Saskatchewan: Energy-Rich . Resource-Full

Energy-rich and resource-full. That’s Saskatchewan. We are an energy and mineral powerhouse, blessed with a wealth of resources that would be the envy of nations. And it is on the strength of those resources that we have emerged as an economic leader in Canada.

Oil and Gas

• Saskatchewan is Canada’s second largest oil producer, and the sixth largest oil producer among all American states and Canadian provinces.
• Our conventional oil in place is estimated at 45.6 billion barrels.
• The province is home to a significant portion of one of the hottest oil plays in North America – the Bakken Formation.
• Oil production was 157.8 million barrels in 2011; value of sales was approximately $12.3 billion.
• Approximately $1.7 billion was paid to the province in 2011-2012 in oil and gas royalties and bonus bids.
• Saskatchewan is Canada’s third largest producer of natural gas

Mining

• Saskatchewan is the world’s largest producer of potash, a mineral critical to the fertilizer that global crops need. Our mines account for roughly 30 per cent of world potash production, and potash companies have announced $13.2 billion worth of expansions to their existing mines by 2020.
• Our province is the second largest uranium producer in the world.
• The Athabasca Basin, in northern Saskatchewan, contains the largest, high-grade uranium deposits in the world.
• Saskatchewan is Canada’s third largest coal producer.
• Saskatchewan’s value of mineral sales was approximately $8.1 billion in 2011.

Technology-driven

• Saskatchewan has a tradition of and leadership in, energy research, offering world-class geoscience to our mining and oil and gas industries. Our province has long been an innovator in petroleum research and is a pioneer in horizontal well drilling.
• The laboratories of the Saskatchewan Research Council and Canada’s only synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan are doing cutting-edge research for industry. And the University of Regina has a number of affiliated research facilities that have garnered international acclaim.
• One of those research facilities, the International Test Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture, has contributed to the province’s reputation as a global leader in research on carbon dioxide capture and sequestration. The Petroleum Technology Research Centre, also located in Regina, manages the world’s largest international field research project to study the geological storage of carbon dioxide.

Business-friendly

• Saskatchewan has an investment climate that welcomes new business. And business opportunities are here and now for those interested in investing in resource exploration and development.
• That investment climate includes competitive and stable royalty regimes for both oil and gas and mining, incentives for enhanced oil recovery and for mineral exploration, high-calibre, easily accessible geoscience information and supportive regulatory agencies, including the Ministry of Energy and Resources.
• The ministry works to achieve sustainable development of Saskatchewan’s diverse energy, mineral and forestry resources. It has both a regulatory and promotional role, with programs and policies that encourage exploration, research and value-added investment in resources and resource projects.

(Disclaimer:  The information in this document is accurate as of May 2012; however the Government of Saskatchewan accepts no liability for any actions taken as a result of the information contained herein.)