Colorado's Gov. Bill Owens and Denver's Mayor John Hickenlooper led a contingent of 50 state business leaders to Calgary to meet with Canadian energy firms and tour Alberta's expanding oil-sands projects. "Canadian [oil-service] companies have excelled in developing improved technologies that not only cut costs but are also more environmentally conscious compared with traditional E&P methods," says Monica Heron, senior trade commissioner for Denver's consulate general of Canada. Part of the demand for their technologies comes from Canadian oil companies such as Calgary-based Suncor, EnCana, Petro-Canada and Enerplus Resources, which already have established a major presence in Colorado, investing more than $3 billion in the state during the past three years. However, a lot of future demand for their technologies and services is likely to come from U.S. independents operating in Colorado and elsewhere in the Rockies. Among the attendees at the presentation were representatives of Bill Barrett Corp., Kerr-McGee Corp., Western Gas Resources, Delta Petroleum Co., El Paso Production Co., Pioneer Natural Resources and Berry Petroleum. Several Maple Leaf service companies already operate in Colorado, including CalFrac, Pure Energy, Sanjel, Ensign Energy Services and Caza Drilling, an Ensign subsidiary, notes Canadian consul general Michael Fine, who opened the consulate's Denver office in 2004. "However, we're hoping to expand that presence because this state, with its record drilling activity, offers one of the best opportunities in the U.S. for the application of Canadian oil-service technologies. The region is still in the very early days of what is a major boom in oil and gas E&P." What exactly do Canadian service companies bring to the table? "The geology in Alberta is similar to what one finds in the Colorado Rockies, and a number of small Calgary service companies have developed expertise with such technologies as underbalanced drilling-as well as other environmentally friendly services-which may be applicable in this region," says Fine. "It's worth noting that Canada has a history of developing new oil and gas technology," he adds. "Not long ago, people thought Alberta's oil sands would never be commercially productive. Today, our oil-sands output is headed for 3.4 million barrels a day by 2015." Among the presenting companies were Beyond Compliance, which focuses on field reporting and compliance-management obligations; Big Country Energy Services, involved in pipeline and facilities construction; Bristar Containment, a provider of secondary containment structures; Canadian Nitrogen Services, a supplier of self-contained, nitrogen-generating systems; Cantak Corp., which handles oil-well casing and tubing; Collicutt Energy Services, a provider of gas compression, power systems and production equipment; and DC Energy, a supplier of oilfield equipment, fluid sales and management services. Also touting their capabilities were Enerflex Systems, a provider of gas-compression equipment and processing facilities; Hycal Labs, which focuses on reservoir optimization; Newalta Corp., a provider of waste management and environmental services; Oil Lift Technology, a supplier of pump-drive heads for oil and coalbed-methane wells; and Pipe Alignment Tool, which provides oilfield drilling and completion-equipment rentals. In addition, producers heard from Red Flame Hot Tap, which focuses on pressurized piping systems and storage tanks; Reform Energy Services, a supplier of underbalanced drilling and production-testing services; and Steam Flo Industries, a wellhead manufacturer and supplier of gate and valve equipment.

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