The Government of Saskatchewan has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with oil industry leaders to remove administrative barriers for oil and gas service drivers travelling to Alberta. The agreement allows drivers of service rigs to transport equipment between Saskatchewan and Alberta borders without needing specific driving regulations. “This helps our service members who are critical for the exploration and development of oil and gas in the province of Saskatchewan to focus on what they’re good at which is staying in the field, producing the most responsibly and sustainably produced energy anywhere on planet earth,” Mark Sholz, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC), told media Tuesday morning in Weyburn. Jeremy Harrison, the province’s minister responsible for SGI, signed an MOA with Sholz to officially amend The Driver Licensing and Suspension (Mobile Mounted Service Rigs) regulations in Saskatchewan. Prior to the agreement, drivers for CAOEC were required to submit periodic medical fitness reports to SGI and obtain the G-endorsement requirements. Now with the administrative burdens being removed, service rig drivers will be able to move back and forth between Alberta and Saskatchewan more efficiently, said Sholz. “What we’re trying to do is really focus on the specialized, customized training that our association provides to drivers within the province of Saskatchewan, harmonizing with the province of Alberta,” he explained. “That when our crews and our equipment move back and forth from both Alberta and Saskatchewan, in particular areas like Lloydminster, where there truly is no border that exists between Alberta and Saskatchewan from a commerce perspective in oil and gas.” The government said the change will allow Saskatchewan’s energy sector to be more efficient and competitive. “[Being] able to have that cross-border harmonization, as far as the rules, in this industry is really important because it is one oil field [where] individual companies are operating between the two jurisdictions,” Harrison said. “So having a consistent set of rules means that we are going to be able to have that efficiency, have that certainty as well, with no compromise of safety in doing so.” Although the “red tape” for drivers has now been eliminated, Sholz said the safety for drivers along with transporting equipment remains a top priority. “Ultimately the outcome is road safety. Safety on the highway, safety in the field. Those objectives don’t change,” he expressed. “It’s just making things less administratively onerous in order to achieve essentially the same outcomes.” By the end of the year, Manitoba is expected to sign a similar agreement with the long-term goal of having service free contractors work under one set of transportation rules across western Canada. “We’re always looking for those opportunities, whether that be through the U.S. partnership, whether that be through the Canada Free Trade Agreement, working bilaterally with Alberta, working bilaterally with Manitoba to find these opportunities and then executing on them,” said Harrison. “In this circumstance now we are going to have a situation where service rates can operate under the same rules between Alberta and Saskatchewan. We’re working with Manitoba to get there as well, but that is really going to increase efficiency, increase the opportunity for these service rig operators to do what they do best.”
