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The Canadian oilpatch has a full plate of problems to grapple with this year, enough to give it heartburn — from steep price discounts for heavy crude and natural gas to the ongoing pipeline conundrum.

But another issue also lurks on the investment horizon: the lure of the United States.

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Booming shale oil plays south of the border, explosive growth opportunities and tax reform are all making the U.S. an attractive place for producers to invest in this year — and these factors could make Canada a less-lucrative option going forward.

Drillers and oilfield services companies that operate on both sides of the border say these trend lines are already lining up.

So far in 2018, U.S. activity is up from the same time a year ago, but remains “largely flat in Canada,” Calgary-based Precision Drilling Corp. said in its fourth-quarter earnings report last week.

Canada’s largest driller noted by Feb. 9, the number of active rigs in the U.S. had increased about one-third from the same point last year, while the Canadian count had dropped about eight per cent.