An interesting article in the May 13/2010 Edmonton Journal...looks like massive layoffs are on the way:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Thousands+jobs/3021635/story.html
With work on two major industrial projects nearing completion and no new ones in sight, the Edmonton region's workforce is about to be hit hard.
And perhaps the clearest indicator of what is coming can be seen at Diversified Transportation's garage, where more than 100 buses that ferry about 5,500 workers to Shell's Scotford upgrader expansion project will soon no longer be needed.
"We've been at peak since last fall, but Shell is winding down and we expect to be finished by August," said general manager Rick Colborne.
Today, there are about 6,000 construction workers on the Scotford site.
Shell's new facility is scheduled to be commissioned later this year and start up in early 2011, adding 100,000 barrels per day to the current 155,000-bpd production of synthetic crude that is largely used by the adjacent Shell refinery.
"Without crying the blues, we'll have 100-plus buses with drivers and support staff that have no other job to go to of that size."
Some may be offered a transfer to the Fort McMurray area, which is enjoying a slow but steady growth -- unlike a couple of years ago when buses and drivers were hard to get.
"We have lots of both now. We'll have to lay off staff and park the buses, which are a huge investment for us," he said.
Diversified's buses, and the several hundred workers they now transport to the Wabamun Lake area, will also no longer be needed as the Capital Power/TransAlta Keephills 3 power plant nears completion and begins operations early next year.
Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney is among local municipal leaders who hear every day from residents desperate for work.
"Things are getting serious, and we have been hoping to hear about the NorthWest upgrader project and the government's BRIK (bitumen royalty in kind) program. But there is no indication when that is going to happen."
The department of energy's BRIK request for proposals, issued Oct. 19, specified that a decision about which firm or firms would be in negotiations with the province would be made on or about May 31.
NorthWest, a Calgary company that is now partnered with Canadian Natural Resources, is proposing an innovative, $4-billion upgrader/ refinery near Redwater that would require 3,000 construction workers in each of its planned three phases.
Other proponents include Imperial for its Kearl bitumen mine project north of Fort McMurray. Suncor Energy was considering applying, and there are other unnamed firms as well looking for some or all of the 75,000 bpd of raw bitumen the province intends to accept as royalties after 2014.
The province currently sells its conventional oil and bitumen earned through royalties into the marketplace.
The request for proposals also specified that projects in Alberta's Industrial Heartland region northeast of Edmonton would be the preferred location as a way to obtain more value from the bitumen.
With two new export pipelines set to open soon, more of the bitumen is going to be shipped to the U.S. for upgrading -- a trend the province hopes to slow through BRIKsupplied Alberta projects.
Neil Shelly, executive director of the Heartland association, a group of municipalities that includes Edmonton, said the NorthWest project would be "a really big win" for the area.
"We had a booth at the recent Fort Saskatchewan trade fair, which attracts a lot of people from the area. And two-thirds of those who stopped by said they were concerned about jobs," he said.
"In years past the concerns were mostly about traffic and pollution, but people now are coming up to say, 'I'm losing my job in a week or a month, or I just lost it, and I'm not sure what I am going to do.' "
Some local tradespeople will go to Fort McMurray, Shelly said.
"People will go there if they have to, but when they look at their quality of life, they say having a job where you can go home to your family at night is very important."
The NorthWest project would likely be the largest industrial construction project in the Edmonton region by 2012. And next month, an upgrader being proposed by the Canadian arm of French oil giant Total goes to public hearings in Fort Saskatchewan. If approved, that project will likely not begin for at least three years.
dcooper@thejournal.canwest.com
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There's a variety of comments after the article....interesting feedback depending how your situation relates to the economy.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Thousands+jobs/3021635/story.html
With work on two major industrial projects nearing completion and no new ones in sight, the Edmonton region's workforce is about to be hit hard.
And perhaps the clearest indicator of what is coming can be seen at Diversified Transportation's garage, where more than 100 buses that ferry about 5,500 workers to Shell's Scotford upgrader expansion project will soon no longer be needed.
"We've been at peak since last fall, but Shell is winding down and we expect to be finished by August," said general manager Rick Colborne.
Today, there are about 6,000 construction workers on the Scotford site.
Shell's new facility is scheduled to be commissioned later this year and start up in early 2011, adding 100,000 barrels per day to the current 155,000-bpd production of synthetic crude that is largely used by the adjacent Shell refinery.
"Without crying the blues, we'll have 100-plus buses with drivers and support staff that have no other job to go to of that size."
Some may be offered a transfer to the Fort McMurray area, which is enjoying a slow but steady growth -- unlike a couple of years ago when buses and drivers were hard to get.
"We have lots of both now. We'll have to lay off staff and park the buses, which are a huge investment for us," he said.
Diversified's buses, and the several hundred workers they now transport to the Wabamun Lake area, will also no longer be needed as the Capital Power/TransAlta Keephills 3 power plant nears completion and begins operations early next year.
Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney is among local municipal leaders who hear every day from residents desperate for work.
"Things are getting serious, and we have been hoping to hear about the NorthWest upgrader project and the government's BRIK (bitumen royalty in kind) program. But there is no indication when that is going to happen."
The department of energy's BRIK request for proposals, issued Oct. 19, specified that a decision about which firm or firms would be in negotiations with the province would be made on or about May 31.
NorthWest, a Calgary company that is now partnered with Canadian Natural Resources, is proposing an innovative, $4-billion upgrader/ refinery near Redwater that would require 3,000 construction workers in each of its planned three phases.
Other proponents include Imperial for its Kearl bitumen mine project north of Fort McMurray. Suncor Energy was considering applying, and there are other unnamed firms as well looking for some or all of the 75,000 bpd of raw bitumen the province intends to accept as royalties after 2014.
The province currently sells its conventional oil and bitumen earned through royalties into the marketplace.
The request for proposals also specified that projects in Alberta's Industrial Heartland region northeast of Edmonton would be the preferred location as a way to obtain more value from the bitumen.
With two new export pipelines set to open soon, more of the bitumen is going to be shipped to the U.S. for upgrading -- a trend the province hopes to slow through BRIKsupplied Alberta projects.
Neil Shelly, executive director of the Heartland association, a group of municipalities that includes Edmonton, said the NorthWest project would be "a really big win" for the area.
"We had a booth at the recent Fort Saskatchewan trade fair, which attracts a lot of people from the area. And two-thirds of those who stopped by said they were concerned about jobs," he said.
"In years past the concerns were mostly about traffic and pollution, but people now are coming up to say, 'I'm losing my job in a week or a month, or I just lost it, and I'm not sure what I am going to do.' "
Some local tradespeople will go to Fort McMurray, Shelly said.
"People will go there if they have to, but when they look at their quality of life, they say having a job where you can go home to your family at night is very important."
The NorthWest project would likely be the largest industrial construction project in the Edmonton region by 2012. And next month, an upgrader being proposed by the Canadian arm of French oil giant Total goes to public hearings in Fort Saskatchewan. If approved, that project will likely not begin for at least three years.
dcooper@thejournal.canwest.com
-------
There's a variety of comments after the article....interesting feedback depending how your situation relates to the economy.
