Official (Alberta) Oil Discussion Thread

[AcGold]

I'm in school now for software development. Hoping for a software development gig with a geophysics company. Trican-Geotomo offered me a big contract but sadly the software development wasn't there at the time (year and a half ago). That one would've been big $$$, going to try and squeeze myself into a similar such role. If not I'm Bioware bound to work on some 3d modeling.

Going to school was such a good choice, having optimism about my future sure as hell beats grinding it out at a dead end job waiting for oil and gas to rebound.

Just the opportunity and optimism is making my life way way better, recommend any of you go for school or upgrade your skillset if you're just waiting around for the market to rebound. All the potential opportunities sure as heck take a lot of stress away.


http://geotomo.com/Trican%20and%20Ge...%20partner.pdf

One day

[Ozy_Flame]

Software Development is a great field to get into. It will be around for years and you can make sick money. More people should do it.

[GGG]

nm wrong thread

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Software Development is a great field to get into. It will be around for years and you can make sick money. More people should do it.

I find it hilarious how people forget about tech crashes.

When I came out of school and there were no tech jobs, everyone was telling us to jump to oil and gas because it's a great field to get into, and you can make "sick" money.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I find it hilarious how people forget about tech crashes.

When I came out of school and there were no tech jobs, everyone was telling us to jump to oil and gas because it's a great field to get into, and you can make "sick" money.

I feel like I can guarantee you that tech jobs are far more common, more relevant, and more consistent than they were in previous years.

Also - tech allows you to cross numerous industries as most industries have software backbones at the heart of their operations; O/G - no as much lateral flexibility as far as I can tell.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I find it hilarious how people forget about tech crashes.

When I came out of school and there were no tech jobs, everyone was telling us to jump to oil and gas because it's a great field to get into, and you can make "sick" money.

Well now all the baby boomers who were originally told to get tech jobs are retiring. I graduated several years ago and saw jobs in every industry gradually open up and I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

Also, being in O & G IT shouldn't limit the industries you can jump into. As a software engineer I've flip flopped between 3 very different industries before entering O & G. Yes I know a lot more about the industry now, but that doesn't mean I'm limiting myself, as most of the skills I've learned in the process are universal.

There are plenty of other O & G jobs that are much more specialized than IT. If I was any other type of engineer I'd be a little more fearful of switching industries. The transition would be much tougher and options in Calgary would be scarce.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

"Oil will never be below $100 again"

I like make predictions too, but if I was any good at it, I'd be rich.

I also agree currently, I'm happy to be in a tech job, even though it's currently in O&G. I've seen many of my peers that got laid off have very quick transitions to new jobs.

Being in geosciences right now, for example, is a horrendously tough slog. Although I'm sure someone somewhere said "We'll always need to be pulling natural resources out of the ground, there will always be geoscience jobs".

The fact everyone things tech is a great and safe place to work right now just tells me a future employment oversupply is in the making.

[Top Shelf]

Plains Midstream buying Empress NGL for $200M

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/plain...200m-1.2844332

[T@T]

Haven't had time to look but anyone know why oil is crashing in the last week, After reaching over $40.00 last week it closed today at $35.58.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by T@T

Haven't had time to look but anyone know why oil is crashing in the last week, After reaching over $40.00 last week it closed today at $35.58.

Because the output freeze deal is pretty much dead.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by nik-

Because the output freeze deal is pretty much dead.

Scary considering Iranian oil hasn't really hit the market yet.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I find it hilarious how people forget about tech crashes.

When I came out of school and there were no tech jobs, everyone was telling us to jump to oil and gas because it's a great field to get into, and you can make "sick" money.

And that we are in the middle of a big softening of the tech market.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by peter12

And that we are in the middle of a big softening of the tech market.

Really?

Most developers I know have had little difficulty finding jobs, even in Alberta during this bust; skillsets are still in demand, even in O/G. Opportunities may be more scarce, but it is still very difficult to find good skillsets (e.g. ETL, SSIS, Azure). Those that do get picked off pretty fast.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Really?

Most developers I know have had little difficulty finding jobs, even in Alberta during this bust; skillsets are still in demand, even in O/G. Opportunities may be more scarce, but it is still very difficult to find good skillsets (e.g. ETL, SSIS, Azure). Those that do get picked off pretty fast.

I totally know that you are right - software is a big part of every business now, and it will be that way for the foreseeable future. But it isn't some panacea for the working man's woes either. These skills are very specialized, and lots of people - myself included - don't have the capabilities to perform them at the high-level that is in demand.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by T@T

Scary considering Iranian oil hasn't really hit the market yet.

Already priced in. I wouldn't worry about that.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by T@T

Haven't had time to look but anyone know why oil is crashing in the last week, After reaching over $40.00 last week it closed today at $35.58.

Could be any number of reasons. Nothing really major has come out besides skepticism over the OPEC output freeze.

More likely just natural consolidation. Going from mid 20s to 40 was a huge run. Sitting right at a key support level now, personally this looks like healthy behaviour to me.

[boogerz]

Looks like Sanjel is on the literal verge of bankruptcy this time.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...574541411.html

[Fuzz]

"The level of $45-50 (per barrel) is acceptable from the point of view of market balance: if prices go higher shale oil production could start to recover."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ru...-idUSKCN0X30M0

Right then, how much of our production is profitable at $50 long term?

[nik-]

With a focus on production and not as much expansion, I'm guessing quite a lot.

Not greatly profitable though.

[_Q_]

I think, if done right, a lot, but not all of Canadian oil can be profitable at $50 (around $65CAD)