Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII)

• SPII's one-of-a-kind design makes it one of the most flexible and usable oil, gas, helium or lithium innovation commercialization incentives in North America. When undertaking an innovative pilot, market validation or commercial scaling project across any segment of Saskatchewan's oil, gas, helium or lithium industry, eligible projects have the ability to redeem 25 per cent of their eligible capital and operating costs. These credit redemptions can even occur during the construction and operational phases of a project to help improve a company's cash flow.
• The credits are fully transferable, which gives non-producers/non-royalty payers an opportunity to benefit from the program, because they have the ability to transfer credits to oil and gas royalty/freehold production tax payers. Also, SPII encourages multi-company projects as costs can be incurred by a firm other than the principal applicant.
• SPII has a project-specific awarded credit cap of CAD$5 million (i.e. a maximum of up to CAD$20 million in recognized eligible costs per project).
• SPII can be used alongside other incentive and grant programs available in Saskatchewan.

1. Eligible Innovation – In order for a product, service, process or operation to be considered an eligible innovation, it must be assessed at a minimum of Level 7 on the SPII Technology Readiness Level Scale. If it satisfies the SPII Technology Readiness Level, the innovation must also satisfy one of the following criteria:
   • The project can clearly be demonstrated to be new to Saskatchewan's oil, gas, helium or lithium industry. This means an innovation must be the first-of-its-kind in Saskatchewan's oil, gas, helium, or lithium industry or it must be a significant advancement on the current state of the art in terms of concept, function or design, relative to other similar innovations deployed in Saskatchewan's oil, gas, helium or lithium industry.
   • The eligible project can be clearly demonstrated to be at a new and significantly different commercial scale that has no technical equivalent in Saskatchewan's oil, gas, helium or lithium industry. The eligible project also possesses unique features and/or benefits that offer significant differentiation from current competitive offering in the Saskatchewan marketplace, and the project itself poses new and significant technical challenges as a result of deploying the innovation at this unmatched scale.
2. Eligible Activity – the eligible innovation must be applied in a project of which the aim is:
   • To improve oil, gas, helium or lithium recovery;
   • To manage adverse environmental impacts;
   • To increase value-added processing capacity; or
   • To commercialize oil, gas, helium or lithium production byproducts or waste.
3. Eligible Costs – the eligible project must involve a minimum of CAD$1 million in eligible capital and operating costs.
4. The project must not be commercially operational prior to submitting an application to the Ministry of Energy and Resources.

To apply for the SPII program, companies must complete and submit the SPII Application Form. If you have questions about the application process, refer to the SPII Program Overview and Application Instructions or contact spii@gov.sk.ca. Completed SPII Application Forms may be submitted to the Ministry of Energy and Resources via spii@gov.sk.ca.

The Ministry of Energy and Resources will be accepting applications from July 8, 2019, to March 31, 2024.

SPII Program Overview and Application Instructions

SPII Application Form

For additional information on the program, contact spii@gov.sk.ca.

News Releases:

• Power Purchase Agreement Signed for New Flare Gas-to-Power Facility
• Saskatchewan Announces First-of-Its-Kind Hydrogen Project in the World
• New Lithium Production Project in Saskatchewan
• New Energy Projects to Reduce Methane Emissions
• Government of Saskatchewan Launches Helium Action Plan
• Strengthening Saskatchewan's Lithium Industry