Maidstone鈥� 鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a lot more traffic. Traffic-wise, that means dollars,鈥� said Kevin Pike, partner in Maidstone鈥檚 Keranda Industrial Supply Ltd.
The supply store caters to both the oilfield and agriculture, and that鈥檚 a good thing, too, since agriculture picked up some of the slack of the downturn that has impacted the patch since 2014.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been pretty steady,鈥� he said on Feb. 21. Their business supports both the oil sector and agriculture.
Maidstone, in a way, has been an early leader in the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) method of heavy oil extraction, with the Pike鈥檚 Peak plant north of the community having several decades of operation under its belt, and Pike鈥檚 Peak 麻豆视频 was built nearby a few years ago, not far from where Kevin Pike lives.
Husky is looking at several thermal heavy oil projects in the area, each 10,000 bpd. The Rush Lake thermal plant, roughly 16 kilometres due east of Maidstone, has a large pad cleared for Rush Lake 2, the second project there. Others are in consideration for the region, including Dee Valley, 10 kilometres north of Maidstone.
Once these operations get going, however, they don鈥檛 have a lot of supply store needs.
When Keranda started 37 years ago, about 30 per cent of their business was oil, and 70 per cent was farm and urban. Oil grew to the point where it was 70 per cent of the business. Now things are about 50/50.
鈥淎g was stable,鈥� Pike said, but added, 鈥淢ind you, the last three years have had really nice crops. Farmers are builders. If they鈥檙e doing well, they鈥檙e putting up shops, etc.鈥�
However, the last harvest was a tough one. 鈥淕uys were swathing in the snow,鈥� Pike said.
When it comes to oilfield supply, Keranda is a classic 鈥渞ope, soap and dope鈥� store, carrying the usual items crews need to keep things working in the field. There鈥檚 lot of hosing, cam-locks, filters, hydraulics and tools being picked up for workers.
鈥淲e do supply a lot of things to the oilfield, like mechanics 鈥� tune-up kits, material,鈥� Pike said.
They don鈥檛 see a big spike in business when a new thermal plant is built, as much of that is supplied from elsewhere.
In June 2016 business flattened out then started to pick up slowly. Pike said, 鈥淲e found our bottom about eight months ago. Year-to-year, we鈥檙e going up slightly.鈥�
鈥淪ometimes slow growth is better than the pounding when it gets out of hand,鈥� he said.
Unlike most oilfield services companies Pipeline News has spoken to over the past year, Keranda did not go into layoff mode when the downturn hit.
鈥淣o, I wouldn鈥檛 lay anyone off. They鈥檙e too hard to train,鈥� he said. It resulted in the company dipping into its coffers, but they still have the people they had in 2014, 11 in total.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely more organized than we used to be,鈥� he said. They tore sections of the store apart and got things organized during the downturn. The benefits of that work will be long-lasting. 鈥淚f it speeds up again, everyone will have to shift one gear. A lot of things are organized a lot better,鈥� he said.
For 2017, Pike said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e optimistic. We鈥檙e always optimistic. That鈥檚 why we kept all our staff.鈥�
