Questor CEO Questions Notion That
Alberta Must Choose Between Energy And
Environment
BY CARTER HAYDU – FEB. 23, 2017 – VIEW ISSUE
While methane-reducing technology can stand on its own, as is evident by Questor Technology
Inc.’s organic growth and continued profitability after 23 years, government regulations help
create an incentive for change that is hard to instill otherwise in an economy, says top brass.
“People don’t do anything just because it is a nice thing to do,” Audrey Mascarenhas, president
and chief executive officer, told the Bulletin following her University of Calgary Enbridge
Research in Action luncheon.
She added: “Regulation plays an important part in setting direction and creating the onus for
change. In some ways that is what really pushed Colorado.”
During her presentation on Wednesday, Mascarenhas referenced Colorado, whose oil and gas
industry is important to the state’s economy, but many residents became concerned about
energy-sector activity and were asking for a moratorium on development. She said this case
highlights the role technology targeting methane as a contributor to greenhouse-gas (GHG)
emissions can play for a jurisdiction with competing interests.
“How do we create the ‘win-win’ that allows communities to be successful and for industry to
be successful? At the end of the day, you can’t continue to do what you have always done. You
have to find the way to bridge. Otherwise, neither side ends up being successful. It’s technology
that does that.”
According to Mascarenhas, regulators in Colorado started to encourage the ‘closed-loop’
concept, meaning industry would pick up the methane emissions at site, driven by regulations
around environmental performance. This would address the concerns of communities while
also striving to reduce costs for the operators.
Questor worked with one company at a pad site near Denver in order to help avoid flaring near
the community. In partnership, Questor found it could eliminate a lot of surplus onsite
equipment and reduce costs by 20 per cent for the company and reduce the environmental
footprint by 30 per cent. The company was able to standardize the changes to ensure a closed
loop from drilling to production.
“What this has allowed us to do is create a strong business in Colorado. We have ended up
moving 95 per cent of our rental fleet from Canada to Colorado.”
Even with President Donald Trump in power in the United States, Mascarenhas does not
foresee a move away from a closed-loop concept on methane in the state, regardless of the
federal administration’s environmental perspective. “It is going to be hard for Colorado to go
back to communities and say, ‘Guess what? The rules are all cancelled now and I’m going to
give you dirty air now.’ You’ll be back at square one with every community asking for [a]
moratorium.”
Unfortunately, Mascarenhas said, companies such as hers that offer environmental technology
solutions are better recognized outside Canada than from within, largely because Canada has a
fairly conservative mentality that does not necessarily embrace change in technology. However,
she added, change needs to occur and Canadian technologies could create social licence for the
energy sector, which makes business sense.
“There are lots of companies focused in this space. How do we create an atmosphere that
allows them to grow and be successful? Because at the end of the day we are all talking about
diversifying Alberta’s economy, creating jobs, and allowing our industry to be great. My fear is
that if we don’t start figuring out how to do that, then we are going to put our oil and gas in a
less competitive place, because the world is pushing to a lower-carbon future.”
From her involvement as a fellow at Alberta’s Energy Futures Lab, Mascarenhas learned to
appreciate that it will not be one single technology solving all environmental and economic
concerns. Rather, it will take many ideas in a culture open to change, where people can try
things. “If we don’t do that, then we are not going to create great companies, and we are not
going to create a future for our kids.”
She added: “This is a conversation we really need to have in Canada if we are going to diversify,
create jobs and participate in a large global market that is estimated in the trillions [of dollars].
Our share in that market has continued to drop. I think it is a policy question that we really
need to look at, and it comes to the essence of setting regulations that encourages change.”
Nigeria methane opportunity
Mascarenhas noted that Nigeria, the world’s second largest flarer of methane, has many within
its borders who live on very little energy resources. She said it does not make sense for
Nigerians to survive without energy when there is an abundant energy source simply being
flared, wasted and left to negatively impact the environment.
“I realized there was an opportunity here to use that energy not only to provide them with
heat, but an opportunity to provide power.”
Looking for ways to turn heat energy into power, therefore, in 2014 Questor bought a company
that was able to take low-grade waste heat and convert it to power using the ‘Organic Rankine
Cycle’ thermodynamic process. One project Questor is considering would take flared gas in
Nigeria to generate 1.5 megawatts of power for an energy-deprived Nigerian community.
According to Mascarenhas, there is demand globally for the sorts of high-efficiency waste-gas
incinerator systems, combustion and burner-related oilfield services, as well as powergeneration systems that Questor offers. Countries are looking to tackle flaring in order to
improve their air quality and avoid the social and health consequences.
“Look at a black, smoky flare,” she told the DOB. “[Tackling] that is one of your easiest ways,
especially in oil and gas regions, to have an impact on emissions and air quality.”
Alberta’s industry could recognize the domestic challenges with emissions, she said, and in
tacking those emissions companies could develop and implement some of those technologies in
other parts of the world. “There are so many opportunities I think we have that could have an
impact on reducing our GHG emissions.”
Mascarenhas added: “The energy future is really about collaboration — how do we all work
together to find a better way to do things?”