Operators in Western and Northern Canada rig released 6.89 million metres of development hole in the first quarter of 2014 — a record — up about 9% compared to 6.31 million metres a year ago.
There were 3,207 development wells rig released in the first three months of the year, off slightly from 3,266 wells a year ago. The average depth/length of a development well was 2,148 metres compared to 1,933 metres in the first quarter of 2013.
As producers focus on drilling development hole, the number of exploratory wells has steadily declined. Operators rig released 322 exploratory holes in the first quarter — the lowest level since the Daily Oil Bulletin started tracking rig releases in 1988. Moreover, only 834,373 metres of exploratory hole were drilled in Western and Northern Canada, the lowest amount in 22 years. In 1992, there were 749,999 metres of exploratory hole rig released.
For the third straight year, the average depth/length of development and exploratory wells rig released in Western and Northern Canada during the first quarter rose to over 2,000 metres — hitting an average 2,188 metres, up from 2,003 metres in 2013 and 2,002 the prior year.
Overall, producers rig released 3,529 wells across Canada during the first three months of 2014, a decrease of 3.63% from 3,662 wells drilled during the first three months of 2013. Total metres drilled across the country lifted, however, to 7.72 million metres in 2014 from 7.34 million metres the previous year (up 5.16%).
On a year-over-year basis, the number of wells drilled in the first three months of 2014 increased in British Columbia (up 28.31%) and Saskatchewan (up 6.10%), but declined in Manitoba (off 42.79%) and Alberta (off 6.26%).
In British Columbia, rig releases for the quarter rose to 213 from 166 a year earlier, and metres drilled climbed to 780,485 metres from 578,162 metres in January-March 2013 (up 35%).
Saskatchewan’s three-month rig release tally rose to 1,044 from 984 in last year’s first quarter, with metres drilled lifting to 1.82 million metres from 1.65 million metres last year (up about 10%).
Operators working in Alberta drilled 2,141 wells during the first three months of 2014 compared to 2,284 a year ago. Producers drilled 4.87 million metres in the province compared to 4.69 million metres in the year-prior quarter (up 3.83%).
In Manitoba, producers drilled 127 wells in the quarter versus 222 wells a year ago, while metres drilled decreased to 237,879 from 409,893 last year.
Preliminary data suggests about 12.5% of the wells being drilled are resulting in gas wells this year, down from 13.6% in 2013 and about 16% in 2012.
Of the wells rig released in the first quarter in Alberta, 1,445 were licensed to drill for oil or bitumen, down from last year’s 1,578 wells.
By contrast, gas and CBM wells in Alberta increased to 429 from 388 rig releases in the first quarter of 2013. In 2006, close to 5,000 wells were rig released in the first quarter with gas or CBM as an objective.
In Saskatchewan, 1,016 of the wells drilled were licensed to search for oil, while none targeted natural gas.
