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Precision Drilling Trust announces December 2005 Trust Distribution and 2006 Capital Expenditure Program
Precision Drilling Trust announces December 2005 Trust Distribution and 2006 Capital Expenditure Program.
About this update from Precision Drilling Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nCALGARY, Dec. 19 /CNW/ - Precision Drilling Trust (\"Precision\") announces\ntoday that the cash distribution for the month of December 2005 will be\nCdn$ 0.27 per trust unit of Precision. The distribution will be payable on\nJanuary 17, 2006 to unitholders of record on December 31, 2005. The \nex-distribution date is December 28, 2005. A payment of Cdn$ 0.27 per unit\nwill also be made to holders of Class B limited partnership units of Precision\nDrilling Limited Partnership using the same record date and payment date.\nPrecision also announces that a special year end distribution of\nCdn$ 0.022 per trust unit will be paid on January 17, 2006 to unitholders of\nrecord on December 31, 2005. The special distribution is being paid with the\nintent that Precision's 2005 distributions will at least be equal to\nPrecision's taxable income for 2005, as required under Precision's Declaration\nof Trust. The ex-distribution date for the special distribution will be\nDecember 28, 2005. A special payment of Cdn$ 0.022 per unit, as required under\nthe Limited Partnership Agreement, will also be made to holders of Class B\nlimited partnership units of Precision Drilling Limited Partnership using the\nsame record date and payment date.\n\n2006 Capital Expenditure Program\n\nManagement is pleased to announce that a capital expenditure program for\n2006 totaling Cdn$ 285 million has been approved. The capital expenditure\nprogram is being directed towards spending of Cdn$ 120 million in the upgrade\nof existing fixed assets and Cdn$ 165 million in the growth and expansion to\nPrecision's existing asset base. Approximately 90% of the expansion capital\nwill involve the construction of 19 new drilling rigs which are scheduled to\nbe delivered over the next 12 to 15 months. These new drilling rigs are of a\n\"fit-for-purpose\" design pursuant to long term customer contracts. Ten of the\nnew rigs will be Precision's versatile shallow to medium depth rated Super\nSingle(R) rigs. The remaining 9 new rigs are planned to be diesel electric\npowered light triples rated to an approximate depth of 4,000 metres. The net\nnumber of new rigs in 2006 is expected to be 17 with the retirement of two\ncantilever double rigs.\nPrecision's drilling rig fleet will exit 2005 at a count of 230 with the\naddition of two new Super Single(R) rigs in the curren...