People from small towns on the prairies are considered the backbone of Canada’s oil and gas industry. Sheldon Jahn is yet another example of that.

 “Always up for an adventure”

Born on a farm 13 kilometres outside of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Jahn’s parents held full-time jobs while they operated their family farm and owned cattle.  “What I admire most about my family is their work ethic and integrity,” says Sheldon Jahn, Vice President and Director of Engineering & Quality Control, at MANTL Canada Ltd.

Almost 35 years ago, Jahn’s older brother was working in the oil and gas industry.  Because of that, after graduating from high school, Jahn decided to take a job in the industry.  What was supposed to be just a summer job, turned into a few gap years.  “As far back as I can remember, I always looked up to my older brother, who is now a successful oil and gas service company entrepreneur,” says Jahn.

During the summer of 1993, Jahn was working on a service rig, installing a PCP, when a co-worker said something to him that would change the course of his career.  “He told me that he was going to school in the fall and that I should too.”  That fall, Jahn enrolled in SAIT and became a Petroleum Engineering Technologist.

After getting his start with Flint Rig Services in the early 1990s, when PCP technology in light oil was just gaining traction, Jahn helped install the first PCPs in light oilfields in southeast Saskatchewan, where he gained valuable experience in PCP field operations.  Jahn spent the next 19 years working for KUDU Industries in technical sales, as an operations manager, as a field technician training staff and supervising installations, and conducting failure analysis for complete PCP systems.

When KUDU started to expand internationally, Jahn jumped at the chance to be involved.  Over the next 11 years, he lived in seven countries – Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Colombia, Malaysia, Romania and the United States – to establish and build a new PCP market.  In many of these countries, the PCP technology was new or emerging technology.

Jahn says being resourceful and creative was extremely important when he was setting up operations around the world.  “Back then, I was often stuck in the middle of a desert or a jungle with no external communications.  I knew no one was coming to save me so I had to do a lot of problem solving on my own. These PCP projects were often new technology to the customers and there were a lot of eyes on the project.  If we wanted more business, I had to make it successful,” says Jahn.

 “Sheldon in Australia”

The early days of Jahn’s international experience were field based combined with meetings in the head office.  Jahn says, “Working in the field, I was immersed in the local culture.  Working for a smaller company, I didn’t have the usual security detail or office structure.  I certainly wasn’t wasting money on 5-star hotels and I didn’t have a driver with an armored car; it was just me and a taxi and some survival skills.  I don’t think I would have the wellhead back, root cause failure, and application engineering experience if I had only worked in Canada, as I would have been siloed into being field based or office based.

While working at KUDU in 2011, Jahn managed the PC pump line as the Product Line Manager.  “When KUDU decided to add a secondary supplier, we saw an opportunity to design our own geometry and evaluate elastomers based on previous knowledge.  There was also a new ISO standard relating to PCPs for artificial lift.  We felt it was just time to evolve.”

Jahn says they understood the pros and cons of several different pump line geometries and elastomers.  “We knew what made certain models outperform others and used that to formulate the design criteria.  We now had the ability to accurately measure a stator element from end to end, understanding the profile to allow for matched rotors and stators for balanced compression fit.  We saw first-time pass rate on the test bench and improved field performance.  We also needed to balance performance with value.  Part of the value stream is understanding what customers are willing to pay for and what they’re not.”

In the summer of 2014, Jahn was approached by Matthew Kenna to co-found MANTL Canada.  Jahn brings a wealth of Canadian and international PCP experience with him to MANTL Canada. “Having worked in many of the major basins around the world over the years, I understand how the working conditions and challenges of regions can vary.  I have the experience and curiosity to find solutions and I have a large peer network to share technical ideas with.”

      "MANTL Booth in Houston with Sheldon Jahn & Jamie Hernandez" 

Jahn was heavily involved in the introduction of the first all metal PCPs in Canada 18 years ago.  He explains, “A metal-to-metal PCP incorporates an elastomerless stator.  The conventional elastomer has an interference fit/compression that creates a sealed cavity.  The stators are injected and measured to tight tolerance along with a chromed rotor.  However, with a metal-to-metal pump there isn’t the benefit of the forgiving nature of the elastomer.  Unfortunately for conventional PCPs, the thermal projects are well above the thermal limits of conventional elastomers.  When manufacturing a metal-to-metal PCP, the tolerances have to be very exact to achieve the hydraulic performance curve.  Then both the stator and rotor need to be treated/coated to increase the wear and corrosion resistance.  Each process adds another critical tolerance concern.”

Jahn says, “After the majority of our conventional pump models were designed, we started to focus on the metal-to-metal pump.  MANTL Canada had to bring a value proposition.  We thought there was room for significant improvements in terms of efficiency, total production and in a reduction in power.  We asked, ‘How can we improve the PCP application envelope and encroach on the competing thermal artificial lift method?’  The MANTL Canada team had been designing and testing for eight years as we weren’t going to go to market prematurely.  And now, I couldn’t be more pleased with the performance of this product.”

MANTL Canada is an independent, Canadian oilfield company celebrating its 10-year anniversary this October.  Jahn says he is already looking forward to the next 10 years.

“Currently, we have the most PCP dedicated stores in Canada at ten.  We will continue to add within these stores with a strong focus on US and international growth.  We are proud to provide our clients with an independent option.  We will also continue to look for value added acquisitions, product lines and other technologies to bring performance improvements and value to our customers.”