Founded in 2014 during one of the oil and gas industry’s worst oil price drops in its history, MANTL Canada Ltd. is an Alberta-based oilfield service provider that builds complete progressing cavity pump (PCP) systems for oil and gas wells.

The company credits its success in this predictably unpredictable industry to its four Core Values -- Give a S#!t!, Don’t Settle, Be Better Together and Make It Happen.

Over the decades, oil and gas producers have increasingly trended towards managing their companies with the goal of producing as much product as they could as fast as they could to earn the most revenue.  “Drill baby drill!” was the mantra of the day.  But now, producers might have a new business philosophy which better enables them to succeed in an industry predicated on an unstable market.

Mathew Kenna, president of MANTL, says that to keep abreast of the constant changes in industry, he regularly attends industry events.  “After attending several events over the last two years, as well as speaking to producers directly, I learned that some of these producers are shifting focus in their evolving business philosophy.  Therefore, at MANTL, we’re aligning our business philosophy – Cash, Customers and Communications -- to match their new philosophy.  This realignment has resulted in the addition of a fourth ‘C’ to our business philosophy.”

Industry Instability

The industry’s instability prompted the president of MANTL to elevate the company’s business philosophy to provide consistency in stability that will result in producers and oilfield service providers aligning their philosophies to help both parties succeed in this ever-transitioning industry.

The oil and gas industry has always been plagued by the instability of its own boom and bust cycles that are the result of volatile global oil market prices.  The industry as a whole always benefits when oil prices are high but inevitably, when the price of oil crashes, the entire industry suffers.

Instead of being at the mercy of drastically fluctuating oil prices -- which can cause huge risks to producers during multi-billion-dollar, multi-year expansion projects -- producers are now looking for longer term stability in their business growth plans.

Kenna says, “What I believe I heard at these industry events, is that more producers are now relying on cashflow to fund growth, rather than capital investment.  More producers are also prioritizing paying higher dividends to their shareholders instead of investing their profits into expanding their projects.  If this is indeed the case, more sustainable growth plans should help producers weather the cyclitic nature of the oil and gas industry’s boom and bust cycles.”

MANTL’s Business Philosophy

Kenna says he has always stressed MANTL’s business philosophy by employing the Three C’s that he believes are necessary to run a successful business – Cash, Customers and Communications.

“We needed Cash to start up the business, Customers to gain market share, and Communications to solidify the business.  But after our first few years in operation, we needed more Cash to grow, more Customers to grow, and better Communications to ensure a higher level of service to our customers.”

The importance of each ‘C’ has varied throughout MANTL’s near decade in business based on the needs of the company at any given time.  However, now that producers are managing their companies with more stability built into their growth plans, Kenna says MANTL needed to make some changes.

“Listening and responding to the needs of our customers has resulted in many changes at MANTL.  Right now, we’re evolving with the producers’ new philosophy by aligning our business philosophy with theirs.  With this new reality, we’ve added a fourth ‘C’ – Consistency – to our business philosophy.  We’re now matching the stability of our producer customers so we can provide the Consistency that is needed for them, as well as other service providers, to continue to be successful,” says Kenna.

Consistency in Stability

Traditionally, oilfield service providers worked in partnership with producers to realize cost and time efficiencies as well as mitigate redundancies in their drilling, operations, and expansion plans.  During times of instability, the degree of success for these partnerships was heavily reliant on the efficiency and effectiveness of their Communications with each other.

Kenna says in MANTL’s Core Values, the third ‘C’ – Communications -- is directly related to its newly added fourth ‘C’ – Consistency.  “If producers can effectively communicate with their oilfield service providers, that would result in operating in a more stable environment, even if revenue and profits for producers are lower.  However, this can also result in additional stress on producers’ supply chains.”

Kenna also says, “Consistency is synonymous with stability.  What we’re seeing is producers creating more stable companies that are less susceptible to the volatility of oil price fluctuations.  Oilfield service providers are trying to match this consistency in stability by having what the producers need, when they need it, based on their communications with their customers.  This symbiotic relationship lowers costs for both parties, and brings predictability, which allows producers and oilfield service providers to both achieve success.”

Kenna believes that if producers can effectively communicate with their oilfield service providers what their needs are with regard to their projects, plans and initiatives, then they can stabilize their companies’ operations -- manpower, equipment and material -- to match the producers’ business philosophy.

“Looking at an entire operation, not just single product prices, usually results in overall savings after downtime, problem-solving and transportation costs are factored in, because efficiencies can be consistently replicated.  This will enable oilfield service providers to deliver the best possible product and/or service at the lowest possible price, which in turn will provide Consistency to producers’ supply chains,” says Kenna.

In MANTL’s first decade in business, the company says it still stands by its commitment to its customers, and that’s exactly what it plans to continue doing into its second decade, with Consistency and to Be Better Together with its producer customers.