Bonnyville– With less than three hours before the close of the 2015 Bonnyville & District Oil and Gas Show, Megan Naylor, the show director declared it a success despite the downturn in the oil patch.
“So far, the feedback has been really positive,” Naylor told the Pipeline News with the clock ticking down to the closing hour at the Centennial Centre event venue.
Naylor is the executive director of the Bonnyville & District Chamber of Commerce that runs the shows every two years.
“We have a couple of people say the first couple of hours – meeting some quality contacts – made the whole show worth it already,” she said.
As expected, the official number of registered visitors at the show from June 17-18 dipped 12 per cent to 1,760 compared to 2,559 at the previous show in 2013 when oil and gas prices were higher.
“Attendance is a little bit lower this year based on the economy,” surmised Naylor on the final afternoon of the event.
“We’re still really hopeful and we still have lots of hours left for the rest of the show today, so lots of people can still come in.”
When the final numbers were crunched, the show drew 139 exhibiting companies and raised $9,200 for STARS from gate receipts.
Notably all of the available exhibit space was sold out with a waiting list for the next show in 2017.
“We do have some opportunities to actually expand hopefully our outdoor booth space,” said Naylor, looking ahead.
The next show could see the introduction of the surf ‘n turf style banquet that the committee couldn’t pull off this year due to reduced sponsorship commitments from oil and gas companies.
Organizers are already kicking around ways to make the experience for exhibitors better than ever in 2017.
“Our number one priority is making our exhibitors happy. They are our customers. They are the ones that are keen. They are very precious,” said Robyn Ducharme, event chair and chamber president.
“Our exhibitors are happy when they are making quality contacts. We are focused on bringing attendees to the show that are of quality for our exhibitors.
“So we are focused on the oilmen’s reverse networking and the attendees coming into the show.”
This year, representatives from Husky Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Osum Oil Sands, Imperial Oil and Devon commanded the oilmen’s room where exhibitors get to pitch their products and services in a “speed dating” format.
“The oilmen’s room reverse networking that we have is probably our number one hit of the show. Our exhibitors were clamouring to get on to it,” said Ducharme.
“It is just an exhibitor exclusive and something that they all look forward to. It enables them to control the contacts that they’re making at the show. “
“Having businesses come from out of town, it shows them the potential of what we have out here for opportunities. It shows them there is potential to do business out here.”
Bonnyville’s CAO Mark Power is decidedly bullish on the economic impact of the biennial oil shows, but more so this year based on his comments just before the doors opened on June 17.
“I think it will have a significant impact. Right now with the downturn in the economy everybody’s looking for an opportunity,” he said.
“That’s what the oil and gas show is all about. There is going to be lot of opportunities for businesses to show their stuff. I think it will have a very positive impact this year.”
The show got under way following a recent update by Imperial Oil that their $2 billion Nabiye thermal heavy oil project near Cold Lake is ramping up to capacity of 40,000 barrels a day in 2015.
The project was producing 20,000 bpd in May using cyclic steam stimulation and will push Imperial’s Cold Lake operations to a combined total of 192,000 bpd at capacity.
“The announcement by Imperial Oil on the Nabiye expansion is really good news,” said Power.
“We won’t start seeing the impact of that for a couple of years, but at least it’s a piece of positive news, so we are all pretty excited.”
As for the downturn Power said, “I think everyone’s cautiously optimistic. Everybody’s hoping this fall there will be some announcements with regards to new capital spending by some of the oil companies.
“I think the price of oil remaining steady and the spread between Western Canadian Select and West Texas Intermediate is a good sign.”
Osum Oil Sands Corp. hosted a welcome barbecue for exhibitors at Shaw Centre the evening of June 16 at the start of a two week turnaround at their Orion thermal heavy oil facility.
Osum purchased Orion from Shell Canada last June for $325 million and reached full production of 10,000 bpd in December.
The plant is approximately 18 kilometers southwest of Osum’s Taiga project, which has received regulatory approval for the construction and operation of a 35,000 barrel per day facility.
In May, Osum filled an application with the Alberta Energy Regulator to construct four new pads at Orion to increase handling capacity on the existing site.
Those who attended this year’s oil show experienced a boom in road works and retail, commercial and housing construction going on around town.
“There is construction going on all over town. One thing that our council to was that we were going to continue with our capital spending,” said Power.
“Of course, we’ve got a different source of revenue than most of the oil companies around here. We were successful with getting a couple of our grants in place.
“The provincial government keep the municipal sustainability money in place for 2015, and we committed to spending it on 51st Ave. We did two overlays and a rebuild of a service road in town.
“In the west end of town, we’re finishing the paving on the Hammond’s Industrial subdivision.”
Five or six projects are also in full swing in the Eastgate subdivision near the Centennial Centre oil show venue.
Ongoing work includes the construction of a Boston Pizza and a Microtel hotel adjacent to a new Comfort Inn that just opened and a McDonald’s restaurant that opened in December.
The 2015 show featured about a 50/50 mix of new and returning exhibitors which also fits the show goal of the chamber to attract new businesses to the area.
“It helps to spread the word and helps future shows as well, “said Naylor.
Some exhibitors came from as far away as Texas and Ontario seeking new business opportunities.
“We’ve had exhibitors in the past who have actually moved into Bonnyville and done business in Bonnyville because of contacts that they’ve made at the show,” noted Ducharme.
