Unocal Corporation says it expects capital expenditures for 2002 of approximately USD 1.7 billion, essentially unchanged from 2001. This estimate does not include major acquisition expenditures for either year. “We are shifting more of our capital spending emphasis in 2002 to development programmes,” said Charles R. Williamson, Unocal chairman and chief executive officer. “We expect to spend about USD 250 million, or 15% of our plan, on development of new deepwater oil and gas production in Indonesia and the Gulf of Mexico. We also will move forward in Azerbaijan with the phase-one oil development and construction of the main export pipeline.” Williamson noted that development expenditures are expected to total about USD 1.1 billion, up from USD 900 million in 2001. The company expects to spend about USD 800 million in 2002 on international projects. These include continued development of oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Thailand, the deepwater oil project at West Seno in Indonesia’s Makassar Strait, and the phase one development and main export pipeline from oil fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. About USD 100 million is earmarked for exploration work, including drilling on deepwater prospects offshore Indonesia and Brazil. Unocal expects that North America capital spending will total about USD 800 million. This includes initial development of the deepwater Mad Dog field in the Gulf of Mexico and continued development of GOM Shelf resources.
