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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigBull who wrote (68699)	6/23/2000 4:17:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Drilling fever - High petroleum prices spur record oilpatch activity Calgary Sun, Friday June 23 By TODD NOGIER, Business Editor Stubbornly high oil and natural gas prices will mean record activity in Canada's oilpatch and could translate into the most ever spent by petroleum players, say industry heads. The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors predicts high oil and gas prices will spur petroleum companies to drill more wells than ever before -- even more than the boom year, 1997. "This will certainly be an exciting year for all of us," said Bob Geddes, past chairman of the association, at a Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers luncheon yesterday. At the beginning of the year, when oil and gas prices were on their way up, the association predicted some 15,000 wells would be punched in the Canadian landscape -- about 75% of that in Alberta. But prices have continued to rise, prompting petroleum companies to rev up drilling. The association now predicts 16,560 wells will be drilled -- edging out the 16,485 in 1997. And all those new wells will take cash -- something petroleum players have a lot of these days. "It will be a very strong year from commodity prices as companies take that money and reinvest it right back in and -- so reinvestment levels will be quite strong this year," said Greg Stringham, vice-president of markets and fiscal policy for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Stringham says oil and gas companies could increase their capital expenditure programs -- exploring and developing oil and gas -- to a record high $20 billion. That's about $1 billion more than 1997. "If we get that high, that would be a record," said Stringham. All the excitement is being caused by stubbornly high oil and gas prices. Attempts to bring down crude prices to give consumers a break have been unsuccessful. The world's largest oil cartel, OPEC, has twice hiked production of crude, the last time Wednesday when the group poured an additional 700,000 barrels a day into world markets. canoe.ca