Canada’s well completions, licenses in record books

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Drilling is continuing at a breakneck pace in Western Canada, as cash-rich operators in the three provinces set their sights on a new record that looks like it would spill over to 2004.

Well completions for the first three quarters hit 15,877, beating the 2001 benchmark by 1,220 wells, with Alberta breaking with tradition by completing 6,919 holes in the July-September period, compared with 5,500 in the normal first-quarter peak.

Saskatchewan logged 3,179 wells to the end of September, up 25 percent from last year.

The hottest play was in southeastern Alberta, where 5,551 wells were completed in the first nine months, followed by 1,339 wells on the eastern edge of the Alberta Foothills.

For all of Canada, regulators issued 18,994 new well permits over the three quarters, easily surpassing the previous record of 14,781 in 1997 and 54 percent ahead of last year’s pace.

The breakdown includes 4,342 exploratory wells, up 42 percent from last year, and 13,272 development wells, a gain of 51 percent.

The Alberta regulator has authorized 14,458 licenses, 5,600 more than in 2002 and only the fourth year that the tally has topped the 10,000 mark.

Saskatchewan’s total stands at a new nine-month record of 3,666 and British Columbia is also in record territory at 663 permits.

EnCana easily shows the way among operators at 4,142, trailed by Canadian Natural Resources at 1,073, Husky Oil Operations at 907, EOG Resources Canada at 885 and Apache Canada at 832.

Entering October, 448 of Canada’s 683 rigs were working, a 66 percent utilization rate, compared with 36 percent at the same time last year.