Released on April 10, 2014
Saskatchewan’s April sale of petroleum and natural gas rights brought in $47.9 million in revenue, bringing the total of the first two sales in 2014 to $98.6 million - a figure that exceeds the entire 2013 calendar year total of $67.4 million.“Industry has again voted with their pocketbooks that Saskatchewan is a great place to invest and drill for oil,” Energy and Resources Minister Tim McMillan said. “We look forward to seeing these new dispositions begin development and provide new jobs and prosperity for the province.”
The April sale saw the Weyburn-Estevan area receive the most bids with sales of $42.8 million. The Lloydminster area was next at $2.3 million, followed by the Kindersley-Kerrobert area at $1.7 million and the Swift Current area at $1.2 million.
The highest price paid for a single parcel was shared between two adjoining exploration licences south of Assiniboia. Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. paid identical amounts of $5,541,128 for the 5,180-hectare exploration licences. The highest price on a per-hectare basis was $9,313. Silver Hawk Resources Ltd. bid $150,770 for a 16-hectare lease south of Lloydminster.
Of particular interest in this sale was a cluster of exploration licences between Assiniboia and Rockglen. Drilling in the early 1950s proved the presence of Bakken oil in the area, but the technology did not exist to develop the resource.
“With interest in this area rekindled after 50 years, we are hopeful that the technological advances made in the interim can be applied to produce significant amounts of oil,” McMillan said.
The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas and oil shale dispositions will be held on June 2, 2014.
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For more information, contact:
Deb Young
Economy
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4765
Email: deb.young@gov.sk.ca