Lack of workers limit Canada's oil sands projects
Canada, which is the U.S.' number one supplier of oil, is now looking into new sources of fuel to export. One source is oil sands. In the past, obtaining enough usable oil from the mixture had been expensive but the $70 cost per barrel of crude oil has now made processing oil sands commercially viable. Engineers and geologists estimate there's enough oil in the oil sands in the province of Alberta to rival Saudi Arabia's oil reserves. The biggest hurdle faced by the Canadian oil producers is finding enough staff to move to the remote regions where the oil sands are located. Says Neil Camarta, senior vice president of Petro-Canada, "we're a huge reservoir of oil. The limits are (finding) the people."
[Source: USA Today]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glenn A. 9:55AM (7/07/2006)
Start offering the people wages commensurate with the need for an increased workforce, and they'll show up. Not "mexican labour" wages. It's called "free enterprise" and it's covered in Economics 101. Oh yeah, and don't forget to pay the people already there the same higher wages you pay the people you're enticing to come. No "two tier" wages. Sheesh, these people are university educated who run these companies, and they can't figure this out? Perhaps greed causes blindness and stupidity?
It's not like the profits won't come. They will. They already are, in fact. The oil companies don't need to make billions upon billions and then pay the people actually doing the work "just a wage".
Also, start hauling some properly built, high roof strength ("Alaska" strength), modular homes up there from northern Indiana so people have homes to live in instead of tents, cabins and the other inferior housing totally unsuited to the extreme north.
Stick built homes are not particularly practical because then you need to haul all the stuff up there and house the house builders, too! Just a thought.
Man, I wish I had the dough to start a modular home dealership, mortgage company, furniture store and a BMW/Toyota/Lexus/Hyundai/Kia dealership up there. I could make a good income even though I'd put fixed pre-discounted prices on everything ("no haggle/no hassle") and actually maybe even retire at 66 instead of dying in harness like I probably will have to now. Assuming the guys are going to be paid a good wage, of course.
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Glenn A. 10:03AM (7/07/2006)
Sorry for the double post. If anyone wants to see it, there are a couple of websites about the area. You won't find it in the Rand McNally map of Alberta - it is too far north. You'll need to look at the "big" Canada map. North of Edmonton, Hwy 2, 55 and 63.
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/
http://www.fortmcmurrayalberta.ca/
http://www.oilsandsdiscovery.com/
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Charles S 12:29PM (7/07/2006)
I don't claim to be knowledgeable in economics, but there are risks to the somewhat cyclical nature of business.
First, for anyone who wants to move up to area, there will be some significant investment for the workers, and those who will make money supporting the workers. If the oil market dips, which is always a possibility, EVERYONE will get hurt.
Second, since boom-bust cycle can be long, for people who have uprooted themselves for these jobs, they would end up severing old ties, and start settling down in the new environment. Life could be great for a few decades, but when businesses move out of town, it's over. Go look at the old oil towns that got abandoned during the oil crisis. Those who got out took a great loss in property value. Those who can't afford to move out are now stuck there forever, living at a minimal level.
It's not that people can't do well, but people better know what they get into. Save 50% or more on everything you make, cause when the market crashes, you will need a big cushion to break the hard fall.
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Synergy 2:27PM (7/07/2006)
Glenn A. please do us a favor and cite some source where it is shown that they are paying people "mexican" wages up there. I'd like to see where that is being said.
In fact just by punching in "canada oil sands wages" in google I find alot about wages being high to attract the workers.
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Fred 12:52AM (7/08/2006)
Synergy. If the offered wages are not enough to attract the desired number of workers, what other choice does one have, other than to offer higher wages? The days of indentured servitude and slavery are over.
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Chris R 9:06AM (7/10/2006)
60 Minutes in the U.S. did a story on the Oil Sands earlier this year. Here's dome information about that story and jobs there:
http://secretsofthejobhunt.blogspot.com/2006/01/fort-mcmurray-alberta-canada-hottest.html
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