Lloydminster 鈥� Calroc Industries Inc. is launching a new linear artificial lift that is easy to install, operate and maintain in this current low oil price environment. The new Fox 1-120-10 hydraulic pumpjack is being manufactured by Calroc and marketed as a simple, cost effective improvement to existing linear lifts for light and heavy oil.
A sample of the Fox lift was rolled out in front of Calroc鈥檚 Lloydminster shop on Jan. 13 with Conway Vidal, the shop manager and design consultant Perry St. Denis on hand to explain it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hydraulic pumpjack to replace the traditional style pumpjack you see in the field,鈥� said Vidal who worked closely with St. Denis during the design and build.
The finished product is simple, streamlined and aesthetically clean with a rugged industrial design built to handle the stress of handling, installation and operation. With linear lifts, a linear actuator replaces the pumpjack on traditional beam pumping units to drive the reciprocating pump to lift oil to surface. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a basic hydraulic cylinder lifting a rod up and down. There are so many ways to build that,鈥� said Vidal about the new linear lifts on the market.
鈥淲e鈥檝e taken that same concept and just cleaned it up a bit 鈥� got rid of some safety concerns and made it very user friendly both for installing it and for operation.鈥� The research and development of the Fox lift was led by St. Denis who does work for Calroc out of his Blue Fox Motion Inc. company.
He is the also the former owner and head of ICI Artificial Lift in Lloydminster and called the sleek style and functions of the Fox pump jack an improvement to existing technology. 鈥淚 looked at other hydraulic units that were having issues and decided to make it a little bit simpler,鈥� he explained.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always the next step of building something better. That鈥檚 what we did.鈥� The new lift was introduced during the Lloydminster heavy oil show last fall to what St. Denis described as a 鈥渉ighly energetic鈥� market reaction. He listed safety, environmental and access for slant well applications as some of the issues plaguing existing lifts that he and Vidal sought to correct with the design of the Fox.
鈥淭he safety features are no moving crank arms and no moving weights. You don鈥檛 have bridle cables 鈥� no cables, no straps to fray or break,鈥� said St. Denis.
鈥淭he large and accessible lifting lugs on the mast assembly are very robust.鈥� It has built-in feet for transport and storage in the horizontal position. The safe working load is 10,000 to 20,000 lbs., depending on the model.
鈥淭he environmental footprint is the size of the wellhead,鈥� noted St. Denis. The Fox hydraulic pumpjack works with any existing hydraulic control units which reduces costs when replacing existing pumping units. It can be purchased in a maximum stroke length of 144 inches and is designed for universal applications and all well types. All of the parts for the Fox pumpjack are locally built by different companies and assembled at Calroc鈥檚 shop for shipment worldwide.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at 50 plus units in the first six months,鈥� said Vidal. The new Fox pumpjack will further diversify Calroc鈥檚 equipment and service offerings in a low oil price market from its field locations in Lloydminster and Medicine Hat. Company president Dan Echino is confident the new Fox pumpjack will help overall sales in this market downturn. 鈥淚 am very excited by this new product line because it鈥檚 sexy,鈥� he said.
鈥淪ometimes in this oilfield market you have to have something sexy, not just bricks and cement.鈥� He said simplicity is the main selling point of the new pumpjack with its one piece assembly for easy installation. The rod sticks out the top making an easy connection for a flushby to service the well. 鈥淚 used to be an operator myself so I know it鈥檚 nice to have something that鈥檚 simple to set up, simple to maintain and simple to operate because when you鈥檙e in the field you have a lot of wells to look after,鈥� said Echino
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have time to spend too much at each well.鈥� Echino said the advantages of the new pumpjack should make it a good seller internationally and domestically
too. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason why we don鈥檛 sell a lot of these in Canada. Typically, the U.S. Australia overseas and Mexico are where we鈥檙e focusing on,鈥� he said.
鈥淵our lifting costs per barrel are going to decrease slightly if you have no maintenance to do on your equipment.鈥� 鈥淭hat definitely benefits companies because now they are making less money, so they have to do everything to cut costs.
鈥淧lus we offer rentto- own and leasing equipment so now the oil companies instead of making one big capital purchase can make little payments every month.鈥�
Echino said the new pumpjack fits Calroc鈥檚 diversified business profile which keeps employees busy if one part of the business slows down.
鈥淒iversification is very important 鈥� different product lines, different services 鈥� the trucks even. I move people around all the time, and this way we want to keep people
working,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he less we can layoff in this slowdown in the industry the better, so I am trying to keep everybody working.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 say we are busy, we are steady, but we are keeping the people working. We鈥檒l keep going limping along until the economy and the oil prices
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