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One of the many optimistic posts onPremier Scott Moe’s Facebook and Twitter sites of late was that of a Pipeline News article proudly proclaiming that oil in Saskatchewan is back.

Thetireless proponent of the oil and gas industry noted “Saskatchewan’s drilling rig fleet went back to work with a bang on Jan. 6 … a jump of 19 rigs compared to its last report on Jan. 3.”

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“The map came alive all over the province, with clumps of rigs showing up throughout much of southeast Saskatchewan, at Shaunavon, north of Highway 16 near Lloydminster and, most curiously, in a string along the Alberta border from Alsask to Macklin,” Pipeline News reported.

“The net result was 54 per cent utilization rate, with 57 of 105 rigs working. That’s a better rate than Alberta, whose 45 per cent was made up of 165 of 366 rigs, or British Columbia, who had 18 of 40 rigs going. Manitoba had five of six rigs working, for a 83 per cent utilization rate.”