HOUSTON (Bloomberg) ? Nabors Industries Ltd., the world's largest onshore oil and natural-gas driller, probably will surpass this year's record profit in 2007 because of high energy prices, Chief Executive Officer Gene Isenberg said.

The prospect of "normal" temperatures in the US during winter signals increased heating demand and higher gas prices next year, Isenberg, 76, said yesterday in a phone interview.

"The odds are that we have a gas price for next year a little higher than we had this year," Isenberg said. "Crude prices are going to stay pretty robust and I think gas prices are not going to go way down."

Natural gas futures in New York today jumped to a 12-week high of $7.693 per million British thermal units on forecasts for below-normal temperatures in the central and eastern U.S. The price is up 84 percent from a four-year low of $4.201 a month ago.

Profit for Nabors and other US drillers surged this year as oil and gas producers stepped up exploration, increasing demand for rigs.

Nabors, based in Bermuda, and run from offices in Houston, said on Wednesday that third-quarter net income rose 64 percent from a year earlier to $292.8 million, a company record for any quarter.

Still, shares of Nabors have tumbled on speculation that the recent plunge in gas prices and increasing availability of new rigs will depress drillers' rates.

Shares of Nabors yesterday fell 12 cents to $31.23 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock, down almost 18 percent this year, is the worst performer among 18 companies in the Amex Oil Service Index. The index is up seven percent this year.

"There is a risk" that lower gas prices will deter drilling activity, Isenberg said yesterday. "We see a little bit of slowing down in Canada, and we see less than frantic demand for rigs in the lower 48 states."

Contract land drilling in the US, excluding Alaska, accounted for about two-fifths of Nabors' operating revenue during the third quarter, according to the company's statement. Nabors owns about 588 land-based drilling rigs.