The Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show took place Sept. 14 and 15. For a while there was some question whether it should have even been held, according to Doug Gilby, long-retired former partner with of BAR Engineering, who acted as master of ceremonies for the Sept. 13 banquet. It’s a good thing organizers went ahead.
The number of inside booths was down a bit, and there was a slight change in the outside booths, but if you didn’t know that, you couldn’t tell. The number of people walking through appeared down as well, at approximately 4,000 people. But considering the show, during good times, would get 4,500 to 6,500, that’s not bad, according to show chair Paul Klaassen.
No one we spoke to is in great shape. For many, business is down substantially. That’s to be expected, two years into this downturn. But there were several good news stories we found, too.
Lifting Solutions, a continuous rod specialty company, had its fourth new flushby/gripper rig (what they call an Endless Rod Unit) on display. This caught our eye because these days, almost no one is buying new equipment. Their manufacturer, Celtic Pride, of Brooks, hasn’t laid anyone off, either. That’s especially rare to hear, since oilfield services manufacturing has taken a tremendous hit. They’ve kept going on the strength of their overseas sales to numerous countries. When was the last time you heard of anyone selling something to Romania? They have. The owner just got back from Oman.
Black Gold Rush Industries is launching a new gen set unit that burns waste gas from wells. That product can work in complement with their combustor, which can burn off lean flare gas without enriching it with costly propane.
The CEO of the reborn Sanjel Energy Services was present as well. When the old Sanjel Canada Ltd. went down in the spring time, the company was broken up and sold off in various parts. But Shane Hooker, who had worked with Sanjel for 20 years, came back and with the backing of ARC Financial (where he was employed to seek out opportunities for the private investment firm), the cementing and acidizing division in Canada is still up and running. And even better, they’re hiring at some locations.
Banquet keynote speaker Rob Morgan, COO of heavy oil producer Crew Energy, spoke of how technology has always been the key to the continued development of the Lloydminster heavy oil patch. PCM Canada’s CEO Robert Heffner referred to that speech and idea when discussing his company’s new metal-to-metal pump. Ten years in development, it’s now in the field and being used in SAGD applications. Thermal production, he feels, is the future.
The icing on the cake? One person we knew came down for an afternoon, and left having placed an order for a new, decent-sized forklift. For the company that had that booth, it was definitely worth being there.
We look forward to the next Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show, in 2018. Hopefully by then, everyone will be smiling.
