Canadian drilling surge forecast
The Petroleum Services Association of Canada has bumped upward its prediction of the number of wells that will be drilled in Canada this year.
The trade association, whose 260 member companies operate in the service, supply and manufacturing sectors of the upstream petroleum industry, is now forecasting 11,475 wells this year. That’s up from the 11,470 wells that PSAC was anticipating as of November 2012.
Alberta is expected to produce 7,165 wells, which would be two per cent more than PSAC previously forecast.
Saskatchewan’s count is projected to reach 3,199 wells, unchanged from the earlier prediction; Manitoba is expected to drill 650, 100 fewer than anticipated before; and British Columbia is expected to come in at 435, down from the earlier forecast of 385.
“Due to continued natural gas development in northeastern British Columbia, we’ve adjusted our numbers to reflect that activity,” said Mark Salkeld, PSAC’s president & CEO.
There is increased activity in northern Alberta, he added, with exploratory wells around oilsands in situ developments. But constraining production are infrastructure bottlenecks in Manitoba, including restricted pipeline capacity.
PSAC said its forecast is based on average natural gas prices of C$2.95 per mcf (AECO) and crude oil prices of US$90 a barrel (WTI), and a Canadian dollar trading on par.
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