Well completions exceed 20,000 mark

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

An unmatched third quarter propelled Canada to 21,805 oil and gas wells in 2003, shattering the previous high of 18,184 in 2001.

Normally the slowest period of the year, the third quarter saw a record 7,028 wells drilled, with the pace continuing in the final three months which saw another 5,820 wells.

July topped the year with 2,714 wells rig released, including 1,508 shallow gas targets.

Of last year’s total, development wells accounted for 16,281, completions and exploratory holes contributed 5,524.

Alberta operators logged 16,411 wells, a gain of 43 percent over 2002 and a new record; Saskatchewan toppled its previous benchmark, finishing 4,163 new wells, up 19 percent from 2002 and beating the 1997 record of 3,848; and British Columbia climbed 63 percent from 629 wells in 2002 to 1,025 last year. Of the other regions, Northern Canada posted 28 wells completions compared with 10 in 2002. The bulk of activity was in the Fort Liard region of the lower Northwest Territories.

Manitoba finished 95 wells and Eastern Canada had 83 completions.