Nevada firm moves into oil sands

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

Deep Well Oil & Gas, a Nevada-based corporation, has gained a foothold in Alberta’s oil sands by acquiring 100 percent of privately held Mikwec Energy Canada for an undisclosed amount.

Once the deal closes, Deep Well will control a major heavy oil property, including an 80 percent working interest in 20,480 acres near Sawn Lake in north-central Alberta.

Preliminary work by Mikwec indicates more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil are in place, Deep Well said.

The Nevada company said exploration activities since the mid-1980s, combined with technological advances, have made the “previously bypassed resource economically attractive.”

Deep Well said it plans to commence operations as an oil and gas E&P company, with special emphasis on heavy oil and gas exploration in northern Alberta.

Earlier this month, Deep Well appointed Menno Wiebe as chief operating officer. Wiebe has experience evaluating the oil sands as an employee of Hudson’s Bay Oil & Gas. He has more recently held various overseas postings with Occidental Petroleum, Bow Valley Industries, Husky Energy, Hall-Houston Oil and Pertacal Energy.