New drilling forecast predicts 41 per cent slump in oil patch activity
Posted Jan 22, 2015 11:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s more buckling down happening in the oilsands, as prices continue to slump.
The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) has released its updated forecast for 2015, and it doesn’t look good.
The organization is projecting a 41 per cent decrease in activity by the end of the year.
The report also predicts total job losses could reach 23,000 people.
CAODC President Mark Scholz said he thinks everyone in the industry was incredibly surprised by how quickly commodity prices eroded.
“What that has done is it has caused producers to significantly pull back on new developments, on new capital spending, and that has a direct impact on the drilling and service rig industry,” he said.
Scholz explained they’ll be in a tough place for the long haul.
“2015 is not going to be a very good year for the industry and unless we see some recovery of natural gas as well as crude prices, we’ll be at this level of activity for the foreseeable future,” he said.
According to Scholz, numbers like this haven’t been seen since the tail end of the recession in 2009.
