Expansion project delaying shipping and receiving of core from Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The British Columbia Energy Regulator (BCER) said it will be unable to ship or receive core from its Fort St. John facility due to construction. 

Starting June 1st, the BCER’s core facility will be unavailable to ship or receive core from the Fort St. John building, located at 6534 Airport Road, due to warehouse expansion, according to the BCER. 

Core is a sample taken from a well or test to analyze various properties, including:

• Porosity – The volume of spaces within rock or coal which possibly contain oil and gas, or open or void space within rock
• Permeability – How easily fluids can pass through rock
• Fluid content – The energy value of the fluids being extracted, transported and utilized. 
• Geological age – The age of a fossil organism or a specific geologic event

The BCER core facility allows the public to inspect and examine petroleum well cores and drill cuttings.

According to the BCER, oil and gas exploitation companies, academic institutions, the general public and other natural resource groups benefit from access to cores and drill cuttings. 

There is no timetable for when the shipping and receiving will resume, the BCER said. 

The BCER said its ability to ship or receive drill cuttings is not impacted by the warehouse expansion.

It said notice will be provided when shipping and receiving of core resumes.  

Anyone with questions should reach out to Sean Paynton, Core Facility Supervisor at Sean.Paynton@bc-er.ca or by calling 250-794-5313. 

Industry clients with core samples can email the Core Facility Supervisor for direction at corelab@bc-er.ca.