ZenaTech’s DaaS Oil and Gas Business Enters Strengthened Market With Higher Oil Prices and More Than US$500 Billion in Expected Canadian Energy Investment

Velocity Geomatics provides drone-based regulatory, environmental, surveying and inspection services to oil and gas producers across Western Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA) (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech” or the “Company”), a technology solutions provider specializing in artificial intelligence drones, Drone as a Service (“DaaS”), enterprise SaaS and quantum computing solutions, today provided an update on its energy-sector field-services operations in Western Canada.

The Company said its recently acquired business, Velocity Geomatics, is entering a strengthened market supported by higher oil prices and significant long-term investment expectations across Canada’s oil and gas industry.

Velocity Geomatics provides drone-based regulatory, environmental and surveying services to oil and gas producers across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

According to the Company, average oil prices during the second quarter of 2026 increased by more than 45% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Canada’s oil and gas industry is also expected to attract more than US$500 billion in investment over the next decade.

Higher Oil Prices Supporting Producer Activity

“Our Drone as a Service business is a field services business that follows customer activity—when producers in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan have more cash flow, they drill more wells,” said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ZenaTech.

“Higher oil prices are improving cash flow for producers today, supporting drilling, infrastructure, reclamation and environmental compliance work that drives demand for our surveying and inspection services,” Passley continued.

“Looking ahead, we also believe current trends and strong forecasts for continued investment in Canada’s energy sector will provide a long-term tailwind to expand our Drone as a Service business in Canada as well as globally.”

Passley added that approximately 80% of Velocity’s current projects already use drone-based workflows, providing ZenaTech with an established operating platform and customer base from which it can further expand its drone-enabled services.

Acquisition of Velocity Geomatics

In July 2026, ZenaTech completed the acquisition of Velocity Geomatics, also known as the Velocity Group.

The company is headquartered in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and represents ZenaTech’s first acquisition focused specifically on geomatics services for environmental and regulatory compliance within the oil and gas industry.

Velocity operates from four offices located across:

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Saskatchewan

The company serves both regional and international oil and gas producers.

Velocity’s services include drone-supported surveying, mapping, inspection, environmental monitoring and regulatory-compliance activities.

Western Canadian Producer Cash Flow Improves

Publicly reported industry data indicates that cash flow available to Western Canadian energy producers has increased materially compared with the previous year.

According to Oil Sands Magazine, average West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) and Western Canadian Select (“WCS”) crude-oil prices during the second quarter of 2026 were approximately 45% higher than during the same period in 2025.

Higher commodity prices can improve producer cash flow and support increased spending on:

• New drilling activity
• Production infrastructure
• Enhanced-recovery projects
• Environmental compliance
• Asset inspection
• Land surveying
• Reclamation programs

ZenaTech believes this increased activity may directly support demand for Velocity’s drone-enabled field services.

More Than US$500 Billion in Expected Investment

Western Canada’s energy industry represents a significant potential growth opportunity for ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service operations.

According to the Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), Canada’s oil and gas industry is expected to attract more than US$500 billion in investment during the next decade.

The anticipated investment is expected to be supported by:

• Growing global energy demand
• Expanded Canadian export capacity
• Continued infrastructure development
• Environmental-monitoring requirements
• Regulatory-compliance spending
• Reclamation and asset-retirement programs

While stronger oil prices may support increased customer activity in the near term, ZenaTech believes these longer-term trends could generate sustained demand for drone-enabled surveying, mapping, inspection and environmental-monitoring services.

The Company said this market environment may support continued expansion of its DaaS operations across Canada and other international markets.

How Energy Investment Supports Drone as a Service Demand

Investment by oil and gas producers can translate directly into increased demand for Drone as a Service offerings.

New drilling, infrastructure expansion and enhanced-recovery projects commonly require recurring services such as:

• Land surveying
• Geospatial mapping
• Infrastructure inspection
• Environmental monitoring
• Construction-progress tracking
• Pipeline and facility inspection
• Regulatory-compliance documentation
• Reclamation surveying

Drone-enabled workflows can help customers collect field data more quickly while reducing the time, personnel and equipment required for traditional surveying and inspection methods.

The Company believes its drone-supported model can provide customers with greater operational speed, improved accuracy and lower costs.

Asset Retirement and Reclamation Services

ZenaTech identified asset retirement and reclamation projects as a particularly attractive area within the Western Canadian energy market.

These projects involve the safe closure, remediation and restoration of wells, pipelines, facilities and surrounding land after energy assets reach the end of their productive lives.

Unlike certain discretionary capital projects, asset retirement and reclamation activities are often driven by regulatory requirements.

This can create more resilient demand across changing commodity-price cycles.

Drone-based surveying and environmental-monitoring services may be used during these projects to:

• Map affected land
• Monitor reclamation progress
• Inspect retired infrastructure
• Document environmental conditions
• Verify regulatory compliance
• Produce geospatial records
• Track restoration milestones

ZenaTech believes Velocity’s existing expertise in regulatory and environmental geomatics positions the business to participate in this recurring market.

Established Drone-Based Workflow

Approximately 80% of Velocity Geomatics’ current projects already incorporate drone-based workflows.

This existing level of drone adoption provides ZenaTech with an established operational platform rather than requiring the Company to introduce drone technology into a fully traditional surveying business.

ZenaTech expects to build on Velocity’s existing capabilities by integrating additional drone hardware, software and automation technologies.

Potential areas of expansion may include:

• Automated data collection
• AI-assisted image analysis
• Faster geospatial processing
• Remote inspection
• Predictive maintenance
• Environmental-change detection
• Automated reporting
• Multi-site operational monitoring

The Company believes these technologies could help improve productivity while allowing the business to serve a larger number of customers and projects.

Expanding ZenaTech’s Canadian DaaS Operations

The Velocity acquisition strengthens ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service presence in Western Canada.

The business gives ZenaTech access to an established customer base in one of Canada’s most important energy-producing regions.

Its four-office network also provides operational coverage across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

The Company believes Velocity may serve as a platform for further expansion within Canada’s energy, infrastructure and environmental-services markets.

ZenaTech is continuing to grow its DaaS operations through acquisitions of established field-service businesses that can benefit from drone technology and automation.

The Company’s broader strategy involves acquiring traditional service providers and modernizing their workflows using:

• Autonomous drones
• Artificial intelligence
• Data-processing software
• Geospatial technologies
• Enterprise SaaS platforms
• Automated reporting systems

Long-Term Energy-Sector Opportunity

ZenaTech believes several trends may support long-term demand for drone-enabled energy-sector services.

These include:

• Increased investment in Canadian energy infrastructure
• Expansion of oil and gas export capacity
• Continued environmental regulation
• Aging infrastructure requiring inspection
• Increased reclamation obligations
• Shortages of skilled field personnel
• Greater adoption of remote-monitoring technologies
• Demand for faster and more accurate geospatial data

The Company believes drones can help energy producers complete surveying and inspection work with fewer field personnel and shorter project timelines.

Drone-supported workflows may also reduce exposure to hazardous operating environments by allowing certain inspections to be completed remotely.

About ZenaTech

ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA) (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) is a technology company specializing in artificial intelligence drones, Drone as a Service, enterprise SaaS and quantum computing solutions for mission-critical business, government and defense applications.

Since 2017, the Company has used its software-development expertise and expanded its drone-design and manufacturing capabilities through ZenaDrone.

ZenaTech’s technologies are designed to improve:

• Inspection
• Monitoring
• Safety
• Security
• Compliance
• Surveying
• Operational automation

The Company serves enterprise-software customers across law enforcement, government and industrial markets.

Its drone technologies are also being implemented across:

• Agriculture
• Defense
• Logistics
• Surveying
• Inspection
• Environmental services

ZenaTech’s portfolio is intended to help customers improve operational speed and accuracy while reducing costs.

The Company operates through offices in North America, Europe, Asia, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

It is also expanding its Drone as a Service operations and global service-location network through acquisitions.

About ZenaDrone

ZenaDrone, a wholly owned subsidiary of ZenaTech, develops and manufactures autonomous drone solutions that can incorporate machine-learning software, artificial intelligence, predictive modeling, quantum computing and other software and hardware technologies.

ZenaDrone was originally created to develop drone technologies for the hemp-farming industry.

Its specialization has since expanded to multifunctional drone solutions for:

• Surveying
• Monitoring
• Inspection
• Tracking
• Process automation
• Inventory management
• Security
• Logistics
• Agriculture
• Defense applications

The ZenaDrone 1000 is used for crop-management applications and critical field-cargo operations in the defense sector.

The IQ Nano is an indoor drone developed for inventory-management and security applications in warehouses and logistics facilities.

The IQ Square is an outdoor drone designed for commercial and government power-washing and inspection applications.

The IQ Quad is designed for land-surveying operations.

ZenaDrone operates three global manufacturing facilities located in Arizona, Dubai and Taiwan.

The subsidiary is also advancing Counter-UAS maritime interceptor drones and a broader integrated defense system.

Contacts

Company, Investors and Media

Linda Montgomery

ZenaTech

Phone: 312-241-1415

Investors

Michael Mason

CORE IR

Email: investors@zenatech.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release and related comments by the management of ZenaTech, Inc. include forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws and applicable Canadian securities laws.

These statements are subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflects management’s current expectations and projections regarding ZenaTech’s growth, operating results, performance, business prospects and opportunities.

In some cases, forward-looking information may be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “seek,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” or similar expressions.

Forward-looking information in this announcement includes, but is not limited to, expectations concerning:

• ZenaTech’s revenue, expenses, production, operations and cash flows
• Future production costs and manufacturing capacity
• The Company’s ability to deliver its drone products to the market
• The development of the ZenaDrone 1000, IQ Square and IQ Nano
• The development of products for intended markets
• Anticipated cash requirements and future financing
• Business growth and execution risks
• Future operations and operating costs
• Potential acquisitions
• International expansion
• Access to investment capital
• Market share
• Expansion timing
• Regulatory developments
• Patent and litigation risks

Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information presently available.

These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including stock-price volatility, changing market conditions, political, economic, environmental, tax and security risks, regulatory requirements, unfavorable publicity, changing customer perceptions, difficulties forecasting industry trends, competition, access to financing and the ability to hire and retain key personnel.

Additional risks and uncertainties are described under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Form F-1, Form 20-F and other filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

ZenaTech undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law.

No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future results may differ materially from those anticipated.

Readers are therefore advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.