'The foreseeable future is fairly bleak': Sask. oil towns suffering

Shuttered businesses, homes for sale and motionless oil wells dominate the landscape of Saskatchewan's southeast.

Oil towns like Midale, Sask., are suffering economically and residents say that's not likely to change when the province's COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease this month.

"It's tough for everybody in the oil industry right now. I don't know how that's going to wash out. I just don't know," Lone Wolf Oilfield Consulting owner George Carlson said.

Carlson, who's won awards for his workplace safety record, has worked in the oil business in Midale since 1985. He's finishing one final contract and says there is no more work available after that. Carlson said his son won't be following in his footsteps when he graduates from high school next year.

"I told him not to," Carlson said. "It's going to take a lot of time for this to turn around."

Oil prices have plummeted to just a few dollars per barrel in recent weeks. Lower demand has caused an unprecedented glut of supply.

Revenue from non-renewable resources like oil could drop as much as $1.2 billion this year in Saskatchewan alone, according to government estimates released last month. 

Midale Mayor Allan Hauglum and others say the problems run much deeper. Prices have been declining steadily for a decade. Some cite a lack of pipeline capacity. Others point to international trade wars or the global shift toward more renewable energy.

"The oilfield was dying before COVID came around. People were getting laid off. Now with COVID and with the oil prices dropping as far as they have, every day you hear of more and more people not having work," Hauglum said.

Hauglum said the town has lost 10 per cent of its 600 residents in the past year.

He said agriculture is the region's other major industry, and is providing many with regular work during this difficult time. Some residents also commute to the nearby cities of Weyburn or Estevan.

He said there needs to be a long-term regional plan. He's hoping to organize a meeting of mayors and other leaders in the near future, but he's not sure what a solution might look like. Refining a greater percentage of Saskatchewan oil inside the province might be a start, he said.

"I'm sure it's going to happen, but the forseeable future is fairly bleak," he said.