Sundre Petroleum Operator's Group (SPOG) officials are pleased to once again be able to network with community members and other stakeholders at the organization's upcoming Neighbour's Day open house, says executive director Tracey McKinnon.
And with SPOG marking its 25th year, the Sept. 15 public event has an added level of significance in 2017, she said.
"We're going to focus on our 25th anniversary and it will be an opportunity to network between the community, industry and government," said McCrimmon. "We will have a gathering of our industry members, our local government representatives, our regulators and our local residents. It gives us an opportunity to network all together."
In response to an overall downturn in the oil and gas industry, Neighbour's Day was not held in 2016.
"It's nice to have Neighbour's Day back and we are looking forward to having a great reunion with the community and continuing on with our tradition of engaging with the community," she said.
As in past years, Neighbour's Day 2017 will take place in the Sundre arena and will include displays and information booths set up by members and others.
SPOG is a collection of oil and gas companies with operations in the Sundre area. It promotes awareness of oil and gas issues and concerns through open houses, workshops, newsletters, committee work and social media.
It is also made up of associate community, government and regulatory agency members and others. Both Mountain View County and the Town of Sundre are longtime association members.
The SPOG boundaries are Highway 54 to the north, Highway 766 to the east, Highway 582 to the south and Rge. Rd. 8 to the west.
The oil and gas industry in the district has changed a great deal over the past 25 years, she said.
"It's changed significantly and it is continuing to change," she said. "Right now we are in the midst of three company turnovers. Conoco just got purchased out in this area by Cenovus. Apache is being purchased out in this area by Paramount, and Pengrowth is being purchased out in this area by NAL.
"And you know what's kind of nice, the folks that are buying these are Canadian-based companies, which is very good for us."
Most companies are drilling for oil instead of gas in the SPOG area these days, she noted.
Property rights, access to land, pipelines and compensation remain areas of interest to residents in the district, she said.
"Those are ongoing issues that we work towards liasoning between the community and industry to find solutions for," she said.
The number of companies in SPOG has continued to grow over the past 25 years, she said.
"One of the things to mention in light of this economic environment is that SPOG has been very lucky in that we have not lost any members," she said.
"We need to continue to add value to industry and that's what we've been trying to do."
McCrimmon believes about 25 to 35 volunteers may be involved in putting on Neighbour's Day.
"As well, the agricultural society is putting on its farm safety day in the curling rink in conjunction with Neighbour's Day," she said.
For more, see spog.ab.ca.
