Eavor EVP – Corporate Affairs Jeanine Vany and Chief Technology Officer Matt Toews draw parallels between Bavaria and Alberta to demonstrate insights about learning curves and setting regulatory foundations.
In an article written for the Daily Oil Bulletin, Vany explains Eavor’s learning-by-doing process that has been central to developing projects, one that the oil and gas industry has used for decades. She emphasized the wealth of subsurface data in Germany which ultimately allowed for Geretsreid well planning and execution and described the significance of leveraging real time drilling data to make future drilling cheaper and more efficient on a project times scale.
“Every time you drill a well, you learn something… you figure out a faster way to do something, a better bit to drill. As you drill your first lateral, it’s slow, it takes some time, but what you learn along the way, you just copy and paste to the next lateral,” explained Vany in her interview with Daily Oil Bulletin.
Vany also pinpointed that Germany’s favorable pricing environment for new projects is very valuable. Securing optimal pricing for heat and power, especially in the early phases of commercialization, is crucial when startups are challenged by high upfront costs.
Furthermore, she highlighted other favourable aspects about development in Germany, such as its geothermal portfolio and geological landscape that is quite similar to Alberta’s sedimentary basin. Eavor’s prototype project, Eavor-Lite™, successfully drilled into very abrasive and hard sedimentary rock. Drilling in such conditions gave Eavor a strategic advantage, as Vany stated that expanding into Europe meant “drilling into even deeper and harder rock.” This foundation meant that Eavor could efficiently establish “domestic, secure, and reliable energy” for Germany.
Toews drew parallels between the stringent regulatory processes in Alberta and Germany, explaining that addressing large project applications and answering numerous questions is similar when doing business in the two regions.
“…you have to educate and provide comfort to the regulators that you are going to protect the environment,” said Toews.
“They are supportive in the way that a regulator can be. They want to do the right thing and they want to understand the project technically, and they want to understand the risks and how you are mitigating them.”
Effective communication with regulators about Eavor’s technology, in addition to Eavor’s learning curve, have been central to the company’s growth since its creation. As Eavor continues to expand its global footprint, lessons from development in Bavaria will not only pivot back to more cost-effective projects in Canada, but for its pipeline of projects around the world.
