2020 is behind us.  For many it was the worst year in memory.  For others it was a time to slow down and concentrate on what matters.  We here at Sturgeon Drilling Tools Ltd. tried our best to be in the second group.  We reorganized, we reprioritized and made a few changes.  Call us today to see what's new, and keep this in mind: We are still here.  We are still selling the highest quality drill bits and we are still giving our customers the highest level of service.  
So let's ring in a new year as best we can!  Wear a mask, buy local and drill away....

It's December 11, 2016, and It's been a while since you've seen a new post here and that's for good reason.  The Oil and Gas industry in Canada is changing, and not necessarily for the better.  Kinder Morgan has received permission to twin the line between Edmonton and Vancouver, effectively triplng capacity to the coast, but if we look to our largest trading partner, and closest friend in E & P production to the south, you'll see that Keystone will be killed before long.  The three candidates for Energy minister in the US, under the Trump administration, are Oil Company owners so don't think for second that in light of the recent stats for the West Texas field evaluations that permission will be given to plumb a pipeline right to the competition.  It's simple logic.

We need an Energy policy that allows for export considerations both East and West, while maintaining infrastrure to the south for when the US understands that it can't produce for it's own needs, at least in the short term.

2017 will be interesting as we have adjusted to lower pricing pre barrel.  
We can only wait and see....

2016 will be a remarkable year.  The Canadian Oil and Gas industry will have a comeback of sorts, the global oil economy will adjust to levels that make more sense and we'll all be more efficient at what we do.  

I wish I had more to say.  I wish I had insights that were worth printing but sadly I don't.  You see, I like everyone else, have no idea what this year will bring and what condition we'll be in when it all shakes out.  As my wife recently said, "It's a matter of holding your head low, hanging on, and waiting for the nausea to be over."

Have a great day!

Not a day goes by where I don't hear those words... "be patient".

Seems our entire industry is being asked to be patient and wait things out.  We're told if we sit on our hands long enough things will turn around and life will return to normal.  I don't know what normal is, but I can't wait for it to happen.

See, we here at Sturgeon Drilling Tools constantly put our business under the microscope and find ways to be more efficient, more relevant, more beneficial to our customers.  There is no sitting around and waiting... no hoping for better times... we must make things work now.  This means we must be adaptable and willing to change how we do business, and that is exactly what we are doing.  

Give our site a look around and you might find a few new things to look at.  From asset recovery to scrap drilling products, we are here to serve you better.  If we're not doing that, we're not doing our job and you should let us know.

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To children heading back to school soon, the thought of summer being over is sacrilegious.  To many parents with kids heading back to school soon,  summers end can't come soon enough.  For those of us in the Oil and Gas exploration business, the end of summer brings on thoughts of the winter drilling season...

Lets hope there is one.  In the meanwhile, we'll keep tightening our belts and making our organizations more streamlined.

Break up is in full swing now with the weather warming up and holiday trailers hitting the road.  Just yesterday I had to cut my lawn for the first time this year.  All signs are pointing to a return of drilling activity in July and we can hope that will come true.

For now however, enjoy the time with your families.

One particular news item caught my eye this week: North Korea releases latest round of propaganda posters.  Now this kind of thing isn't new for North Korea, which has released nearly 3000 different propaganda slogans since 1948 espousing the virtues of Kimilsungism and Kimjongilism, the value of organic food production, and the need to totally rid the nation of abuse of authority and bureaucracy.  We have also seen this sort of thing in Nazi Germany before and during the WWII and in China during and after the Cultural Revolution which established the communist regime.  It is one of the hallmarks of a totalitarian state.

Imagine my surprise then, when I learned that this same thing has been happening right here in Canada, right next door in B.C.!!  As associate of mine, a former teacher and member of the B.C. Teachers federation, informed me that "What We Stand to Lose with Pipelines and Supertankers" posters are all over B.C. classrooms.   I'm all for a healthy discussion, or debate on the merits and pitfalls of Oil production and transportation in Canada but nowhere on this poster does it encourage that idea.  Nowhere does it say that the poster itself couldn't have been made without Oil, and that a long term solution to the transportation of Oil MUST be found because our world is still dependent on oil whether we like it or not.  Thousands of families (yes, many in B.C. as well) depend on the export of Oil and Oil by products.  Where is the encouragement to our children to research and learn about ALL aspects of a topic.

A simplistic idea, with no factual support or thought of discussion, infused in the very education system is PRECISELY the same as what the Nazi's did during WWII, and what North Korea has been doing for decades.

$48.48 is where Oil finished today.  These cycles happen so just take a second, sit back and relax.  We've been here before, and we'll be here again because the one thing we can't control is a rogue state pissed at their lack of market share.  

This is an artificial decline in the price of oil, and it could change for the positive nearly as fast as it has declined.  Panic seems widespread with major oil companies slashing budgets and our provincial government immediately entertaining the thought of a provincial sales tax.  

Look, it's cold as hell here half the year, dead flat nearly everywhere east of Edson (and Pincher Creek in the south), and NOT having a sales tax is one of the small perks to living here.  Don't misunderstand me, I would never move back to the Socialist West Coast, nor would I move east to the "centre of the known universe", so there is little in between to pick from, but I'm sure that with a little sensible management we can pass on the provincial sales tax.

2014 is behind us, thank God.  Falling Oil Prices, Huge mergers, International investors pulling out of Canada, tensions between Russia and the Ukraine,  are just a few of the stories that punctuated a tumultuous year.  We can only hope for some stability in 2015 so that we can all get back to work and look after our families.