Macro Industries

In the pipeline┬áMacro Industries is at the heart of the oil and gas extraction that is driving CanadaÔÇÖs economy from some of its remotest regions: terrain that demands special expertise and flexibility. John OÔÇÖHanlon looks at the company and the industry. The stone flung into the world economy has rippled every part of it, and the energy sector is no exception. Where Canada is concerned, though, the presence of large and viable oil and gas resources, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta, will definitely help sustain it through the tricky times ahead. ThereÔÇÖs no question that demand will continue to increase, though the market is by no means straightforward; in general, CanadaÔÇÖs industry is favored by the fact that world oil and gas prices are expected to rise once the recession begins to lift. But this plays two ways. Some of the new gas found in northeastern British Columbia, for example, is expensive to bring out and may be uneconomical at current prices. However, BC is doing all it can to keep up interest among the oil companies and has recently increased royalty breaks to encourage oil and gas activity, at a time when most oil and gas companies are cutting back investment to weather the downturn.Tight credit is an issue for the people involved in this industry, but for Macro Industries, one of the leading mid-sized pipeline and facility construction companies licensed to operate in British Columbia, Alberta, Northwest Territories and the Yukon, itÔÇÖs really a matter of throttling back until the door opens again. The cautious approach of the big producers is typified by ShellÔÇÖs October decision to delay major expansion in Alberta until prices rise and costs fall; other companies are also revisiting investment plans made as recently as last year.Founded by Frank Miles and Mark Dodge in 2006, Macro Enterprises is a holding company that oversees the operations of Macro Industries and more recently acquired subsidiaries that extend its capabilities from the core construction work. Its strategy has been to expand its services to become a more diversified service provider, enabling it to gain a larger percentage of revenues from each phase of a construction, maintenance or turnaround project.In 2006 Macro spun off Access Manufacturing to pursue the custom fabrication and rental markets. In 2007 Omineca Oilfield Services of Chetwynd and Tracer Industries of Fort St. John (both in British Columbia) were acquired to facilitate further expansion of the companyÔÇÖs services into in-plant maintenance opportunities, and cladding and insulating, respectively. And in 2007 Macro established a permanent office in Hinton, Alberta.Macro Industries has undertaken projects in a diverse range of locations including southern Alberta; Fort McMurray, Alberta; Prince Rupert and Victoria, British Columbia; and the Northwest Territories. Its services fall into three main categories, pipeline construction, facilities construction and compressor station services. Pipeline work can mean anything from site clearing and grading to pipe hauling, bending, welding and testing. An important element in any new pipeline development is to manage the terrain it goes throughÔÇöthis might involve rock retaining walls, surface and subsurface drainage installations, slope instability remediation and general right-of-way repairs, all of which are catered to by the pipeline division.Facilities construction services include site preparation, piling layout and installations, pipe fabrication and installation, and once again, testing. The specialized needs of compressor stations include further pipeline modifications, fabrication, station yard underground piping recoat programs and maintaining meter stations where the flow is measured and recorded. The Montney and Horn River Basin resources in the northeastern corner of BC are an important long-term opportunity for oilfield services companies like Macro Industries. Right now its main concern is to keep its 100 permanent and 500 seasonal workers busy. Macro, it should be pointed out, operates in a very seasonal industry, with activity in the winter months, particularly January through March, significantly higher than in the other nine months of the year. In many places the ground is too swampy when it is not frozen solid.The company places a premium on providing on-the-job training for all workers: ÔÇ£We exceed clientsÔÇÖ expectations in delivering the appropriate experience and training required to get the job done safely and efficiently.ÔÇØ That word ÔÇ£safelyÔÇØ can easily be overlooked, but without good HSE compliance, no contracting firm can hope to operate in the tightly regulated oil and gas sector. Recognizing this, Macro Industries established a Certificate of Recognition (COR), an initiative that recognizes and rewards employers who go beyond the legal requirements of the WorkersÔÇÖ Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. COR is administered by Calgary-based Enform in partnership with British ColumbiaÔÇÖs WorkSafeBC and AlbertaÔÇÖs WCB Partners in Injury Reduction programs.Customers appreciate MacroÔÇÖs highly qualified personnel, with extensive hands-on experience in some of the most challenging terrain in Western CanadaÔÇöpeople who have many years of industry experience and have worked for many of the companies that have since become customers of Macro. Macro has continued to invest in its equipment, committing $1.8 million in the nine months ending September 2008. ThatÔÇÖs less than a quarter of what the company spent in the same period in 2007 but a┬á significant commitment to the large fleet of earthmoving, pipe laying, sand blasting and loading equipment Macro maintains, not to mention its personnel and transport trucks.Macro Industries has a uniquely diverse range of modern equipment and makes a particular virtue out of maintaining that equipment so that breakdowns are almost unknown. It makes a point of being able to respond to its customerÔÇÖs calls at any hour of the day or night, seven days a week. The market may be somewhat constrained right now, but a highly focused and specialized contractor like Macro will be ready to respond when, as it must, it takes off again.┬á