Steve Halabura, professional geologist and past president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS) has probably forgotten more about Saskatchewan rocks and geology than most people will ever know. He will now be to contributing to Pipeline News with a column focusing on the next 鈥淏ig Thing.鈥澛�
As a self-described home-grown Saskatchewan patriot, he wants to contribute to getting this province up and running again, so he has offered to dig through his 鈥楪arage Files鈥� and prepare a series of columns looking at a number of Saskatchewan hosted commodities that might deserve a new look.
As Halabura said, 鈥淚 remember $10 oil 鈥� March 1986 鈥� and it was brutal. After that experience, I swore to diversify so that my success was no longer dominated by outside forces. Over the next while, I will be examining the question 鈥榳hat else can our drill bits do?鈥欌��
Here is his biography:
Steve Halabura M.Sc. P.Geo. FEC (Hon.) FGC
Halabura likes to say, 鈥淚n my 40 years of working as a consulting geologist in Saskatchewan, people keep telling me there is oil out west in Alberta.鈥� When we look at his career, this is not a surprising comment.
Halabura is a professional geoscientist registered in Saskatchewan and is a past-President of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Canada (FEC) and a Fellow of Geoscientists Canada (FGC).
Halabura obtained his B.Sc. degree in Geology degree in 1980 and his M.Sc. degree in Geology in 1983 from the University of Saskatchewan. Halabura鈥檚 first job was as a summer wellsite geologist with Pacific Petroleums, returning to Pacific upon graduation. When he was moved from wellsite to an office job in Calgary, he decided to return home to Saskatoon.
In 1984 he formed North Rim Exploration Ltd., a geosciences consulting company, which he owned until selling it in November 2009. After a brief hiatus out on Vancouver Island, he returned home once again and continues to offer his services to Saskatchewan鈥檚 resource sector as an independent consulting geologist and business advisor. During his 40-year career, there isn鈥檛 much Halabura hasn鈥檛 looked at 鈥� everything from oil (in all its forms and variations) through to potash, coal, helium, geothermal, brines, and gravel.
Halabura is also an entrepreneur and has created many successful resource companies in this province.聽 Highlights of his oil career include 小蓝视频 a co-founder of several successful Saskatchewan-based light and heavy oil companies including First Saskatoon Petroleums Ltd., North Rim Oils Ltd., Prairie Hunter Energy Corp., and Rallyemont Energy Corp., each of which focused on a particular aspect of Saskatchewan鈥檚 energy sector.聽
Halabura is also known as 鈥淢r. Potash鈥� because of his involvement in several notable projects. He was the geologist for the Anglo Potash Ltd. team that brought BHP Billiton into the province and did the preliminary work at the Jansen potash mine project. He was a co-founder of Invictus Minerals Corp., a private company that became publicly traded Potash One Inc. and which then was bought by the German K+S Fertilizer Group to become Saskatchewan鈥檚 first new operating solution mine in over 40 years.
Halabura continues to 鈥済eologize鈥� in the helium, potash, aggregates, lithium, light oil (shallow and subsalt), heavy oil and bitumen, geothermal, oil shales, and natural gas sectors of this province. He says, 鈥淚鈥檝e got 40 years of stuff sitting around, and I can鈥檛 think of a better time to be looking for 鈥楾he Next Big Thing.鈥欌��
Halabura can be reached at聽[email protected]or 1-306-220-7715.
