Association cuts oil and gas drilling forecast again as slowdown deepens
CALGARY — The Petroleum Services Association of Canada is again lowering its forecast for how many oil and gas wells will be drilled in Canada this year.
It says it now thinks just 5,300 wells will be drilled, down from a revised estimate of 5,600 wells in January and well off the pace of last year when 6,948 were drilled. It originally called for 6,600 wells in November.
PSAC CEO Gary Mar says the slowdown is due to decaying investor confidence as export pipeline projects are delayed and the federal government ponders passing Bills C-69 to revamp the National Energy Board and C-48 to ban crude exports off the northern B.C. coast.