I'm lucky - I was born and raised in AB (mostly Calgary), I'd seen the cycle enough times by the time I was out of High School that I learned an important lesson - f@ck the oilpatch jobs, stay the hell away from it and let them import Wheatheads and Newfies to throw into the meat grinder. So, you know, I'm riding this out in style while a lot of friends... Aren't.
I almost feel guilty about the guns I've picked up on the cheap over the past couple months. Almost. The pattern is so dang regular, that if you're in the patch and not banking cash, it's on you when the carousel stops and everyone has to get off.
There are a lot of people who are still hanging on in the industry who are deluding themselves about how bad it's going to get.
Last year, there were 250 abandoned well heads in the province. Right now, it stands at 750 - and climbing. Those are completed wells that that owners can't even afford to turn on and make pump, to the point where they fold the straw company that owns the well and abandon the land, mineral rights, equipment on the land... Everything.
At first, I was thinking that it was going to be equivalent to the late 90's slump. But with the Notley Commies in power upping corporate taxes and minimum wages and rumbling about "Royalty Review" (read: they're going to jack up the extraction fees through the roof) - this is going to work out to be as bad as the 80's National Energy Program collapse.
The ripple effects are going to be felt across the country.