The Mosaic Company: A Proud Part of a Growing Saskatchewan - TransGas
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July 2012
Issue 78
The Mosaic Company: A Proud
Part of a Growing Saskatchewan
Mosaic is a young organization but has deep Mosaic’s Belle Plaine expansion project began in
roots and a proud history in the potash and phos- 2008, and the site has seen considerable growth
phate fertilizer industries. Established in 2004, through the expansion of its refinery and storage
the Minnesota-based company is listed on the facilities, as well as increased solution mine
New York Stock Exchange and has recently development. A committed expansion team of
been made part of the S&P 500. With a diversi- Mosaic employees and contractors have worked
fied portfolio of plant nutrient products, financial hard to make it all happen. As Mosaic looks
strength and global market presence; Mosaic is toward the future, a feasibility study is currently
well positioned to grow its business and pursue underway for the next stage of expansion at
its mission to help the world grow the food it Belle Plaine.
needs.
For over 50 years, Esterhazy has affectionately
Today, Mosaic is the world’s leading producer been referred to as the centre of “Potashville” in
and marketer of concentrated phosphate and Saskatchewan. Mosaic’s Esterhazy operations
potash, employing approximately 8,000 people in have a proud and storied past, and Mosaic’s
eight countries. As a leader in the potash indus- expansion program is driving optimism about a
try, Mosaic is growing its potash business by promising future. “I can’t think of a more exciting
embarking on a multi-billion dollar expansion pro- time to be a part of this company,” said Paul
gram in Saskatchewan. The company’s Expan- McMillen, Manager of Esterhazy’s Expansion
sion Program consists of multi-year projects at its Program. The Esterhazy Expansion Project
three Saskatchewan mine sites located at Belle received approval in 2008. Led by a hard-
Plaine, Colonsay and Esterhazy which will raise working team of Mosaic employees and contrac-
its nameplate capacity by 50 percent, while tors, work at the site involved expanding mine
increasing operational capacity to 16.5 million and mill capacity, upgrading hoist capability and
tonnes by 2021. The investments Mosaic is mak- developing additional product storage.
ing to optimize its industry position and capture
opportunity in its potash business are aggres- In addition to expansion of Mosaic’s existing
sive, cost advantaged and flexible. Through its Esterhazy operations, the company is also in-
investment Mosaic is making a commitment to vesting in a new K3 satellite mine to enhance
the province and the communities that it works in growth and ensure the viability of its Esterhazy
that it will be here now and in the future. operations.
(Continued on page 2)
The Mosaic Company: A Proud Part of a Growing Saskatchewan..... 1
Mobile Compression Update ................................................................ 3
TransGas 2012 Outage Scheduling..................................................... 4
Increased Activity Keeps Coleville Plant Running Strong.................... 5
Mock Emergency: Procedures Put to the Test.................................... 6
Alberta Receipt Capacity Update.......................................................... 7
Employees Lend a Hand to Help the Environment.............................. 8
TransGas Storage Update..................................................................... 8
(Continued from page 1)
Scheduled for completion in 2017, the new extremely proud of the work that has gone into
facility will include a service shaft, mine and our expansion efforts so far, and we look for-
surface facilities. When complete, the K3 ward to being able to play an important role in
service shaft head frame will stand as the tallest helping our communities grow – now and in the
structure between Calgary and Winnipeg. As future.” The project is expected to be completed
impressive as the installation will be, of even in 2013.
greater significance to Steve Grinius, Manager
of the K3 Shaft Program, is what the new mine Whether it is through participation in the
site will mean to Mosaic and the community of expansion projects, or supporting Mosaic’s
Esterhazy. “The Esterhazy K3 mine site devel- existing operations, the company relies on
opment is one of the most significant projects in trusted business partners like TransGas to help
Mosaic’s current plans for expansion,” said make it all happen. TransGas services all of
Grinius. “Not only are we expanding our capac- Mosaic’s mine sites with high-pressure natural
ity for the years ahead, we’re also making a gas delivery service through its network of pipe-
huge investment in the community of Esterhazy. lines. The company relies on TransGas to con-
This truly is the future for the both of us.” nect it to natural gas commodity suppliers from
whom it purchases natural gas. TransGas also
At Mosaic’s Colonsay facility, the expansion provides Mosaic with natural gas storage ser-
project officially got underway in 2009. Since vices that allow it to manage variable consump-
then, the site has been a hotbed of activity as tion levels at its sites and ensures it has reliable
gas supply during the peak winter heating
season in Saskatchewan.
In addition, TransGas and Mosaic have worked
together to expand the capacity of delivery ser-
vice to Belle Plaine as part of its Stage 1 expan-
sion efforts. TransGas is currently working on
the construction of a new pipeline and metering
station to deliver gas to the new Esterhazy K3
site with completion expected for later in 2012.
TransGas has also helped optimize existing
facilities at Esterhazy K2 and Colonsay to meet
rising gas demand associated with the
expansion efforts at those sites.
Mark Kraft, Expansion Project Manager and his TransGas delivers quality, reliable service to
team have joined forces with hundreds of con- Mosaic through its commitment to a customer-
tractor personnel to complete a variety of pro- driven culture that responds to customer needs
jects, including expanding and upgrading the and uses a collaborative approach to solve
site’s mill operations, the development of addi- problems and create efficiencies. Mosaic looks
tional mining units and the creation of increased forward to strengthening the relationship with
underground ore storage. “In many ways, it TransGas and recognizes its contributions in
really is the dawn of a new era for the Colonsay helping Mosaic to fuel its future while helping
facility and its workforce,” said Kraft. “We are all grow the province.
Page 2
www.transgas.com
Mobile Compression Update
As part of our business strategy, TransGas is has been performing pipeline boosting at the
committed to finding innovative ways of Unity station, and is keeping the operating
becoming more efficient. Mobile Compression cost low.
Units (MCUs) are one way we have leveraged
technology to maximize our gas injection and In June, TransGas commissioned our third
pipeline-boosting capabilities. With two MCUs MCU, with plans to deploy it at our Bayhurst
currently in operation around the province, and gas field — an area that until now has not had
a third unit added in June; the efficiencies of the advantage of boosting its compression.
mobile compression are already being real- MCU 3 is ideal for this location because it has
ized. been designed for ease of use to control and
monitor from our SCADA system.
The first mobile unit (MCU 1) began
operations performing gas injection at the The addition of the third unit will allow MCU 2
Unity gas field in the fall of 2010, to maximize to make routine trips between Unity Field and
the amount of gas in storage before the cold the Success Station, which leaves MCU 1
winter months. Early in 2011, when gas injec- available for its optimized design; performing
tion was no longer needed, the unit was drawdown compression where required and
moved to the Success Compressor station remaining on standby as a backup in case of
where it performed pipeline-boosting continu- any compressor failures.
ously until May of this year. Additionally, MCU
1 aided the Success Station flow requirements Moving forward, mobile compressors will allow
when the C unit was down for major us to perform operations in step with supply
maintenance. and demand. During the summer months,
MCUs can help us store more gas in the
There was one planned interruption during ground as we prepare for high demand during
that length of service; in September of 2011, the winter months. As demand increases, the
MCU 1 was dispatched to Shaunavon to MCUs can be redeployed to help push the gas
perform draw-down compression on a length to our customers when they need it most.
of pipe that required maintenance. Portable
flare trailers were used at the same time to
minimize the outage time, with 70 per cent of
the gas (8.8 TJ) pumped back through the
compressor into the system, and only
30 percent flared.
The second MCU also performed gas injection
at the Unity gas field from September to
December 2010, and again from July 2011 to
November 2011. Since January of 2012, it
Page 3
DID YOU KNOW . . .
The SaskEnergy/TransGas Annual Report is available online. The Report can be viewed
at http://www.saskenergy.com/about_saskenergy/annual_report/default.asp.
TransGas 2012
Outage Scheduling
In 2012, a total of approximately 170 outages TransGas maintains a Planned Outages web
have been scheduled on the TransGas page found at www.transgas.com/
system, which is similar to the past few years. infopostings/plannedoutages.asp, where
Year to date approximately 50 percent of TransGas customers can view scheduled out-
these outages have already been completed. ages and impact to service. In addition,
The main driver of these planned outages is TransGas continues to communicate all
the TransGas Pipeline Integrity Program. All planned outages impacting customer service
of the outages completed to date and planned a minimum of one week prior to outage and
to be completed during the remainder of the for major outages a minimum of one month
year will have minimal customer impact. prior to planned outage.
DID YOU KNOW . . .
The Saskatchewan Oil and Associated Gas Workshop held in Calgary on April 18 was
very well attended by TransGas’ target market. Thank you to the over 100 people from
58 companies who attended. Presentations from the Workshop can be viewed at
http://www.transgas.com/newsroom/workshop/default.asp.
Page 4
www.transgas.com
Increased Activity Keeps
Coleville Plant Running Strong
The Coleville Gas Processing Plant has been amount of gas being processed at the
an important part of the TransGas pipeline Coleville Gas Plant. Oil producers operating
system for 55 years. Located approximately in west central Saskatchewan have shown an
30 kilometres north of Kindersley in west cen- increased interest in developing new oil plays
tral Saskatchewan, the gas plant came on which are in turn producing more associated
stream in 1957 and was named after the gas. TransGas has been working with produc-
nearby town of Coleville. ers by providing new tie-in facilities as
required to ensure that wherever practical, the
Initially built to produce pipeline-specification associated gas is conserved, processed and
natural gas to serve the communities in the delivered to Saskatchewan’s growing markets
area, the plant was sized for a maximum for natural gas.
throughput of 50 TJ/day.
The Coleville Gas Plant is now processing
After more than half a century, the amount of about 25 TJ/day of natural gas and all indica-
gas being processed at Coleville had fallen to tions are that the plant throughput will increase
about 13 TJ/day by 2011. At that time, it ap- to at least 30 TJ/day by the end of 2012.
peared that the plant would continue to experi- TransGas is confident that the Coleville Gas
ence declining throughputs for the foreseeable Plant will continue to play a very important role
future. However, since this time last year, in helping oil producers conserve associated
there has been a sizeable increase in the gas in west central Saskatchewan for many
more years to come.
Anyone interested in having their associated
gas processed in the Coleville area should call
TransGas at (306) 777-9436 to discuss their
requirements.
Page 5
Mock Emergency: Procedures
Put to the Test
Karen Richardson, who lives on a quiet road TransGas responses … this is vital to ensuring
just south of Yorkton, was awakened by a loud public safety in any level of emergency
bang in the early hours of April 25 and knew situation.”
something wasn’t right. Upon opening her front
door, she noticed a strong odour accompanied The Yorkton mock emergency required
by something sounding like an airplane engine. employees to respond to the accident site in a
timely but safe manner, and to answer
Across from Karen’s house, a car had crashed questions on how they would handle the
into some large, blue natural gas pipes. Karen situation.
placed a panicked call to the SaskEnergy 24/7
Emergency Dispatch line where a dispatcher While a few key leaders were aware of the
immediately sent a Service Technician to the simulated emergency plan, those directly
site, and contacted TransGas Gas Control. responding were not. This year’s exercise also
included Yorkton Fire Protective Services,
What Lorraine didn’t know was that “Karen who felt the exercise gave them a “greater
Richardson” was actually Casey MacLeod, a
TransGas Communications Officer. There was
no crash scene awaiting the responders — a
TransGas mock emergency was underway.
In 2008, the Corporate Emergency
Management Program (CEMP) was created to
evaluate the emergency response readiness of
SaskEnergy and TransGas. An Emergency
Response Exercise Strategy was formed to en-
sure employees had the skills and competen-
cies needed to respond to emergency situa-
tions.
Scott Terlson, General Manager – TransGas
Eastern District, and this year’s mock emer-
gency lead, said “exercises like this help Emergency personnel and TransGas
create a synergy between SaskEnergy and employees rushed to the scene.
(Continued on page 7)
Page 6
www.transgas.com
(Continued from page 6) Exercises like this are always a learning
experience, and Terlson noticed some ways we
respect f or our abilit y to handle can improve our processes, such as taking real-
emergency situations.” time notes on what’s being said and done, and
possibly having GPS devices in the vehicles to
Terlson gave employee performance for this speed up the process of getting to the block
year’s mock emergency a high rating of eight out valves and isolating the line.
of ten, crediting the response time from the
employees on call, their knowledge when they A big “thank you” to all the groups involved in this
arrived on site, and the way 24/7 handled the year’s mock emergency — congratulations on a
initial call. job well done!
Alberta Receipt Capacity Update
TransGas has four major Alberta border Year to date, the Alberta interconnect capacity
interconnects for receipt of supply to the utilization has been averaging approximately
TransGas Energy Pool (TEP): Unity, Cold 75 percent, with typical average day spare of
Lake, McNeill and Empress. All four intercon- over 60 TJ/d. Year to date no restrictions have
nects have direct access to the Alberta market been placed on Alberta receipt service (NIT to
place. The total Alberta interconnect capacity TEP service).
from these four interconnects is currently over
260 TJ/d and will increase by 100 TJ/d later
this summer to 360 TJ/d.
DID YOU KNOW . . .
That following the close of the Open Season for non-standard storage
service this past April, 39,000 GJ/d of contracted rate of withdrawal became available on
a first come first served basis? If you would like to discuss the benefits for your natural
gas storage portfolio, please contact your Key Account Manager.
Page 7
Employees Lend a Hand to Help
the Environment
On June 8, TransGas employees volunteered native vegetation communities. Through the
in Nature Conservancy Canada’s ‘Off Fence grazing of cattle, Nature Conservancy Canada
for Conservation.’ They geared up and headed can ensure burrowing owls are provided with
out to a property near Lang (southeast of the habitat necessary for their survival.
Regina) to help tear down two miles of
dilapidated barbed wire fence. The ‘Off Fence for Conservation’ project is one
of the many ways TransGas partners with
Although volunteers suffered through endless Nature Conservancy Canada. Along with
mosquito bites and plenty of pokes from supplying volunteers for different projects, we
barbed wire, they did it all to conserve burrow- also provide funding to make these projects
ing owl habitats on the Regina Plains. In pre- possible. This part-
vious years, the field at Lang was a place nersh ip is
where burrowing owls found shelter; that was important to Trans-
not the case this spring. No burrowing owls Gas because we
were found on the Lang property due to the want to do our part
long grass, which reaches almost three feet in in the maintenance
some areas. Since burrowing owls prefer short and restoration of
grass to ensure visibility for protection, the Saskatchewan’s
Lang property was an unsuitable place to find natural habitat.
shelter. Since much of our
field work is done
In an attempt to attract burrowing owls back to on the Saskatche-
the site, the old fence needed to be torn down wan prairies, it is
and replaced. A new fence will support the vital for us to help in
long term management of grazing cattle on its sustainability.
TransGas Storage Update
As of July 01 TransGas storage customers injection of 10 PJ occurred. Assuming all
have a total inventory in storage of 33 PJ, storage customers 100 percent fill their
which is 64 percent of full based on currently storage by the end of this summer, the
contracted storage of 51.4 PJ. During the remaining injection requirement as of July 01
three months of April to June a total net is 18 PJ.
Page 8
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