Petroleum institute lends a helping hand to juniors with overseas ambitions

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

The Canadian Petroleum Institute is proposing a fund to help Canadian-based companies explore in developing countries.

Through a combination of government and private funds, it hopes to create an Emerging Energy and Exploration Investment Fund of about C$100 million.

For now the institute is engaged in a two-part feasibility study to assess the level of interest in a fund and to examine a fund structure and governance.

The study is being jointly financed by the institute, Western Economic Diversification Canada and Alberta Economic Development and includes a questionnaire of Canadian Association of Petroleum producers member companies.

Driven by the diminishing prospects for juniors in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, the institute believes the only answer lies overseas.

The initial focus is on West Africa, which it says is rich in opportunities, given that the entire African continent logs only 1,000 wells a year in 120 prospective basins, despite holding about 13 percent of the world’s proven oil and natural gas reserves.

If the fund is set up, it will target equity participation and count on a 20 percent return on investment over the long term.