Yukon issues call for nominations

Gary Park

The Yukon government has opened its 2001 call for nominations in North Yukon, setting the stage for its third sale of oil and gas rights in two years.

In the first two rounds the only successful bidder was a subsidiary of Anderson Exploration, which paid C$23.3 million in work bids on 260,000 acres in the Eagle Plain and Peel Plateau areas, which hold an estimated 500 billion cubic feet of gas and 10 million barrels of oil.

Yukon Premier Pat Duncan said high oil and gas prices provide a “window of opportunity for attracting investment in the Yukon that may not occur again for several years.

The government consulted with First Nations and other stakeholders before issuing the call, which closes July 18. Duncan said “we worked hard to balance land use concerns with development interests when choosing this area.”

Once the nominations are received, a public review will take place to identify any environmental, socio-economic and surface access concerns. Specific parcels will then be offered in a call for bids.

The call for nominations is available on the Department of Economic Development website: www.yukonoilandgas.com