Education & training and research and development fund

As a part of our development and operation of the Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project we are committed to funding the advancement of education, training, research and development in relation to offshore petroleum resource activities in Nova Scotia. These funds are administered by Encana as directed by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB).

Research and development

Encana funds research projects as well as an annual Call for Proposals. To be eligible for funding, among other requirements, research activities must take place in Nova Scotia.

Projects

Among the funded projects are:

• At Acadia University, research on the interactions between birds and offshore natural gas installations. See Sable Island Gulls.
• A study on lifeboat loading during offshore drilling operations. The study was conducted by Survival Systems Training Ltd.

Call for proposals

Call Three - Offshore Geosciences

A new research call is under way to support geosciences research in Nova Scotia for the province's offshore. The call is being managed on Encana's behalf by the Offshore Energy Technical Research Association (OETR). Eight submissions were received from researchers by the deadline of December 9, 2011. A review committee will select finalists from this group to submit full research proposals for consideration. It is expected that research grants from the call will be awarded in the spring of 2012. For more information on the new call, please visit Offshore Energy Research.

Call Two - Offshore Safety and Risk

The Call Notice (PDF) was launched in November 2010 with awards granted in late 2011.

The successful proposals are:

• At Saint Mary's University, research led by Mark Fleming that aims to develop new methods to assist oil and gas companies operating offshore to better monitor and positively influence the safety culture. This collaborative research project will draw on expertise from across the offshore industry both locally and internationally. For more information, please visit Saint Mary's University news release.
• At Helly Hansen Canada Limited in Dartmouth, NS, research to study clothing system improvements to provide added safety for offshore helicopter transport suit wearers.
• At Pro-Oceanus Systems Inc. in Bridgewater, NS, research to develop a new sensor aimed at quickly and accurately measuring the presence of hydrogen sulphide on an offshore platform.
• At Survival Systems Training Limited in Dartmouth, NS, research led by Michael Taber to examine the effect of training on Helicopter Underwater Emergency Breathing Apparatus (HUEBA) performance under realistic conditions. The HUEBA provides users with additional breathable air.
• At Survival Systems Training Limited in Dartmouth, NS, research led by Michael Taber to develop and test an offshore-specific emergency response protocol for hydrogen sulphide training.
• At Dalhousie University, research led by John Kozey and his collaborators using new 3-D scanning technology to measure the body characteristics of offshore workers. This information could be used for workspace design as well as fitting workers in the survival suits used for transport by offshore helicopter.

Call One - Engineering

The Call Notice (PDF) was launched in late 2009 with awards granted in August 2010.

The successful proposals are:

• At Saint Mary's University, research led by Jason Clyburne to develop inexpensive designer chemicals called ionic liquids to safely and efficiently remove carbon dioxide from gaseous industrial emissions. See the Saint Mary's University news release.
• At St. Francis Xavier University, research led by Truis Smith-Palmer to design a new non-toxic and cost effective coating using biomimetics (mimicking the surface structure of marine organisms that avoid fouling) for applications on subsea instrumentation and other submerged surfaces. See the St. Francis Xavier University news release.
• The proposal from the private sector, led by Bruce Armstrong of GeoSpectrum Technologies of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, seeks to develop a viable alternative technology to replace air guns for conducting marine seismic.