Anderson Exploration plans to drill Beaufort and Yukon

Gary Park

Anderson Exploration, the largest holder of exploration leases on the Mackenzie Delta, will drill two wells this coming winter on the joint license it holds with Petro-Canada, said chairman and chief executive officer J.C. Anderson.

In addition, the Calgary-based company plans a C$72 million three-dimensional seismic program covering 1,600 square kilometers of its 100 percent owned offshore shallow water property in the Beaufort Sea.

Another 480 square kilometers of 3-D seismic will be shot in the region next year.

Anderson said he is confident a major discovery will be announced next year “because we know there is a gas field there.”

An Imperial Oil well drilled in the area in 1986 tested at an average 20 million cubic feet per day from each of 10 zones.

Anderson said the company also plans to drill up to two wells in the Yukon’s Eagle Plain basin, where it holds three exploration licenses.

He said 275 kilometers of two-dimensional seismic was shot last winter and another 275 kilometers will be added this winter.

At least 1 trillion cubic feet of reserves would be needed to make a stand-alone project commercially viable, Anderson said.