Alberta, B.C. oil and gas land sales make downturn in March
Alberta and British Columbia sagged to their lowest land sales of 2006 at mid-March auctions, but the results would have been warmly greeted in past years.
Alberta pocketed C$116 million from 171,826 hectares (424,582 acres) at an average C$676.47 per hectare, also the weakest average of the year to date.
In British Columbia, 28,299 hectares changed hands at a per-hectare average of C$718.16 for a total return of C$20.27 million.
The leading deal in Alberta was the almost C$16 million paid by Windfall Resources for 3,878 hectares on the Alberta-British Columbia border at Wapiti.
Oil sands bidders took their second successive break from the frenzied action which dominated earlier sales, with only Canadian Natural Resources making an acquisitions, paying a mere C$112,043 for 512 hectares.
With five sales completed, Alberta has tallied C$1.53 billion from 1.29 million hectares — far ahead of the same pace last year when C$345 million ended up in government coffers from the sale of 674,706 hectares.
British Columbia has tripled last year’s activities, with sales generating C$125 million for 168,414 hectares vs. C$43.4 million and 70,720 hectares over the same period of 2005.
—Gary Park
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