Drilling

Western Canadian gas is poised to play a larger role in the U.S.supply picture at a time when gas-directed drilling activity hasfar surpassed oil activity in the region, according to the CanadianEnergy Research Institute (CERI).

Occidental Petroleum’s oil and gas drilling subsidiary laid off80 employees in Bakersfield, CA, on Wednesday, and will eliminateanother 130 jobs as part of a restructuring triggered by low crudeoil prices and its poor stock price performance. The subsidiary’swork force at its Bakersfield headquarters will be pared down to135 by eliminating 210 jobs and transferring another 50 employees.The company’s stock price plummeted last month to a new 52-week lowof 17 3/4 from a high of 30 3/4. It’s stock closed up 9/16 onWednesday following the announcement, but fell 1/8 Thursday to 221/8.

Certainly not BP’s Browne, who offered a litany of E&ampPtechnology advances. “In real terms, oil prices today are more than40% below where they stood a decade ago and comparable to levelslast seen before the Yom Kippur War 25 years ago. The reason we’reall still in business is that average finding, development andlifting costs have all fallen – on average by almost a third inreal terms over the last decade.”

Although it is widely believed the collapse of crude oil pricescould force many producers to cut back drilling plans this year,Unocal Corp. was the first company to formally confirm ityesterday. Unocal said it will prune its capital spending by about$250 million to $1.3 billion. According to CEO Roger C. Beach thecapital expenditure reductions will come in three areas: near-termproduction projects that are most heavily affected by lower currentcommodity prices, investments in non-oil and gas businesses, andlonger term exploration projects that could benefit from more dataevaluation. The move probably will not have a significant impact onUnocal’s natural gas production, a spokesman said, adding however,some associated gas production could become a casualty in thecutbacks. No specifics were available.