Weyburn 鈥� Panther Drilling of Weyburn was still going strong through much of January as rigs were being racked across the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.
鈥淪o far the people we鈥檝e been working for are still going,鈥� said Jim Kopec, general manager, when asked about life with oil at US$50 (or less). However, one rig had just shut down after over four years of work primarily with one customer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 day-by-day now,鈥� Kopec said. 鈥淢ost of the people I talk to wonder where is it going to stabilize at - $45, $50? At $45 a barrel, not much is going to be going on.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been asked to reduce (our prices) and we鈥檝e come to agreements.
鈥淵ou start looking after breakup. You鈥檙e always looking for the next job. That鈥檚 the name of the game.鈥� Kopec said for the last four years they鈥檝e worked consistently.
That one rig, now racked in the yard, was going on its fifth year with that client. 鈥淓verything鈥檚 up in the air,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can appreciate what they鈥檙e going through. I鈥檝e been on there side,鈥� he continued, adding he鈥檚 got 33 years of production work under his belt. He still remembers shutting in and turning on wells to contend with the Bill 42 slowdown in the 1970s, when the provincial NDP government caused the local oilpatch to all but grind to a complete halt.
He operated 90 wells during those days. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be hard on communities 鈥� grocery stores, clothing, sports. It鈥檚 going to affect everybody,鈥� Kopec said.
As for what the summer looks like, he responded with a joke, 鈥淗ow long is a piece of string?鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been through five or six of these. You just have to watch what you鈥檙e doing.鈥�
He recalled 鈥�72, 鈥�81, 鈥�86-鈥�87, 鈥�91-鈥�91, 鈥�98, 鈥�08- 鈥�09 as slow times, but the last one wasn鈥檛 as bad due to the Bakken boom. 鈥淲e were on a bubble here. We were in our own little world,鈥� he said.
