Koch sells sands

Koch has decided to strike while the iron is hot by putting a “significant portion” of its northeastern Alberta oil sands leases on the auction block.

The Canadian unit of the private U.S. powerhouse has set an Aug. 10 deadline for bids on 47 billion barrels of oil in place on 347,000 net acres which it describes as a “rare opportunity for companies to acquire large, mostly 100 percent working interest oil sands lease blocks.”

The resource breakdown includes 23 billion barrels of high quality McMurray, Wabiskaw and Grand Rapids deposits and 24 billion barrels in the Nisku/Grosmont carbonates.

Beyond that Koch is offering no explanation for its decision to unload the holdings at this time, although the appetite for a piece of oil sands action has collided with a shortage of top prospects, the bulk of which were long ago locked up.

The four packages consist of Pelican/Woodenhouse, with 135,595 acres and 24.5 billion barrels and primary production potential in five parcels; the Nisku/Grosmont fairway with 19.1 billion barrels and a net pay section ranging from 100 feet to 300 feet; the Duncan package of 158,700 acres with 8.9 billion barrels, containing a 30,000 barrel-per-day prospect of more than 5 billion barrels; and Christina Lake, comprising 33,813 acres and 4.5 billion barrels of high-quality resource.

—Gary Park