The Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Show Board presented awards last night at the curling rink.

Southeast Saskatchewan Oil Person of the Year went to Derrick Big Eagle.

He was born in Manor, Saskatchewan, went into the drilling industry at a young age, and worked his way up to co-founding and co-owning his own drilling company, Eagle Drilling Services Ltd. The company was sold in 2011 to CanElson Drilling, the same year that he co-founded Element Technical Services Inc. In 2012 he co-founded Cheveyo Energy Inc., an oil and gas exploration and production, which was sold in 2014.

In 2015 he founded Tomahawk Energy Services Limited Partnership which started out as a dirt moving and construction company but has since evolved into the parent for several other ventures, including purchasing EnMapp Pipeline Data in 2020, Tomahawk Global Raymac, Toamhawk League, Sioux Technical Construction Management, Eagle Sky Ventures, and Evolution Growers. 

"Growing up in southeast Saskatchewan allows us all to capitalize on the experience and opportunities that Saskatchewan gives us," said Big Eagle. "We're all trying to do our part. We're all trying to do a better job, and we're all trying to make this a better place to live. The oil patch is giving us a skill set that can be used in different parts of society. Growing up with Big Sky drilling and then following on working at Northrock Resources has given us an opportunity to gain knowledge and drilling deep wells in Southeast Saskatchewan."  

"As we all know, Saskatchewan is a local hotspot for geothermal activity. Which the deeper you go the warmer it is," he pointed out. "This experience has allowed doors to open for us at Evolution Growers Project in Estevan. This experience and knowledge base we have locally has given us this chance to show what the oil and gas industry has given us, for knowledge to get to the next step of energy usage." 

Saskatchewan Oil Person of the Year last night was presented to Grant Fagerheim, who is originally from Estevan and is the Chief Executive Officer of Whitecap Resources Inc. 

He has worked and served as a director in both the upstream and downstream segments of the energy industry for over 30 years.

He was founder of Ketch Energy Ltd, Ketch Resources Ltd, and Kereco Energy Ltd. In 2009 Grant founded Whitecap resources with a capitalization of $46 million, initially producing around 850 barrels a day. Today the company is worth over $6.5 billion and produces just over 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company is one of the largest producers in Saskatchewan and in the Canadian energy sector.

Whitecap purchased the operating control of the Weyburn Unit from Cenovus, which has led Whitecap to become a net-zero oil producer, storing more CO2 than its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Grant has been an outspoken advocate for the oil industry as well as energy transformation including greenhouse gas reduction initiatives. In the fall of 2021 it was announced that Whitecap would be working with Federated Co-operatives Limited to develop the next major carbon dioxide initiative in this province - a carbon capture hub. 

"At Whitecap, we believe in energy transformation or energy operation is underway and the future of energy requires all forms of energy, including oil and gas, including coal, including uranium," said Fagerheim. 

He noted that CCSS technology is leading the world. 

The Hall of Fame inductees were Reg Greenslade and Gregg Scott.

Reg Greenslade grew up in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. He started his oilfield career by sweeping floors at his father's business, Greenslade's Welding & Construction.

In 1989 he graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman with an engineering degree. Upon obtaining the degree he joined SaskOil in Regina, followed by transfers to Kindersley and Lloydminster.

Reg found it to be a great opportunity, as SaskOil was in the process of privatizing and growing. In 1995 a mentor, Walter Dawson, got Reg involved with an Alberta company called Bighorn resources which had minimal production, but many opportunities.

The company grew from six barrels a day to 20, then tripped it to 66. Eventually the company was producing 1,000 barrels a day and did a reverse takeover of Westlinks Resources in 2001.

Westlinks became Enterra Energy Corp where he was founder, chair, president and CEO. He has played part of chair, president, CEO, or director of various companies such as JED Oil Inc., Tuscany International Drilling Inc., Spartan Exploration, Spartan Oil Corp, and Spartan Energy Corp. Currently, he is a director of Andora Energy Corp, Grandview Exploration Inc., New Wave Energy Services, Fountain Tire, Longshore Resources ltd., Allied Energy Corp, Spartan Delta Corp, and Cleantek Industries Inc.

Gregg Scott grew up around Plunkett, Saskatchewan. In 1981 Gregg wanted to pursue a career in the oil & gas industry, but had no experience and it was a difficult time to get involved. For the first decade of his land career, he worked in southeast Saskatchewan.

In 1992 Gregg launched his own company, Scott Land & Lease Ltd. While based in Calgary, a substantial portion of it operations are in Saskatchewan. With oil slow, he jumped at the chance to do land broker work for telecommunications. This led to work in wind, solar and potash. Scott Land & Lease was arguably the most active land company in the potash industry for a long time. In 2007/08 during the Bakken Boom, saw one of the largest land rushes in Saskatchewan's oilpatch history.

Recent projects have included Enbridge's Line 3 Replacement, 10,000 telecom sites, 50,000-plus freehold leases, and over 100,000 surface projects across Canada. The company has grown to over 100 employees with operations coast-to-coast, but much of its focus remains in Saskatchewan.

-with notes from the Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Show / Facebook.

Five Legends were also inducted yesterday. Read more HERE.