It’s business as usual at -E-Can Oilfield Services we, this week, although Elk Point’s largest business has been sold to a major transportation company. E-Can, which started operation in 1984 with three trucks and which has since grown to operate a fleet in excess of 135 trucks and to employ 380 workers, was purchased by Mullen Transportation Inc. of Aldersyde, Alberta last week. ‘
Mullen Transportation is the largest provider of specialized transportation and related services to the oil and gas industry in western Canada. Murray Mullen, President and CEO, says E Can is “an outstanding company leveraged exclusively to the heavy oil industry. The company meets all the standards we look for in an acquisition of this nature, including superior profitability and an outstanding safety performance. E-Can is a major supplier to the heavy oil industry and this acquisition provides MTI with another growth platform. We like the prospects associated with heavy oil, particularly given the capital projects and drilling commitments announced by several major oil companies over the past year.
E-Can’s former owner, Andrew Boddy, says that he and his partner Leo Bourassa “are employees now” and will continue their current management roles, along with E-Can’s management team. Decisions regarding E Can’s operation in the Elk Point, Bonnyville, Fort Kent and Wabasca areas will still primarily be made on a local basis and the company’s purchasing policy will maintain its local content, Boddy said. “It will be very good for the local economy.”
E-Can’s_ operation has always been based on people, Boddy said, and Mullen Transportation has “the kind of stability” to give worker continued confidence. The announcement of _ the takeover brought “very little negative comment” from the workers, who feel “this is a strong move for their future.”
Trucking and oilfield service is a fast growth industry, and Boddy feels the purchase will also allow E-Can to stay at the forefront of oilfield technology development and to increase their efficiency. “Mullen sees a great future in this and so do we,” Boddy commented.
In the 16 years since he started E-Can, “heavy oil has come a long, long way,” Boddy said. “It was at the lower end, and now it’s at the forefront. The market is finally turning around.” And while Elk Point and Bonnyville were once considered “somewhat remote,” they are now becoming increasingly well known as the centre of the heavy oil industry in the province.
Mullen Transportation Inc. is a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘MTL’ and the availability of stock would allow interested individuals to invest in the company. Anyone interested in the stock or with questions about the company can call MTI’s head office at (403) 652-8890 or E-Can at 724 4018.
