Chevron Canada/BP made top bid at NWT license sale

Gary Park, PNA Canadian correspondent

Chevron Canada Resources and BP Canada Energy Co. teamed up in a successful joint bid for the Mackenzie Delta parcel in the Canadian government’s May 13 sale of Arctic exploration licenses in the Northwest Territories.

The companies made the top work commitment of C$13.2 million for a 67,500-acre parcel on the Delta proper, at 69 degrees north and 136 degrees west, about 50 miles northwest of Aklavik.

The location is close to the Kurk M-15 well drilled last winter by Petro-Canada and Devon Canada Energy Corp. which was perforated in multiple zones with natural gas shows, but was not considered commercially viable.

Devon and Petro-Canada made a joint C$1.1 million bid on an 46,730-acre offshore exploration licenses in the Beaufort Sea, north of Tuktoyaktuk.

No bids were received for a license in the Central Mackenzie Valley.

Companies can secure the licenses by making work deposits representing 25 percent of the bid.