Canadian oilwell drilling to jump in 2017: industry forecast

By Nia Williams

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Drilling in Canada’s oil and gas fields will pick up in 2017 because of more favorable pricing after two years of record low activity, an industry group said on Tuesday in its annual forecast.

The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors said a more stable U.S. benchmark crude oil price would lead to a 31 percent increase in the number of wells drilled to 4,665 next year from an estimated 3,562 by the end of 2016.

The industry group forecast operating days would rise 21 percent to 48,980 in 2017 but expects the fleet to drop by 55 drilling rigs to 610.

“Activity is moving in the right direction, but we’re still in a depressed and desperate economic environment,” association President Mark Scholz said in a statement.

Canada, which has the world’s third-largest crude reserves, has been hard hit by the more than two-year slump in global oil prices, with companies slashing …