Centre for Oil and Gas Research and Development funded
On January 19, the federal government pledged $2.4 million to the University of Manitoba to establish the Centre for Oil and Gas Research and Development (COGRaD), an internationally-accredited analytical centre in environmental monitoring and remediation services.
Gregg Tomy
COGRaD is funded by the department of Western Economic Diversification and it will advance the leading research already happening in the U of M’s chemistry department over the last decade through the work of Gregg Tomy and Jörg Stetefeld. Using equipment not found anywhere else in Canada, they have become recognized experts in monitoring and analyzing environmental contaminants.
“It was built on their existing strength and analytic capabilities,” Digvir Jayas, the U of M’s vice-president (research and international), told the Winnipeg Free Press. “We’re very happy about this funding. It gives them the edge to move it one step further.”
WD’s investment will be used to purchase highly specialized equipment which will allow COGRaD to collaborate with private industry on research and development, test samples from the environment, and develop tools and techniques to assist oil and gas companies to meet existing environmental monitoring and remediation challenges.
Jorg Stetefeld
“This centre will establish the University of Manitoba in a new field of research and development that is an institutional priority: environmental sustainability,” Distinguished Professor Jayas said. “We congratulate our researchers and their teams on this new funding and applaud their leadership in this area.”
U of M is partnering with industry to develop new analytical tools and techniques that will result in the transfer of new technologies and employment opportunities in the oil and gas sector across the West.
“Our Government is proud to support the establishment of an internationally accredited Centre for Oil and Gas Research and Development (COGRaD) at the University of Manitoba. This highly specialized equipment will provide improved approaches that meet environmental monitoring and remediation challenges,” said the Honourable Michelle Rempel, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.
Quick Facts
- The oil and gas industry in Canada creates more than 7 per cent of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- In Canada, most of the crude oil production (93 per cent) and natural gas production (98 per cent) is in the West.
- Environmental monitoring is the process of sampling air, water, soil, and animal plant life, to detect changes in the environment. Environmental remediation is a complex and expensive process that oil and gas companies use to restore contaminated sites to a level that is safe for humans and animals.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.