Connacher should be in the process of evaluating alternatives to burning natural gas at the Great Divide. Buying natural gas is 50% of the cost of production at the Great Divide at present. Two viable processes to be considered are

1) Encana is experimenting with SAP or solvent assisted process by spraying butane as a solvent in the underground chamber to lower their SOR as well as another process Encana is using such as pumping CO2 emissions from the turbines burning the natural gas in the SAGD process back into the underground chamber to heat it up instead of just raw steam. This way you get rid of CO2 emissions as well as heating the underground chamber.

2) A bitumen derivitive should be burned to produce the steam that we may be able to produce at the MRCI refinery in Montana. There must be a cheap combustible by product of the asphalt making process to make us self sufficient in production. Connacher cannot go on burning natural gas. Connacher should find a substitute for natural gas and then either sell the natural gas production that it produces on the market; or sell the gas producing land and wells which would produce a great deal of capital for Connacher in view of the value that TUSK just sold their conventional gas wells for.

Cheers; Scott