Natural Resources committee  Definitely. It's just kicking off, but I've seen other companies in the oil and gas sphere; Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources come to mind. It comes back to one of the points I was trying to bring forward in my remarks: that by and large, in dealing with issues around social licence and providing a level of assurance for the stakeholders and for the public, industry does an extremely good job of collaboration.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you. As mentioned, we put an awful lot of time and effort into the hydraulic fracturing principles and operating practices, the principles being that the industry across Canada.... I think this is quite commendable for industry. I haven't seen another oil and gas industry worldwide that is committed to these principles and practices for protecting the quality and quantity of groundwater.

Natural Resources committee  Well, effectively we'll stagnate. The industry will continue to shrink, as it has over the last three or four years. It has probably shrunk in terms of production by some 25% to 30%, and in terms of investment probably by 50% to 70%. This is probably more a question for Mr. Howard, as he is working towards these narratives, but I believe there is a very likely chance that the Canadian natural gas industry will shrink to a very regional market in western Canada, supplying a certain amount of the U.S. northwest and the western Canada market, including the industrial market for the oil sands.

Natural Resources committee  No. I believe we have significant understanding of the fluids we pump, so that in the event there was ever any groundwater contamination we would be able to tell, especially with the practices we've committed to in terms of baseline groundwater monitoring, in which we go in and take a sample of regional waters before there is any activity.

Natural Resources committee  It could be done. In my opinion, it would not be required, given that there has never been a proven instance in all the situations.... I believe the effort should be put into proper well-bore construction practices and baseline monitoring, and those will provide the public assurance.

Natural Resources committee  It would be one other piece of information, but, as I noted, there are a number of pieces of information already there, which is the point of our reporting, why we've gone to disclosure.

Natural Resources committee  It would certainly be something to consider and to look into. I'd certainly agree with you there.

Natural Resources committee  So much of the protection of groundwater depends on the quality of well-bore construction, which includes both the casing and the cement that's placed behind the casing, or multiple strings of casing, to isolate your production zone and the fluids you're putting in from fracturing, from near-surface groundwater.

Natural Resources committee  Yes. I mentioned the chemicals that we won't use, and really the greener chemicals have seen the elimination of the ones with benzene and certain heavy metals. In the majority of our situations—well, all of our situations company-wide—we've been able to take what we consider unacceptable chemicals and replace them with chemicals that have less difficult or toxic properties.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly part of the practice that we've committed to as an industry is to work with the regulators to put programs in place to monitor baseline water in the area around our fracturing operations, so in the unlikely event that there is some contamination of groundwater and near-surface groundwater, we'd be able to understand that right away, recognizing that this has not been an issue experienced in the industry to date.

Natural Resources committee  It was done before. In fact, in British Columbia it was done voluntarily, I believe, two or three months in advance of the regulator mandating that. In Alberta it was done some year and a half before.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly I'd support your comment that small companies have played a significant role in advancing hydraulic fracturing technology. Principally, maybe not so much on the operating side, I'd suggest, but certainly on the.... Where Canada has a real niche is in the downhole tools, which take a well bore that's 3,000 metres deep and extend it out laterally another 3,000 metres and put the tools in place so that you can put some 25 stimulations along the course of that well bore.

Natural Resources committee  I think they saw a market. Some of the small service companies have seen a market, and I guess it's that willingness to take a risk. I would suggest as well that the major companies that are willing to use this technology have, given the chance.... And I guess finally it's a program that I run at our company, the SR and ED, the scientific research and experimental development program.

Natural Resources committee  I would suggest that a lot of the greening of the chemicals is probably in the last one to two years, as public awareness has really come to the fore. I would suggest that our suppliers, either the major companies like Haliburton or the smaller, Canadian-based suppliers, Calfrac, Trican, the pumping companies—they are very keen.

Natural Resources committee  That's a good question. By regulation, the provincial regulator requires that you have a fugitive emissions monitoring program. What this program requires is that on some sort of a regular schedule you go around with fugitive monitoring detection equipment to detect, let's say, leaky valve stems or connections in pipe.