Weyburn – Panther Drilling of Weyburn was still going strong through much of January as rigs were being racked across the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.
“So far the people we’ve been working for are still going,” 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.
“It’s day-by-day now,” Kopec said. “Most 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.
“We’ve been asked to reduce (our prices) and we’ve come to agreements.
“You start looking after breakup. You’re always looking for the next job. That’s the name of the game.” Kopec said for the last four years they’ve worked consistently.
That one rig, now racked in the yard, was going on its fifth year with that client. “Everything’s up in the air,” he said. “I can appreciate what they’re going through. I’ve been on there side,” he continued, adding he’s 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. “It’s going to be hard on communities – grocery stores, clothing, sports. It’s going to affect everybody,” Kopec said.
As for what the summer looks like, he responded with a joke, “How long is a piece of string?”
“I’ve been through five or six of these. You just have to watch what you’re doing.”
He recalled ’72, ’81, ’86-’87, ’91-’91, ’98, ’08- ’09 as slow times, but the last one wasn’t as bad due to the Bakken boom. “We were on a bubble here. We were in our own little world,” he said.
