Canadian drillers back in top gear

Bogged down by unusual spring and summer rains, Canada’s upstream sector is back on firm ground.

Operators tallied 2,474 well completions in August, the highest monthly count in eight years and by late September 83 percent of the rig fleet was at work.

The August activity brought total completions for the first eight months to 13,234 wells, trailing last year’s benchmark by 584 wells.

Well starts were 15,251, 5 percent ahead of the 14,493 spuds posted over the same period of 2004.

Alberta’s spuds were 11,931, trailed by Saskatchewan at 2,192 and British Columbia at 973.

Well permits obtained from regulators totaled 18,415 to the end of August.

Oil targets accounted for 20 percent of the completions, compared with 51 percent in 1997.

At the three-quarter mark for 2005, 632 of 757 rigs were active, almost 200 more rigs than a year ago.

The year-to-date utilization rate is 66 percent for an average 442 rigs, compared with 58 percent for the same period of 2004.

—Gary Park