EBITDA totaled CAD128.4 million or CAD0.84 per common share for the first quarter of 2009, down 25%, compared with EBITDA of CAD171.1 million or CAD1.12 per common share, in the year-ago quarter. The decline in financial performance quarter-over-quarter reflects declining activity levels in Ensign Energy Services’ Canada and US geographic segments as the industry-wide slow down and economic downturn negatively impacted equipment utilization rates and heightened competition across all business lines. Partly counterbalancing the decreased North America results was a slight improvement in the results generated by Ensign Energy Services’ international operations.

Ensign Energy Services’ earnings are highly reliant upon crude oil and natural gas commodity prices which drive the level of cash flow realized by the company’s customers and sequentially, demand for the oilfield services provided by the company. The sharp decline in the global economy which began in the latter half of 2008 and the ongoing recessionary conditions present in the first quarter of 2009 continued to drag down crude oil and natural gas commodity prices.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil averaged $43.08/barrel in the first quarter of 2009, which represents a decline of 27% from $58.73/barrel in the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 56% decline from $97.90/barrel in the year-ago quarter. Correspondingly, natural gas prices as quoted on NYMEX averaged $4.89/mmbtu for the first quarter of 2009, down from $6.94/mmbtu in the fourth quarter of 2008 and $8.03/mmbtu in the first quarter of 2008, declines of 30% and 39%, respectively.

In reaction to these sharp declines in commodity prices, decreased access to credit and lingering economic uncertainty, Ensign Energy Services customers have either delayed or cancelled portions of their drilling programs, focusing on developing only the projects with the highest returns. Operators have curtailed capital expenditures pending improved commodity pricing which will be significantly reliant upon an economic recovery, increasing levels of demand for crude oil and natural gas, and rationalization of existing high inventory levels and excess production capacity, mainly in the North American natural gas market.

Canada:

The oilfield services industry in Canada experienced a slow-down across all services and business lines in the first quarter of 2009 and revenue realized from this segment declined 30% compared with the year-ago quarter. The challenges present in the Canadian oilfield services market, which comprises an oversupply of equipment in a mature, high-cost basin, were only further exasperated by depressed commodity prices and declining economic conditions. A majority of Ensign Energy Services’ customers announced decreased 2009 drilling budgets and, as a result, oilfield services activity in the Western

Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) experienced a sharp decline.

Although attractive resource plays in northeastern British Columbia and southeastern Saskatchewan remain a focus for several of Ensign Energy Services’ customers, development in those areas has also tempered pending any meaningful, sustainable raise in natural gas and crude oil commodity prices.

Ensign Energy Services’ Canadian oilfield services segment saw its drilling operating days and well servicing hours decline 40% and 30%, correspondingly, in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the year-ago quarter. Looking back to the first quarter of 2006, a time of peak activity levels for the Canadian industry, drilling operating days recorded by Ensign Energy Services in Canada in the first quarter of 2009 have declined 57% and well servicing hours have decreased by 54% over this same period.

While Canada remains a core market for Ensign Energy Services, these dramatic declines highlight the challenges inherent in the Canadian industry and the importance of Ensign Energy Services’ strategic growth initiatives in progress to increase its geographic reach and to deploy its ADR(TM) technology abroad.

In continuing efforts to control costs and maintain its drilling rig fleet in the most cost-effective manner, Ensign Energy Services decommissioned five drilling rigs in Canada in the first quarter of 2009. The company will retain the serviceable components from these drilling rigs to support the remainder of its drilling rig fleet.

US:

The impact of declining economic conditions and depressed commodity prices started to take its toll on Ensign Energy Services US oilfield services segment most notably in the first quarter of 2009. While signs of a slow-down in US oilfield services activity were evident in the fourth quarter of 2008, activity levels declined sharply in the first quarter of 2009. The average number of active drilling rigs in the Rocky Mountain region of the US was down each month in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the year-ago quarter with the largest decline of 47%, down to 180 active drilling rigs, occurring in the month of March 2009.

Ensign Energy Services California operations also experienced a decrease in demand and operating activity levels in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the year-ago quarter 2008. Total drilling operating days for the US oilfield services segment totaled 2,875 for the first three months of 2009, a decline of 42% from the corresponding period of 2008. The US well servicing division achieved an raise in operating hours of 8% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the year-ago quarter as the division benefited from the addition of two well servicing rigs to its fleet of equipment in the first quarter of 2009, offset by the retirement of one well servicing rig.

The US oilfield services segment generated revenue of CAD127.7 million in the first quarter of 2009, down 8%, compared with revenue of CAD139.3 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. Long-term contracts, mainly for the new ADRs added to the US equipment fleet over the past several years, have provided some protection from the overall downturn in the industry and declining spot market prices for the company’s services.

The comparability of quarter-over-quarter revenue for the US segment is also impacted by foreign exchange rates. The average Canadian/US dollar foreign exchange rate at which US dollar results are translated to Canadian dollars for presentation purposes was 1.2453 in the first quarter of 2009 compared with 1.0041 in the year-ago quarter.

The US 2009 new-build program is progressing as planned. During the first quarter of 2009, one new ADR(TM) was placed in service and an additional four ADRs are under construction with expected delivery dates spanning the second and third quarters of 2009. The new builds will operate in the Rocky Mountain and California regions under term contracts which will provide a measure of stability to Ensign Energy Services’ earnings over the remainder of 2009. Following completion of the 2009 new-build program, the company will have a total of 33 drilling rigs committed under term contracts in the US.

International:

Revenue recorded by the international oilfield services segment totaled CAD91.6 million for the first quarter of 2009, up 26%, compared with the year-ago quarter. Ensign Energy Services is expanding the reach of its ADR(TM) technology and, as earlier announced, is building six ADRs for the international market.

Two of the six ADRs were placed in service in the first quarter of 2009 in the Middle East and contributed to the period-over-period improvement in revenue through its operations and mobilization charges. The strengthening of the US dollar relative to the Canadian dollar presentation currency has also contributed to the raise in revenue quarter-over-quarter.