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Paramount hosts open house

Paramount’s new gas plant slated for 2025 opening

By Kaicheng Xin
Staff Reporter

Paramount Resources hosted an open house at Arbutus Hall on Oct. 23 to update the community on the construction of their new natural gas processing facility and gas well drilling plans in Clearwater County.
The project is nearing the end of its foundation work, with the facility expected to start operations between spring and summer next year.

The open house saw a good turnout, with information displays and company officials available on site.
“This is all part of the construction process. We’ve had people out there putting in concrete, putting in piles, and let’s say 90 percent of that work is done now,” said the company’s executive vice president of operations, Blake Reid.

The next steps involve moving and installing equipment at the plant, followed by a test run once all cabling and preparation work is completed.

The idea for the new plant began about three years ago with preliminary work, such as determining the plant’s size and type of equipment needed. After finalizing the general plan, it took about eight months to find the right location, which is now set about two kilometers west of Arbutus Hall. Paramount recently upgraded their Leafland gas plant, but it does have adequate capacity.

“The regulatory process was completed, and then in the summer of 2023, we started ordering equipment, grading, and graveling the site,” said Reid. He also mentioned that part of the process involves storing the black soil on site for future reclamation to return the land to its original condition after the plant’s projected 15 to 30-year lifespan.

One of environmental concerns is the potential noise from the plant. To address that, Reid said the company used engineering methods and calculations to assess total noise output and distance from nearby residences, adjusting the layout of the equipment accordingly.

Additionally, the majority of the new plant’s equipment will be electrically powered, reducing total emissions and noise levels.

“With the development that we’re pursuing right now, there’s a lot more condensate being produced, which is a light hydrocarbon, light oil,” said Reid. “Previous developments in the area had more natural gas and less liquid hydrocarbons.”

During the open house, Paramount Resources gave some examples of how they would benefit the region including in 2024, the company contributed to the county $1,195,895.08 in tax money, and currently two pipelines are being constructed, which led to a 30 to 40 jobs on that project. In addition, drilling at their 2-32-38-6 W5M pad currently employs 60 local individuals and utilizes services from Sylvan Lake, Eckville and Red Deer as needed. Numerous Rocky area businesses have also been contracted.

Paramount said the plant can employ between 23 to 100 personnel on any given day.