Note: The Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in Weyburn recognizes inductees into the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Hall of Fame at every edition of the biennial showcase. Members are recognized for their contributions to the energy sector in the province. This year's show is June 3 and 4 in Weyburn.
WEYBURN — Andy Mah grew up in a family business, a Chinese restaurant in Kipling.
There he learned to talk to people of all sorts, a skill that would come in handy in his career as an engineer and executive in the oil patch.
His grandfather, who came to Canada in 1906, bought the Hub Café in Kipling in 1954. He identified the community for its location as a divisional point for CN crews between Regina and Brandon, Man. And soon thereafter, the Interprovincial Pipeline was built through the town, with expansions every decade or so, meaning crews needed to be fed. Mah was born in 1959, and he grew up in that café, helping out from a young age.
Mah enjoyed meeting and talking to these people, from farmers to railway workers to the pipeliners.
“Living, working and growing up in the café was always a lot of fun for me, because I loved talking to people and finding out what they did.”
Mah attended the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering and earned a double degree in chemical engineering and chemistry over the course of five years. He convocated in 1982 and promptly went to work for British Petroleum (BP). He soon found himself doing field work in Fort. St. John, B.C., and Drayton Valley and Bonnyville, Alta. He went through the company’s training program for young engineers, working on drilling, reservoir engineering and production.
“I spent a lot of time in the field. You’ve got to swing some wrenches to understand what the heck is going on,” he said.
He worked for BP for 11 years. It was during this time he met and married Wendy Pallant, originally from Quebec but now a teacher in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., and then Calgary. They married in 1988 and had three children – Andrew, Emily and Nathaniel.
In 1983, he was headhunted by Sceptre Resources where he became a manager. There he met Grant Fagerheim, who became a significant figure in Mah's life.
“Grant and I left and went to Northrock Resources Ltd. in 1996,” he said.
At Northrock he joined the executive team as vice-president of operations. That company had around 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) of production in southeast Saskatchewan.
In 2000, North Rock sold to Unocal Corporation. Mah stayed on another three years.
It was at that point Fagerheim was putting together Ketch Resources Trust. He called Mah up and asked him to “get over here and help me run it.”
Ketch was a junior exploration company converted into an energy trust. Mah was its president.
But it was the 2006 “Halloween Massacre”, when the federal Conservative government of the day that tax advantages of income trusts would end by taxing them like traditional corporations. that soon spelled the end of energy trusts. They had three years to adjust, and Ketch was merged into Advantage Energy Ltd.
Advantage had 30,000 boepd of production, including at one point about 10,000 boepd in southeast Saskatchewan around Estevan, Lampman, Carlyle and Wawota. It operated several rigs drilling in the region. Around 2016 the company sold its Saskatchewan assets, rolled into Longview Oil Corp., which eventually sold to Surge Energy.
Advantage is now focused principally in the Montney play. In 2021, Mah retired as president and CEO after 12 years.
Mah loves hunting birds and big game whenever he can. He’s played on a lot of company hockey teams and enjoys cycling. Mah and his wife’s three children have also found success. Andrew is a geologist with Whitecap Resources. Emily specializes in marketing, and Nathaniel recently retired as a world cup Nordic athlete and now works with Cross Country Skiing Canada.
Andy Mah is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and is also a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
