AdvancedAg Transforming Oil Well Reclamation
- AdvancedAg
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Reclaiming oil and gas well sites across the prairies is no small feat, especially in areas where native vegetation struggles to return and carbon levels in soil have been severely depleted. Some sites can take well over 20 years to reclaim. However, a promising new solution is proving that nature, with a little help from science, can bounce back stronger than ever.
A recently completed three-year study by Trace Associates Inc. has demonstrated the remarkable potential of AdvancedAg’s microbial technology to boost vegetation performance and promote soil carbon recovery on well sites in Saskatchewan. These findings are more than encouraging, they may be a game-changer for land reclamation.
The Challenge: Depleted Soils, Stubborn Sites
With over 111,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Saskatchewan alone, the need for effective, long-term reclamation is urgent. Unfortunately, many of these sites are plagued by:
Reduced microbial communities, critical for healthy plant-soil interactions
Poor carbon sequestration, which hinders long-term soil health
Sluggish regrowth of native plant species, making it hard to return land to its former ecological function
Conventional reclamation efforts often fall short in rebuilding these fragile ecosystems.
The Solution: Reintroducing Soil Biology with AdvancedAg
AdvancedAg’s biologicals contain a consortium of beneficial bacteria specifically designed to:
Enhance nutrient cycling
Support plant growth and root development
Improve soil structure and microbial diversity
In the trial, AdvancedAg's biologicals were applied to three different oil well site locations, spanning native, modified native, and tame pasture conditions.
Each site was assessed using three treatment types: standard reclamation (red dots/untreated), standard plus bacteria (green dots/treated), and native grassland (blue dots/control) plots.
The study ran over the course of three full years, allowing researchers to track long-term trends in both plant and soil performance.
The Results: Healthier Plants and More Resilient Soil
Over the three-year monitoring period, the treated plots consistently outperformed untreated ones in terms of vegetation density, height, and live cover.
Visually and quantitatively, the difference was striking:
Treated sites showed strong upward trends in vegetation regrowth, with healthier and denser native plant cover.
Soil carbon content also increased in treated plots, although it was determined that more long-term data is needed to confirm statistical significance.
Using AdvancedAg's biologicals appears to accelerate the closure timeline for reclamation projects, reducing costs and allowing for faster environmental recovery.
As project consultant Lina Britschgi summarized, microbial supplementation not only improves visible plant health—it lays the biological groundwork for deeper, more resilient ecological healing.
What's Next: Scaling Up for Real-World Impact
While weather variability, livestock pressure, and timing of sampling present limitations, the clear trend is undeniable: AdvancedAg’s microbial technology is enabling more effective, nature-aligned reclamation.
This trial reinforces a powerful truth: restoring damaged ecosystems doesn’t always require synthetic inputs or aggressive interventions. Sometimes, the solution lies in rebuilding what nature already had, thriving microbial life, and giving it the conditions to flourish.
For landowners, regulators, and reclamation contractors alike, this means one thing: a biological future for land recovery is not just possible, it’s already underway.
