As part of my internship with ConocoPhillips, we toured the Vulcan gas plant. We donned our Nomex (flame retardant) suits, helmets and glasses and we were briefed by the Foreman of the plant, Murray Hartung. Murray showed us everything, and the tour made me realize just how much refining has to be done to the gas that comes out of the hole. There are numerous different cleaning processes that the gas has to go through before it is put in the pipeline, at which point it is sold from the gas plant, usually to a transport company. We were taken through several rooms and buildings, all with different purposes in creating a clean, useable gas. All of the buildings and rooms had “HAZARD”, “WARNING”, and “WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR” signs just outside the entrance. There were literally hundreds of the signs throughout the plant.

I learned that, because the gas is not pure when it comes into the plant directly from the hole, they scrub out/filter out the stuff that is not gas. They also separate out the liquids in the gas and sell that as “condensate”. With the current low gas prices, they are more focused on producing condensate than gas. I learned a lot from my visit to the Vulcan gas plant, and enjoyed being able to see the machines in action that we talk about in the office. I feel that ConocoPhillips has provided me with a great opportunity as an intern with their company and that this has started me down the path of a great career.

Alexander Bailey
Hometown: De Winton, AB