Flooding engulfs oil-patch producers
CBC News Posted: Jun 28, 2011 4:40 PM CST Last Updated: Jun 28, 2011 4:40 PM CST
Floods have slowed Saskatchewan's oil industry. (CBC)Farms aren't the only businesses in the province suffering from the worst spring flooding in recent memory, especially in the southeastern part of the province where agriculture has taken second place to oil production.
The Bakken oil field in the Estevan-Weyburn area has become the toast of North America's oil industry, employing thousands of people. Flooding there has delayed work by months as drilling sites remain submerged, forcing companies to shut down production and lay off workers.
Muddy, washed out roads have added another layer of difficulty, making it impossible for crews to reach some rigs, industry spokesmen say, leading to worries about leaks and other maintenance problems.
Andy Schroeder, who runs A&S Oilfield Operating Ltd. in Estevan, says the situation facing oil patch operators couldn't be worse.
Exploration and drilling is down about 15 per cent, Schroeder told CBC Radio's Blue Sky program last week, thanks to a perfect storm of flooding and road bans instituted by many rural municipalities on anything much bigger than a half-tonne pickup truck.
The terrible situation on the ground means there is little the companies can do.
"The ground is so saturated in this area you can't ... do anything out on the land without sinking out of sight," Schroeder said, adding that any temporary measures to ease the situation would be throwing good money after bad.
The companies can only wait until the water recedes, he said, adding that even if the rain stopped immediately, it would likely take until September for full production to resume. Even that might be optimistic, he said. Full resumption might not return until the winter freeze.
And that means layoffs not only in the immediate industry, he said, but also in supporting businesses, including firms that service the rigs and trucking outfits that supply them.
The job losses will even extend to farmers, many of whom have turned to oilpatch jobs as a means to keep the family farm solvent, Schroeder said: Firms would be unlikely to hire them while they still have staff waiting to go back to work.
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