The companies that clean the boilers, grease the machinery and tighten the bolts are skirting the carnage in Canada’s energy patch. Even as crude trades at its lowest in 12 years and companies slash investment on new projects, spending on existing oil sands operations and maintenance is expected to rise. Last year was the first since 2009 that producers spent more on sustaining and maintaining projects than building new ones, a trend that will continue “for the foreseeable future,” according to Bob Collins, an economist at BuildForce Canada, an Ottawa- based industry group. Canadian companies including Toronto-based Aecon Group Inc., Edmonton-based North American Energy Partners Inc. and Calgary-based Stuart Olson Inc. are poised to benefit from the trend, analysts said. Canadian units of Chicago Bridge and Iron Co.and KBR Inc. may also gain. Each of them is involved in operations in the oil sands. “Maintenance and repair […]