There has been a marked increase in oil and gas activity in the Sundre area during the past 12 months, Sundre Petroleum Operators Group (SPOG) members heard at Thursday's annual general meeting.During the SPOG annual general meeting, held at the Sundre Arena, William Starling, team leader with the ERCB, presented the latest oil and gas activity statistics for the SPOG area.There have been 128 new oil and gas wells drilled in the SPOG area during the past 12 months, an increase of 39 per cent over the same period last year, he said.Most of the drilling has been sweet horizontal wells, he said.ìWe expect (the number of wells being drilled) is going to keep going up next year,î he said.SPOG is a collection of 20 oil and gas companies with operations in the Sundre area. The organization, which officials say promotes awareness of oil and gas issues through open houses and newsletters, also includes non-voting associate members such as Mountain View County and the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB).There has also been a sharp rise in the number of pipeline construction projects during the past 12 months, increasing from 207 segments ñ which can be any length of pipeline project ñ to 400, an increase of 112 per cent.SPOG covers a 1,000-square-kilometre geographical area bounded by Highway 54 to the north, Highway 766 to the east, Highway 582 to the south, and Rge. Rd. 80 to the west.
