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A new forecast for the oil and gas industry suggests drilling activity should increase slightly next year but will fall well short of pre-recession levels in 2014.

The Petroleum Services Association of Canada expects nearly 4,200 oil and gas wells will be drilled in 2017, a nearly six per cent jump over forecasted levels for this year.

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The association, which represents oilfield service and supply companies, forecasts improvements in Alberta will be marginal, with an additional 53 wells drilled in 2017, pushing the total to 1,900.

“It’s flat going from ’16 into ’17, and we’re not out of the woods yet,” Mark Salkeld, the group’s president and chief executive, said Wednesday.

Saskatchewan is expected to lead the way with 1,940 wells drilled, a boost of 240 wells, or 14 per cent, over this year’s activity.

Salkeld said companies in that Prairie province appear to be drilling shallower wells faster than they do in Alberta. “They’re out-pacing us,” he said.