Lauren Savoie says her love of technology and innovation is what led to her role as the new CEO of Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC).
Savoie, who has 20 years of wide-ranging experience in oil sands, upstream development, renewables and technology development, is also the vice-chair of WPC Energy Canada.
While serving as technical program chair at the recent World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Savoie had the opportunity to collaborate with PTAC on a methane emissions reduction session. It was this initial partnership that catalyzed her appreciation for PTAC’s work and its impact.
“I was attracted to being a collaborator and facilitator and having that neutral perspective that helps integrate people and technology development,” said Savoie in an interview at Calgary’s Petroleum Club. “It’s a dream job for me – and I’m quite honoured that they selected me.”
Savoie is passionate about PTAC’s track record.
“I think that people are unaware of the incredible work that PTAC has done and is currently doing. It is far beyond methane reduction, which we really excel at. With having completed over 800 projects, and nearly 100 others underway, I’m thrilled to promote PTAC and establish its position as a global leader in collaborative research and technology development.”
With strong industry and government partnerships across the board, PTAC played a key role in advocating and helping drive industry to exceed the methane target of 45 per cent reduced emissions compared to 2014 levels by 2025, with a 52 per cent reduction achieved in 2023, all while saving industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
The group’s membership consists of 200-plus industry organizations including producers, government, academia, associations, service and supply companies and individuals.
A notable example of PTAC’s work on methane is a study conducted utilizing aerial monitoring systems to detect leaks from storage tanks at oil and gas sites across Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Subsequent research and testing conducted by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology identified solutions to detect and plug leaks.
“We provide comprehensive and peer-reviewed information to a diverse array of stakeholders, including our producers, researchers, academia, government, regulatory bodies, and innovators,” Savoie said.
“Our history of success in technology and innovation is well established.”
But methane is not PTAC’s only focus, she notes.
“One key area is the research and development associated with our remediation initiatives,” Savoie said.
“We are conducting research to discover new, cost-effective methods to reduce site closure costs, and also focusing on soil remediation to eliminate salts, metals and heavy hydrocarbons.”
The organization’s five key areas of focus are: managing environmental impacts as it relates to air, water, remediation and reclamation, ecology, and well abandonment; cost reduction; improving oil and gas recovery; improving value-added products; and movement toward a low-carbon hydrocarbon economy.
PTAC and its collaborators participate in numerous events both within Canada and abroad, with the organization most recently attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
PTAC’s director of technology, Marc Godin, moderated three panel discussions at the Clean Resource Innovation Network Pavilion, with participation from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Emissions Reduction Alberta, Alberta Innovates and Tourmaline, among others.
Savoie said PTAC’s goal at the conference was “to demonstrate leadership on reaching climate goals and to highlight Canadian energy in the clean tech space.”
Looking ahead to 2025, she plans to expand PTAC’s presence at CERAWeek in Houston and has been in talks with the Canada Trade Commissioner Service and Alberta Export.
“We add technology credibility to the government’s efforts. There is interest in having us there,” she said.
“Alberta and Canada are relatively small, but the U.S. market is very nearby, it’s 10 times larger and has the same needs that we have here in Canada for technology. The same can be said of other regions around the world.”
PTAC is involved in some quirkier but no less important research streams in its mission to address knowledge gaps related to high-priority environmental challenges, including mitigation of impacts to habitat.
Within its ecology field of focus, PTAC is facilitating a study to capture the diversity of DNA in the Canadian toad.
“In some areas, before any work can be done, it’s necessary to map out where the toad’s habitat is,” Savoie said.
“It can actually hold up development for a long time to figure out if these toads are on site or not. This technology is developing a waterborne test that allows for sampling of potential habitats to see if the toads are present. If their DNA is found in the water, they can confirm they are present. If not, they can conclude that the toads have not colonized there, and you can potentially develop that land.”
Savoie is excited about building on the success of methane emissions reduction by expanding PTAC’s footprint in areas like the industry’s digital innovation sector and establishing well closure as a system globally.
“I need to find that next thing that we really need in five, 10, 15 years out. We can build on the success of that collaboration and be the forum for those conversations.”
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