Fourth Quarter
In the fourth quarter of 2008, total upstream operating costs averaged $10.84/boe compared with $9.61/boe in the same period in 2007. Operating costs in Western Canada averaged $13.28/boe compared with $11.85/boe in the same period in 2007. Increasing operating costs in Western Canada are generally related to the nature of exploitation necessary to manage production from maturing fields and new more extensive but less prolific reservoirs. Western Canada operations require increasing amounts of infrastructure including more wells, facilities associated with enhanced recovery schemes, more extensive pipeline systems, crude and water trucking and more complex natural gas compression systems. These factors in turn require higher energy consumption, workovers and generally more material costs. We are focused on managing rising operating costs through cost reduction and efficiency initiatives and keeping our infrastructure, including gas plants, crude processing plants, transportation systems, compression systems, lease access and other infrastructure fully utilized.
Operating costs at the East Coast offshore operations averaged $4.32/bbl in the fourth quarter compared
with $3.91/bbl in the same period in 2007. Total operating costs were comparable with the unit increase
attributable to lower production. Operating costs at the South China Sea offshore operations averaged
$5.54/bbl in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with $4.25/bbl in the same period in 2007, as a result of
higher maintenance activity in the quarter to support production for the maturing field.
Twelve Months
Total upstream unit operating costs in 2008 averaged $10.93/boe compared with $9.09/boe in 2007. In
addition to the factors affecting the fourth quarter, operating costs were adversely affected in the first
quarter by extreme cold weather in Western Canada, which resulted in increased costs for gas well
servicing and methanol injection to deal with gas well freeze ups. In the second quarter operating costs
increased compared with the previous year due to additional resources required to manage ice
encroachment and subsurface mechanical issues on the East Coast. Energy costs increased throughout the
year with increased natural gas prices.
Deel voor RDS de bedragen gerust door 2 of 4 en zie wat zij verdienen. Als olie $10 dan worden zij nog slapend rijk.