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PIPELINE NEWS March 2012
Estevan – The staff at Ensign Canadian Drilling Saskatchewan reached deep into their pockets yet again over the past several months, and the result is a whopping $88,337. Ensign Canadian Drilling Saskatchewan, formerly known as Ensign Big Sky Drilling, made a donation to the United Way of Estevan on Jan. 31. Half the money was raised by the drilling company’s staff, the remainder was matched by Ensign. The division of Ensign Energy Services Inc. runs 23 drilling rigs and labour contracts for two rigs. It operates out of Oxbow. Last year set the bar pretty high, when the company donated $95,763. Rick Mann, who runs the Oxbow operation, said the lower number was a result of
Ensign Canadian Drilling Saskatchewan made a presentaƟon of $88,337 to the Estevan United Way on Jan. 31. From leŌ are: Sheila Guenther, Rick Mann, drilling superintendent Brad Mayer, Chandel Equipment Rentals manager Kevin Lauritsen, Renae Fillion, drilling superintendent Derek Smith, drilling superintendent Wade Benson and Roberta DeRosier. Geunther and DeRosier represented the United Way.
Big donation from Ensign to the United Way the protracted flooding last summer. “A lot of rigs never started until August,” he said. “We had one rig that did exception-
ally well. They raised $17,000,” Mann said. Fifteen rigs took part. Ensign asked some of their main suppliers
to pony up prizes for the fundraisers. The rig that raised the most saw all 22 workers get a new iPad. Two big screen TVs were also given
away, in addition to an ipad for an office staff member. Chandel Equipment Rentals, a sister division, also took part,
hosting the kickoff barbecue last September. Chandel has six employees, while the drilling division has approximately 500. That barbecue sold $2,000 of hamburgers in one dinner. The campaign ran until November. “It works out well for us,” Mann said of the United Way.
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Ensign Canadian Drilling Saskatchewan, formerly known as Ensign Big Sky Drilling, is going hard this winter. “It’s busy,” said Rick Mann, operations manager. “Down here, everyone’s got the same issues. Servicing, drilling, trucking, the lumber yard – no skilled people available.” “We’re having a hard time getting green roughnecks to apply. The big one is drillers, motorhands and derrickhands – the experienced people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a two-rig operation or 25. He noted that while common practice for southeast Saskatchwan-based rigs is to run three eight hour shifts, some rigs are now working 12 hour days, so they can have a day off. They’ve had to give men a few days off between holes, as opposed to using a swing crew. The company has one more rig they could deploy, if they could find the people for it.