NSOCSF was registered in BC as a non-profit society in July 1976 to provide a united voice from the contractors and service firms located in Northeast BC who were actively delivering services to the growing oil and gas industry. Their primary role through the next twenty years was to be able to respond in a cohesive manner to specific issues, usually by providing input to various levels of government regarding input to or the impact of policy and regulatory issues.

The association has evolved over the past ten years participate in more proactive initiatives such as marketing and to be responsive to the many external requests for participation of directors on various board and committee. NSOCSF produced 3 member directories, a 30th anniversary newspaper supplement and most recently a brief supplement to launch ESBC. Appendix V includes copies of the referenced publications.

NSOCSF has participated in trade shows including Discover Energy in four Northeast Communities, the Prince George Industry Trade show in January 2007 and at each of the four annual Ministry of Energy & Mines Annual BC Oil and Gas Trade Shows in Calgary.

In 2005, NSOCSF organized and participated in the Fort St. John BC Oil and Gas Conference trade show and in 2006 organized and participated in the Dawson Creek Oil and Gas Conference reverse business fair.

The executive and/or manager regularly participate on boards and committees including:

• Oil and Gas Commission Advisory Board
• MEMPR Service Sector Strategy
• Regional Transportation Advisory Committee
• North Peace Rural Roads Task Force
• Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada
• Sci Tech North Steering Committee (Cluster Development)
• Northern BC Truckers Association
• Best Practices Working Group
• BC Petroleum Industry Safety Association
• BC Crane Association

The association also attempts to represent its members at topic relevant ad-hoc meetings that it receives invitations to, but this has been one area where capacity has severely limited the number and type of invitations the association has been able to respond to.

In 2006 NSOCSF put much of its annual resources into assisting members in attracting and recruiting workers. The association participated in 18 job fairs held in 16 communities throughout BC representing projected vacancies for their members. The association acquired resumes for and developed a database of more than 1700 workers interested in employment opportunities in the sector and provided it to the members. The association also developed and received funding through Service Canada to develop a Workforce Strategy to develop strategies to assist member companies identify how they will recruit and retain workers.

Effective June 1, 2007, the organization began doing business as Energy Services BC. The legal name change to Energy Industry Services Association of British Columbia (ESBC) was completed with the BC Registrar of Companies on August 8, 2007.

Being an advocate for the oil and gas service sector will continue to be a central focus of the member services that are funded through annual ESBC membership fees. Re-naming and re-branding the organization in 2007 allows the organization to expand beyond its current Northeastern BC mandate, and has positioned it to broaden its range of interests beyond its existing oil and gas focus.