Like many oil and gas service companies, High Arctic Well Control Inc. started small. It was founded in 1993, boasting one snubbing rig, three employees and one contract to work near Fort St. John, B.C. Today, High Arctic has grown dramatically through expansion and acquisition and now employs more than 100 people.

Its head office, manufacturing facility, and training centre are located in Red Deer. The company also has operating bases in Calgary, and has expanded internationally to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates - a far cry from the first contract in northern B.C.

Through the past decade High Arctic has strived to become the largest snubbing company in Canada by inventing and implementing new technologies, developing an intensive in-house training program, and implementing aggressive North American and international marketing strategies.

The big news for High Arctic this year is the commissioning of the first Electric Hydraulic Workover Unit (SJ 400) developed, owned and operated by a Canadian Company. "This new technology was in active development at our Red Deer facility for nine months but the idea was conceived months before hand," said Jed Wood, President of High Arctic. "It is a substitute for standard drawwork type rigs which conceptually haven't been changed in over 50 years."

Wood explains the SJ 400 is an efficient workover rig that allows all drilling and workover operations to be conducted with a small footprint. "With its reduced size, weight, and packaging capability, these features can bring down the cost of transportation, as well as maintenance, and make it ideal for equipment areas with spacing limitations," explains Wood.

The electrically powered unit is capable of creating 400,000 pounds of lift force and can be used worldwide, on land or offshore. In addition to having lift capabilities, it is also a hydraulic snubbing rig that can function on both conventional well operations, as well as on all underbalanced situations, sidetrack drilling, milling and conventional applications.

The first SJ 400 is currently working on removing 7" casing for inspection and replacement at Cavern Wells in Fort Saskatchewan for Dow Chemicals. The second hydraulic workover unit is in production and is contracted to a project in the Middle East.

"These are exciting times and reflect a maturing of this company," said Wood. "In the past, operating companies had to rely on sources outside Canada to provide this equipment and service. With the successful implementation of this new technology our work in international markets and here in Canada has taken a leap forward."