HOME PAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS, Print Editions, Newsletter PRODUCTS READ THE PETROLEUM NEWS ARCHIVE! ADVERTISING INFORMATION EVENTS PAY HERE

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry
August 2006

Vol. 11, No. 34 Week of August 20, 2006

Leaders back exploration

Deh Cho support opens Fort Liard area to gas explorers for first time in decade

By Gary Park

For Petroleum News

Deh Cho leaders in Canada’s Northwest Territories have set aside their objections to resource development without a land claim in their region by unanimously backing a federal call for nominations in the Fort Liard area.

The Deh Cho Assembly, representing 13 communities, passed a resolution backing an attempt to revive gas exploration after several years of declining output caused by water production in the wells and prolonged negotiations with aboriginal communities.

It was a major success for Chief Harry Deneron of the Acho Dene Koe First Nation in Fort Liard, who has consistently welcomed development as a job-creating boon for his 600 people.

He has also been the only chief in the Deh Cho umbrella organization to openly support the Mackenzie Gas Project, putting himself at odds with Deh Cho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian and others who have opposed construction of a Mackenzie pipeline across their territory until there has been a land-claim and self-government agreement.

But all Deh Cho leaders, including Norwegian, unanimously endorsed a resolution at their assembly earlier in August to support the Canadian government’s call for nominations in the Fort Liard area.

Unemployment an issue in Fort Liard

Deneron, who was re-elected a year ago on a pledge to provide more jobs for his community, said Fort Liard has a large number of unemployed people who have given him a mandate to use resources to create work.

He said oil and gas companies have “all sorts of interest in our land, so therefore we are going to work with them.”

Deneron said the first experience of working with the industry when it made three major gas discoveries near Fort Liard should be a foundation to develop an even stronger relationship if the latest call for nominations — the first in a decade — results in a new round of exploration.

Norwegian said the assembly resolution was acceptable to Fort Liard and the neighboring settlements at Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake, opening the way for the unanimous vote by the chiefs.

The Deh Cho leaders signed an agreement five years ago requiring the full support of all chiefs in decisions related to resource development.

Call covers nine parcels

Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice issued the call on Aug. 11 covering nine parcels of land, although some areas were excluded from the call at the request of the Acho Dene Koe.

The area covers about 321,000 acres, almost 25,000 acres of which involves significant discovery and production licenses. The nine parcels vary in size from 25 to 54 sections and two were excluded at the request of the Acho Dene Koe

A Sept. 15 deadline has been set for posting requests. The two parcels which receive the strongest support will be offered in a call for bids, with the winners expected to be announced in January 2007.

Two more parcels “may be considered for a second call for bids in 2007” and could be followed by a regular issuance of exploration rights.

Exploration started in the Fort Liard area about 50 years ago when three gas pools, thought to hold 1 trillion cubic feet each, were discovered, indicating the potential for another 3 tcf to 5 tcf.

A breakthrough occurred in 1999 when a Chevron Canada-led consortium announced a possible 600 billion cubic foot discovery, ranked among the top 0.1 percent of all wells drilled in Canada. Ranger Oil and a Paramount Resources/Berkley Petroleum partnership logged finds of more than 200 billion cubic feet each.

From an initial peak of 75 million cubic feet per day of raw gas from the Fort Liard k-29 well, the production rate, affected by water production, tumbled and by the last quarter of 2005 was about 7 percent of the 2001 rate.

Over recent times, Paramount has been the only active driller, completing two wells in 2005 and originally planning 11 this year.

Otherwise activities have tapered off, including plans by Anadarko to build a C$250 million gas gathering system for the Fort Liard area which stalled pending a deal to issue oil and gas licenses.

Chevron itself pulled out of Fort Liard in mid-2004 when it sold properties in the lower Northwest Territories and northeastern British Columbia to Paramount Resources for C$189 million, allowing the Canadian subsidiary to focus “on new growth areas in Canada.”






Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469
[email protected] --- https://www.petroleumnews.com ---
S U B S C R I B E

Copyright Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA)Š1999-2019 All rights reserved. The content of this article and website may not be copied, replaced, distributed, published, displayed or transferred in any form or by any means except with the prior written permission of Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA). Copyright infringement is a violation of federal law.