“drilling, testing, producing, maintaining
and reclaiming crude oil and natural gas
wells”.
“We’re 80 per cent in the field and 20
per cent in downtown offices whereas
our producer customers are 80 per cent
downtown and 20 per cent in the field,”
Salkeld said.
Much attention is allotted to the Explora-
tion and Production (E&P) division of the
industry, but the OGS sector contributes a
staggering $91 billion to the nation’s GDP
and employs an estimated 685,623 Cana-
dians. Find out more by visiting psac.ca/re-
sources (
/
uploads/Contrib_OGS_Cdn_Econ.pdf) to
download PSAC’s September 2015 report
“The Contributions of the Canadian Oil
and Gas Services Sector to the
Canadian
National Economy”.
THE CURRENT CRISIS
The ongoing challenges faced by the en-
ergy industry have severely impacted not
just E&P companies but PSAC members
as well. The dropping oil prices have per-
sisted for longer than anticipated and sup-
ply continues to soar. For instance, gas
storage in Canada has reached the second
highest level in its history.
“We are not very hopeful of any significant
change in the very near future. There’s no
indicators that we look at that are giving us
any kind of signals of a positive outcome,”
Salkeld said. “I’ve been through five of
these and this one is shaping up to be equal
to the one I experienced in the early ’80s.”
There is hope, however, and Salkeld firmly
believes that prices will bounce back.
A CONVERSATION WITH THE
PRIME MINISTER AND SOME
SOLUTIONS
Last month, Salkeld and the Board of Di-
rectors spoke with Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau and the Premier of Alberta, Rachel
MARCH 2016
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