Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Ensign Drilling Rig 356 at Kindersley in October, 2016. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Here’s a switch for you: substantially more money was spent on exploration licences in the Kindersley area than on petroleum and natural gas leases, according to the Government of Saskatchewan’s Crown oil and natural gas public offering held on Tuesday, April 1.
That offering raised $11,983,131 for the province, with all four bid areas – Estevan, Kindersley, Lloydminster and Swift Current – generating revenue.
A total of $1,545,576 was raised from five exploration licences sold in the Kindersley area. Those licences totalled 11,469 hectares, and averaged $135 per hectare. Every licence posted in the area sold. In comparison, two leases were posted, but just one sold for $1169,735 for 261 hectares. The bonus bid was $651 per hectare for that lease.
Province-wide, the Ministry of Energy and Resources posted 54 parcels for sale, of which 47 received acceptable bids, covering an area of 22,341 hectares.
Estevan-Weyburn area
The Estevan area generated the largest share of the revenue, bringing in $8,574,010 for 26 leases with 3,838 hectares out of 30 posted totalling 4,359 hectares. There were two exploration licences sold of four posted. The two licences covered an area of 2,064 hectares out of 3,3998 hectares posted.
The bonus in the Estevan area came in at an average of an average of $1,453 per hectare. This compares to $2,747,969, an average of $1,631/hectare at the last offering.
Synergy Land Services Ltd. made the highest bid and dollars-per-hectare bid for a parcel – $1,533,772, or $6,759 per hectare – for a 227 hectare lease in the Estevan area, southeast of Lampman.
Kindersley-Kerrobert Area
Elk Run Resources Ltd. had the highest bid for an exploration licence, offering $856,917, or $172 per hectare, for a 4,991 hectare licence southwest of Eatonia in the Kindersley area.
Metropolitan Resources Inc. offered the highest dollars-per-hectare bid for an exploration licence, bidding $715 per hectare for a total of $833,157 on a 1,165 hectare licence in the Lloydminster Area, southeast of Maidstone.
The one lease awarded in this area received a bid of $169,735, an average of $651 per hectare. This 261 hectare lease was awarded to Millennium Land (222) Ltd. and is located 25 kilometres northwest of Major, adjacent to the Court West Bakken Sand Oil Pool.
Overall, the Kindersley area generated $1,715,311 in revenue.
Lloydminster Area
The total bonus received in this area was $1,244,043, an average of $387 per hectare. This compares to $156,195, an average of $193 per hectare, at the last offering.
The highest bonus bid and highest dollars per hectare received on a lease in this area is $96,582, an average of $372 per hectare. This 259 hectare lease was awarded to Durham Creek Energy Ltd. and is located 13 kilometres southeast of Neilburg.
The lone exploration licence posted in this area received a bid of $833,157, an average of $715 per hectare. This 1,165 hectare licence was awarded to Metropolitan Resources Inc. and is located 20 kilometres southeast of Maidstone, adjacent to the Carruthers Cummings Sand Oil Pool.
Swift Current Area
In the Swift Current area, bidding generated a total of $449,768 in revenue, with Saturn Oil and Gas Inc. making the highest offer, $371,644.
This is the first of six oil and gas public offerings for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
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