Potential sale of Shell Waterton complex
A media release from Shell Canada indicates the organization is seeking to sell its Foothills assets in Southern Alberta, including the Waterton complex and its gas fields.
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A media release from Shell Canada indicates the organization is seeking to sell its Foothills assets in Southern Alberta, including the Waterton complex and its gas fields.
The release indicates that if there are no qualified buyers, however, the plant would continue to operate. There are no plans for closure, according to the media statement.
“We have been proud to call these communities home for many, many years. The folks around here have taught us much about what it means to be a good neighbour,” wrote Rej Tetrault, General Manager for Foothills and Groundbirch, in a statement. “And, while this wasn’t an easy decision, I’m proud of the business we’ve built here and I expect potential buyers will also see the value we’ve created. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on safe operations.”
The Waterton complex drilled its first well in 1957, but changes and downsizing of Shell’s production is a more recent phenomenon.
According to a socio-economic impact report compiled in November 2018 by the Southwest Alberta Sustainable Community Initiative (SASCI), Shell Canada announced in 2015 that downsizing and eventual closure of the Waterton complex would likely occur in 10 to 15 years.
The same report indicates that, even if the facility were to be sold, its operating life would still be finite.
SASCI embarked on a multi-year initiative to study the potential ramifications of the facility’s closure and how best to transition the region through the process.
The impact report, contracted by an independent consultant, found the approaching closure of the facility could cause GDP in the region to decline by $34 million, tax revenues to the MD lowering by 20 per cent and an estimated 265 full-time equivalent jobs to be lost at the facility.
“Communities in Alberta and elsewhere in the world have experienced severe decline after a local mine, mill or other large employer has closed,” the cover letter to the SASCI report reads.
“There is an immediate need for our communities to rally and put our collective energy, ingenuity and entrepreneurship to work in shaping the economic future of our region.”
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