When we created the Oilfield PULSE magazine our mission was to provide our Oilfield HUB customers with a platform to tell their story, market their products and services, and promote their companies

When we created Oilfield PULSE a few short years ago, the oil and gas industry was vibrant, prices were high, companies were scrambling desperately to fill vacant positions, and optimism for the future was on everybody’s lips. Even as we flipped the calendar into 2015, the industry was still bullish on the future and new investment capital was still available for the asking.

Boy what a difference a year makes!

When we created the Oilfield PULSE magazine our mission was to provide our Oilfield HUB customers with a platform to tell their story, market their products and services, and promote their companies to their customers, the exploration and production and engineering, procurement and construction companies across Western Canada. We strived to create a magazine which represented the voice of our Oilfield HUB online business community, but to be honest, more from a sales and marketing perspective. Well that too has changed!

We are all aware that our very way of life is under attack by extremists and terrorists around the world who are trying to inflict their lifestyle and religious beliefs upon us here in North America. If this isn’t already alarming enough, who would’ve thought that at the end of 2015 the oil and gas industry would also be under attack here at home. Sure there is the obvious downturn in commodity prices and over supply impacting the patch. But to add insult to injury, why do we also have to suffer through the sucker punches from politicians, governments, environmental activists and radicals who’s agendas are less about the financial health of our citizens versus the achievement of their political agendas and social causes, all at any cost.

Never in our wildest imagination did we think that our sales and marketing voice needed to be reimagined and repositioned to become a loud and vocal advocate for the oil and gas industry. Well, what can I say, that is what we have become and we will make no apologies for being an out-spoken advocate and devoted fan of the oil & gas industry.

To be fair, we’re not the only group that’s currently under attack. Just ask people around Alberta and throughout our country, what they think about CO2, coal, farms and refugees. I’m a city boy, but both of my families hail from the family farm, and now what’s their outlook for 2016? When I think of the prospect of my uncles, aunts and cousins protesting on the steps of the Alberta legislature it makes me wonder if common sense has been replaced by political expediency.

In my immediate family we are blessed with five, soon to be six, teachers who are unaffected by the thousands upon thousands of private sector layoffs. Their outlook and plans for 2016 are vastly different than that of my brother-in-law who is reluctant to book a trip for this coming May due to the uncertainty surrounding his future employment in the patch which has spanned more than 25 years.

What are the presents going to look like under the Christmas tree in small towns like Hanna, Alberta when their livelihood is being threatened but yet the rest of the coal burning world remains unchecked?

How about all those people who have been laid off from pipeline and related companies but still see Canada and the United States purchasing conflict oil when billion dollar pipeline projects are being shelved and tanker traffic moratoriums are being proposed?

Why are we being restricted from selling our ethical oil and gas to our neighbours to the South and to markets overseas?

Why all of these attacks? I work in the oil and gas industry, I love our country, and I want to protect the environment as much as the next guy. And yes, I think we should

help those from other countries who are fearful for their lives due to the tyranny of others. Yet, when I oppose policies and taxes, which are unfair in my mind, that doesn’t make me, or my business colleagues, friends, and family, un-Canadian, racist, or planet killers. We can agree to disagree? That’s what democracy is all about.

As they say, why can’t we all get along? So, we asked all of our regular contributors and clients this month to let us know how they feel about 2016. Are they optimistic or pessimistic? Be it business, pleasure, or protecting the environment. How do they feel about what’s happening today, and more importantly, what is their outlook for the immediate future? We were overwhelmed with responses and are pleased to publish as many as we could on the pages in this month’s issue of Oilfield PULSE.

In the final analysis, here’s what counts. I’m sitting at my desk on a Saturday morning looking out at a clear blue sky and sunny day here in Calgary. Not a cloud to be seen! To my surprise, I walked in the door this morning, and our Office Manager had decorated the office last night. God bless her soul. The whole office will benefit from her act of kindness on Monday morning. I think I’m going to take a stroll outside in the crisp morning air and switch on some Christmas carols. Along my path, I will think about our fresh Alberta air, the crystal clear water I poured into my water bottle, and about a city, province, and country that has afforded us so much. I’m not worried about my personal safety as I walk around the next corner, but I just wish I could shake those uneasy feelings and grey clouds of uncertainty from my mind!

All the best to you and yours during the upcoming holiday season, and here’s to a more prosperous and certain New Year for 2016.

Kevin Turko
CEO
Leadstone Group
403.537.6561

Originally  published in the 

December 2015 issue of Oilfield PULSE