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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (125754)	7/17/2005 3:11:56 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793958

Chinese crews might drill Rocky Mountain gas gjsentinel.com Wednesday, July 06, 2005 By GARY HARMON The Daily Sentinel A Denver-based company is working to import Chinese equipment and crews to keep up with the pressure to develop the natural-gas resources of the Rockies. The company hopes to have “a rig or two” operating by early September, said Bob Woodworth, a partner in Western Energy Advisors. A major player in Western Energy Advisors, according to its Web site, is the China National Petroleum Corp. Western Energy is the exclusive North American agent for China National Petroleum and its subsidiaries. Western is owned by Golden Bear Drilling & Services Corp. of Denver and Jilin Petroleum USA of Denver and Jilin Petroleum (Group) Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum. With the last bust in oil and gas two decades ago, “We lost a whole generation of oil and gas people,” Woodworth said. “Now, with demand for land rigs back up substantially, there’s a lack of skilled labor.” Woodworth said he was working with federal authorities and companies to clear the way for Chinese equipment and crews to begin working along the North American Rockies. “It’s an option we’re aware of,” said Almas Kassam of EnCana Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a major player in drilling in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado. “We’re not formally pursuing anything.” Woodworth said EnCana had shown an interest in working with his company. The possibility of Chinese crews drilling in western Colorado raised the hackles of U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., whose 3rd Congressional District is most affected by drilling. Salazar equated it with the potential sale of Unocal Corp. to CNOOC Ltd. of China. “I am totally against the Chinese government running the jobs in our country,” Salazar said. “With the Chinese government getting involved, it’s not even a competitive business model. Outsourcing has already claimed millions of jobs. We cannot allow that to happen within our own borders. Rural communities have been hit hard enough. We need to keep American jobs in America.” Woodworth said the die has pretty much been cast. With the last drop in oil prices, American rigs were stacked or sold to drill elsewhere, such as China. “China bought a bunch and licensed U.S. technology, and they’re the only big manufacturer in the world right now,” he said. In 1981, he said, 5,580 rigs were operating in the United States, and by 1991 that number had fallen to 520. Even if the publicly held companies were able to spend their entire exploration budgets, he said, there would be a 200- to 300-rig shortage for the Rockies. EnCana and Williams Cos., another active driller, each have some 8,000 sites awaiting drilling, Woodworth said, meaning Chinese crews and rigs operating in the high Colorado desert won’t make a big dent in the business. “We’re never going to be huge in the business,” he said. “When we’ve been in the field with the Chinese, everybody is very accepting. It’s not like we’re taking business away from anybody.” Gary Harmon can be reached via e-mail at gharmon@gjds.com.