The Canadian economy is in the midst of a technical recession, defined by the drop in GDP during the first two quarters of 2015. Brought on by a weak dollar and low gas prices, economists had speculated that a technical recession was bound to happen. The oil and gas industry has been hit the hardest over the last year. As we know, last summer a barrel of oil sold for
$100 dollars, compared to the $50 they are being sold for currently. The steep drop has prompted critics to
blame inefficiency for part of the decline.
While the floundering Alberta oil boom has many worried about the long-term state of the Canadian economy, others see it as the right time for innovative advancement.
University of Alberta's Dev Jennings notes, “Innovation doesn't happen when booms are at their peak. Instead it comes several years after a boom goes off the boil.” As past indicators show, some of the greatest innovations come to fruition in the aftermath of a boom.
Earlier this year, the industry trade magazine
Rigzone predicted that technological innovations related to oil and gas efficiency held the most potential for widespread growth. “Energy technology companies may need to lower their prices in response to a drop in demand, which will offset some of the price declines in crude oil,”
Bill Kroger, co-chair of law firm Baker Botts’ Energy Litigation Practice told the magazine. “The technology companies with strong balance sheets may see crude price declines as an opportunity to acquire companies and technologies at discounted prices.”
Alberta produces an estimated 2.5 million barrels a day of crude oil, making find a more efficient way to extract and monitor oil production an attractive prospect. The oil sector is now looking to other industries to help them become more efficient. “A group of companies are focused on giving operators more information on the actual production process, such as microseismic, chemical tracers, downhole fiber optic sensors and temporary insulation to bolster production recovery from wells,”
said Daniel Choi, a Lux research analyst told Rigzone.
That’s one reason why
Nav Dhunay created his unique Ambyint technology. His company,
Ambyint, is working to bring the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and big data analytics to the oil sector in a broader and more convenient way.
“Ambyint brings lightweight sensors, wireless communications and big data analytics to oil and gas producers,” Nav Dhunay explains. “Our technology provides constant remote monitoring and automated optimization to oil jacks. Conveniently, our technology costs about the same as a new smartphone and can be self-installed on every oil well.”
Industry diversification is often the sign of a financial turnaround, as the
CBC’s Don Pitts points out, “Like the dot-com billionaires who made their fortunes in one business and then used their cash to invest in another, Alberta entrepreneurs are taking profits made in oil and hoping to turn them into technology gold.”
Nav Dhunay hopes his technology not only revolutionizes the Canadian oil and gas sector, but inspires innovation in others. “The sharing of ideas is how real innovation starts,” Dhunay adds.
Over the decade between 2003 and 2013, the Alberta oil and gas sector revenues tripled to an estimated $33 billion dollars. Technologies that improve efficiency could help bolster the economy in this tough financial time and lead to reduced energy production costs. This, in turn, may create renewed employment opportunities that will benefit all Albertans.