B.C. aboriginals share in ownership of drilling rig

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

A historic advance has been made in the shaky relations between the British Columbia government, the petroleum industry and aboriginals.

The Fort Nelson First Nation has reached a deal with Ensign Drilling to split ownership of an C$8 million rig, with EnCana as a third-party participant, by offering to open a 5 million acre lease area in northeast British Columbia to the rig.

The agreement will create 20 direct jobs for the 731-member Fort Nelson community and 40 to 50 spin-off jobs, with the first nation collecting half the money earned by the rig’s drilling contracts.

There is no estimate yet on how much that might contribute to Fort Nelson revenues.

Fort Nelson Chief Liz Logan said the ground-breaking agreement is a “foundation for future opportunities and benefits for our community.”

Despite 18 months of tensions that have led to aboriginal blockades of drilling sites, Logan insisted Fort Nelson was not opposed to development.

“Our challenge has always been with government, not with industry,” she said.

“We’ve always told the industry we want to benefit, to participate ... but we also want to see that the development is done sustainably.

“We want to share the revenue that’s been coming out of our backyard since 1951.”

Ensign Chief Executive Officer Bon Geddes said the first nation will be able to share its “traditional knowledge of the land and we can reciprocate with our knowledge of oil and gas drilling.”

EnCana has negotiated parallel deals with aboriginal communities in Alberta.

Andy Popka, the company’s vice president of aboriginal affairs, said eight Alberta first nations own rigs and the majority are working on traditional Native land in British Columbia.

British Columbia Energy Minister Richard Neufeld welcomed the progress towards involvement by aboriginals in job training and economic involvement.