CAODC announces its 2020 Drilling Forecast:
- Projected 2020 wells drilled: 4,905—an increase of 9 from 2019 (4,896*)
- Projected 2020 operating days: 46,599—an increase of 88 from 2019 (46,511*)
- Rig fleet expected to decrease by 48 (545 drilling rigs to 497 drilling rigs)
- Total jobs expected = 22,313; flat year over year and a loss of 13,731 jobs compared to 2018.
*forecast + actual
Following the Canadian federal election in October, the sentiment toward Canadian oil and gas is nearing all-time lows. Since 2017 the industry has lost an estimated $30 billion in foreign capital, and companies continue layoffs and relocation efforts. CAODC members have moved 29 high-spec drilling rigs, several service rigs, and associated personnel to the United States in order to find work and generate cash flow.
Punitive regulations in the form of bills C-48 and C-69, delays in Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline and the Trans Mountain Expansion project have, among other things, left Canadian oil and gas workers with little to be optimistic about. “It has been another extremely difficult year for our members,” observes CAODC President and CEO, Mark Scholz. “The attacks from foreign funded, radical environmental groups, and punitive policy measures from our own federal government have caused Canadian oil and gas families to suffer unnecessarily.”
Canada’s oil and gas industry is at a critical turning point. “It would appear the only place Canada’s exceptional reputation for technologically driven environmental best practices isn’t recognized is in Ottawa,” explains Scholz. “If we do not create an environment where the oil and gas industry can compete internationally, we won’t have an industry left in this country.”
In order to stabilize the industry and restore confidence, CAODC calls upon the federal government to:
- Accept Alberta’s climate plan as a federal equivalent program.
- Repeal bills C-48 and C-69.
- Guarantee the completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion project using all available tools and resources.
- Include and prioritize the responsible development and export of Canadian oil and gas as an effective and timely means of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s time for the federal government to recognize what the rest of the world already knows: the Canadian oil and gas industry is a supplier of choice, good for the environment and the economy, and should be given every opportunity to compete internationally,” Scholz concludes.