'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the basin,
Operators took pause from the plays they'd been chasin';
The rigs were shut down and the seismic crews home,
Head offices empty, no ringing of phones;
Employees were nestled all snug in their beds,
As visions of bonuses danced in their heads;
Commodity prices were rising again,
Like the old days, stock options were up, unrestrained;
Throughout the whole year there had been constant chatter,
As critical minerals continued to matter;
Petro-lithium, helium, REEs too,
Hydrogen rising, both the green and the blue;
Carbon capture and storage is now what must be done,
Mapping deep saline aquifers is really quite fun;
Wherever there is pore space that's close to a source,
A CCS hub will be there in due course;
Geothermal's heating up, both here and away,
The highest heat flow will carry the day;
With a number of test holes now measuring heat,
We could find a new way to warm up your feet;
But oil and gas is still quite alive,
In fact, we would say it continues to thrive;
With spud numbers up and well lengths on the rise,
So many formations are still quite a prize;
Now Montney! Grand Rapids! The Basal Banff's new!
On Viking, On Clearwater! And Charlie Lake too!
From the tip of the bit, to the derrick so tall,
Now drill away, drill away, drill away all!
It has been quite a year for the folks in the Patch,
So we wrote this short missive to give you a laugh;
Enjoy the holidays and all that you do,
And we wish you the best for '23 too!
