Canada chases juniors

Funds Arctic geoscience programs for Mackenzie and Beaufort Sea

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent

The Canadian government plans to pump C$7 million over the next two years into geophysical projects in the Northwest Territories in anticipation of stepped up exploration spending.

Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal said the money will help cover salaries and operational expenditures for work in the Mackenzie Valley, Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea.

The objective is to raise the profile of Canada�s North as an exploration region and open the door for more junior E&P companies to develop plays.

�These projects will help attract new investment to the North, contributing to economic development and the quality of life in northern communities,� Dhaliwal said.

The funds will raise knowledge of the geology in Canada�s Arctic and include a baseline map detailing the oil and natural gas potential of the Northwest Territories.

One of the geoscience projects aims to provide northerners and resource exploration companies with easily accessible information about the Mackenzie Corridor.

As well, the funds will be used to integrate new and existing data to access the energy potential of the Mackenzie Delta region, which represents Canada�s greatest hope of delivering Arctic gas to southern markets.

The objective is to establish new hydrocarbon prospects and build spending on exploration and development.

With optimism building in the chances of a pipeline from the Delta, exploration budgets have made steady gains in recent years, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which estimates the industry will spend C$500 million in 2003 as it did in 2002, following C$400 million in 2001 and C$300 million in 2000.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Canada�s National Energy Board told Petroleum News that WesternGeco is planning two two-dimensional surveys, one of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers and one on three channels of the Mackenzie River in the Mackenzie Delta, although the Mackenzie/Liard program has yet to be approved.

Over the last decade, he said 33 seismic programs have been conducted in the Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort Sea region.