March 2015
| Business World
33
According to Dr. Kantzas, the type of work
PERM does at any given time is dependent
on current market conditions as well as cli-
ent interest. A few years ago, for instance,
there was a big focus on developing natural
gas from coal, and PERM was frequently
providing services and advice to clients in
that arena.
“That became passé, and then bitcumen be-
came very popular in Calgary, so we spent a
lot of time working with companies on that,”
he recalls. “Now, as oil prices are suppressed,
a lot of activities in that area are supressed
along with it, so we have to adapt and see
what opportunities are available to us.”
No matter what sector of the oil & gas indus-
try they are working in, however, PERM fo-
cuses on building strong relationships with
their clients. That focus has paid off with
repeat business, as PERM has consistently
worked with a number of major industry
players over the years.
“Most of our clients are large companies,”
Dr. Kantzas says. “A few of them began as
upstarts and have been growing.”
