Oil captures some of spotlight in NWT’s central Mackenzie Valley

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

The buzz is growing that word of an oil find in the central Mackenzie Valley is imminent, although partners in an C$18 million well are keeping tight-lipped.

The Summit Creek B-44 wildcat was drilled last winter by a consortium of Unocal subsidiary Northrock Resources, the 32.5 percent operator; Husky Energy 29.48 percent; EOG Resources 26.3975 percent; Pacific Rodera 6.63 percent; and International Frontier Resources 5 percent.

The well was production cased in March to a total depth of 9,955 feet, and is 50 miles south of Norman Wells, where Imperial Oil made a 1920 discovery of 660 million barrels.

But that discovery is slowing, with an 520-mile Enbridge pipeline to northern Alberta now averaging about 23,000 barrels per day, down from a 30,000 bpd peak, although Imperial expects oil to continue flowing for another 15 to 20 years. Currently, the field has 176 producing wells.

Interest has been growing lately in the region’s oil prospect, despite the intense focus on natural gas in the Northwest Territories.

Devlan Exploration plans an exploratory well this summer, provided it gets a regulatory green light within a month, and Husky has indicated oil exploration in the central Mackenzie is on its agenda.