What’s your problem?
That’s what we ask the Alberta Upstream Petroleum Research Fund (AUPRF) contributors. Each year we check in with producers and operators and ask what issues are keeping them up at night. The areas of focus remain the same. The big five are 1) emissions reduction, 2) ecological protection, 3) site remediation, 4) water management, and 5) well closures.
Each year, we ask, what knowledge gaps need to be filled to address challenges of cost reduction, responses to government policies and regulatory compliance. Some of the concerns are consistent year to year, such as NOx reduction from stationary engines, or protection of Woodland Caribou. Some changes such as the active discussion currently about the federal government’s proposed 75% methane reduction target, or the need to replace Class G cement for well development and operations.
PTAC is hosting five webinars this summer to refresh the focus of our Policy Issues and Knowledge Gaps across our five environmental focus areas. We invite you to join one or all of these brainstorming sessions to review and update our current understanding. This information will be fed into the AUPRF technical and governance committee discussions to target those projects which will return the highest value to industry. The updated assessments are used to prioritize the AUPRF2024 expression of interest proposals which will open to proponents in October.