LNG Canada’s emergence can help reshape the Canadian energy services labour landscape, supporting industry’s efforts to stabilize work schedules, enhance planning, and increase wages in response to customer demands for skilled talent.

In general, energy services leaders see LNG as a win for companies on the workforce front.

“The labour market is tight, but given how much better we’re planning as an industry today, we’re able to react to that tight labour market, getting creative and looking outside the obvious places for labour, restructuring our training programs to accommodate a less-experienced workforce than we have had previously,” said Brad Fedora, president and CEO, Trican Well Service Ltd.

It helps that customer spending is increasingly better planned, he added.

“Because of that, it allows us to react in a very proactive fashion. We’re not hiring and firing people. It’s much more thoughtful in terms of how many crews we’re going to run and where we need them to operate.

“From a staffing perspective, [workers] love it because the predictability of earnings is much stabler than it used to be. In fact, now we’re working more and more through breakup and shutting down mid-December for a more natural Christmas break.”

Mark Quesada, senior analyst at Rystad Energy AS, said the main labour-related challenge for energy services involves the high turnover rate for entry-level positions.

Experienced workers are spread thin, he added, and wages must go up to attract talent — a key consideration as Canada prepares for LNG-related growth. Drilling staff wage increases impact overall labour costs, while trucking and wellsite consultant labour are challenged due to certification needs.

“As jobs become larger and more complex, there will be an increased demand for labour with these capabilities. Trailers and trucks are more expensive than ever, so wellsite consultants have a lot of costs to contend with. Rates for wellsite consultants in parts of the Montney have climbed to $1,800 per day.”

Indeed, attracting and retaining labour has always been an issue for energy services firms, noted Steve Glanville, president and chief executive officer of STEP Energy Services Ltd., but a more consistent work schedule helps with retention, which is something LNG brings to the natural gas side of the business.

Along with factors such as the regional cost of living, he added, companies need to invest in training to attract and retain talent — something STEP champions.

“We offer Class 1 licences,” he told DOB Energy. “For people who want to get into truck driving and the logistics business, this has really opened [us] up to more applicants, just because the overall costs are quite high to get a Class 1 licence. We offer that within our company.”

Enserva’s optimism

According to Gurpreet Lail, president and CEO of Enserva, with LNG Canada coming online, firms must bring more ex-workers back to the sector, while also attracting new workers who might not fit the traditional energy services labourer mold.

“That includes new Canadians — or Canadians from underserved immigrant groups — who traditionally don’t understand what roles they have in the energy sector, and the fruitful career path they can have working in this sector.”

She added: “Also, it includes women and people from an Indigenous background. I think there’s an opportunity for us to start looking a bit broader into the labour force and bringing in people.”

When it comes to the OFS workforce, Lail is hopeful LNG Canada can help drive robust, long-term investment back into Canada, supporting jobs.

Enserva recently launched a Working Energy Portal, aimed at mitigating some of the membership’s risks in attracting talent.

“That was so we can provide young people from universities with a ‘one-stop shop’ where they can find companies, find jobs and training, and see what the career paths actually look like.”

Fortunately, she added, LNG Canada and the burgeoning LNG export sector likely alleviate some of the historic apprehension potential employees have had toward entering what has been seen as a volatile industry. “It has changed the narrative for people. Yes, this sector used to be what it was 40 years ago, but it’s not the same anymore.

“There is ebb and flow, for sure, but there are full career paths to be had as well. You can’t show another industry where you start even as an entry-level position, and within a decade or so you’re in the C-suite should you choose to be. With LNG coming on, that just actually helps to increase the viability of what the career paths look like.”

Assessing risks

While incoming LNG factors might suggest more activity for energy services firms, Quesada noted, if operators can hit their production targets while spending less capital, thanks to improving well performance, then that could equate to less drilling and completions activity.

Further, he added, while everything points to more activity, delays of other LNG projects could flatten the “export wedge” that fuels demand for additional wells and production.

“To a much lesser extent, unknown, uncontrollable factors such as changes in development requirements within [northeastern B.C.] on Treaty lands or constraints related to logistics (sand) and labour (trucking) could place limits on how fast development can expand regardless of commodity environments.”

Certainly, Fedora is optimistic for the potential that LNG Canada offers.

Simply put, the world needs more Canadian oil and natural gas, which benefits from some of the best environmental regulations and standards.

“We think natural gas will play a very significant role in decarbonizing coal plants in Asia. And so, the demand for natural gas coming out of Canada will only grow.”

He added: “You’ll just see the foundation of activity required to be done continue to grow as we build out more export capacity. This just creates more stability for the industry, which we’ve always somewhat lacked. People can look toward this industry as a place for long-term, prosperous careers, therefore.”

In terms of public advocacy, Lail suggested the Canadian energy sector historically has not sufficiently boasted about its good works and benefits, current and potential, either nationally or globally.

“That has actually ended up working as a disservice to our industry, because we were then attacked at every angle.”

Fortunately, said Enserva’s CEO, with LNG, Canadians are realizing what the energy sector does in providing energy security for Canadians and for the world.

“This is our opportunity now to stand up as Canadians and as an energy sector to talk about how we’re not only ensuring energy security in Canada, but we can also help uplift the world out of their energy insecurity by providing clean, safe and reliable energy across the globe.”

She added: “We’ve had other countries and other allies come to us. This is Canada’s opportunity to stand up and say, ‘we’re here for you.’ That’s who we are. We’re Canadian. That’s what Canadians do.”