Feature Article -- by Mark Sproxton

Hunkered down behind a snow-covered rock in a grove of trees trying to stay warm on this 30 below day, a field scout looks on at the activity of nearby oilfield equipment. Driving miles of paved road before parking and switching to a snowmachine for a trip into the middle of nowhere, the scout is here to find out more about some drilling activity. The area is familiar. In the summer, this scout battled the mosquito and bug infested bush to get a look at work another company was undertaking.

Armed with a battery of expensive technical devices, binoculars and a cell phone to name but a few, the scout is working for the oil and gas company that owns a neighboring property. They want the scout to find out what the drilling crew is looking for, and what kind of success, if any, they're having.

The work may be as simple as counting how many feet of drill pipe are going down a well, or trying to monitor calls going out from the drill shack back to company headquarters. This is no nine-to-five, Monday to Friday office job. Tomorrow is another adventure. "The typical day for a scout is being on call for 24 hours, seven days a week," said Jerry (not his real name) who has over 10 years scouting experience. "And you'll have to work through Christmas if required. There are no holidays."

Even with all the public information available about who's doing what in the oil and gas industry, companies always want to know more about what their competitors are doing. With each property potentially worth millions of dollars, companies want to ensure protection for their investments. That said, those same companies also prefer to keep their workings to themselves. Any direct questions about drilling, or pipelines, or any other company dealings immediately meet with suspicion.

Field scouts regularly face the challenge of uncovering those closely guarded secrets and must use everything they know, and whatever resources they can to produce results. This industry is so secretive, even asking about scouting the barricade comes up.

"We're a tight knit bunch," said Jerry. Another scout wasn't interested in talking, because he said he didn't want to give out any trade secrets to the public, and two other companies didn't return phone calls for this story.

"You don't just come out of high school or college and be a scout," said Jerry. "You have to work in the industry for at least 10 years. And I'd have to know someone, know his background, and find out who he knows before I hired him."

Money, and a change of pace attract many to field scouting. Today, most scouts work for private businesses on contract to oil and gas companies. Being private contractors, they pay for their equipment and related maintenance/repairs out of their own pocket.

"You probably have to spend $50,000 to say you're ready to go," said Jerry. That money would cover the basics such as a truck, off-road equipment and technical devices. "And you have to have the makeup to live out on a trailer for a month by yourself. There's lots of neat stuff attached to scouting, but there is risk involved too. We work in a line that has some ugly names attached to it, but everyone wants to use us."

In a good year when commodity prices are high, an experienced scout can expect to bring in about $90,000 to $100,000 a year. But when prices are low, as Jerry said, the life of working and living in the bush becomes "a life of waiting by the phone."