Canadian rigs are going back to the field, coaxed by higher commodity prices and greater productivity. Across the land, 345 iron masts were turning bits last week, so the year-over-year rig count is up by almost 50 percent. But where are they drilling? The pickup has been seen mainly in Alberta, somewhat in Saskatchewan and not so much in British Columbia. (Click to enlarge) The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) blankets an area twice the size of Texas and mostly underlays British Colombia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. More like a rumpled blanket, the rocks underneath the WCSB hide all sorts of hydrocarbons, from natural gas, to condensates, to light oils through the heaviest, most viscous energy commodities. BC has mostly natural gas. Saskatchewan has mostly oil. Sandwiched between, Alberta has a smorgasbord of everything, including the contentious oil sands, which is a separate category of resource development. Depending on commodity […]