Because western Canada is a booming market for the oil and gas industry, resources are stretched – primarily, there is a shortage of qualified laborers. “Industry-wide, we’re all struggling with people resources,” Bill Tighe says. The president of Kodiak Energy Inc. explains that several large oil sands projects “are drawing the majority of the professional resources.”

Additionally, the large oil companies are able to look outside of Canada to recruit employees and other resources. However, Kodiak Energy recruits at the regional level. “We’re not so big that we go on hiring tours,” Tighe notes. “We are able to fulfill our hiring needs locally.”

Kodiak Energy, a junior oil and gas development company, has looked at alternative ways to attract and reward employees. “We offer our employees as much flexibility as possible in terms of their hours and time off,” Tighe explains. “We can’t offer the big salaries that the large oil companies provide, but we do cater to each employee to make Kodiak a beneficial place for them to work.”

Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Kodiak Energy owns Kodiak Petroleum, which maintains operations in Canada, Montana and Utah. “We’re a fairly seamless operation with our subsidiary company,” Tighe says. “The management team oversees all operations, so Kodiak Energy and Kodiak Petroleum operate as one entity.”

People Connection
Financing can be a challenge for a smaller company, but Tighe says Kodiak Energy has been successful despite its size. “Many financiers look at projects with a long-term view, which works in our favor,” he explains. “Our projects cater to investors with a Canadian interest, and we’ve been very successful in our initial financing efforts.”

This year, the company raised $20 million-plus to support its operations. For example, in August, Kodiak announced a shares offering from Research Capital Corp., which included $6.75 million common shares issued on a flow-through basis and an optional offering increase of $3.5 million.

Tighe attributes Kodiak Energy’s success to its relationship-building philosophy. Tighe, along with the executive/managment team, meets with the partner companies and regulatory bodies to “give a personalized representation of Kodiak,” he explains. “A major corporation doesn’t always do that. But, being our size, we can give that personal approach. We are flexible in negotiations, quickly responsive to change.”

Kodiak Energy also takes a personal approach to reach out to the communities in which it operates. “We build great relationships for both the long and short term,” he explains. “And, our relationship-building approach is being held as an example for the majors.”

The company’s commitment to using a local work force whenever possible is a benefit to the community, as well as employees.

These efforts have motivated Kodiak Energy to enhance its training programs. Along with industry and OSHA training, the company requires employees to complete its standard orientation program. “We make sure that basic training is established before a new employee puts on a pair of gloves,” Tighe says. “We have also initiated discussion with organizations in the community to develop long-term recruiting and training programs for local residents. We want to … give them the opportunity to move up with Kodiak.”

‘Efficient Development’
Kodiak Energy says it is focused on the efficient development of its oil and gas properties. Tighe says the company is currently developing several high-impact prospects in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and New Mexico.

Located in the Mackenzie River Valley, the Little Chicago Exploration license, EL 413, is 200,000 acres, of which Kodiak Energy owns 56 percent. Engineering analysts predict the land could contain up to 1 billion barrels of oil. Kodiak Energy’s plans include a three-well drilling program.

“This year, we finished 86 kilometers of our high-definition seismic program,” Tighe says. “We’re very proud of what we did there, especially on a tight budget and schedule.”

Kodiak Energy plans to continue drilling at Little Chicago in 2008-09 and Tighe says the site will be under development for five to seven years. “We’re putting as much science and heart into it as we can,” he notes. “If what we think is there is really there, this could be a company-defining project.”

The New Mexico property is 100 percent Kodiak Energy owned, and Tighe says the company predicts the 50,000 acres of land have commercial volumes of CO2 and potentially oil and gas.

“We believe the economics are good there,” Tighe notes, adding that the development of the project is expected to last two to four years – followed up by long term production. He adds employees and contractors’ dedication “has carried us this far, and we believe it will carry us forward in the next few years.”