There have been some posts regarding the land valuation of the Utica Shale play on the board. I thought I'd toss out a couple recent articles on the land sales in the Montney and Horn River [in my back yard] plays as a relative reference. The offsetting factor is the relative remotness and costs of developing the fields in northern BC vs. in the St. Lawrence Lowlands. Nevertheless, note the high sales and bear in mind that prices have continued to escalate... [for reference 1 hectare is roughly 2.5 acres/1 acre is roughly 0.4 hectares]

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The July lease sale of oil and gas rights resulted in a record-breaking total of more than C$610 million (US$609 million) in bonus bids. The July 17 sale brings the fiscal year to date total to a new record of more than C$1.3 billion, says energy, mines and petroleum resources minister Richard Neufeld.


“This month’s phenomenal sale once again demonstrates that British Columbia is a premiere jurisdiction for oil and gas investment,” Neufeld says. “I am certain that these record-breaking results will continue to attract new interest in the coming months.”


The July sale offered 149 parcels in northeastern B.C. covering 134,196 hectares, and sold 146 parcels covering 132,740 hectares. The average price per hectare was C$4,596.



Key parcels in the sale included five drilling licences 45 kilometers west of Dawson Creek with bids of more than C$32,500 per hectare for a total of C$482.6 million. These parcels include rights to the Montney shale formation. Three lease bids of nearly C$25,000 per hectare for a total of C$19.4 million were awarded in the Sunset Prairie area, approximately 25 kilometers south of Fort St. John.


The next sale will be Aug. 13 and offer 136 parcels covering 115,879 hectares. JAS

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Shaun Polczer, with a file from Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008

Energy companies continued to pour money into British Columbia on Thursday, adding another $213 million to its land sale coffers to snap up rights in the Horn River shale play.

The result comes on the heels of a record $441 million raised in the province's May land sale, bringing the B.C.'s fiscal year-to-date total to $693.9 million, well on track for another banner year.

"Just last month we set several new records and this month's sale continues to be strong," Energy Minister Richard Neufeld said. "B.C.'s resource potential is proven, and these remarkable results are continuing."


The province sold 89 parcels covering 58,835 hectares at an average price per hectare of $3,623.

Key parcels included 22 licences in the Horn River basin that attracted $162.2 million at an average price of $4,883.31 per hectare.

Earlier this week, EnCana Corp. CEO Randy Eresman said the Horn River could be producing one billion cubic feet per day for the company when fully developed.

Eresman compared Horn River to the Barnett shale in Texas, which is currently producing three billion cubic feet per day.

In 2007 EnCana formed a joint venture with Apache Corp. and together they have drilled nine production wells to date, some testing as high as eight million cubic feet per day.

The most expensive parcel at the sale went for $36.7 million, or $23,500 a hectare, where a pair of Texas-based outfits -- EOG Resources and Quicksilver Resources -- have been active in recent months.