October’s public offering of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights in Saskatchewan benefitted once again from sustained interest by the industry in the province’s consistently attractive southeast region.
The land sale generated a total of $19 million.
With two sales remaining, the current revenue for the 2017-18 fiscal year is now $51 million, surpassing the previous fiscal year’s final total of $50 million.
“Along with increases in provincial drilling forecasts, this is an indicator of a noticeable upward trend in Saskatchewan’s resilient oil patch,” Energy and Resources Minister Nancy Heppner said.
“As this key economic sector continues its ongoing recovery, Saskatchewan will continue to provide a stable, competitive and responsible investment climate for energy resource development that ranks among the best in the world.”
Nineteen exploration licences west of Estevan received bonus bids worth more than $17 million for 112,567.917 hectares.
Four companies were successful in acquiring these licences: Scott Land & Lease Ltd. bid $7,944,214.74 for seven exploration licences totalling 41,342.894 hectares; Stomp Energy Ltd. bid $5,554,245.22 for five exploration licences totalling 22,953.888 hectares; Plunkett Resources Ltd. bid $3,266,731.67 for five exploration licences totalling 42,249.382 hectares; and Lexterra Land Ltd. bid $331,196.25 for two exploration licences totalling 6,021.75 hectares.
These parcels are prospective for multiple targets including the Ratcliffe Beds of the Madison Group and the Bakken, Torquay, Birdbear, Winnipegosis and Red River Formations.
Synergy Land Services Ltd. bid $575,475.81 to acquire a 259.004 hectare lease located southeast of Lloydminster. This parcel is prospective for heavy oil in the Mannville Group.
The next public offering of petroleum and natural gas rights will be held on Dec. 5.
