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Anadarko logs natural gas finds in western Canada
Gary Park, Petroleum News Calgary correspondent
The pacesetter among natural gas explorers in the lower Northwest Territories during the winter season, Anadarko Canada compiled a solid record of success there along with the Peace River Arch and northeastern British Columbia.
Parent company Anadarko Petroleum said April 25 that it has filed four significant discovery licenses in the gas-producing Fort Liard region, without disclosing the locations.
Waiting on gasline to drill Mackenzie Chief Executive Officer Robert Allison told a conference call that Anadarko is shooting seismic in the Mackenzie Delta, although its chances of drilling hang in the balance until there is certainty over a pipeline along the Mackenzie Valley.
He said “we think we will have some drilling prospects,” but is not sure whether to drill before a decision is made on building a pipeline.
Of Anadarko’s nine wells in Fort Liard, five were Devonian Slave Point tests and four targeted other zones. Two were suspended because of spring break-up, but should be completed during the 2003-04 winter.
Allison said the past two winters have yielded six apparent gas discoveries from 11 wells at Fort Liard. Two could be a couple of years from production, although they are “big enough” to warrant connection to an existing pipeline, he said.
At Saddle Hills in the Pace River Arch a rapidly-growing play got another boost from a discovery that flowed at 15.9 million cubic feet per day, while five other wells were cased and are being evaluated.
The area has seen daily production soar to 80 million cubic feet from a mere 2 million cubic feet in the past year.
Anadarko’s Canadian gas output climbed in the first quarter to 389 million cubic feet per day from 347 million cubic feet a year earlier, while Canadian oil and condensate volumes slumped to 17,000 barrels per day from 38,000.
The company said it will spend about US$80 million on exploration in Canada this year from a 2003 capital budget of US$2.5 billion.
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