A report says there’s still plenty of workers checking in at camp, despite the drop in oil prices. Orissa Software tracked 15 accommodations in the oilsands for 15 months. It also looked at work camps in Western Canada and the U.S. It says camps had higher occupancy rates and longer stays in most regions.
“The camps in our data set did not see a significant reduction in operations in the initial wake of the drop in oil prices. Supported by notable increases in average length of stay in most regions, as well as strong reservation activity in the Alberta oilsands, higher first quarter occupancy rates in 2015 vs. 2014 seem to indicate a tempered reaction to lower energy prices,” the report says.
In the oilsands, occupancy averaged 62 per cent in this year’s first quarter, compared to 51 per cent in the same period of 2014. Across all regions occupancy rose from 54 per cent in 2014 to 61 percent. Orissa notes any reaction to slumping oil prices may have come after the first three months of 2015.
“Knowing that occupancy rates may lag a quarter or more behind any actual reduction in exploration and construction activity, we await Q2 2015 occupancy data with interest,” the report says.
In Dec. 2014, Civeo Corp. announced it was temporarily closing the Athabasca Lodge and closing the Lakeside Lodge for good. The Athabasca Lodge reopened in April for a second quarter turnaround.
