Shell Waterton postponing new drilling operation

Josh Davis

Shell Waterton Complex Operations Manager Peter Argument and Community Affairs Coordinator Rod Sinclair returned to the Town of Pincher Creek's Committee of the Whole on Monday April 4. Argument came to swap information with the town as part of their ongoing communications. “It’s a tough economic environment,” he said. “We are continuing to struggle to be competitive in that environment. But I would say in general things are going reasonably well.” Argument stated his belief that Shell is still competitive in the industry. “The one downside that we’ve had is that we’ve had to postpone our new drill. There was a business review about a month ago where the decision was made to postpone that operation till next year.”  Shell Waterton had planned to drill one well this year in what they call the south field, which is south of the Waterton Complex.

Shell representatives meet with Pincher Creek's Committee of the Whole

Josh Davis

On Wednesday December 2, 2015, the Town of Pincher Creek's Committee of the Whole met with a delegation from Shell, consisting of Operations Manager of the Shell Waterton Complex Peter Argument, and Shell Canada External Relations for Foothills Patty Richards. Their purpose was to share information regarding the proposed Castle Mountain Provincial Park, discuss their relationships with the new NDP Provincial Government, and discuss the creation of a regional Emergency Management organization.

Shell Waterton holds open house in Twin Butte

Shell's Patty Richards and Rod Sinclair

Chris Davis

Shell Waterton held an open house event at the Twin Butte Community Hall on Thursday evening, November 26.  Shell solicited input from area residents, shared information about upcoming plans related to Shell Waterton, and provided a lasagna dinner.  Several Shell representatives were available to talk to people.  Representatives of Definitive Optimization Ltd. were on hand to discuss their oil and gas well optimization  technology. Dexter Oilfield Inc. brought their environmental air monitoring vehicle, and allowed people to have a look inside.

Shell Waterton reps say closure is not imminent

Shell Waterton
C. Davis file photo

Chris Davis

Shell Waterton Complex Operations Manager Peter Argument and Community Affairs Coordinator Rod Sinclair appeared as a delegation before Pincher Creek's Committee of the Whole (COTW) on the morning of March 4. Their message was clear, Shell Waterton will close one day, but that day is still likely more than a decade away. "There will be an end to Waterton," said Argument, explaining that when he was in engineering school a plant was expected to have a 25 year life expectancy. "This plant's at 53. It's phenomenal."

"Everything comes to an end at some point. We are right now forecasting the late 2020s, maybe, if everything goes well, early 2030s."

Shell Waterton holds Open House event at Twin Butte Community Hall

Shell Waterton Operations Manager Jim Little and Production Superintendent Roger Stebner
C. Davis photo

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Shell Waterton held a well attended free Open House event on Thursday evening September 12 at Twin Butte Community Hall. There was a considerable amount of visual information available illustrating Shell Waterton projects past, ongoing, and planned and a number of Shell representatives were on hand to answer questions and accept feedback.  Dinner and dessert was provided to attendees, and there were a number of giveaways and door prizes.  The event was fairly low-key.

An end in sight for the Shell Waterton shutdown

Shell Waterton
C. Davis file photo

Toni Lucas

The Shell Waterton Complex shutdown started on July 2 following an incident at site. According to Shell Communications Advisor Amber Bassen, "We  proactively shut down the plant until late October as we needed to repair the damaged equipment, and to allow for maintenance, inspection and repair activity."  She explained that these inspections also occur at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure the safe and efficient running of the facility.