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Canada counts on 20 seismic programs, despite price slump Move of two new generation rigs to the Arctic has been stalled; Akita Drilling Ltd. will keep rigs in Alberta for the winter Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
Early indications point to a repetition of last winter’s natural gas exploration activity in the Canadian North, starting with about 20 seismic programs that will set the stage for future drilling. (See related story about three geophyisical programs scheduled for this winter on Alaska’s North Slope on page 9 of the Nov. 11 edition of Petroleum News • Alaska.)
A partnership of Petro-Canada and Devon Energy Corp. (which is completing a takeover of Anderson Exploration Ltd.) confirmed they expect to spud three wells of almost 12,000 feet each on the Mackenzie Delta between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, while Paramount Resources Ltd. plans two wells in the gas-producing region of Fort Liard in the lower Northwest Territories.
A spokesman for Petro-Canada said the dive in gas prices is not an overriding concern for his company, which has its eye on the longer-term forecasts of declining reserves and rising consumption.
Petro-Canada has assembled 1.2 million acres in the Delta and plans to drill seven wells representing work commitments of C$234 million on four exploration blocks.
The most recent federally supervised land sales have attracted about C$650 million in five-year work commitments for the Delta, plus almost C$75 million for the central Mackenzie Valley.
Prices stall rigs But the weakened gas prices and economic downturn have forced Akita Drilling Ltd. to stall the movement of two new generation rigs to the Arctic. Both C$18 million units will be kept in Alberta this winter and are unlikely to be shipped north until late 2002, although one rig has been shipped north and was scheduled to start drilling the first of two gas wells for Petro-Canada/Devon in December.
Murray Roth, Akita vice president, said his company is disappointed in the winter prospects after counting on some growth in drilling activity. However, a spokesman for the Northwest Territories Resources Department, pointing to the expected 20 seismic programs, said the government anticipates an overall increase in activity everywhere except the central Mackenzie Valley.
Two years ago Akita and Inuvialuit Development Corp. jointly formed Akita/Equtak Drilling to construct and own four 20,000-foot capacity rigs for use in northern Canada, with the C$100 million undertaking being co-funded and co-owned.
Akita, which operates 36 rigs including four in the Delta, has entered two other joint ventures: Akita/Sahcho Drilling Ltd. for drilling in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories, parts of northern British Columbia and the southeast Yukon and; Akita/Sahtu Drilling Ltd. to tackle the central Mackenzie River region.
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