Accelerate

Exports to the United States are holding firm as Canadian producers steadily accelerate natural gas drilling to compensate for anticipated depletion of aging reserves.

Exports to the United States are holding firm as Canadian producers steadily accelerate natural gas drilling to compensate for anticipated depletion of aging reserves.

Questar Corp. said Tuesday it will increase capital spending by $25 million to accelerate its drilling programs in the Rockies and Midcontinent regions. The company now expects to spend $480 million for 2004 capital projects, with $344 million targeted for exploration and production, gas development, gas gathering and other nonregulated activities through its Questar Market Resources subsidiary. The regulated pipeline and utility businesses plan to spend $127 million.

Houston-based independent Pogo Producing Co. is gearing up to expand exploration in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) through the end of the year, after the board of directors upped the capital expenditure budget by 36%. Every operating division of the company will share in the increased funding, but most of the money will be directed toward drilling of at least five new high-potential GOM exploration prospects.

A triple hunting license — to increase delivery capacity, cast for customers and accelerate drilling — has been granted to the leaders of the next growth planned for natural gas production offshore of Nova Scotia, Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline (M&NP) and EnCana Corp.

A triple hunting license — to increase delivery capacity, cast for customers and accelerate drilling — has been granted to the leaders of the next growth planned for natural gas production offshore of Nova Scotia, Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline (M&NP) and EnCana Corp.

The downhill run for cash prices got a little steeper Wednesday, and any potential leveling off space remained beyond the horizon. Declines tended to range from about a nickel to 15 cents, but most were a dime or more. Once again, Rockies pipes either experienced less softening than the general market or even ranged from flat to a smidgen higher in a few cases as the region remained a bit warmer than most of the nation, although a mild cooling trend was under way.

Consolidation in the energy industry in North America is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2001, particularly among independents oil and gas producers, according to the energy mergers and acquisitions team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. But acquirers run the risk of overpaying at what may be the high end of the pricing cycle.

Consolidation in the energy industry in North America is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2001, particularly among independents, according to the energy mergers and acquisitions team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. But acquirers run the risk of overpaying at what may be the high end of the pricing cycle.