As the price per barrel of oil lingers in the ballpark of $50, the oil and gas industry continues to chug on in the Estevan area, making the most of what is available. Although the activity in the oil patch has not come close to returning to the levels it was at before the dramatic 2014 slide in the price for a barrel of oil, some in the industry are seeing an incremental increase in activity.
Tom Copeland, vice-president and COO of Fire Sky Energy, said that he has seen an uptick in oil and gas activity in the Estevan area, but is reluctant to attribute the increase to only the price per barrel of oil.
鈥淪ome of it is related to the Crown permit expiry window, on March 30. It鈥檚 often busy at this time of year, with companies trying to keep up with expiries,鈥� said Copeland. 鈥淲e have 40 drilling rigs in the area. That鈥檚, historically, a pretty good number. Not as high as the 90 or 100 rigs a couple of years back, but if you look into the history, if you were running 35 to 40 rigs in the mid-2000s was a good number.鈥�
One of the biggest challenges Copeland finds in the industry these days, is getting critical services, such as fracking crews. He noted that finding contractors to provide those services can be more difficult, now that there are fewer contractors at work in the oil patch.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had trouble getting fracking services. Sometimes, you end up waiting. It鈥檚 not nearly as bad as it was two or three years go, but certainly, it鈥檚 challenging at times,鈥� he said. 鈥淐ontractors are trying to net as much work as they can, and work efficiently. Frack crews are harder to get right now. A lot of that equipment is up in northern Alberta right now, where it鈥檚 getting busy.鈥�
Al Biette, a manger with Future Energy Services Ltd. is not convinced there is any light at the end of the tunnel for the industry yet, and said he has not seen any evidence of an increase of activity in the oil and gas sector.
鈥淚 think the recovery of oil is still a year away. We need to see (a price per barrel) in the low 60s for a consistent time, before there鈥檚 any increase in activity,鈥� said Biette.聽
Copeland鈥檚 thoughts on the matter echoed Biette鈥檚 position. Copeland noted an ideal price per barrel he鈥檇 like to see, to ensure growth in the industry would be around $70 a barrel.聽
Biette said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not beginning right now. It鈥檚 still a ways away. Everyone has a bit of money they鈥檙e using up in the last quarter, to try and see a bit of activity because of that, but oil prices aren鈥檛 any stronger now than they were two months ago.鈥�
Jeff Richards, vice-president of strategic development at 麻豆传媒AVeast College, said there has been a decline in enrolment in courses and classes associated with the oil and gas industry, since the decline in the level of activity in the oil patch.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to make a commentary, because so much evidence is anecdotal. But one of the things we鈥檝e seen at the college over the last couple of years is that when oil started to decline, there was still a lot of activity happening,鈥� said Richards. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of an elasticity to that kind of market, and sometimes at places like the college, we see a decline. That decline might be slower than in other industries that are attached to the energy sector.鈥�
Richards said college is always doing energy training, even when the price per barrel of oil is down near lows of $30 and $40, adding, 鈥淭here are folks who are always going to work in the oilfield. We鈥檙e always training them. That can be anything from CPR and first aid, to a couple of electrical programs.鈥�
A trend Richards has noticed is that the decline in oil and gas sector activity has resulted in a coinciding increase in the amount of enrolment in other programs, such as mechanical or electrical. Richards said an additional trend is the return of many who have been affected by the decline in oil and gas, to the college, to increase their education, taking more courses to be able to weather the volatility in the market, with more skills that can lead to better employment prospects.
Looking forward, Copeland said it鈥檚 difficult at this point, to say what trends will emerge in the industry. With both oil being around $50 per barrel and the impending Crown expiry window when permits run out as factors at play, Copeland said, 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens, come summertime. If it鈥檚 still busy, we鈥檒l know that our oil patch is back, for lack of a better term.鈥�
