Article content

The two largest oilpatch drillers in the country — along with a handful of intermediate producers — were dropped from the S&P/TSX Composite Index this week.

It doesn’t alter the way leaders of the affected companies operate — these stocks continue to be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange — but it does reflect the negative sentiment confronting an industry facing a laundry list of problems and precious few short-term fixes.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Varcoe: Oilpatch paying 'penalty': drillers, producers dropped from stock index Back to video

“The disappointing thing for me . . . is how investors are viewing energy in Canada right now,” Kevin Neveu, chief executive of Precision Drilling Corp., said Tuesday.

“It shows you how little interest investors have in Canadian energy, especially Canadian energy services.”

The widely anticipated change saw both Precision and Ensign Energy Services Inc. fall out of the index Monday due to a decline in their market capitalizations.

As well, Peyto Exploration and Development Corp., Torc Oil & Gas Ltd., Birchcliff Energy Ltd., Kelt Exploration Ltd. and NuVista Energy Ltd. were also dropped during the quarterly rebalancing process.