The Time Has Come

摘要

IT WAS DURING A PRESENTATION FOR professional service firm KPMG's 2012 update on the energy services sector, that Mark Salkeld, president and CEO of the 250-member Petroleum Services Assocation of Canada, flashed a slide of tourists making their way down a very steep section of the Great Wall of China. Salkeld had the slide of this famous tourist trap because he'd been there in March, as part of an Alberta government sponsored trade mission that included a number of representatives from the province's energy services industry. Their presence on this trip to the Middle Kingdom was a sign that the sector, which so often plays second fiddle to the exploration and production crowd, has taken on a new significance in the business pecking order. The talent and technological know-how energy service firms in Western Canada possess has played a large role in the growth of unconventional oil and gas production on this continent, and jurisdictions like China are keen to employ that expertise on their home soil. "Our advancements are providing significant long-term value in these markets," Salkeld told the attendees at the Edmonton event.