Estevan– Â鶹´«Ă˝AVeast Saskatchewan’s newest drilling company, Stampede Drilling, has been fortunate over the past year, often having all three of its rigs at work at the same time.
They’re humble about it, but Stampede has had one of the highest utilization rates in Saskatchewan over the past year, if you follow rig activity on Pipeline News’ sister publication Rig Locator (riglocator.ca). Stampede was also one of the companies the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) recommended we call when we asked about activity in Saskatchewan.
“Our utilization has been quite well,” said Jackie White, who, along with Bill Devins, look after the management of Stampede (they really, really don’t like titles).Ěý
“It’s been strong. We’ve run a tight ship,” she said.
Devins said, “We’ve always been tight.”
White noted the industry has seen a roller coaster in the last year. “We’re prepared for the worst case scenario,” she said.
When it comes to price concessions that have been a fact of life throughout the industry, she noted, “We never took advantage of the high prices.”
For a while this past summer Stampede Rig 1 could be found just outside of Saskatoon, drilling a 30-day well for the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.
Devins said that well was helpful for their company at the time, a nice addition to their agenda. “It was a good experience. Our safety cultures meshed really nicely. Our COR (Certificate of Recognition) came through at the same time.”
“It brought our three years of safety management into full view,” he added, crediting White, who looks after Stampede’s safety program.
Despite having a strong year, Stampede did see a slowdown in September, when the rig count for the entire province dropped to 17.
“There was a lull there for about two-and-a-half weeks,” Devins said. “We never saw a time when all three rigs shut down.”
White noted during that slowdown, “Everybody was ready for goose hunting season.”
Stampede has been able to keep its staff through this year that has been tough on the industry. “We haven’t lost anybody. If anything, we’ve gained,” Devins said. “We’re booking into the first quarter of 2016 today for all three rigs.”
White added they don’t have a stack of resumés on their desk. “It’s the same phone calls as two years ago,” she said.
Devins countered, “I would say we had more resumés two years ago.”
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Traffic lights needed on Estevan bypass, says Stampede Drilling
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Ask Bill Devins and Jackie White of Stampede Drilling about the new Estevan truck bypass, and you’re likely to get an earful. That’s because in early October they witnessed a woman make a left turn onto Highway 39 at the intersection on the east end of the bypass. She nearly got hit by a semi running without a trailer.
They are both concerned about the possibility of a fatality at the key intersections of the new truck bypass, which is expected to open in November.
“I’m telling you, it’s coming. A poor woman almost got killed,” Devins said, adding there was smoke coming off the tires of that semi.
The Stampede office and shop is not far from the eastern end of the bypass. They see a lot of traffic coming off Shand Road, from the Shand Power Station and the nearby coal mine at shift change.
“I’m not saying (the bypass) is a bad idea, but they need (traffic signal) lights,” Devins concluded.
