The oil and gas industry is in for another highly profitable year, the Conference Board of Canada says, while profits in the tourism industry are expected to continue to decline.

“Following a record year in 2003, profits in the oil and gas industry will remain high by historical standards, coming in at $13 billion this year because of high energy prices and strong production,” Louis Theriault of the Conference Board’s industrial outlook service said Wednesday.

“The natural gas and the non-conventional crude oil sectors will be responsible for the expected solid performance of the industry over the medium term.” Profits in the construction industry are expected to increase over the short term, with profits growing from $1.4 billion in 2003 to $3 billion in 2004 and reaching $4 billion in 2005.

In the food manufacturing industry, the Conference Board estimated that revenues declined in 2003 but costs dropped even more, producing $2.4 billion in profits. But rising costs will reduce food manufacturing profitability to $2.2 billion in 2004.

The tourism and aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing industries are recovering from difficult years, the Ottawa-based economic research group said.

Profits in aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing declined from record highs of over $2 billion in 2001 to an estimated $890 million in 2003. As international air traffic increases, profits should surpass $1.1 billion in 2004, the group said.

The Iraq war, SARS and a sluggish global economy are responsible for an expected record loss of $2.1 billion in 2003 in the tourism industry. The industry will lose about $500 million in 2004, before rebounding to post profits of around $650 million in 2005 and $2 billion in 2007, the Conference Board said.

The Canadian Industrial Outlook Service is a new forecast by the Conference Board, providing profitability predictions for 10 major Canadian industries.

It released forecasts for five industries — oil and gas, construction, food manufacturing, tourism and aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing — this morning.