Estevan 鈥� Artificial Lift Werx Ltd., or ALX, is now working on bringing incomplete pumpjacks to life, and will soon be building brand new ones in Estevan.
The company was incorporated in April by Dave Heier. This is a rebirth of the company. He started a private placement to raise money. Realizing there wasn鈥檛 an appetite in the industry, he took a different route and got bank financing through the Business Development Bank of Canada.聽
鈥淚鈥檝e got substantial financing in place. I went to the BDC, they鈥檙e very pro business,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was surprised. They advertise the hell out of it. They say they鈥檙e pro business. And they have a mandate to help new businesses, and they came through. They really vet the application to every last detail.鈥�
鈥淣ow we鈥檙e starting to resurrect some of the old, new inventory. I can put together about 30 units from the inventory that was left over from early days, from 2006. The technical term is new old stock. So we鈥檙e going to go through, re-sandblast, and start over. Most of the parts that rotates are going to be all brand new.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the first kick of the cat.
鈥淚 sold ALX in 2013. I got it back.
鈥淭he deal went sideways. I finally reacquired it in 2017,鈥� Heier said.
The first goal is to get the new old stock out the door. But the next units, all new, will incorporate a new drive for which he鈥檚 in the process of applying for patents. He can鈥檛 say more than that.
鈥淟et鈥檚 just say the box is more efficient. The pumpjack overall will be safer. The brakes will be positive. The efficiencies, using proprietary drive programming, may save up to 50 per cent power usage,鈥� Heier said.
The design will include a proprietarily programmed variable frequency drive (VFD) made exclusively for ALX. The pumping units will be sold with VFD-only. The pump off programming, gas locking and other problems will be dealt with by the programmable logic controller (PLC) within the VFD.
鈥淭he program senses loading and crankweight positioning through a proprietary system,鈥� Heier said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be epic!鈥� he exclaimed with a laugh.
There isn鈥檛 a name for the new jack yet. It鈥檚 not likely going to be ALX 2.0, as this will be the new design going forward. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to be making conventional jacks anymore,鈥� he said.
After the new old stock is gone, everything will be newly made.
Heier pointed out there are about 5,000 pumping units coming into North America each year. 鈥淚 just want sell 200 to 300 per year,鈥� he said of his sales goal.
The current sizes include 114, 160, 228, 320, 456 and 640. In the future, ALX will also design a 912 unit. In the future, only sizes 228 and larger will be made.
The financing is in place, and a patent has been applied for. He鈥檚 bringing in inventory of needed components to complete the existing units. He鈥檒l be getting castings and buying beams. 鈥淎ll the fun things.鈥�
Castings come from China. 鈥淐hina owns the casting business of the world. There鈥檚 no choice,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey drove everybody else out of business.鈥�
By and large all of the bases and T-frames are done, as are most of the walking beams. But they were all stopped midstream. -
When the first ALX stopped building pumping units, in 2006, Heier said, 鈥淚 had over 400 jacks in stock, so we stopped building. The price of oil had a slight crash in 2006. A slight correction. And I was selling jacks all over North America, and it dried up overnight.鈥�
The slowdown lased about six months, but it took until 2009 to get rid of most of those jacks. And then the downturn of 2009 came around.
鈥淲e were never able to re-kickstart manufacturing, until 2019鈥� he said.
Over 700 ALX jacks were built, and they went to work in every producing province and state in North America. 鈥淎nd they have a good name,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 zero pumpjack manufactures of any consequence left in North America. There鈥檚 some small guys. They鈥檝e all gone to China. Weatherford, HG (Schlumberger), and GE (Lufkin) are the major players now,鈥� he said.
Asked what he鈥檚 doing different, he said, 鈥淚鈥檝e got a game-changer for my drive. Pumpjacks haven鈥檛 changed much since the 1940s.鈥�
鈥淏ig corporations always make mistakes. They leave room for the little guy. They either can鈥檛 service a person, or tick them off, or they鈥檙e just too big to change. I can change quickly. I can do whatever the market wants.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to be priced the same, if not higher, than everybody. My drive isn鈥檛 cheaper. But in the long run, your maintenance, and your power bill, will pay the difference, and of course, increased production. Lower maintenance, lower power bill, increased production.鈥�
The structural steel they purchase will be laser-cut or plasma-cut elsewhere. Heier said, 鈥淏ut all assembly, all welding, is done here in Estevan.鈥�
The swift drop in oil prices since early October prices has given ALX a bit of a reprieve. He wanted to be further ahead than where he is now. 鈥淚 was gearing up for $80 oil, thinking I鈥檓 going to have a great opportunity. I鈥檓 about 8 months slower than I expected to be. I鈥檓 quite confident that, this time next year, we鈥檒l be at $80 or $100. That鈥檚 the way the world goes. The Saudis won鈥檛 allow it to stay down. They want to do an IPO on Aramco. That鈥檚 the future of Saudi Arabia,鈥� he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 okay with the timing.鈥�
鈥淥ur problem, right now, is only in Canada. There鈥檚 no problem anywhere else. They鈥檙e all ramping up at $50 oil.鈥�
The manufacturing is 小蓝视频 done contractually through Waterflood Production Systems (WPS). Heier used to own Waterflood, but sold to Harvey King several years ago. He acts as general manager for WPS.
鈥淚鈥檓 taking their highs and lows out of their manufacturing, and I can supplement it with my own employees, in his shop. It鈥檚 a two-way street. If he gets behind, my guys can help do his stuff. I think it will benefit both of us.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a temporary basis. It could be two to three years. I have 11 acres, back with ALX,鈥� Heier said.聽
Kresten, his son, is general manager for ALX. Heier said, 鈥淚 hope to have three to six people next year, and to utilize three to six people from waterflood. The long-term goal would be to have a purpose-built shop and 20 to 40 people working.鈥�
Getting there in three to four years is his goal. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my last hurrah,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 doing it as a legacy to hand down to my children.鈥�
鈥淚 grew up in Estevan my whole life. Estevan deserves some manufacturing stability, because who knows what鈥檚 going to happen with coal and the power plants. I think there鈥檚 a lot of good people here, and staff to be had.鈥�
