What's causing skyrocketing oil prices?

The oil industry is experiencing a massive rebound worldwide as the pandemic subsides.

As of Monday, Western Canadian Select crude oil was trading at $133 a barrel, according to Mike Fowler with Fast Trucking Service.

Fowler points to a number of factors that have caused the increase in price.

"We somewhat got through COVID, and the world opened back up, and with OPEC kind of managing the inventory on what was allowed on the market, we used up the surplus fairly quick, and with no investment going back into it...now we're in a supply-demand situation, and it's definitely a demand. And I think it probably will be for some time," Fowler said.

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has also made the market even tighter, Fowler said, as sanctions on Russia force countries to look elsewhere for their oil supply. Russia is one of the top oil exporters in the world.

Fowler added that the renewable energy sector hasn't yet reached a point where people can rely on it.

"I think people are finding out that renewable energy just isn't quite sustainable yet," he said. "We hope it gets there, but as of now, we went through a hard winter, and solar and wind aren't quite cutting it yet. So there is a dependence on fossil fuels still...so yeah I think it will go on for a little while."

Fowler, who works in the oil industry, said there's been a lot of oil investing within his inner circle, but he'd like to see more at the higher levels.

"We still need to see more investment. Banks were a little hesitant to give producers money to drill and explore more just because of the volatile market. They're going to have to do something here," he said.

So what does this mean for the Estevan oil scene?

"It'll help...I don't know if it'll ever get back to where it was," Fowler said. "The biggest thing is we don't have the people in place that we used to right? Everybody went and they're comfortable making less money at a more stable job, and to talk them back into an industry that's been failing for seven or eight years and up and down and volatile like that, that's a big thing to them. They have families that they need to provide for, and they'd rather take a sure thing."

"So for us personally, having quite a few different operations, it's been hard to talk those people back to come back and go through this again."

And even with the recent promising returns, Fowler said there are no guarantees for the future.

"Is this going to be sustainable? That's a question on everybody's mind that's going to enter the workforce and get back into this industry. There's lots that have been through a couple downturns, but this one is probably one of the worst on record," he said.

"If it's sustainable, and I think it is, I think that we're going to see, you know, I don't want to put a timestamp on it, but we're going to be busy for the next little bit."