Our theme this month is ‘One Size Fits All’ and clearly challenges the oil and gas industry from a cost perspective.
| Date Published | April 28, 2016 |
| Company | Oilfield HUB |
| Article Author | Kevin Turko |
| Article Type | April 2016 Issue |
| Category | Articles, CEO Message |
| Tags | E&P, Environmental, Oil & Gas: Government, S&S |
| HUB SEARCH | OilfieldHUB |
Our theme this month is ‘One Size Fits All’ and clearly challenges the oil and gas industry from a cost perspective.
As we edge into the Spring of 2016, oil and gas prices seem to be looking forward to the summer season just as much as sun seekers across Canada. Prices have finally edged up and over the $40 USD mark despite another rather dismal outcome to the latest OPEC meeting in Doha, Qatar. Needless to say, even though ramped spending is a thing of the past, many, if not all companies are still focusing on cost reductions whenever and wherever they can find them.
Welcome you to our April edition of Oilfield PULSE. Our theme this month is ‘One Size Fits All’ and clearly challenges the oil and gas industry from a cost perspective.
Many industry insiders suggest millions of dollars are being needlessly wasted in the oil and gas industry in Western Canada each and every year with constantly over-engineered and re-engineered customized fabricated products, rather than adapting to and embracing industry wide standards for common products used extensively across the industry. Using a retail consumer analogy, when an individual wants to purchase a new truck, no matter the make and model, the automotive industry provides set option packages that one can purchase with the vehicle. The consumer can’t redesign the vehicle from the wheels up every time a new truck is purchased from a dealership. In other words, we can’t turn every new vehicle into a Monster Truck to drive around the streets and highways of Western Canada.
In the oil and gas industry history has shown that companies inadvertently, or perhaps deliberately, gravitate toward the Monster Truck approach. This results in many different makes and models of the same industry products being requested by each producer, or through their contracted engineering companies, for similar upstream and midstream projects. Worse yet, this often occurs from within the same company. The net effect is needless overhead and increased capital expenditures to achieve basically the same thing. I think you will find many interesting and perhaps a few controversial opinions as you leaf through this edition.
This month I am going to take a different twist on our ‘One Size Fits All’ theme and apply the sort of same message to all of the rhetoric that is flying off the shelves by
our federal government around, you guessed it, additional and new environmental requirements that are further delaying pipeline approvals. You see, I believe they are playing somewhat the same card here, but I think it’s even a more dangerous game of Russian roulette with our economy and the future well-being of our fellow citizens. Carbon has become the new buzzword that the Federal Liberals would have us all believe we as a nation are telling them to embrace on our behalf. Nothing could be further from the truth. But when you listen to our politicians, time and time again, they are brainwashing us to believe otherwise. Here are but a few brief examples in recent months …….
“Canadians know that you can’t build a strong economy without protecting the environment at the same time. It’s not one or the other. People know we do need a strong economy and we need a protected environment and the process the Liberal government is putting forward is very much focused on permitting a development of both of those things simultaneously in partnership with concerned citizens and levels of government.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
January – Press Conference – Montreal
“We agreed, that we must get Alberta’s resources to market in responsible, sustainable ways. This agreement is based on our shared goal of ensuring that there is proper market access to our energy products.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
February – Press Conference – Edmonton
“The whole reason we put forward a process is that we are now able to demonstrate the viability on a community level, on a scientiFIc level, and not just on an economic level. What we had for 10 years was a government that refused to respect the fact that you need an environmental strength as well as an economic reason for it. By combining the two, there are actually better opportunities to get our resources to market.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
March – Global TV Interview – Calgary
“The Prime Minister has been very clear about this. That we need to get our natural resources to market. We need to get our natural resources to market in a sustainable way. We are well aware of the job losses. There are job losses across the country because of the low commodity prices. That is a major problem. We certainly factor that in. We are going to have green infrastructure spending. We are going to have spending to help build a cleaner economy including in terms of innovation and natural resources. And all we’re saying here is that Canadians deserve to have trust in their environmental assessment process.”
Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna
January – House of Commons – Ottawa
“Well I thank the Member for her question, and her concern for Albertans because I too I am and the people I am talking to are actually refreshed by the new approach of this government. We have a Prime Minister who is willing to engage with First Nations people, a Prime Minister who is willing to engage with Premiers and other people on the ground to see that these projects get consensus and I suspect she should come down to Calgary and talk to the people I am talking to. Their happy we’re in charge.”
Veterans Affair Minister, Kent Hehr
January – House of Commons – Ottawa
Throughout this whole one-sided debate and countless series of brainwashing interviews, no one is standing up and asking what exactly was and is still wrong with the current NEB review process. What’s broke? Actually nothing, other than Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet refusing to rubber stamp any economic stimulus nor private sector investment that has a hint of Tory blue attached to it. They say it is all about the environment, but come on, unless the Liberals can put their own brand of green stamp on these long overdue pipeline projects, our companies will continue to spend their money elsewhere and our people across the country will be disadvantaged needlessly for several more years.
So, in Trudeau’s eyes, one size actually does fit one and all, as long as you are looking through his rose coloured glasses. And of course, provided you have unfettered access to borrowing countless billions of dollars to spend our way to a new economy. Which he does! Did we all ask for this? Well a whopping 39% did indeed. You know, I can live with this outcome, but when businesses are falling down all across Canada, perhaps it is time for our federal government to take off their rose colored glasses and put on some safety glasses and gloves.
Kevin Turko
CEO
Oilfield HUB Inc.
kevin.turko@oilfieldhub.com
403.537.6561
Originally published in the