Opportunity Magazine - The Bakken

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OPPORTUNITY MAGAZINE JUNE 2014 4
ON THE COVER: Pumpjacks rise and
fall against a cloudy backdrop that
includes the Enbridge Cromer Terminal
to the north.
A SEMI-ANNUAL
PUBLICATION OF THE
BRANDON SUN
opmag@brandonsun.com
204-571-7430
FP CANADIAN NEWSPAPERS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP,
OWNERS OF THE BRANDON SUN
ERIC LAWSON: PUBLISHER
JAMES OCONNOR: MANAGING EDITOR
JIM LEWTHWAITE: SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER
TYLER STEPHENS: LAYOUT/DESIGN
GRANT HAMILTON: MULTIMEDIA
ALL PHOTOS BY TIM SMITH, EXCEPT AS NOTED
ALL STORIES BY CHARLES TWEED, EXCEPT AS NOTED
brandonsun.com
BRIMMING WITH OIL
INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES, COMPANIES AND GOVERNMENTS HAVE ALL HIT PAY
DIRT IN THE BAKKEN OILFIELDS. HOW LONG IT WILL LAST IS ANYONES GUESS, BUT
FOR NOW, THE WEALTH JUST KEEPS ON FLOWING PAGE 6
EVERY BIT OF EFFICIENCY HELPS
COMPANIES SERVICING THE OILPATCH KNOW TIME IS MONEY WHEN LEASING A RIG
CAN COST $20,000 A DAY PAGE 12
LEAP OF FAITH
THE VOLATILE NATURE OF THE OIL INDUSTRY MEANS ITS NEVER EASY LAUNCHING
A NEW OIL-RELATED BUSINESS. EVEN WHEN IT BECOMES ESTABLISHED AND
PROFITABLE, YOUVE GOT TO BE PREPARED TO RIDE THE ROLLER-COASTER FROM
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS TO THE REALLY GOOD RUNS PAGE 16
LIVING THE DREAM
COMMUNITIES SUCH AS WASKADA THAT ARE ROLLING IN OILPATCH DOUGH ARE
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE, KNOWING FULL WELL THE CURRENT BONANZA COULD
END TOMORROW PAGE 20
THE FRACKING CONUNDRUM
IT TAKES A LOT OF WATER. DOOMSDAY THEORIES ABOUND. BUT PROPONENTS OF
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING SAY THAT DONE CORRECTLY, THE TECHNIQUE IS SAFE AND
PROFITABLE. AND THE PROVINCIAL PETROLEUM BRANCH IS WORKING HARD TO
MAKE SURE IT DOESNT BECOME A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE IN MANITOBA PAGE 28
TALKING THE TALK
ITS A WHOLE DIFFERENT CULTURE OUT ON THE RIGS WITH A UNIQUE LANGUAGE
TO BOOT. FORMER RIG-WORKER-TURNED-JOURNALIST CHARLES TWEED WALKS YOU
THROUGH SOME OF THE BAFFLING TERMS THAT WORKERS MUST LEARN BEFORE
THEY CAN WALK THE WALK IN THE PATCH PAGE 30
MY GOLDEN HANDCUFFS
A 50-FOOT TUMBLE DOWN A RIG WASNT EXACTLY AN AUSPICIOUS START TO A
CAREER IN THE OIL INDUSTRY. BUT KILLARNEYS MIKE ROZANDER SURVIVED AND
THRIVED, BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST SEASONED DIRECTIONAL DRILLERS IN THE
WASKADA OILFIELD. JOINED BY HIS TWO BROTHERS, ROZANDERS LIFE IN THE PATCH
IS A FAMILY AFFAIR PAGE 36
FEEDING THE FLOCK
MICHELE BAHM AND CHRISTINE JENSEN ARE A WELL-OILED MACHINE IN THE KITCHEN
OF THE TINY CROMER CAF. GOOD THING WHEN YOURE WHIPPING UP 2,000 ORDERS
A DAY FOR THE HUNGRY HORDES IN THE OILPATCH PAGE 40
THE FIRST BLACK GOLD
LONG BEFORE THEY BEGAN PUMPING OIL OUT OF WESTMAN, THEY WERE PULLING
COAL OUT OF THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS. THEN, AS NOW, THE WORKING CONDITIONS
COULD BE TOUGH. BUT BACK THEN, NO ONE GOT RICH PAGE 44
JUNE 2014 OPPORTUNITY MAGAZINE 5
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The Bakken oilelds are located in the Williston Sedimentary Basin, a large area strad-
dling the Canada-U.S. border and incorporating portions of southwestern Manitoba,
southeastern Saskatchewan, most of North Dakota, the northwest corner of South
Dakota and the northeast corner of Montana. (Manitoba Mineral Resources Petroleum Branch)
As far as the eye can see, iron horses dot wheat fields in
southwestern Manitoba, rocking back and forth as they
slurp oil from hundreds of metres below the Earths sur-
face.
In 1951, the California Standard Oil Company discov-
ered the first commercial, oil-producing well in North
Americas Williston Basin and by Feb. 1 of that year, a
well 15 kilometres west of Virden was pumping crude.
Since that initial discovery in a sedimentary basin that
occupies portions of southwestern Manitoba, southern
Saskatchewan, North and South Dakota and Montana.,
the province has had an on-again, off-again relationship
with the oil industry.
Continued on Page 8
INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITIES,
COMPANIES AND GOVERNMENTS
HAVE ALL HIT PAY DIRT IN THE
BAKKEN OILFIELDS. HOW
LONG IT WILL LAST IS ANY-
ONES GUESS, BUT FOR
NOW, THE WEALTH JUST
KEEPS ON FLOWING.
A comprehensive look at the number of wells drilled in Manitoba over the last nine years. There has
been a dramatic shift to horizontal drilling over the same time period.
In 2013, there were 530
wells drilled in Manitoba by
26 different companies.
Tundra Oil and Gas, which
also owns Red Beds, led the
way with 189 wells drilled.
(Manitoba Mineral Resources
Petroleum Branch)
Continued from Page 6
After a decade of solid growth in the 1950s, the industry
went cold until a boom during the back half of the 1970s
and early 80s.
The rush was short-lived, however, when global oil prices
declined steeply as the world plunged into an economic re-
cession.
Today, drilling and service rigs are flourishing on West-
mans prairie landscape, largely due to advances in drilling
technology and oil recovery processes, combined with ro-
bust oil prices.
From 2005 to 2014, the industry has spent nearly $7 bil-
lion in the province, according to Keith Lowdon, director
or the Manitoba Mineral Resources Petroleum Branch.
Nearly half (4,280) of the approximately 9,100 wells in
the provinces oil history have been drilled over that same
time period.
And of the wells drilled in the latest boom, one in three
is a horizontal.
Horizontal drilling is the practice of laying drill pipe hor-
izontally under the ground so that the well can snake
through the production zone often referred to as pay
dirt for several hundred metres to increase the amount
of recoverable crude.
Geologists on location use samples, which are cuttings
from the rock being drilled below the surface, to instruct
the directional drillers to turn and twist the drill bit within
the zone.
If the geologist sees too many cuttings from the forma-
tion directly above the pay dirt, they will turn the bit
downward and visa versa if samples begin to turn up rock
from the formation below.
The attraction of horizontal drilling over traditional ver-
tical drilling is the level of production.
Initial production for vertical wells is between 15 to 50
barrels per day, while horizontal wells can produce 300 bar-
rels. And while the initial rates of production tend to be ex-
aggerated, horizontal wells still settle into an average
production rate approximately double to quadruple that of
a vertical well.
Continued on Page 10
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An older pump-jack churns relentlessly west of Virden.
In 2012, horizontal wells accounted for nearly 80 per cent
of the provinces total production. With an average price of
$84.53 a barrel that year, Manitoba sold approximately
$1.51 billion worth of light, sour-blend crude.
There were 614 wells drilled in 2012, of which 566 were
horizontal wells. Of these wells, 506 were cased as potential
oil producers, while 12 were abandoned dry called
dusters in the field.
Drilling advances, combined with hydraulic fracturing or
fracking, have more than doubled the provinces oil pro-
duction, according to Lowdon.
Fracking is a recovery technique wherein water, chemical
and sand are injected into the well at high pressure to create
small fractures in the surrounding rock formations, thus
freeing up oil and gas to move into the well bore.
The advances in technology are expected to keep the oil-
patch strong for the foreseeable future in Manitoba.
In this industry things can change on a dime, so its hard
to do long-term forecasting, Lowdon said. But we expect
to see the same level of activity for the next number of
years.
ctweed@brandonsun.com
Twitter: @CharlesTweed
MELITA Standing in a new shop sur-
rounded by drill bits, Les Pearson is in his ele-
ment.
The straight-talking Shear Bits salesman
beams as he pulls shiny new Polycrystalline Di-
amond Compact (PDC) bits from their cases.
Weve shaved days off holes around here
with our bits, he said, running his hands over a
PDC cutter.
The efficiencies are no small potatoes for oil
companies, which pay between $15,000 and
$20,000 per day to lease a rig.
On this cold, wet day in May, Pearson had
time to talk bits due to the oil industrys spring
breakup, a time when road bans restrict rigs
from moving and grind the sector to a halt.
Later the same day, he talked to two classes at
Melita School about the drilling process. Many
of the students he spoke to have mothers and
fathers who work in the expanding oilfields near
the community.
EVERY BIT OF
EFFICIENCY
HELPS
COMPANIES SERVICING
THE OILPATCH KNOW
TIME IS MONEY WHEN
LEASING A RIG CAN
COST $20,000 A DAY
A Polycrystalline Diamond
Compact (PDC) drill bit sits
inside a Shear Bits shop in
Melita.
Les Pearson, a salesman with
Shear Bits, makes sure his
companys Polycrystalline
Diamond Compact (PDC)
drill bits make it to drilling
operations in southwestern
Manitoba and southeastern
Saskatchewan.
Pearson showed students some of the smaller bits used
on holes near Waskada, as well as core samples from forma-
tions hundreds of metres below their feet.
He wasnt nervous that the kids wouldnt find the pres-
entation interesting. He was more concerned that his lan-
guage remained rated-PG.
After working for more than a decade in an industry
where salty language is an involuntary action no different
from breathing, its not that easy to turn off.
Seven years ago, Pearson moved to Melita from northern
Saskatchewan to drill for Precision Drilling in the Waskada
field.
In 2009, he was Shear Bits first new hire, tasked with
overseeing the Calgary companys interests in southwestern
Manitoba and into parts of Saskatchewan.
He takes pride in the amount of flexibility and quality of
service the smaller company can offer oil companies in the
area.
We are constantly updating, Pearson said. Our bits are
still handmade because every hole is different. We get it fig-
ured out and then its dialed right in.
Every bit, he claims, is custom engineered by a team in
Calgary.
When one oil engineer, charged with overseeing a well
near Waskada, called BS on his claim, Pearson delivered
the next bit to the rig with the skeptics initials welded
onto it.
The company, which has an office in the United States,
remains 100 per cent Canadian owned.
Every dollar we make stays in Manitoba or Western
Canada, Pearson said.
Those dollars are also finding their way to Melita, where
the oil industry and agricultural sector have stretched the
labour market.
Recently, the town and surrounding municipalities have
struggled to find maintenance workers, competing directly
with oil companies who can offer higher wages.
Labour and housing markets in the area have become as
volatile as the oil industry itself.
Melita Mayor Bob Walker said 18 months ago, there
were very few homes on the market and houses were sell-
ing at historic highs, but the market has cooled consider-
ably since.
The ebb and flow associated with the industry has also
slowed a subdivision in the northeast portion of the com-
munity.
However, a recently constructed 255-man camp built by
the PTI group, has most people in the community of
1,070 optimistic that this winter will be one of the busiest
yet.
The camp has just been completed and obviously they
dont spend money without knowing that there is going to
be activity back here in the area again, Walker said.
The camp only highlights another problem the
towns lagoon. Damaged in the flood of 2011, it is at ca-
pacity.
Even the recently constructed camp wont be able to tie
into municipal lines; instead, theyll have to truck waste-
water to neighbouring communities where storage isnt an
issue.
Walker said the lagoon is a priority for the council, and
he hopes to see some repairs begin this summer.
Its just one of a number of good problems that comes
with economic activity, but its a problem that Walker
knows needs to be solved before that activity moves on.
For just as quickly as workers like Pearson have decided
to call Melita home, they can leave chasing a rig some-
where else.
Melita will be home until the day the oilpatch crashes
or I get told to go home, Pearson said.
A variety of Tricone Bits sits on shelves inside the Shear Drilling shop in Melita.
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THE VOLATILE NATURE OF THE
OIL INDUSTRY MEANS ITS
NEVER EASY LAUNCHING A NEW
OIL-RELATED BUSINESS. EVEN
WHEN IT BECOMES ESTAB-
LISHED AND PROFITABLE,
YOUVE GOT TO BE PREPARED
TO RIDE THE ROLLER-COASTER
FROM SLEEPLESS NIGHTS TO
THE REALLY GOOD RUNS.
LEAP OF
FAITH
Colby Taylor, owner of Taylor
Oilfield Services just outside
Melita, stands in front of
part of his fleet of vacuum
trucks.
MELITA If Joel Vuignier gets one year out of a cell-
phone before its broken, he considers it a success.
The field supervisor for Taylor Oilfield Services in Melita
has more blisters on his ear from talking on the phone than
his hands when the oilpatch is firing on all cylinders.
There are times when Im talking on the phone and by
the time the calls finished, I already have two messages to
return, and by the time Ive listen to those messages, another
message has already come in, Vuignier said.
Its all part of the business when youre helping organize
11 vacuum trucks and 10 water trucks in one of the busiest
oil-producing centres in the province.
Vuignier works for Colby Taylor, who after five years sling-
ing slips and throwing pipe with Precision Drilling out west,
decided to return home and work as a vac-truck operator and
water hauler.
What started with one tractor and a wagon has blossomed
into a company that now employs 35 workers.
Its never easy starting out, said Taylor, who grew up in
Brandon and still calls it home.
With a new shop in Melita, he admits there are many
nights in the winter he crashes on the couch in the office
rather than hopping in his truck for the one-hour commute.
The self-made businessman started in 2008, taking a leap
of faith and investing in trucks and equipment.
One year later, the patch slowed to its lowest level in the
previous five years, with only 264 holes punched in the
province.
In the four years that have followed, 2,235 wells have been
drilled an average of approximately 560 wells per year.
Taylor admits there was some nervous energy when the
company was getting started.
Sparks fly as Tom Wilson, a mechanic with Taylor Oilfield Services, replaces a float inside
a vacuum truck, at the Melita-area business.
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At times its been challenging be-
cause (the industry) is up and down,
he said. Its been stressful and there
have been some sleepless nights, but
weve had some good runs, too.
Today, on a cool April afternoon,
Taylor is doing some maintenance
work on a vac truck while waiting for
the provincial road restrictions to be
lifted. Thats when oil companies will
start moving rigs and digging ditch
again.
He keeps a few employees working
throughout the shutdown, which is
known as breakup in the industry.
Others enjoy the respite provided by
the ban, which is designed to protect
provincial roads and infrastructure
from the movement of heavy equip-
ment during the spring when they
are most vulnerable.
Hes heard rumours the oilfield
will fire up again in early June, but
has been around long enough to
know that will probably mean things
start moving closer to the end of the
month.
The toughest part of his business
is the logistics. Taylor is constantly
juggling equipment, which engineers
wanted yesterday, and workers, who
are spread throughout Western
Canada and Ontario.
Then, theres the cold.
Nothing runs the way its sup-
posed to when its 40 C, Taylor
said. Thats why we have to be as
prepared as we can be all the time.
A massive vacuum truck looms over mechanic
Tom Wilson as he repairs a part.
At times its been
challenging because
(the industry) is up
and down ... Its been
stressful and there
have been some
sleepless nights, but
weve had some
good runs, too.
Colby Taylor
Working in
bonec hi l l i ng
cold is par for
the course in the
Bakken oilelds.
Here, Jasmeen
Stahl with Sil-
verline Oil Field
Services casts a
shadow through
the steam as she
uses high pres-
sure steam to
thaw a pump-
jack south of
Cromer, Mani-
toba. Tempera-
tures in this
January 2014
photo were
hovering around
minus 30.
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Waskada Mayor Gary Williams stands
in front of a brand new arena being
constructed in the small community.
WASKADA Gary Williams has seen
this movie before.
The Waskada mayor had a front-row seat
for the oil boom in the 1980s. The drip of
black gold spilled outward, touching every
facet of the communitys economy.
He also understands that just as quickly as
those large rigs moved in to develop the area,
the tap can be turned off overnight.
COMMUNITIES SUCH AS
WASKADA THAT ARE ROLLING IN
OILPATCH DOUGH ARE INVESTING
IN THE FUTURE, KNOWING FULL
WELL THE CURRENT BONANZA
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Today, the community of fewer than 200 is thriving and
Williams is intent on squeezing as much benefit from the
industry and the hungry mouths and thick wallets it
brings with it as possible.
Its one of those things that could end tomorrow,
Williams said while touring what has become known as the
Waskada play.
Stopping in front of a large steel building, the mayor
beams with pride.
This will be our new rink, he said.
Trudging through mud and around construction equip-
ment, Williams peers into what will be a state-of-the-art
arena pegged between $3.5-$4 million to build. While the
rink is nothing more than a steel shell with a dirt floor right
now, Williams can already envision a packed ice surface full
of kids, including his grandchildren, skating around.
The choice was simple, we build a new building or we
abandon skating in our community, he said. If we dont
have a rink here, then what is next? Were trying to move
forward, not backward.
Multinational oil companies and local contractors have
stepped up to offset some of the costs of the new facility.
However, it was a generous act in 2002 that laid the foun-
dation for the arena.
In 2002, when 93-year-old Mabel Pounder passed away,
she gifted the community the mineral rights to a parcel of
land in the RM of Arthur, village CAO Diane Woodworth
said.
At the time, the royalties were worth $20,000. This year
the royalties will contribute $650,000 to the villages bottom
line; last year it was $800,000. Its big money for a commu-
nity that generates approximately $155,000 in property-tax
revenue.
It was incredible what she did, Williams said.
The sale of fresh water, used for drilling and fracking, has
also generated a substantial amount of revenue.
The school is full, a newly constructed bank is bustling, a
grocery store that had to be taken over by the community
when times were tough is now turning a healthy profit and
a new Korean family has moved in to run the bar and
restaurant.
But its not without its challenges.
High wages have stretched the labour and housing mar-
kets, while municipal roads have taken a beating as large
trucks travel to and from oil leases.
Williams isnt sure how long the activity will last, or
whether it will be the last time the industry comes to the
area in a substantial way.
Advances in drilling and oil recovery practices mainly
horizonal drilling and fracking have made Waskada rel-
evant in the energy sector again.
Last year, according to the Manitoba Mineral Resources
Petroleum Branch, the Waskada field had 1,039 producing
wells, which combined for 5.39 million barrels of oil. It was
the second most productive field in the province behind
Daily-Sinclair.
This year is supposed to be similar to 2013, but Williams
knows it wont last forever.
You take it while you can, he said. And hopefully, when
someone drives away with the last piece of oil equipment,
there is something left behind.
A white board in the entranceway to the ofces for the Village
of Waskada and the RM of Brenda in Waskada lists available
accommodations for workers new to the area.
The top five oilfields in Manitoba combined for
4,335 producing wells and more than 17.5 million
barrels of oil in 2013.
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Virden,
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Canada
Drop a stone into a barrel of oil and watch the ripples ex-
pand outward and somewhere just before those waves start
to dissipate off is Souris.
While the community isnt at the epicentre of the oil in-
dustry in southwestern Manitoba, its not beyond its ripple
effect either.
Oil workers, who used to travel to rig locations in British
Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, now drive less than a
couple of hours before zipping up their flame-resistant cov-
eralls.
The fact the majority of rigs working in Manitoba and
southeastern Saskatchewan work eight-hour shifts compared
to 12 hours everywhere else makes the commute manageable.
Weve seen families, who have someone in the household
that works in the oilpatch, choose our community as a home
base, Souris and Glenwood economic development officer
Vern May said.
The bump in traffic also helped paved the way for the com-
munity of 1,840 residents to host two major concerts this
spring as Doc Walker and Aaron Pritchett sold out well in
advance of their shows.
Companies such as Falcon Enterprises and Souris Pump-
ing have zeroed in on the activity, according to May.
There is optimism that more business could be on the hori-
zon as seismic crews continue to
probe the area for the next big
play.
Indirectly we are starting to
see an impact here, but we also
know that oil companies have
been doing some exploratory
drilling within the municipality
and all they need to do is find
one reservor and thats 300 jobs,
May said.
The effects are being felt in
the service industry, too.
Uptown Lounge and Restau-
rant owner Darcia Wright said that about every six weeks,
she prepares between 40 to 60 meals, three times a day, for
crews inspecting pipelines and working in the patch.
They come in and pick up their food and take it back to
the field, Wright said. It hasnt been as busy here as
Saskatchewan or Melita, but I know its heading this way.
Country artists Doc Walker rock out for
the crowd at the Souris & Glenwood Me-
morial Complex during their concert
earlier this spring.
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Fracking is a controver-
sial issue right now. The
mining technique uses a
liquid compound at high
pressures to cause
breaks in formations
below the surface so
more oil and gas is able
to ow into the well.
(Canadian Natural Gas)
IT TAKES A LOT OF WATER. DOOMSDAY THEORIES
ABOUND. BUT PROPONENTS OF HYDRAULIC
FRACTURING SAY THAT DONE CORRECTLY, THE
TECHNIQUE IS SAFE AND PROFITABLE. AND THE
PROVINCIAL PETROLEUM BRANCH IS WORKING
HARD TO MAKE SURE IT DOESNT BECOME A
CONTENTIOUS ISSUE IN MANITOBA.
THE FRACKING
CONUNDRUM
Its a loaded word that tends to
elicit strong and often emotional
responses.
But what exactly is fracking?
A mining technique designed to
increase production of oil and gas
wells, hydraulic fracturing or
fracking is the procedure of
blasting a compound, which gen-
erally consists of water, chemicals
and sand, into geological forma-
tions at high pressures to create
small cracks in the rock surround-
ing the well.
The subsequent cracks in the formation free up points for
oil and gas to flow into the well and be sucked up by a pump
jack.
And then there is multi-stage fracking, in which areas of
horizontal wells are isolated and blasted several times before
moving to another section of the well to repeat.
Critics of the technique say it poses a threat to ground-
water, potentially depleting freshwater sources through con-
tamination from natural gas released from rock formed
hundreds of millions of years ago.
There are also concerns with air emissions related to
methane leaks, and seismic events, such as micro-earth-
quakes, in some areas.
However, proponents say fracking done under the right
circumstances is safe and note its positive impact on the
economy.
Keith Lowdon, director of the Manitoba Mineral Re-
sources Petroleum Branch, said there havent been any prob-
lems with the technique within the province since it was
introduced more than two decades ago, adding that the
practice is regulated by The Oil and Gas Act.
Its become a contentious issue in some jurisdictions and
it hasnt become an issue in Manitoba, he said, but we
want to make sure that is doesnt and that were in line with
what other jurisdictions are doing.
The provincial department is currently working on regu-
lations that would require companies to publically disclose
the type and quantity of fluids being used in all frack jobs.
We havent had any fracking issues and if were open
about what is happening, then it should provide some level
of comfort for people, Lowdon said.
The average frack job uses 400 to 700 cubic metres of
water. By comparison, the average family of four uses 500
cubic metres of water a year, according to the Petroleum
Branch.
Fluids are managed from cradle to grave, according to
Lowdon.
There are no known cases where fracking has resulted in
groundwater contamination in Manitoba, where oil reser-
voirs are located 400 to 1,000 metres below aquifers.
Surface and intermediate casing are cemented into the
ground well below groundwater aquifers, reducing the risk
of contamination.
The majority of problems associated with fracking oc-
curred in shale gas projects in the United States.
In Manitoba, there is no shale gas development. However,
the province does hold potential in this area, providing nat-
ural gas prices climb to a level where it is economically ad-
vantageous to develop.
After drilling
surface with a
wa t e r - b a s e d
drilling uid, the
well is cased and
cemented to
protect ground
water. (Trican)
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(Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun)
ITS A WHOLE DIFFERENT CULTURE OUT ON
THE RIGS WITH A UNIQUE LANGUAGE
TO BOOT. FORMER RIG-WORKER-TURNED-
JOURNALIST CHARLES TWEED WALKS YOU
THROUGH SOME OF THE BAFFLING TERMS
WORKERS MUST LEARN BEFORE THEY CAN
WALK THE WALK IN THE PATCH.
TALKING
TALK
THE
If youve never worked in the oilpatch, or have ever been
caught between two rig hands talking shop, the lingo can be
more than a touch confusing.
I still remember my first shift working on a Precision
Drilling rig near Lloydminster, Sask. Ill use the gap as
the citys province of origin as thats the side we were working
on, although Lloydminster straddles the provincial border be-
tween Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Standing on the rig floor, the driller a gnarly looking 50-
something-year-old man with a foul mouth and pristine han-
dle-bar mustache yelled at me.
Hey, idiot, he hollered from the brake han-
dle.
In case anyone is unclear, I was the idiot, a
name equally based on the fact he didnt know
my real name and my greenhorn status.
He continued, Unlatch the hook on the
blocks because were kellying up.
I remember thinking, What did he just say?
Id eventually figure out what blocks and
kelly were while working my way up to der-
rickhand in the patch.
And the driller, who is now a friend, eventu-
ally learned my name, deciding on Charlie.
After a few years working on a couple of rigs
in every province and territory west of Mani-
toba, I left Precision Drilling for Phoenix Tech-
nologies, where I worked as a
measure-while-drilling hand (MWD) before
trading in my coveralls for textbooks at Assini-
boine Community College.
Most of my rig stories now only come out
when I get together with former co-workers. But
this magazine, which focuses on the oil and gas
industry in Manitoba, got me thinking about rig
culture and the language that is so foreign to
most who have never worked in the field.
It prompted me to put together a list of some
of the terms used in industry that are scattered
throughout these pages.
First and foremost whenever someone is iden-
tifying a rig that they worked on, they name it
by the company, say Precision Drilling and a
number. I worked on PD 143, for example.
Me, working derrick on Precision Drilling 231 in 2005. I am standing
on the monkey boards in the derrick. The rig was a triple, meaning
I'm about 27 metres above the rig oor. The rope attached to my
back allows me to lean out into the derrick to throw pipe in or pull
them out while tripping in and out of the hole. The second photo
(inset) is my view straight down from the monkey boards. You can also see the drill string in front of me, on which the blocks
run up and down. The ropes to the right are where stands of pipe would be racked and tied off. (Submitted)
1. Mud tank
2. Shale Shakers
3. Suction line (mud pump)
4. Mud pump
5. Motor or power source
6. Vibrating hose
7. Draw-works
8. Standpipe
9. Kelly hose
10. Goose-neck
11. Traveling block
12. Drill line
13. Crown block
14. Derrick
15. Monkey board
16. Stand (of drill pipe)
17. Pipe rack (oor)
18. Swivel (On newer rigs this may be replaced by a top drive)
19. Kelly drive
20. Rotary table
21. Drill oor
22. Bell nipple
23. Blowout preventer (BOP) Annular type
24. Blowout preventer (BOP) Pipe ram & blind ram
25. Drill string
26. Drill bit
27. Casing head or Wellhead
28. Flow line
A simplied look at a rig and the mechanisms employed
to drill a well anywhere in the world. (Wikipedia)
That is always followed by what type of rig it is. PD 143 is a Jackknife-Double, mean-
ing the derrick is in one piece, supported by an A-frame at the bottom, and jackknifes to
the ground to be moved.
Double means two joints of pipe still connected can stand in the derrick. By being able
to rack several stands of two joints of pipe in the derrick, the rig can essentially trip in and
out of the hole twice as fast as a single, because it only needs to break the drill string every
second joint an important aspect because time is money in the oilfield.
Another example is a Tele-Double. Again two joints of pipe can stand in the derrick,
but the derrick actually telescopes down to move or up to drill. The top section slides up
through the bottom section and is held there by large steel pins.
Here are some other terms you might hear in the patch
Blocks: The travelling piece of machinery used to hoist pipe and other ma-
terials. The blocks move vertically up and down within the derrick through
a series of pulleys that the drill line is threaded through.
Blooey line: A section of line used to bleed off any pressure on the pumps.
Crown: The top of the rig derrick. If a driller crowns out, it means he ran
the blocks up to the point where they hit the crown block.
Kelly: A device that hooks to the drill string connecting it to the pump. The
kelly also has a set of bushings, which sit in the rotary table and spin while
the rig is drilling. It is typically a few metres longer than the average length
of a drill pipe.
F-Stick: A long metal tool that is designed to unlatch the hook on the
blocks.
Monkey boards: The steel platform the derrickhand stands on while up in
the derrick.
Mud motor: A device inserted at the bottom of a drill string. The mud motor
has two sections and is bent at an angle to enable directional drilling. When
sliding, the mud motor provides the rotations so the bit can stay on an
angle pointed where the driller wants to go.
Petcock: A small pressure gauge used to measure the pressure of the
drilling fluid in the stand pipe.
Shaker: A machine that vibrates a series of screens. As drilling fluid runs
over the shaker, the fluid falls through the vibrating screens while cuttings
from downhole, such as rock and sand, continue over the top and are sep-
arated out.
Slide: When the rig is sliding, the kelly isnt spinning, instead relying on the
mud motor at the end of the drill string to provide rotation. Slides are used
to point the mud motor in a specific direction.
Stack: The blowout preventer (BOP) is a large mechanical device designed
to stop a blowout from happening. Blowouts happen when the drilling fluid
isnt heavy enough to hold downhole pressures, such as gas, from making
its way to the surface.
Tripping: The act of running pipe in or out of the hole.
These are just some of the many terms used on rig floors throughout the
patch, where if you ask any old-timer, the rigs used to be made of wood
and the men of steel.
As players listen to their coach,
you don't have to look far to see
the effect of Virden's history
with oil when it comes to their
Manitoba Junior Hockey League
team the Virden Oil Capitals
from their name itself to their
logo, which features crossed
pumpjacks, to the oileld serv-
ices sponsorship on their hel-
mets and the fact that they play
out of the brand new state-of-
the-art Tundra Oil and Gas Place.
The place oil built
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Save time. Eat well. Everyday.
Being busy is no reason to settle for food that isnt good for us or
doesnt taste good. Sobeys is going to make sure you have great
ideas every week on how to cook good food fast.
Choose the healthy life.
Youll find more products made
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These are products made without
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A family takes a photo in a Trican Well Serv-
ice truck during the company's grand open-
ing of a new shop in Brandon in June. Trican,
which specializes in fracking and cement
jobs in southwestern Manitoba, employs 70
full-time employees. The company invested
approximately $8.2 million in their new lo-
cation, which includes a 23,000 square-foot
shop, and has another $13.5 million worth of
rolling stock in the form of trucks and tanks
in Manitoba. (Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun)
Trican trucks
ready to roll
MY GOLDEN
HANDCUFFS
A 50-FOOT TUMBLE DOWN
A RIG WASNT EXACTLY AN
AUSPICIOUS START TO A
CAREER IN THE OIL INDUSTRY.
BUT KILLARNEYS MIKE
ROZANDER SURVIVED AND
THRIVED, BECOMING ONE
OF THE MOST SEASONED
DIRECTIONAL DRILLERS IN THE
WASKADA OILFIELD. JOINED
BY HIS TWO BROTHERS,
ROZANDERS LIFE IN THE
PATCH IS A FAMILY AFFAIR.
KILLARNEY On a quiet spring morning, Mike
Rozander stands in his kitchen overlooking Killarney
Lake, brewing a pot of dark-roast coffee.
Rozander pours two cups, then stops and adds a glug
of Baileys Irish Cream into one of them.
Want a shot? he asks.
Rozander is on holidays. The directional driller or
DD who has spent two decades working in the oil-
patch, has the next six to eight weeks off due to a provin-
cial road ban that limits rigs from moving.
I, however, am not on holidays, having been tasked
with interviewing this man who has drilled more hori-
zontal wells in the Waskada field than anyone else.
Ive known Rozander for more than 20 years and went to
school and worked rigs with his younger brother.
Sure, I answer.
During the course of the next hour over coffees, Rozander
shares stories from a career that has taken him all over
Western Canada, led to him falling more than 50 feet, re-
sulted in his launching of his own business and provided a
stable life for his wife and family.
(The oilpatch) is my golden handcuffs, he jokes, sitting
down at the table across from me.
In the oilfield, a sense of humour isnt an asset, its a ne-
cessity and Rozander has a good one.
In 1994, one year after graduating high school in Killar-
ney, Rozander and his best friend, Dean Dixon, who has
since passed away following a battle with cancer, loaded up
their vehicles and headed west in search of riches in Alberta.
The idea of working two weeks and getting one week off
was appealing to the young men.
At the time, however, there were no roughneck schools
or training programs for new employees. The patch was a
much different place, with about 400 rigs working mostly
in Alberta a number that today has more than doubled
to 810, and now includes substantial drilling in British Co-
lumbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
It was much harder to get on the rigs back then, Rozan-
der said. We drove around to different locations, left our
names with the tool push, had a cup of coffee with him and
tried our best to make a good impression.
The tenacity paid off for the pair, as Rozander and Dixon
would eventually get hired by different companies.
Three years later, the two would finally get a chance to
work together on a rig in Fox Creek, Alta.
It was there that Rozander, working as a derrickhand, fell
50 feet, landing on the rig floor less than five feet away from
his friend.
How and why he fell is a complicated story that involves
freezing rain, a motorhand having trouble up the stick,
jammed shaker screens and tight hole due to shale falling
in, forcing the crew to ream each joint of pipe back into the
hole.
But Rozander, now older and wiser, admits he was impa-
tient at the time.
I yelled Heads up boys on the way down.
The length of fall also gave him chance to think, he said.
Envisioning himself falling backwards, he told himself, I
have to land like a cat, so he pointed his toes down toward
the rapidly approaching rig floor.
While the impact shattered his feet and ankles, his quick
decision helped mitigate the force on the rest of his body
and may have saved his life, doctors told him.
Never one to slow down or milk the system, Rozander
fell in November of 1997 and was back working in the com-
panys Calgary office on light duty less than three months
later.
Soon after, he was back on a rig floor drilling for Precision
Drilling in the Northwest Territories.
It was there that he brought his younger brother, Trevor,
into the industry after firing a roughneck.
The two got off to an ominous start, however, when dur-
ing his first week on the job, Trevor dropped a dog-collar
pin down the hole. The incident forced the rig to mill
through the pin for three days and was followed by several
magnet runs to clean up the debris.
I was losing my mind on him at the time, but he
straightened me out and weve always got along ever since,
Rozander said with a smile, adding hes never brought up
the incident since.
Mike Rozander has spent two decades working in the oil-
patch. Rozander, who owns a business as a directional
driller, has brought both his younger brothers into the
fold. (Submitted)
I yelled Heads up boys on the way down.
Mike Rozander
I havent forgotten it though.
The following year, he went direction drilling.
After working as a DD with Computalog for several
years, he became a consultant, running his own business
where he contracts his services to oil companies.
In 2005, he brought Trevor into the fold and over the
next several years, the brothers worked together in Al-
berta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, steering bits through
formations thousands of metres away from the rig floor.
In 2012, Rozanders youngest brother, Eddie, joined
their crew as a measure-while-drilling or MWD
hand.
If DDs steer the bit under the ground, then an MWD
hand tells them where it is located through a series of
digital surveys.
For the first time last winter, all three worked together
as drillers.
Were all a team and its our ace in the hole when
things get busy and its typically hard to get days off.
Two decades ago, Rozander could count the number
of guys from Killarney who worked in the oilpatch on
one hand. Today, he said there are at least 30 guys from
the town currently working in the industry, from pressure
testers and roughnecks to MWD hands and DDs.
When the industry took off in Manitoba, Rozander
and his wife, Debbie, decided to move to Killarney.
After years of witnessing an erratic housing market in
Alberta, the couple liked the stability and small-town at-
mosphere the community of 2,300 provided their grow-
ing family.
Rozander said the biggest change in the oil field has
been the steady introduction of technology. Advance-
ments have made it possible for decisions to be made
from central locations, such as Calgary, on rigs hundreds
of kilometres away.
He suspects one day there wont be the need for a DD
to be physically on the location of the rig.
But not in his time.
If I get 10 more years out of it, Ill be happy, Rozan-
der said taking a sip of coffee. I really have no com-
plaints. The patch has been good to me.
Eddie and Trevor Rozander
standing in front of a rig
near Stoughton, Sask. The
brothers are part of a three-
man crew of directional
drillers, which includes their
older brother Mike, who drill
horizontal holes in south-
western Manitoba and
southeastern Saskatchewan.
(Submitted)
Cars and pickup trucks
surround the Subway
restaurant in Melita as
a sign advertises the
need for more staff on
a late April day. While
theres no shortage of
customers for busi-
nesses in Bakken
towns, there is a short-
age of workers who
havent been lured to
the high-paying patch.
Dire
need
for
workers
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MICHELE BAHM AND CHRISTINE
JENSEN ARE A WELL-OILED
MACHINE IN THE KITCHEN OF THE
TINY CROMER CAF. GOOD THING
WHEN YOURE WHIPPING UP 2,000
ORDERS A DAY FOR THE HUNGRY
HORDES IN THE OILPATCH.
FEEDING
THE FLOCK
Michelle Bahm, manager of the Cromer Cafe in Cromer, Manitoba brings cutlery and small talk to hungry customers
Ken Hamel and Dallas Coulter during the lunch rush on April 21. The tiny cafe does big business, attracting oil workers
with daily specials and delivery to the patch.
www.contractorscorner.ca
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CROMER In a shoe-box kitchen
with a two-foot grill in the middle of the
oilfield, Michele Bahm and Christine
Jensen are pumping out food orders for
hungry workers.
The Cromer Caf is just one of several
success stories in Westman, capitalizing on
the oil and gas industry in the surrounding
area.
Bahm said there are times the lineup is
out the door and around the corner as crews
wait for hearty, homemade meals.
The pair have served workers from coast-
to-coast Newfoundland to British Co-
lumbia and everywhere in between and
have even picked up some of the lingo.
Some days it can be pretty hairy in here,
but we get er done, Bahm said with a
laugh.
The tiny restaurant was forced to build a
deck in order to accommodate more people.
Bahm said customers are like family,
often offering up their table to others when
they are finished eating, understanding the
small quarters are part of the cafs charm.
In the kitchen, Bahm and Jensen are not
unlike some of the greatest duos in sports
history. Like Jordan and Pippen, Montana
and Rice, and Kurri and Gretzky, the pair
have an undeniable chemistry in the
kitchen.
For the past two years, weve worked together and now
were able to anticipate what the other person is going to do
before they do it, Bahm said. When one person falls be-
hind, the other one pitches in, so its a pretty good system we
have going.
Daily orders can range from 150 to 2,000 depending on
the time of year. The numbers are more impressive when you
consider the community has a population of 25 residents.
The big orders really get us going, said Bahm, who also
knows where they make their bacon, literally and figuratively.
If the oil industry wasnt here, the business wouldnt be
here.
Across the street, the Cromer Valley Store is the very def-
inition of diversification.
In 1977, Mark Toews ran the small grocery store with his
father.
Today, two new buildings later and now running the store
with his son-in-law, Mark hasnt subscribed to the status quo.
The grocery is now just a fraction of the business, which
sells oilfield equipment ranging from coveralls to hoses.
Theres a market for liquor and cigarettes, too, but Toews
said he wouldnt want to get into that side of the business for
religious reasons. But thats about all they dont do.
We do embroidery and custom logos for businesses and
we sell fuel, both gas and diesel, Toews said. The latest
boom has expanded our line and we rent out rig mats to the
oilfield.
The store does work for Enbridge and Tundra Oil and
Gas, two of the major players in Manitoba.
On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most important,
I would say the oil industry is a nine for us, Toews said.
Pumpjacks dotting the Manitoba landscape rise and fall in continuum during spring breakup.
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THE FIRST
BLACK GOLD
LONG BEFORE THEY BEGAN PUMPING OIL OUT OF WESTMAN,
THEY WERE PULLING COAL OUT OF THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS.
THEN, AS NOW, THE WORKING CONDITIONS COULD BE
TOUGH. BUT BACK THEN, NO ONE GOT RICH.
Before there was oil, there was coal.
While most Manitobans are familiar with the most recent flurry of oil
activity in the Williston Basin, which stretches into the southwestern corner
of the province, its not the first rush on an energy commodity in the area.
The Turtle Mountains are rich with beds of lignite coal that were mined
at the turn of the 20th century and again during the Great Depression.
Local historian Bob Caldwell documented Manitobas Coal Rush for
the Manitoba Historical Society and said the initial discovery of coal was
accidental when settlers of the Boundary Commission Trail were drilling
for water near Boissevain and turned up a coal core.
(Winnipeg Free Press)
One of the first pioneers of
the industry was Mr. Voden,
who mined a vertical shaft 12
metres deep and about 24
metres square until it col-
lapsed over lunch in 1887.
Miraculously no one was in-
jured.
Two years later, the Mani-
toba Coal Company looked
to set up a commercial mine
on 810 hectares of land near
Goodlands. The goal was to
extract the coal and ship it by
rail through Deloraine to
Brandon and Winnipeg.
However, the railway was
never built and in the end, the
Canadian Pacific Railway ex-
tended track to southern
Saskatchewan, where they
would truck coal from Roche
Percee. That readily available
coal doomed the Manitoba
mine and visions of an en-
ergy-based industry near
Goodlands, Deloraine and
Waskada were dashed.
The Dirty 30s provided the
perfect storm to revive the in-
dustry in the area.
A lack of work coupled with
a need for cheap energy brought local prospectors back to
the western edge of the Turtle Mountains in hopes of strik-
ing it rich.
Most of the workers were local guys, Caldwell said. In
those times, its not that coal was any less money but people
had less and mining it out there meant people could get it
a bit cheaper.
Several companies Deloraine Coal Company, Turtle
Mountain Coal Mines and Deep River Mine operated
for a number of years with limited success.
It was ultimately two mines near Goodlands, separated
by a fence line, that had the greatest impact in the industry.
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Workers stop for a photo outside the mine operated by John Nestibo in 1933. Nestibo's crew produced about 25 tonnes of coal per day in a mine
located on the western edge of the Turtle Mountains near Goodlands. (Submitted)
In 1931, John Nestibo was hired to
run the Henderson Mine, which went
on to produce about 25 tonnes of coal
per day.
However, after the owners asked for
more royalties from Nestibo, he
hopped a fence line and built the Salter
Mine just metres away from the Hen-
derson shaft.
George Cain, from Melita, was hired
to replace Nestibo and the two would
mine beside each other for the better
part of a decade.
The conditions were tough and no
one got rich, with Ted Nestibo describ-
ing the mine as kind of like a frozen
death.
Caldwell said there are stories of
miners being buried up to their chest,
but miraculously there werent many
injuries.
Some of the guys would go down
the mine once and that was enough for
them, he said. And as soon as the
Great Depression ended and the Sec-
ond World War started, they couldnt
get anyone to work in them.
Despite the conditions, there was a
sense of camaraderie in the mine as
workers sang songs while they worked
underground.
The war ended commercial coal
mining in Westman as farmers went
back to the fields and young men and
women went overseas to serve their
country.
But to this day, there is still a large
reserve of coal in the Turtle Mountains,
known as Turtle Mountain mud be-
cause it is mined out of underground
streams.
ABOVE: The 49th parallel follows a slash line, cut
through Turtle Mountain forest between North Dakota
and Manitoba.
LEFT: Workers with a pickaxe and shovel stand outside
a mine near Goodlands in 1933.
(Winnipeg Free Press)
(Submitted)
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389 Park Avenue East, Brandon, MB 204-726-3221 1-855-776-2476

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