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| Chinese labor for oil drilling eyed in Colorado |
| 2005-07-11 |
| Canadian oil giant EnCana is considering bringing in Chinese companies to construct and operate drilling rigs in the Colorado Rockies, as the region struggles to keep up with demand and rising energy prices. Oh, not only no but HELL NO! EnCana, a major player in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, said Chinese labor is cheap and the workers are well-educated. The move would be scrutinized in Washington, where politicians are uneasy about allowing Chinese workers to acquire access to U.S.-based oil and gas facilities. "I am totally against the Chinese government running the jobs in our country," said Rep. John Salazar, Colorado Democrat, whose district is most affected by drilling. "With the Chinese government getting involved, it's not even a competitive business model." I don't trust Salazar and he is little more than a Democratic stooge, but I fully agree with him on this point. Mr. Salazar and other U.S. lawmakers already are concerned about the China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s interest in buying the U.S. oil and gas conglomerate Unocal Corp. The House voted June 30 to block China's cash bid of $18.5 billion. The 398-15 vote came hours after China cited U.S. "political interference" in what it called a purely commercial matter. More like national intrest and defense. "Outsourcing has already claimed millions of jobs," Mr. Salazar said. "We cannot allow that to happen within our own borders. Rural communities have been hit hard enough. We need to keep American jobs in America." EnCana is deciding whether to construct the drilling rigs in China and import them with Chinese workers to the United States. Why are we paying a second world nation to staff our first world facilites with third world workers? "Some operators in that part of the world have explored the [Chinese] option," EnCana spokesman Alan Boras said. "It was mentioned [by EnCana executives to analysts] as a way to increase capacity of the rig fleet in the United States. "It's our understanding the Chinese have the rigs and the crews and are trying to market that capacity. It's not imminent for EnCana, and we're not working on a specific deal." The oil and gas well services sector in Colorado is struggling to meet demand for new rigs and to find enough workers to operate them. As consumption of oil and natural gas grows, the effects have been felt globally. News flash, the oil in Colorado is not what you would call "high grade". It was run hard in the 70s and early 80s, but really isn't worth the cost of bringing sub-grade oil up from nearly exhasted fields. Bringing in hostile forign nationals because they are "cheap" ain't gonna fix the problem. "If they were just talking about bringing in foreign workers for the sake of lowering costs, then I think it could be grounds for pretty substantial opposition. But it's because the industry is running pretty much flat out," Mr. Boras said. Although China's increased participation in the U.S. oil and gas industry is a prickly issue in Washington, the EnCana spokesman predicted that U.S. policy-makers would concede because Chinese companies would fill a dire need. Dire Need: see also BRIBE I really don't think this will pan out. China is on most people's shit list at the moment and the political fall-out in '06 and '08 would not be worth the risk for most politicians. |
| Posted by:mmurray821 |
| #5 I am not buying into a lack of US drilling rigs to do the job. As far as labor goes hire US, Canadain and Mexican hands in that order. Sounds like some greedy Canadian coperate types, I have had the displeasure of working for them before. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-07-11 23:07 |
| #4 No doubt the Chinese workers get nice subsidies from the Chinese authorities. After all, can't expect someone to pre-position materials for sabotage attempts without sweetening the pot. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-11 15:36 |
| #3 What's wrong with Mexican illegals? Not cheap enough for whatever's left Colorado oil fields, or is it that Mexican oil workers all have better-paying jobs on, I don't know, Mexican oil fields? |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2005-07-11 15:15 |
| #2 The only way I see this actually being economical is if they're subsidizing the sale of the rig in order to get employment for their engineers. And the only way they can really do that is by subsidizing the cost of steel, which I've heard speculation they do. If anything affects their ability to do that, the whole deal could deteriorate somewhat. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-07-11 15:03 |
| #1 Haha. As if any of those workers would actually return to China once the job is finished. Perhaps if they were married men required to leave their families behind. But bringing dependents with them? No way, they'd never go back, ever. If this goes through I predict a bribery scandal and perhaps a murder or two in the fighting over who gets to go on this project. |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-07-11 12:24 |