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‘We are in three big markets — Canada, United States, Argentina — and all three markets are showing some stability. And we’re getting back to basics here at Calfrac,’ said Tyler Dahlseide
This Article and More by Chris Varcoe Here
The new CEO of Calfrac Well Services, Tyler Dahlseide. Courtesy, Calfrac Wel Service
It’s been a noteworthy start to the new year for Calfrac Well Services, and not just because of the company’s stock price.
Shares of Calfrac on the Toronto Stock Exchange are up 36 per cent this year, closing Wednesday at $5.66.
The company, which was without a permanent chief executive after former head Pat Powell left in March 2025, appointed a new leader last week — Tyler Dahlseide.
The 39-year-old, who grew up in Leduc, joined the oilfield services firm in September as vice-president of optimization and strategy, and has been promoted to CEO. He previously served as president of privately owned Ferus Inc., an industrial gas manufacturer and distributor with operations in Canada and the United States.
With a new CEO, Calgary-based Calfrac — which has more than 2,000 employees and offers hydraulic fracturing and other energy services in three countries — is starting another chapter in its 27-year history.
“We are in three big markets — Canada, United States, Argentina — and all three markets are showing some stability. And we’re getting back to basics here at Calfrac,” Dahlseide said in an interview this week.
“We’ve come through a very challenging period in the market and the balance sheet has been a limiting factor for a while. But Calfrac, we’re turning the page into being able to responsibly enhance the profitability of this company.”
During the start of the pandemic in 2020, as oil and gas prices plunged due to falling demand, petroleum producers slashed capital spending and reduced drilling programs to weather the storm, putting a strain on more leveraged oilfield services firms, including Calfrac.
A sharp uptick in oil prices in 2022 led to a jump in industry activity, with the number of wells drilled in Canada climbing above 5,700, up from fewer than 3,000 completed two years earlier, ARC Energy Research Institute reports.
But with weaker oil and gas prices in 2025, the number of wells drilled in Canada dropped to about 5,500 last year and are forecast to dip to 5,350 this year, according to the institute’s latest forecast.
“Right now, our outlook for oilfield services and energy (activity) as a whole is pretty flat,” said Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva, an industry group that represents the energy services, supply and manufacturing firms.
“We’re hoping that by the end (of 2026), things will pick up, hopefully, because of LNG.”
Benchmark U.S. oil prices, which entered this year below $58 a barrel, have moved up in recent weeks amid geopolitical instability, closing Wednesday at $64.63.
There are ongoing concerns about excess global oil supply outstripping demand in the first half of this year. While not much change is expected in broader market fundamentals in the coming months, shares in Canadian oilfield services companies have done well in 2026.
“Across the sector, we’ve seen really strong performance to start the year,” said industry analyst Tim Monachello with ATB Capital Markets.
“It’s not like (petroleum producers) have been increasing their capital budgets. So . . . the market is liking cyclicals right now, and you don’t get much more cyclical than oilfield services,” added Laura Lau, chief investment officer with Brompton Group.
Since the start of January, shares in Precision Drilling are up 24 per cent. During the same period, Ensign Energy Services has jumped 36 per cent, while shares in Trican Well Service have increased by 20 per cent.
“The stocks have obviously run here,” analyst John Gibson of BMO Capital Markets said Wednesday.
“It’s interesting, because commodity prices haven’t moved that much, and even my outlook for oilfield service activities hasn’t changed that much, but sentiment has gotten a lot better.”
Yet, there are factors that could weigh in the industry’s favour this year.
There are prospects for increased natural gas drilling in Western Canada as more LNG developments in the country move forward. It also appears investors are “waking up” to the sector’s ability to pay down debt, become more efficient and generate free cash flow, Gibson added.
At Calfrac, the company completed a refinancing transaction late last year that significantly improved its balance sheet, with a rights offering that helped improve its liquidity, Monachello said.
The oilfield services firm remains active in Western Canada, while south of the border its main focus is in North Dakota, the Greater Rockies area and the Marcellus-Utica formations in Pennsylvania.
In Argentina, which represents about a third of its revenues, Calfrac’s customers are expanding in the prolific Vaca Muerta shale play, which is growing thanks to more infrastructure.
“We think the Vaca Muerta is in early innings of its development, and we’re excited about its prospects into the coming years,” Dahlseide said.
During the third quarter of last year, Calfrac generated net income of $4.3 million from ongoing operations.
Capital spending this year is projected to be significantly lower than 2025, allowing for more debt reduction.
Dahlseide expects modest improvement in natural gas-driven activity as demand grows from LNG, providing a floor of activity for the sector, while oil markets have “stabilized” in North America.
In Canada, the recent energy agreement between Ottawa and Alberta — it opens the door to a new oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast — could help the sector because it shows a willingness to support resource development in the country, although there are still many details to be worked out, he added.
“Gas is undergoing a little bit of a renaissance in demand. Some of the structural tailwinds being the electrification of more and more industries, data centre demand, (an) uptick in Canada, in particular, (for) LNG exports, but that’s also true off the Gulf Coast in the United States,” Dahlseide said.
“I think we see a little bit more stability in Canada than we do in the U.S.” in 2026.
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
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