CALGARY — Companies that provide drilling and other services to oil and gas producers in Canada are seeing some optimism return to their hard-hit industry, particularly in unconventional reserves that require high-tech equipment.

“Activity levels have strengthened in the last few months,” said Lyle Whitmarsh, president and chief executive of Trinidad Drilling Ltd. (TSX:TDG).

He told a conference call Wednesday that about 90 per cent of his company’s drilling rig fleet in Canada is currently at work.

And day rates, the amount drillers charge for their services, appear to be gradually rising in areas where demand for specialized equipment is higher.

“We expect that demand in specific areas will continue to grow — those that require deeper, high horsepower and new technology will continue to be more sought after as market conditions improve.”

One of those areas is the Cardium play, a big conventional oil pool that stretches throughout much of west-central Alberta. The Cardium pool was first discovered in the 1950s, but companies have been able to push more oil out of the mature field with the help of horizontal drilling and other techniques.

“This is good for the drilling industry in Canada because it provides additional work for the medium depth rigs that might not have the capacity to drill in the deep Montney or Horn River wells,” said Whitmarsh, referring to two promising shale natural gas regions in northeastern British Columbia.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Michael Mazar said there’s a big split in the drilling industry between companies that have the ability to work on unconventional projects, and those limited to shallower conventional ones.

“It is somewhat regionalized and equipment-specific, and Trinidad happens to be on the right side of that trend. Things look a lot better for them than for the industry as a whole,” he said.

The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors forecast last fall that just 40 per cent of the country’s drilling rigs would be active during the first quarter of 2010, typically a busy time for the industry.

The industry is currently tracking well ahead of that forecast — at about 60 per cent rig utilization, association president Don Herring said.

“We saw some strength in January, increasing in February and now we’re beginning to see the number of active rigs drop, and that will be in response to seasonal conditions,” Herring said.

In the spring time, activity in the Canada normally slows down as the ground becomes too muddy and soft to work on.

The drilling industry had a tough time in 2008 and 2009, as natural gas prices plummeted and producers slowed down their spending in response to the recession.

That led to scores of job losses in the sector last year. Recently, drillers have been grappling with the opposite problem — not enough labour, Herring said.

“As they geared up and tried to hire more people for the first-quarter push, they were running into issues trying to attract people. Part of that is because the individuals that they employed previously came from different places in Canada,” he said.

It’s hard to convince workers to return to Alberta from their homes in eastern Canada when the prospects are so uncertain.

“What they’re looking for, quite frankly, is more work, a longer commitment than just a couple of months,” Herring said.