Recession time

[mxz sledhead]

I feel kinda lucky .The big boss man came to the guys and said we well be
all right weare still on O/T for now.The only problem is are contract is up.
Being that I,am union stewart it go well or bad ?Time will tell

 

[rubirose]

I am probably going to be laid off in about 2 weeks. No more work. This will be the 4th time in exactly one year. It could last as long as 6 months. Hopefully I will have another job by then.

 

[IMSICK]

$40.00/bbl would be a great price...... providing we hadn'e gone through a high time where we saw $150.00/bbl oil. Banks and lending institutuins were handing out money as fast as they could to anybody with a good song and dance for where gas and oil was going to come from. Problem with this is..... Junior companies borrowed far beyond their means with the theory that oil will not drop below $50.00 again. Therefore, when oil drops below and gas bottoms out, a company that did their financials at 50.00/bbl oil is now forced to sit and ride out a low time depending solely on their production...... Those that don't have adequate production or poor op cost / rec price will be forced out.

Now.... considering companies like Nexen and Encana went public with record profits last year, looks a little chitty for the small guys....... service companies included!!!

 

[2003Summit]

Just a FYI about building a garage, much better off just to go to Rona and buy everything seperatly the packages cost quite a bit more. If you want a quote for concrete you could PM me the specs. I know some guys were charging like 15/SQ though which is frigging insane, and how some guys do it is just a joke. I wouldn't hold your breath on concrete companies looking for work this year though, can't believe how many calls were getting already.

$15/sq ft???!!!??? That must include side prep and all, even then it seams a tad much. I'm a renovator and I build the occasional garage, I do site prep, forming and buy the concrete myself (for the client) and I only pay around $1.25 to $1.75 /sqft for finishing!! If you can prep the site and form it yourself, and put the rebar in yourself, you really shouldn't have to pay much more than that for finishing.

Also: I usually find the packages are a bit less then the material separately. Maybe try totem??

 

[mudhound]

I hope it all means I can finally get some trades to work on my house for a reasonable rate , last spring I tried to get a bathroom finished in the basement and most guys were charging rates above what doctors make !

 

[Farmer B]

My 87yr old grandfather tells me that when the oil patch slows down,agriculture picks up. I hope he is correct because it sounds like my three diget income off the farm is going to come to an end in July. Thats the main reason I'v been able to hold onto the farm. I personally don't think the oil patch will slow down for long. There are to many projects already in the works. We just have to wait out the political games being played and things will pick-up again. I do think the younger generation needs a wake-up call as alot of them have not had to work that hard and have made alot of money doing it. This recession will seperate and men from the boys. You won't be able to quit one job and jump to the next. People will be happy just to have a job.

 

[stuckenough]

You're right things getting to a normal state again. I had a nephew right out of high school go get his air ticket and within a week he was making $500 a day in a vac truck. You would think the pay should reflect the experience.
Not really fair to some guy who did 4 years a Nait to finally make $30-34 bucks an hour.
Just my opinion.

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I think some of the lay off's, are company's getting rid of the exscess that they needed when the boom was on. Were I work they just got rid of a person who was a social coach for like 10 people, basicaly all she did was go over their goals 4 times a year and sove any HR issuies that they might have. This person made about $100G a year and was surprized when was layed off. Like what was stated above fresh off moma's t!t and making $500 a day should come to a end for awhile.

 

[reaper020]

Just a FYI about building a garage, much better off just to go to Rona and buy everything seperatly the packages cost quite a bit more. If you want a quote for concrete you could PM me the specs. I know some guys were charging like 15/SQ though which is frigging insane, and how some guys do it is just a joke. I wouldn't hold your breath on concrete companies looking for work this year though, can't believe how many calls were getting already.

charging 15/sq man that is insane

 

[stuckenough]

That is insane and also what drove me to do my own garage pad last fall. Four of us poured a 28x37 pad in about 3 hours and aside from a few spots, it looks good to me. What looks real good is all of the cash I kept in my pocket and not some hi-way robbing, try to get rich quick on one job so called trades person.

 

[Cyle]

That is insane and also what drove me to do my own garage pad last fall. Four of us poured a 28x37 pad in about 3 hours and aside from a few spots, it looks good to me. What looks real good is all of the cash I kept in my pocket and not some hi-way robbing, try to get rich quick on one job so called trades person.

There is a reason it is expensive, though some companies just gouge people. 10-11/square foot is pretty fair to do everything. Do you know how hard it is to keep people? It is next to impossible to find people willing to work, and those that will want a fortune, this downturn will not help much either. Doing one pad is no problem, but doing it everyday is tough work. You also have to consider how many things you have to watch to make sure it's done right, sorry to say but easily 90% of people who do concrete themselves end up costing more eventully because they don't know what they are doing. I'm not saying your one of them, but a lot of people don't know how much goes into a pad. You don't know how many concrete drivers you hear complaining about "do it yourselfers" because they don't have a clue what they are doing.


People watch you do the work and expect because you can do a $7,000 driveway in 1 day with 3 guys it's to much money. It's like anything, do it everyday and your a lot faster.

 

[Cyle]

are you sure about that

Yep, already booked up for 3 weeks once it's warm enough to start doing concrete

 

[Haggis]

I feel for the guys that left highschool or dropped out to go and work in the patch with no education behind them. Pretty hard to go from making $500 a day to $80 a day stocking shelves at Walmart. Can be hard to take when your payments on new truck, sled and quad cannot be made.

The average Albertan did not prosper under 'boom' conditions. The slow down in the oilpatch will likely not affect those with the experience, abilities and attitude that good companies will want to hire. In all market downturns - well managed companies survive, poorly managed companies close and there are unfortunate casualties (eg new start up companies that have not had the time to establish themselves).

The lowering of fuel prices has helped keep $200 in my pocket every month in savings in gas alone for our Armada and Ram. Our house is cheaper to heat and it is possible to buy houses for a more realistic dollar than where they have been.

Scotts has some very strong opinions understandably, however my question is was Alberta 'hurting' and barely getting by when oil was at this price before? Was heathcare the worst in Canada? Was education equivalent to a third world country? No.

If the guys that were making big money and now aren't - did not realise that level of income was not sustainable for the long term then that is unfortunate. In world history 'boom' times never last. In Alberta history - we have seen this before. One can argue that was caused by the Energy policy at that time, but the point is that when circumstances change - business changes - no matter where that occurs now that we are a global economy.

 

[Summiteer]

Just a FYI about building a garage, much better off just to go to Rona and buy everything seperatly the packages cost quite a bit more. If you want a quote for concrete you could PM me the specs. I know some guys were charging like 15/SQ though which is frigging insane, and how some guys do it is just a joke. I wouldn't hold your breath on concrete companies looking for work this year though, can't believe how many calls were getting already.

That works well if you have a set of plans and know exactly what you need to build to code. The package includes instructions and all the material.

 

[stuckenough]

There is a reason it is expensive, though some companies just gouge people. 10-11/square foot is pretty fair to do everything. Do you know how hard it is to keep people? It is next to impossible to find people willing to work, and those that will want a fortune, this downturn will not help much either. Doing one pad is no problem, but doing it everyday is tough work. You also have to consider how many things you have to watch to make sure it's done right, sorry to say but easily 90% of people who do concrete themselves end up costing more eventully because they don't know what they are doing. I'm not saying your one of them, but a lot of people don't know how much goes into a pad. You don't know how many concrete drivers you hear complaining about "do it yourselfers" because they don't have a clue what they are doing.


People watch you do the work and expect because you can do a $7,000 driveway in 1 day with 3 guys it's to much money. It's like anything, do it everyday and your a lot faster.

7 grand in one day for 3 guys seems a bit steep don't you think. Good on you though if you can get it...take it. I thought the three guys offering to frame my house wanting 2 grand a day cash were a bit out of line.

 

[Labradorian]

I feel for the guys that left highschool or dropped out to go and work in the patch with no education behind them. Pretty hard to go from making $500 a day to $80 a day stocking shelves at Walmart. Can be hard to take when your payments on new truck, sled and quad cannot be made.

The average Albertan did not prosper under 'boom' conditions. The slow down in the oilpatch will likely not affect those with the experience, abilities and attitude that good companies will want to hire. In all market downturns - well managed companies survive, poorly managed companies close and there are unfortunate casualties (eg new start up companies that have not had the time to establish themselves).

The lowering of fuel prices has helped keep $200 in my pocket every month in savings in gas alone for our Armada and Ram. Our house is cheaper to heat and it is possible to buy houses for a more realistic dollar than where they have been.

Scotts has some very strong opinions understandably, however my question is was Alberta 'hurting' and barely getting by when oil was at this price before? Was heathcare the worst in Canada? Was education equivalent to a third world country? No.

If the guys that were making big money and now aren't - did not realise that level of income was not sustainable for the long term then that is unfortunate. In world history 'boom' times never last. In Alberta history - we have seen this before. One can argue that was caused by the Energy policy at that time, but the point is that when circumstances change - business changes - no matter where that occurs now that we are a global economy.

You have some very good points!! The people who are working the huge hours and days on end whether it be in fort mac, in the patch or where ever will be hit hard.......and because of that have bought a huge house or that huge truck or all the toys based on that salary are going to be hit hard. All these hours and working days on end is mainly because of the boom so to buy stuff based on that means will bite some of them in the ass once the the economy slows down unless they have saved up for a rainy day.
.

just my 2............

 

[Bruteskeg]

Im young this is the first resesion that i really ever had to go thourough.... Wish I would have budgeted more but im sure ill be fine, Ill admit i probaly got a littel carried away buyin toys and stuff, but luckely im young and can learn form this..... I go another job all ready if I cant go to school in march so things are really lookin up for me now i just gotta get smarter and make sure i save a little more, maybe less beer, eating out less quad trips and all that other stuff i use to do...... I kinda fell into that belife that we would still be in the boom for like the next 5 years, with this year supose to be busyer then any other that we seen in the past.

 

[Cyle]

7 grand in one day for 3 guys seems a bit steep don't you think. Good on you though if you can get it...take it. I thought the three guys offering to frame my house wanting 2 grand a day cash were a bit out of line.

The thing people forget about is paying for stuff, concrete alone for something like that would be $1500, $500 for gravel, $500 for steel, time for your gravel truck, skidsteer, etc, etc. The money goes fast when you can burn $1000 fueling up stuff. And easily over 150k invested into equipment, and insurance, workers comp isn't cheap. It is pretty good money for the boss, but that is a very long hard day and the workers take home a good wage to. There is a reason i'm going away from concrete and starting an apprenticeship and taking a huge paycut. My boss was offering $30 an hour to hire people last year, and no one would stick around everyone said it was to hard of work.

A lot of people think it's easy money, heck at a job last year there was some guys, poured 6 driveways in one day trying to make huge money, it didn't work out to well when they payed us to replaced 2 of them, they ended up loosing money on the job. Then funny how a few weeks later a few of them around looking for a job?

I think the media just always have a bad attitude. What was on the news when things were hot? Lack of housing, high gas prices, lack of workers. Now it's workers getting layed off. What about the fact that housing is getting better priced, gas is priced well etc?


Instructions to build a garage? I find it much easier to buy the amount of studs and OSB needed and just build it. There is nothing difficult about building a garage. Also found that the package is more expensive then buying everything seperate, not to mention they bring it all at once, so you risk stuff getting stolen. And the big door they come with, would be easier to just hang a piece of poly it doesn't do anything for insulation


Anyone who lived beyond their means deserves to loose their toys, plain and simple. I went a bit crazy putting money into my truck (over 12k in past year lol) but it's almost paid for so.

 

[crow]

anyone looking for quotes on garages , houses etc. can pm or fax prints to 780 418 5553 will travel.....

 

[IMSICK]

the cold hard truth.......

CAODC Downgrades Drilling Outlook

The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) has lowered its forecast of drilling activity for 2009.

This is the first time, in over two decades, that a revised projection has been made in the middle of the winter drilling season, the association noted.

The downgrade in anticipated drilling activity is necessary because the weekly rig counts are now tracking significantly off of the forecast released in October 2008.

The association now expects that the number of operating days will be 95,000, well below the 129,000 originally estimated. Measured in terms of wells drilled, the forecast is 11,176, some 3,100 wells less than the 14,325 shown in October 2008. This is a 22% downgrade in the outlook.

Compared with 2008, the number of wells expected to be complete is almost 5,700 fewer (16,844 completed in 2008). It is only one-half of the 22,127 wells completed in 2006 and 2005.

An average of 262 rigs will be drilling in 2009, out of 860 available, or 30%. Utilization in the all important first quarter is now expected to average just 39%, or 333 rigs drilling. The last time drilling activity was this low in the first quarter was 1999 – however, there were far fewer rigs in the fleet 10 years ago. A comparable first quarter utilization rate -32% - was 1992, which was also the same year when utilization was the lowest in 30 years. During the second quarter, only 86 rigs will be drilling on average, again, a level not seen in 17 years. The utilization rate is expected to be 10%.

Some recovery is anticipated during the last six months of the year. An average of 267 rigs drilling is projected in the third quarter, similar to what was seen in 2002. The average number of rigs drilling in the last three months of 2009 is projected at 361, close to what was observed during the fourth quarters in 2007 and 2008.

Average drilling time, 8.5 days/well, reflect deeper well depths associated with unconventional gas and horizontal oil wells. Reduced shallow gas drilling activity is assumed in the forecast.

The pricing assumptions are shown as $50 per bbl (U.S.) for oil and $7 per mcf (Cdn.) for natural gas.