Dennis Lanthier is an award-winning writer and corporate communications specialist with almost two decades of experience in the oil and gas sector. He earned an International Association of Business Communicator’s Gold Quill in 2011 for creation of a magazine distributed to TransCanada Pipeline’s employees and retirees. After full-time stints at various other organizations including ATCO Gas, Dennis is now a freelance writer working with several organizations in the energy sector.
Finding remote workforce lodging in the oil and gas sector can be a challenge during normal times. However, it was during the tragic Fort McMurray wildfires of 2016 – as thousands of relief workers flooded the area and other evacuees fled the scene– that the requirement was felt most urgently and acutely.
“As the fires unfolded, a manual process was engaged to get people in and out of the area with phone calls each morning and XL spreadsheets keeping track of available accommodations,” said Black Diamond Group President & CEO Trevor Haynes. “While the industry and government team did a great job with establishing this impromptu system, we subsequently felt that the process could have been far easier with technology that could have quickly tracked and seen lodgings within proximity of the wildfires.”
It was an event that ultimately led to the Calgary-based Black Diamond Group’s launch this fall of an online accommodation marketplace for remote workforce lodging in the oil and gas sector. Called ‘LodgeLink,’ the tool lists available remote accommodation rooms in a transparent online directory, allowing oil and gas staff, contractors, and sub-contractors to easily find the closest lodge to a remote work site. Users can then select and book accommodations after assessing availability, proximity, and price.
The bulk of the accommodations are in B.C. and Alberta, with plans to slowly grow the listings across Canada, parts of the U.S., and Australia.
While the tragedy in Fort McMurray was a catalyst for LodgeLink’s introduction, the general downturn in the industry also meant that contractors who drill and complete oil wells, infrastructure developers, and professionals who service and maintain facilities in the field were looking for cost-effective solutions to their day-to-day operational requirements.
“We know there is still a lot of business going on, but organizations are more cost-conscious,” Haynes said. “Project sizes are smaller and so are the number of crews, so you end up with smaller groupings staying for shorter periods of time before moving on to other project sites.”
And if you can cut expenses and travel times moving crews from one accommodation to another, so much the better.
Users have an opportunity to compare prices and amenities in nearby locales and towns, while looking at a google map showcasing most of the remote roads located around oil and gas projects.
“Those looking for accommodation point to the visibility through LodgeLink – they see facilities they didn’t know existed before – as well as the opportunity to reduce the burden on office staff who previously had to find accommodations through word-of-mouth, phone calls or e-mails,” said Haynes.
Additionally, many of the lodges have spare capacity due to the slowdown in project development after the 2014 oil price decline, but even during times of high activity, lodges tend to have periods of reduced loading which can be more efficiently used. For owners of remote lodgings, opportunities are afforded to sell incremental rooms that often sit empty in the current environment, as well as adjusting pricing and amenities to remain competitive in the marketplace.
“It’s excellent timing for improved and efficient access to remote accommodations for oil and gas professionals,” said Mark Salkeld, Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) past president. “There promises to be a small uptick in the number of wells drilled in 2017, and we forecast a four to five per cent increase next year. That said, it remains more important than ever to keep operational costs as low as possible as the industry stabilizes, and LodgeLink promises to play a role in helping that happen with this innovative solution.”
Along with oil and gas, crews or individuals servicing power lines, wind farms, pipelines, mines, roads, and other remote facilities, as well as loggers, firefighters, prospectors, and stakeholder relations personnel who engage with remote communities could also take advantage of the service.
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