February 22, 2022 Ottawa, Ontario Natural Resources Canada
Methane is responsible for approximately 30 percent of the global rise in temperatures to date and accounts for approximately 13 percent of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions. Cutting emissions from methane is one of the fastest and lowest-cost ways to fight climate change and is one of the top recommendations made by climate scientists in the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, announced that the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) Onshore Program is providing $20 million dollars to Steel Reef Infrastructure Corporation to partner with energy companies in Saskatchewan to significantly reduce methane emissions.
Steel Reef Infrastructure Corporation will use the federal funding to build key infrastructure to capture, gather and process methane that would otherwise be vented or flared into the atmosphere from upstream oil and gas production in Saskatchewan. Crescent Point Energy, Surge Energy and Whitecap Resources are examples of successful companies that are eliminating venting and flaring in their upstream production in the province under the program.
In a speech to the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Minister Wilkinson highlighted today's announcement as an example of how the ERF Onshore Program is helping companies in the province significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
He noted that, to date, seven Saskatchewan companies are pursuing 36 ERF-funded projects with a total of $52 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada. These projects are collectively expected to result in 2.8 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions reductions in the first year following project completion, making Saskatchewan the province with the highest expected emissions reductions from the first two intake periods of the ERF Onshore Program.
