Sonoro Signal: Greg Renwick on Sonoro’s MENA prospects: ‘With the team we have, the future looks bright’

Technological chops, regional experience, enthusiastic reception bode well for SNV, our CEO tells Capital Compass

CALGARY, Canada (Nov. 5, 2024)—West meets Middle East.

Technological brushstrokes meet a blank canvas.

Regional experience meets boundless opportunity.

Whatever way you frame it, Greg Renwick sees good days ahead for Sonoro Energy.

Mr. Renwick, the Chief Executive Officer of Sonoro Energy, recently joined the Market Online’s Capital Compass program to talk about Sonoro’s focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region—and the reasons why he’s excited for Sonoro’s future.

“We see opportunities in a number of countries, partly based on the fact that they don’t have access to Western technology. It hasn’t been brought into these countries yet,” he says, noting that Sonoro used an innovative multilateral horizontal well technology to establish our first well in Saskatchewan earlier this year.

“And I’m confident that with the team we have, the future looks bright.”

Mr. Renwick was brought on board in late July by Sonoro at the recommendation of our board chairwoman, Sara Akbar, a celebrated figure in the Middle Eastern oil and gas industry.

Ms. Akbar co-founded the region’s first private upstream energy company, Kuwait Energy Company, and is currently CEO and chair of OILSERV Kuwait. Meanwhile, Mr. Renwick is no stranger to the area.

He spent six years in the Middle East—three with Kuwait’s national oil company, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum, where he first met Ms. Akbar, and three more with MENA-based outfits Dana Gas and Centurion Energy International.

“Countries of interest for us are Iraq, (specifically) southern Iraq, and Libya. Sara has been in those countries recently. She has been visiting the national oil companies. She has been understanding the processes that they’re using to attract Western companies,” says Mr. Renwick.

“There’s certainly opportunity, and the host countries are quite anxious to see more Western involvement.”

Watch the full interview here.

Sonoro Signal: Iraq is familiar terrain for Sonoro Energy: ‘It’s all about personal relationships’

SNV board chair Sara Akbar has had MENA connections for decades, Greg Renwick tells CEO.ca

CALGARY, Canada (Oct. 19, 2024)—If the past is indeed prologue, Sonoro Energy has a bright future ahead.

Greg Renwick, the new Chief Executive Officer of Sonoro (TSX-V: SNV), recently joined CEO.ca’s Inside the Boardroom program to discuss our designs on the oilfields of Iraq—already familiar terrain for our leadership.

“We have a history there. It’s all about personal relationships at the end of the day. And we think that’s our competitive advantage,” he says.

Mr. Renwick, a 40-year veteran of the international energy sector, has worked in Dubai and Kuwait and is familiar with the commercial terms and technical opportunities of business development in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region.

And from a connections context, Sonoro’s board chairwoman, Kuwait-born Sara Akbar, has lived and worked in the region her entire life, finding particular success in Iraq.

“Our point of focus is southern Iraq, and Sara has a wonderful track record there. She has had personal relationships with key players in the government and in the industry in general there for many years. She was the co-founder and chair of Kuwait Energy, and she picked up several assets in Iraq and grew production significantly,” notes Mr. Renwick.

“So we have a good network there. We have investors interested in project financing there. We’re in touch with the national oil company preparing for either direct negotiations or bids in the coming months,” he adds.

Watch the full interview here.

Sonoro Signal: Iraq presents ‘a beautiful opportunity’ for Sonoro, says SNV board chairwoman

‘Huge potential’ for both development and exploration, trailblazer Sara Akbar tells Capital Compass

CALGARY, Canada (Oct. 8, 2024)—Sara Akbar is bullish on Iraq. And given her experience and knowledge, who’s going to doubt her?

Ms. Akbar, the board chairwoman for Sonoro Energy and a Kuwaiti by birth, has been a trailblazer for much of her life.

Kuwait’s first female oil-and-gas field engineer in 1981. The only woman on a team of oil-well firefighters during the Gulf War, her courage earning her praise as a “national hero.”

A tireless advocate for women’s rights in the Middle East. The first woman to hold a leadership position in the region’s oil and gas industry, as co-founder of the tremendously successful Kuwait Energy Company.

And now, leveraging her connections and experience to lead Sonoro Energy (TSX-V: SNV) into Iraq.

“I’m very passionate about business in Iraq. It is the one country in the world where you have huge potential for both developmental fields and exploration,” says Ms. Akbar, who recently joined the Market Online’s Capital Compass program to discuss Sonoro’s aspirations in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region.

“Recently the Iraqi Oil Minister was in Washington and Houston. They are trying to invite American companies to come and explore for oil and gas in Iraq. The Iraqi government wants more American and Western companies. This is a beautiful opportunity for Sonoro Energy because we are seriously looking at a couple of opportunities there, like we did with Kuwait Energy,” she says.

After successfully drilling and establishing a producing Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPS) well in Saskatchewan, using a proven innovative multilateral horizontal well technology, Sonoro’s gaze is now squarely trained on MENA for engineering and procurement opportunities.

“That’s one of the main reasons why I’m actually on the board of Sonoro Energy. I believe a company like Sonoro can have great opportunities here. Not only in the light oil and gas areas, but even with heavy oil,” says Ms. Akbar.

Currently a partner with OILSERV Kuwait, Ms. Akbar had a large influence on choosing Greg Renwick as Sonoro’s Chief Executive Officer at the end of July, having previously worked with him in the region.

“He always amazed me on his investment decisions and his ability to identify good opportunities, evaluate them and actually capture them,” she says.

“I couldn’t think of anyone better than Greg (as CEO) because of that actual experience I had with him. That’s why I asked Greg to come on board and, together, create magic here.”

Click here, or on the image above, to watch the full interview.

Sonoro Signal: A letter from new CEO Greg Renwick

A ‘new strategic direction’ and a focus on Middle Eastern production acreage

CALGARY, Canada (Aug. 20, 2024)—I am delighted to introduce myself as the newly appointed CEO of Sonoro Energy. I’d like to take this opportunity to share my background and outline the strategic direction the Board of Directors intends to pursue in the coming months.

I was born and raised in Canada and currently reside in the vibrant city of Dallas, Texas. My professional journey spans over 40 years in the oil-and-gas and financial services industries. I hold a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada and an MSc in Geology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada.

I began my career in the petroleum industry as a geophysicist with Mobil Oil Canada. Over my 25-year tenure with Mobil, I held various roles of increasing responsibility, including technical, management, and executive positions across Canada, the U.S., Indonesia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. My roles included:

• Geophysical Manager in Canada and the U.S.;

• Exploration Manager in Indonesia;

• Vice President of Business Development for the CIS;

• Manager of Financial Analysis for Mobil’s E&P Division; and

• General Manager of Mobil Oil Turkmenistan.

Later in my career, I worked in business development roles in the Middle East for Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company and UAE-based Dana Gas. After returning to North America, I served as President & CEO of East West Petroleum, a junior oil and gas company listed on the TSX-V.

Sonoro Energy’s Board of Directors plans to steer the company in a new strategic direction. We have initiated a review of our Saskatchewan heavy oil project to maximize its value. This could result in expanding the production drilling program or considering a sale of the asset.

In the near term, we aim to build shareholder value by acquiring Middle Eastern production acreage with exploration potential. This initiative will not only leverage Board members’ extensive Middle East expertise and established presence in the region, but will also build on our Chairperson’s reputation for community engagement and transparent transactions. Our goal is to replicate and expand upon our past successes.

We believe we can secure attractive acreage at a reasonable cost, and plan to fund these acquisitions and developments through marketing agreements, pre-payments, and project-level equity issues, thereby minimizing company share dilution.

As the Company grows, the Board plans to seek a listing on a major international exchange, which can elevate our share price and attract new, larger investors with substantial institutional support.

We plan to adopt a proactive investor relations strategy. In the mid-term, we intend to appoint an IR professional to enhance our communication efforts, including press releases, attendance at investor conferences, and maintaining an active web presence.

I am excited to lead Sonoro Energy and look forward to ongoing engagement with shareholders. I hope to earn your confidence and support in the coming years.

Thank you.

Greg Renwick

Sonoro Signal: Taking CHOPS horizontal in multi-lined, multilateral wells (Part 2)

Optimization efforts at 14-29 well have yielded sales of 900 barrels in 16 days; SNV is advancing second horizontal location nearby

CALGARY, Canada (June 18, 2024)—From mid-January to mid-June.

From a launch in minus-55°C temperatures, to 900 barrels of heavy oil sales in just over two weeks.

From slowdowns and sand-ins caused by bitter cold, to near-100% runtime since early April.

Through multiple challenges faced at its 14-29 horizontal wellsite near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, Sonoro Energy has been rewarded for its persistence and its belief that CHOPS (Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand) can be successfully applied to horizontal wells.

At Sonoro, we believe we’re leading the way in the development of additional multi-lateral lined horizontals, using a proprietary junction tool—and that we’ve proven out further economical development of this area.

‘We can take these learnings forward’

“Our experience over the past few months has allowed us to better understand our reservoir, the heavy oil characteristics and optimal selection of lined-vs.-open-hole completions,” says David Leung, Sonoro’s Chief Operations Officer.

“Given our experiences with this first horizontal well, Sonoro is confident that we can take these learnings forward as the company develops—achieving higher production rates, reducing our expenditures and enhancing the economics.”

Work yields foamy oil production, continuous sand, control of sand bridging

Challenges at the 14-29 wellsite—a 4-leg, multilateral, multi-lined horizontal well—were numerous over the first three months of production. They included:

• Extreme cold causing sanding-in of the well after it was put on production Jan. 10

• Service rig delays caused by that extreme weather, preventing early-stage daily well flushing, repair of a hole in tubing on Feb. 28, and well downtime

• Lower production in April due to a high recycle rate during spring breakup

However, optimization efforts since May—lowering the recycle rate, optimizing fluid rate, adjusting casing pressure and maximizing inflow capacity—have paid off handsomely at the 14-29 wellsite. These adjustments have allowed for continuous sand and foamy oil production, while also controlling sand bridging.

During the first half of June, in particular, the well has produced as much as 70 barrels of heavy oil a day, and Sonoro needed only 16 days to achieve sales of 900 barrels.

Sonoro Energy 14-29 Well Production Table

Advancing second horizontal location

While Sonoro has been optimizing its 14-29 well, the company is analyzing how best to take the technical learning from 14-29 and apply it to an advanced well design for its second horizontal well location in the same area.

Based on updated seismic analysis, production and tracer results to date from the line and open-hole sections of the 14-29 well, Sonoro has identified a location to the east of the 14-29 site—and is in the process of engineering plans to drill a 3-leg, multilateral, multi-lined horizontal well, with the well’s lateral section to be placed lower in the formation.

Sonoro Signal: Taking CHOPS horizontal in multi-lined, multilateral wells (Part 1)

Learn how we successfully applied this process to our 14-29 well in Saskatchewan

CALGARY, Canada (June 4, 2024)—CHOPS (Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand) is a unique method employed in the production of heavy oil reserves.

At Sonoro Energy, we not only believe—but have successfully shown—that CHOPS production can be successfully applied to horizontal wells. The proof lies in our 14-29 multilateral horizontal well near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, where we believe CHOPS has been effectively initiated.

Unlike traditional primary and thermal methods, CHOPS focuses on extracting heavy oil in its natural state—utilizing sand as a natural aid, and associated gas drive that causes foamy oil, to enhance recovery.

Traditionally, this process has been carried out on vertical wells with large perforations to allow and not prevent sand production. Sonoro, meanwhile, has taken CHOPS and applied it to a horizontal well by utilizing multiple horizontals along with liners that are unconventionally designed with larger slot sizes to promote sand and foamy oil production.

While early weather and access issues, along with well downtime, prevented optimization at our 14-29 well over the first three months of production, we’ve made operational adjustments that have allowed for continuous sand and foamy oil production, while also controlling sand bridging, to optimize initial production.

At Sonoro, we believe we’re leading the way in the development of additional multi-lateral lined horizontals, using a proprietary junction tool—and that we’ve proven out further economical development of this area.

CHOPS: Maximizing oil production

The CHOPS process is beneficial to production in a number of ways:

• Enhanced recovery: CHOPS has been shown to significantly increase the recovery factor of heavy oil reservoirs. By allowing the natural flow of oil and sand, with solution gas drive causing foamy oil, CHOPS taps into previously unrecoverable reserves, maximizing production rates over the life of the well. Sonoro believes this can be further enhanced utilizing horizontal wells with multiple legs and liners with larger slot sizes than is conventionally run in horizontals where slot sizes are restricted to mitigate sand production.

• Adaptability: CHOPS is versatile and can be applied to a wide range of heavy oil reservoirs, including those with high viscosity and low permeability. Its adaptability makes it a viable option for maximizing production in challenging environments. The Waseca channel in Saskatchewan has shown to be heavier and more viscous but within flowable ranges for CHOPS, thus making it an effective mechanism.

• Long-term sustainability: CHOPS promotes sustainable oil production by minimizing the need for energy-intensive and capital intensive recovery techniques such as steam injection. Its reliance on natural reservoir energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact. The 14-29 well utilizes its own casing gas for energy, fuel and heat with minimal facilities along with fewer overall multi-lateral wells being required versus verticals (and single leg horizontals) for field development results in better capital efficiency and economics.

• Increased reservoir contact: Multilateral horizontal wells offer the advantage of accessing larger areas across heterogenous variations and multiple zones within the reservoir from a single wellbore. This increased reservoir contact can potentially enhance oil recovery efficiency when coupled with CHOPS methods.

• Improved sweep efficiency: By utilizing multiple lateral branches, CHOPS in multilateral wells can promote better sweep efficiency, ensuring more thorough fluid displacement within the reservoir. This can lead to higher ultimate oil recovery compared to single-lateral wells. The 14-29 well is showing continued increases in production as the well operational continuity continues and is expected to continue to improve as new areas of the reservoir are drawn from and accessed with CHOPS.

• Flexible reservoir management: Multilateral wells provide flexibility in reservoir management by allowing selective production from different zones or layers. CHOPS techniques can be tailored to optimize production from each lateral branch, depending on reservoir heterogeneity and fluid properties. The application of our new technical proprietary tool, allowing two horizontal lined sections, provides this flexibility in the longer term.

CHOPS at the 14-29 well: Challenges and solutions

The CHOPS process does present challenges with multiple lined horizontal wells. Here’s how Sonoro met those challenges to successfully apply CHOPS at our 14-29 well.

• Challenge: Design complexities. Understanding the reservoir, depths and heterogeneities are key to designing well placed multi-lateral legs. Typically, operators run open-hole horizontal legs or only one lined horizontal with small slots.
  The Sonoro solution: To enhance production, Sonoro ran a proprietary tool to allow lining on multiple horizontal legs and several open-hole sections. Sonoro also ran a tracer to understand where production comes from within the reservoir area accessed. In addition, Sonoro incorporated a 3D seismic to plan the well and geo-steering to stay within the top of the reservoir. To date, production is coming from the two lined sections. Over time, we expect additional reserves to come from areas not currently being produced maintaining peak production over a longer time period and overall higher recovery. Sonoro has also learned from further 3D seismic analysis and operational drilling to plan the next well with further improvements. The next well is planned to be a 3-leg lined horizontal well with no open hole sections.

• Challenge: Sand management: Managing sand production can pose challenges in CHOPS operations. Historically, sand control measures and wellbore stability management have resulted in the restriction of sand production. With lined horizontal wells and with larger slot size, sand management is a key challenge.
  Sonoro’s solution: The 14-29 well exhibited significant sand challenges in the first two months of production along with extreme weather conditions, resulting in well downtime, extra flushby services to maintain runtime, and well services to change pumps. In order to manage this Sonoro installed a coil string in the casing to the inlet of the pump allowing fluid (water with a sand-suspension-carrying chemical) to be recycled. This was installed in March—and since then, the well has not had any significant interruptions in production and the well has now reached its highest rates to date (approximately 80+ bopd).
  While recycling fluid has its advantages, it also presents one main drawback—the added back pressure on the reservoir that can reduce inflow (but also helps manage sand influx), while the artificial lift PC pump is required to lift additional volumes. This has been a learning process with the variability of the reservoir inflow and operations but one which we now believe has given us the capability to optimize the current multi-lateral horizontal and also for the next well.
  

Our next Sonoro Signal on the CHOPS process at our 14-29 well will further describe:

• additional history of the well

• the continuous improvement of the well to an estimated current 80+ bopd over the past week with recent operational adjustments

• our plans to perform an additional well servicing to change to a more optimal pump and reduce/eliminate the recycle.

At Sonoro, we believe that our 14-29 well in Saskatchewan will continue to increase in production as additional controlled drawdown and sand production occurs in the horizontal sections—resulting in superior economics to vertical wells, and further reducing the environmental impacts.

Sonoro Signal: Sonoro joins leading-edge oil and gas companies with latest technological advancement

By creating multilateral wells with multiple liners, proven junction tool technology ‘could open a lot of doors for us’ internationally, notes CEO Wadsworth

CALGARY, Canada (Jan. 9, 2024)—Heavy? Tight? Unconsolidated? Compartmentalized?

For any number of challenging reservoir conditions, Sonoro Energy believes it now has the key to unlock greater potential in heavy oil exploration and production.

Sonoro enjoys exclusive priority access to an innovative multilateral horizontal well technology, developed in collaboration with Modern Wellbore Solutions. With the recent successful execution of our 14-29-32-23 W3 horizontal well near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, this advanced technology has now been proven to enable the installation of slotted liners at multiple junction points within a single well.

With multiple lined sections, this junction tool technology significantly improves access to larger reservoir sections and possibilities for enhanced recovery in the exploration and exploitation sector.

“Multilateral wells with multiple liners, using this proven junction tool technology, provide us a competitive advantage,” says Sonoro Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Wadsworth. “Multiple horizontal wells can enhance production, and ultimately reserves recovery, versus typical vertical wells that may be less efficient.”

Developed and applied here in Canada, this junction tool technology is a potential game changer—and it positions Sonoro to leverage this competitive advantage both at home and, more importantly, abroad, where larger transformational opportunities await.

“Internationally, this could open a lot of doors for us, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where we have significant experience and are pursuing opportunities,” adds Wadsworth. “Hopefully we’ll be able to lock down one of these transformational opportunities where we can apply some of the technology and the learnings we have here in Western Canada.”

Traditionally, vertical well development has been preferred for Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand (CHOPs)—since the unconsolidated nature of heavy oilsands prevents sand production in horizontal wells using a single liner, and typically results in about 40% less productivity compared to a vertical well.

Currently, industry is drilling multilateral horizontal wells with exotic multi-leg configurations, such as the “fishbone” and “pitchfork,” but typically in more consolidated sands—and without liners.

“Thanks to this technology, we believe we can achieve similar results in unconsolidated sands with multiple lined multilaterals, given that the larger slots in these liners are designed to allow some sand production and increase productivity,” says David Leung, Sonoro’s Chief Operations Officer.

“Thanks to this technology, we expect to enhance production rates, expand recoverable reserves, achieve significant cost savings, and reduce our carbon footprint,” he adds. “We believe this could also be applied for other enhanced oil recovery techniques in reservoirs where wellbore stability is an issue, and where multilaterals can benefit productivity and reserves recovery.”

Sonoro has begun final facility construction and completion preparations at the 14-29 well, with an eye to achieving heavy oil production and sales in the latter half of January 2024.

This advancement marks a new milestone in Sonoro’s ongoing strategy of deploying innovative technologies that provide long term competitive advantage, create significant value for our shareholders and stakeholders, and reduce our carbon footprint.

Sonoro Signal: Removing the ‘E’ from the E-and-P equation

Director and CFO Dean Callaway joins CEO.ca’s Mines and Money segment to talk Sonoro strategy at home and abroad

Dec. 6, 2023

It’s all about removing the risk from the risk-and-reward dynamic.

Sonoro Energy Director and Chief Financial Officer Dean Callaway joined CEO.ca this week on its Mines and Money interview segment to discuss Sonoro’s plan at home and abroad.

Sonoro’s new strategy and action plan, developed earlier this year, means “this isn’t going to be a swing-for-the-fences company. It’s not a do-or-die proposition,” said Callaway.

In the near term, “we’re focusing on proven oil reserves in Saskatchewan and Western Canada . . . to establish a stable cash flow base, and take the ‘E,’ the exploration aspect, out of our E-and-P equation,” he said.

After establishing that footing, Callaway says Sonoro’s prospects include an “extreme upside in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, with projects we’re looking at right now. I’m very excited about 2024, and the upside for Sonoro.”

Watch the full CEO.ca interview here.

Sonoro Signal: Focused on ‘early production,’ opening doors globally

Chairman and CEO Richard Wadsworth joins the Market Herald Canada’s Capital Compass segment to talk Sonoro’s domestic and international ambitions

Nov. 29, 2023

“Transformational opportunities.”

That’s what Sonoro Energy is working hard to achieve—both in Canada, and abroad.

Sonoro chairman and CEO Richard Wadsworth recently joined the Market Herald Canada’s Capital Compass interview segment to chat about Sonoro’s focus on early production and cashflow goals at our Waseca channel target in Saskatchewan, honing our craft on multilateral horizontal drilling technology here at home, and taking that knowledge international to regions like the Middle East/North Africa.

“We want to show that we have production, we have success, we have technology that we can deploy, and we’re pursuing a number of opportunities in the MENA region that I think will fit very well with what we’re doing here,” said Richard.

Watch the full interview here, or read the transcript here.