Alberta company strikes landmark land access deal with aboriginals

A breakthrough deal between aboriginals and the petroleum industry will give Atlas Energy access to about 10 percent of the 52,000-acre Bigstone Cree First Nation’s reserve, 250 miles north of Edmonton.

The deal will give Bigstone a role in decision-making and ownership of 10 to 20 percent of the successful wells, opening the way for the newly established Bigstone Oil and Gas firm to expand into oil and gas partnerships off the reservation.

Atlas President Richard Lewanski said the drilling target is a low-risk proposition.

The plans call for 18 horizontal wells on the Pelican Lake heavy oil field, with each well expected to produce 200 barrels per day.

Pelican Lake is a conventional play tapped by 600 wells and does not require speculative exploration or the use of costly technology.

Lewanski said the agreement includes commitments to make aboriginal workers and contracting firms preferred suppliers to the project.

He said more partnerships with Native communities are likely because the drilling prospects beneath aboriginal lands are usually less developed than the surrounding mineral rights.