Weyburn鈥� Panther Drilling of Weyburn had half of its four-rig fleet working from June until the end of September, but the low rig count province-wide has come home to roost for them, with just one rig at work by mid-October.
It鈥檚 a reflection on the activity level in the drilling industry, which has been down by roughly half or more ever since January. By early September, there were only 17 rigs working in the entire province. That picked up in the first half of October, running in the mid-30s (and hitting 41 by Oct. 16), but that鈥檚 still a long way off from the 79 operating on Oct. 18, 2013 or 89 on Oct. 18, 2014.
When Pipeline News called the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) in Calgary, one of the people they suggested we talk to was Jim Kopec, general manager of Panther Drilling, to get a clearer indication of how things are going in Saskatchewan.
Kopec was working on his farm on Oct. 16. 鈥淚鈥檓 moving grain to support my oilfield habit,鈥� he said.
鈥淎ll these years you work in the oilfield to support the farm, so now I鈥檓 going the other way.鈥�
The one company they are contracted with for Rig 4 sounds like they will be working until breakup. He noted, 鈥淚f we could have kept 50 per cent working to the end of this year we would be extremely happy, but one rig is managing to keep everything afloat.
鈥淭here are lots of irons in the fire, but the competition is pretty fierce right now. You鈥檝e got a bottom line. You can only go so low.鈥�
鈥淲e were quite pleased having half the fleet out.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a very good client (for Rig 4) and they understand you can鈥檛 work for nothing.鈥�
Kopec added, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to keep the pencil sharp, but you鈥檝e also got to maintain your equipment and perform. So far, they鈥檙e happy with us, and we鈥檙e happy with them.鈥�
Pipeline Newshas heard two philosophies drilling companies follow when things are slow and there鈥檚 only work for part of the staff and fleet. One philosophy sees the company dispatch primarily its senior staff, which has the benefit of keeping the most experienced people working, but also can lead sometimes to issues of too many bosses, as it were.
The other philosophy is to work with the regular crew, which thus reduces the instances of workers butting heads because in other circumstances, they might be the driller, and not the motorhand.
鈥淥ur rigs went out with original crews, up to 75 per cent,鈥� Kopec said. 鈥淵es, we鈥檝e lost some people since breakup. Some drillers are working as roughnecks.鈥�
Kopec noted it can be better for the customer when you send out crews that have worked together.
Nikki Dickie, Panther鈥檚 office manager, explained that, when fully-crewed with four rigs running, they have around 90 people working. Now they鈥檙e down to around 27 to 28, and not all are full-time.
Dickie noted that they have cut back on hours with the office staff to avoid laying people off.
Kopec said they told their staff, 鈥淚f you find something out there, don鈥檛 turn it down.鈥�
He went on, 鈥淎s much as we need these people, they鈥檝e got bills to pay, and kids going to school. We鈥檇 love to have you, but we understand.鈥�
Two got operating jobs with oil companies. Some have found work in potash mines, in apprentice situations working towards journeyman certification. Others are working full-time for farmers, or in carpentry. Employees have found jobs, he noted, although it may not be in the oilfield.
鈥淭o be honest with you, if we had to crew up four rigs right now, it would be tough,鈥� he said. 鈥�
Dickie noted, 鈥淧anther still updated all H2S, first aid, first line, second line, fall protection, rig rescue, and other necessary tickets needed for work at break up despite the slow down. Everyone is certified and ready to work when work becomes available and they wish to come back to work.鈥�
This includes the crucial second line well control courses that are lined up three or four months in advance. The second line course is critical for supervisor staff if a rig is going to go to work.
To that end, Kopec said all their iron is ready to go. All the safety equipment and certifications are current, boilers are checked out. They had their staff come in to do everything they could, but there鈥檚 only so much make-work projects one can do.
With the active rig count down by over half, one might think there would be a lot of resum茅s coming in. Not so much, according to Kopec. 鈥淵ou wonder where these bodies are? We have not got very many people coming in here, looking for work. You鈥檝e got maybe a couple a week coming in, seeing what鈥檚 going on, but there isn鈥檛 a lineup at the door. I wonder where all these people have gone?鈥�
Kopec himself started working on drilling rigs in 1968 before spending a large portion of his career working in production. He noted that from the 1960s to 1980s, there were always about 20, maybe 30 rigs in southeast Saskatchewan. There are a lot more now. Similarly, the number of service rigs has exploded compared to several decades ago.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got to keep drilling the Bakken,鈥� he said, noting how the decline curves on those wells requires ongoing drilling to keep production up.
鈥淭his could turn around faster than we think. That鈥檚 being real optimistic,鈥� he said, pointing out that production declines could eventually eliminate the oil glut. But otherwise, he doesn鈥檛 have much of a prediction for when a turnaround might occur.
His standard response is, 鈥淗ow long is a piece of string?鈥�
In the meantime, Panther is watching costs very closely. They鈥檙e not neglecting fixing anything. They鈥檝e asked suppliers to reduce their rates, just as they have, but also realize you can only push so hard on that front.
Safety is first, he noted.
鈥淧anther is a very solid company. We鈥檙e not going to send a rig out for nothing, where it鈥檚 costing us money. We鈥檝e got a very good customer, we鈥檙e still visible.鈥�
鈥淭his is the worst downturn I鈥檝e ever seen, especially on the drilling side,鈥� Kopec said. 鈥淭his is the worst one. I think I鈥檝e been through six.鈥�
Despite it all, Dickie noted Panther has kept up its community sponsorships, including the local hospital foundation, baseball and hockey teams. They haven鈥檛 added new ones, however. 聽
