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Northern Canada reflects country’s ’02 drilling slump; one gas find
Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
In a sluggish drilling year across Canada, the northern region was no exception, logging just eight well completions in 2002, down from 11 in 2001 and 17 in 2000, industry records show.
The results were just as bleak, with two dry exploration holes on the Mackenzie Delta, but not as disappointing as the seven dry wells in 2001.
On the success side, there was one gas exploration discovery, compared with six in 2001 and none at all in 2000.
Development drilling consisted of one gas and three oil wells and one dry hole. The previous year’s tally comprised three oil wells and one service hole, while 2000 recorded five oil, one gas, one dry hole and three service wells.
On Canada’s other frontier, Eastern Canada notched 46 exploration wells (21 targeting gas) and 58 development holes, for a total of 104, a sharp improvement over the 50 in 2001 and 22 in 2000.
However, 20 exploration wells came up dry, compared with 14 for the two previous years combined.
Completions down from 2001 For all of Canada, operators reported 14,563 completions, compared with the record 17,974 in 2001 the previous high of 16,496 in 2000. Otherwise 2002 was the fourth most active year since 1988.
The swing away from oil continued, with gas wells accounting for 64 percent of all wells (excluding service wells) in 2002, up from 60 percent in 2001. Gas discoveries also totaled 64 percent of all exploratory wells. However, the year’s tally of 9,121 gas wells was more than 2,000 short of 2001’s record and below the 10,000 threshold that forecasters estimate is needed just to maintain production levels.
Alberta was still easily the pacesetter, notching 10,545 well completions, including 6,924 gas targets, but the province also had the most alarming drop-off from 2001, when 13,615 completions were reported, and 2000, when operators completed 12,052 wells. Saskatchewan gave up the least ground, with 3,269 wells last year, following 3,334 in 2001 and 3,737 in 2000.
British Columbia, which is heavily focused on gas prospects in the province’s northeast corer, dropped to 549 completions from its record 857 in 2001 and 616 in 2000, although the 429 gas wells last year was the second highest total in 20 years, trailing only the 640 in 2001.
Utilization of the rig fleet tumbled to 45 percent (the lowest since 1992) compared with over 60 percent in 2001. But all the signs point to a rebound for at least the early part of 2003, with operators obtaining 3,076 new well permits in December (the highest for the month in 18 years), pushing the year’s well licenses to 19,360.
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