Little guy wants to add some muscle

Gary Park

After 18 years of catering to companies producing less than 19,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada is eager to speak for the conventional producers who pump up to 50,000 boe per day.

Representing 340 companies in Western Canada, the association has taken the first steps towards its new objective by hiring an executive director and sprucing up its communication to members and the wider industry.

Until now its role has been to keep its concerns before the governments and regulators of Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, taking special pride in arguing for the Alberta Royalty Tax Credit.

Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, whose 150 member companies account for 98 percent of Canada’s oil and gas production, welcomes the contribution of the small producers association and believes both organizations can work effectively together.