Records and condition review
Evaluate available well files, prior interventions, monitoring, logs, site information, failure history, uncertainties, and data gaps.
Well drilling, completions and engineering
Drill and complete wells with engineering-led execution
Grindstone develops and executes drilling and completion programs with qualified crews and project partners. Our engineering leaders connect well design, field operations, contractor coordination, and technical closeout while supporting workovers and later-life well projects.
Plain-language explanation
What an engineer contributes to technical field work
An engineer applies mathematics, physical science, technical standards, field evidence, risk analysis, and professional judgment to understand how a system may behave and how work can be completed safely and effectively. On a well or remediation project, that can include reviewing construction records, pressures, casing and cement conditions, geology, fluids, failure pathways, equipment limits, sequencing, verification criteria, and contingencies.
Becoming a professional engineer generally requires an accredited or regulator-accepted engineering education, a period of supervised engineering experience, professional-practice and ethics requirements, and licensure through the applicable engineering regulator. Exact requirements and authorization vary by jurisdiction. The P.Eng. designation signals regulated professional accountability; it does not replace the permits, specialty licences, geoscience expertise, certified contractors, or other professionals a particular project may require.
Engineering leadership
Mike Tanton, P.Eng.
Principal Owner · Engineering & Project Management
Mike earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and later became a licensed Professional Engineer. As a principal owner, he brings more than 30 years of engineering and energy-sector experience and a career history spanning 2,000+ completed wells. His areas of focus include technical program development, drilling and completions, abandonment and decommissioning planning, field-execution support, constructability, remediation coordination, and connecting engineering intent with practical wellsite results.
mike.tanton@grindstoneenergysolutions.comEngineering leadership
Clive Mountford, P.Eng.
Principal Owner · Completions, Drilling & Operations Engineering
As a principal owner and professional engineer, Clive brings more than 35 years of experience and a career history spanning 3,000+ completed wells across completions, drilling, workovers, well abandonment, SAGD operations, production facilities, pipelines, regulatory compliance, and multidisciplinary project leadership in Western Canada and international markets.
clive.mountford@grindstoneenergysolutions.comExperience profile
Engineering judgment grounded in difficult field work.
Engineering-led planning for difficult well abandonment and remediation scopes.
Surface casing vent flow investigation, repair strategy, monitoring, and verification support.
Downhole equipment removal, diagnostic logging, cement isolation, and prior-abandonment remediation.
Coordination among owners, prime contractors, field crews, service providers, and technical specialists.
5,000+wells decommissioned
$1B+cumulative team career gross revenue in well-decommissioning services
Figures reflect cumulative team career experience and provide company capability context; they are not an individual licensing record.
Mike Tanton, P.Eng., and Clive Mountford, P.Eng.: a highly capable engineering team for the right technical question
Mike Tanton, P.Eng., and Clive Mountford, P.Eng., combine engineering leadership, practical field judgment, technical review, and project-management experience as Grindstone's core engineering team. Together, they coordinate the additional expertise a project may require, including locally licensed engineers, petroleum or civil specialists, geotechnical engineers, hydrogeologists, geoscientists, environmental professionals, laboratories, certified well contractors, and other qualified partners.
When this service is needed
Signals that a project needs attention.
A well has incomplete records, uncertain barriers, pressure, flow, leakage, or a history of unsuccessful repairs.
Several technical methods are possible and the owner needs a reasoned basis for selecting one.
The work involves subsurface isolation, cement placement, equipment limits, environmental receptors, or material technical risk.
Multiple contractors and specialists must work in a precise sequence with defined responsibilities and hold points.
The owner, prime contractor, insurer, or regulator needs an organized program and defensible technical record.
Typical support scope
Program development
Define objectives, methods, equipment, materials, calculations, sequencing, verification criteria, contingency triggers, and required specialists.
Drilling and completion execution
Coordinate qualified crews, rigs, suppliers, prime contractors, completion operations, safety controls, permits, logistics, communications, and field decisions.
Field and closeout support
Review actual conditions and results, manage approved changes, document departures, assess verification evidence, and organize the technical closeout record.
How the work moves forward
A controlled path from problem definition to documented completion.
Understand
Define the physical system, project objective, governing requirements, available evidence, uncertainties, and consequences of failure.
Engineer
Develop a risk-based technical approach with calculations, assumptions, acceptance criteria, alternatives, and contingencies.
Coordinate
Translate the program into an executable sequence with the right qualified people, equipment, materials, controls, and communication.
Verify
Compare field results with the design intent, address approved changes, and preserve the evidence needed for responsible closeout.
What successful support produces
Clear field progress and defensible records.
A technical plan tied to the actual well or site rather than a generic procedure.
Risks, assumptions, decision points, and contingencies identified before mobilization.
Clearer responsibilities across the owner, engineer, prime contractor, crews, and specialists.
Verification criteria that show whether the intended result was achieved.
A disciplined record supporting regulatory, operational, and future project decisions.
Working with owners and prime contractors
Choosing Grindstone brings Mike Tanton, P.Eng., and Clive Mountford, P.Eng., together as an engineering leadership team with project-management experience and field-oriented planning, supported by the additional specialists a project may require. Professional services are offered only where appropriately authorized and may be delivered with locally licensed engineers, geoscientists, environmental professionals, well contractors, and prime contractors.
Start a project conversationNeed to clarify a difficult scope?
Start with the site, well, schedule, and support you need. Mike or Clive will help identify the practical next conversation.