Wednesday afternoon, the Estevan Chamber of Commerce welcomed Dan MacLean into our city, the CEO and president of Petroleum Technology Research Centre, to discuss what people in Estevan can do to help the oil and gas sector and the research the centre has conducted to prove it.

For comments from MacLean before the event, read more from our conversation with him before at: Petroleum Technology President To Visit Energy City.

As for what we can expect to see in Estevan, Executive Director with the Estevan Chamber of Commerce Jackie Wall says she pulled away a positive outlook on the future of the oil and gas industry here in Estevan.

"His mood was quite optimistic and very passionate. The PTRC works with a lot of different countries as well and a lot of different universities and research centres, and so they have ties into the US, the UK, Australia, and South Africa. The technology and the research that they are doing is world-renowned, they have people coming in all the time coming in from other countries to take a look at what they're doing, they have a large conference planned later in May and basically the biggest thinkers in oil and gas will be there, and really from his outlook, investing in oil and gas in Saskatchewan is a good move."

The thing that Wall found the most encouraging out of the presentation that MacLean had put together was the amount of knowledge-sharing so many of the research institutes have put together and show that there is room and potential for growth of the oil and gas sector in Canada and potentially in Estevan.

"They have over 300 papers published on heavy oil alone, they're also taking a look at applied innovations so how they can help people in the sector apply some of the innovations that are happening not just there but could be happening within their companies as well. I loved the fact that they were so open to working with other industries, with other think tanks, and just open to innovation and collaboration, and I think that's key across any sector in any industry. The more that we can look at innovation and collaboration, the healthier our economy is going to be."

Oil production is down in Saskatchewan and Estevan as of the last few years, which comes as no surprise to most, but according to what Wall heard, even at oil production's peak we still did not hit what Saskatchewan is capable of. Now that there's been a shift in the political spectrum in so many provinces in Canada, it's only a matter of time for oil to pick up once more in the country, which is only good for Saskatchewan and Estevan.

"They really do have a pulse on the industry in its entirety, and the PTRC, they're really quite a heavy player when it comes to research in the sector. They've had basically $200 million in research funding over the last 20 years, so that's nothing to just pass by. That is right in our province, that is something that's happening right here in our back yard and I think we need to be not only aware of it and support it however we can and acknowledge that we have some of the top minds in the industry right here in our province and that just works to our benefit."

When it comes to supporting these major oil projects that could be coming to Saskatchewan and hopefully our fair city, it also means that the citizens here in Estevan need to put in the work to attract those projects as well.

"I would encourage people to call the chamber office, they can call the economic development office, they can come out to the chamber coffee talks because we have all sorts of things that come up when we have that coffee talk and it's a free event, you just have to call the register and it's the first Wednesday of the month, and the amount of collaboration and partnerships that have happened have been very encouraging."