Alberta land sales continue unabated
Alberta has blazed into a new land sales year in the same way it finished 2005, fetching C$214 million from its Jan. 11 auction.
Leases and permits for oil sands development continued at a fierce pace, totaling almost C$71 million from 85,000 acres in the Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River regions, nudging the per-acre average above C$5,000.
Conventional oil and natural gas rights attracted almost C$144 million in successful bids covering 495,000 acres in the Foothills, Plains and northern regions at an average C$1,759 per acre.
Topping the major buyers were EnCana, Apache, Canadian Natural Resources, ConocoPhillips and Husky Energy. Canadian sales shatter record Meanwhile, the final accounting of land acquisitions for 2005 pushed the total for all of Canada to nearly C$3 billion, shattering the 2003 record of C$1.71 billion.
Only 11 of the last 50 years have seen total sales exceed C$1 billion, five of them occurring in the 21st Century.
The average price per hectare (one hectare equals 2.47 acres) soared last year to C$670, up 94 percent from 2004’s C$346, although total land changing hands through the bid process rose only modestly to 4.38 million hectares from 4.1 million hectares.
An additional 1.27 million hectares was auctioned to producers under work commitments, more than half of which was in Northern Canada and Newfoundland, pushing the overall total to 5.65 million hectares, trailing 2004 by 470,000 acres.
Alberta and British Columbia posted record per-hectare highs, Alberta jumping to C$697 from C$355 in 2004 and British Columbia attracting a breathtaking C$921 for its natural gas prospects, up from C$430 the previous year.
Saskatchewan’s mixed bag of heavy oil, conventional oil and natural gas plays attracted C$278 per hectare, a solid gain from 2004’s C$186, but lagging well behind the peak years of the 1980s.
—Gary Park
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