Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
The leases picked up in southwest Saskatchewan are just south of these wells, west of Frontier. Yes, that speck on the horizon is your dog running away for the third day. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
REGINA – It’s been several years since the Ministry of Energy and Resources could announce a Crown Land sale like they got this week.
The April 5 petroleum and natural gas rights sale brought in $19,307,204. That’s more then the nearly $15 million brought in over the entire 2021-22 fiscal year which ended March 31. It’s also ten times the $1.9 million that came in the April, 2021 sale.
Indeed, you had to b back to December, 2018, to see something close. That sale brought in $20.1 million.
Land sales and drilling rig counts are two of the key leading indicators for oil industry activity in the coming months and years. Land sales are an indicator of much longer horizons, while the drilling rig count is the more immediate indicator.
Minister of Energy and Resources Bronwyn Eyre said in an emailed statement, “The revenue generated from this latest public offering is a strong sign that our oil and gas sector is roaring back, as global demand increases and countries look to an ethical and reliable supplier of their energy products,”
She added, “They should look no further than Saskatchewan.”
Province-wide results. Ministry of Energy and Resources
This land sale saw 207 leases posted totalling 26,634 hectares. Of that, 168 leases sold, totalling 22,825 hectares at an average of $837 per hectare.
There was just one exploratory licence posted for 812 hectares. It told, for a bonus of $204,119, an average of $251 per hectare. Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd. bid $204,118.68, or $251.36 per hectare to pick up the lone exploration licence posted in the Estevan Area area. This 812.057 hectare licence is located 21 km north of Stoughton.
Estevan-Weyburn area. Ministry of Energy and Resources
Estevan-Weyburn area
Nearly all the activity was in southeast Saskatchewan. There were 177 leases posted, and 142 acquired. Those 177 leases totalled 14,695 hectares, and 11,890 hectares were purchased, for a total of $17,111,929 bonus. That’s an average of $1,439 per hectare.
The aforementioned licence was also in this area.
The highest bonus bid for the whole sale was received in the Estevan area. It was on a parcel in this offering was $1,572,333 for a 65 hectare lease. The $24,318 per hectare was also the highest dollars per hectare received on a lease in this offering. This lease was awarded to Mammoth Land Services Ltd and is located five km south of Lampman, within the Steelman Frobisher Beds Oil Pool. The Lampman area has seen some of the most concentrated drilling activity in southeast Saskatchewan in recent years.
Lloydminster area. Ministry of Energy and Resources
Lloydminster
The Lloydminster area saw 23 leases posted and 19 sold. The 23 leases totalled 9,870 hectares, of which 8,8667 sold for a total of $1,204,992. That’s $136 per hectare on average.
The highest bonus bid received on a lease in this area was $451,667 for a 616 hectare lease. This lease is located approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Meota and was awarded to Metropolitan Resources Inc. This parcel also received the highest bid on a per hectare basis at $734 per hectare.
Kindersley-Kerrobert area., Ministry of Energy and Resources
Kindersley-Kerrobert
Only two leases were posted in west central Saskatchewan, and both sold. Those leases totaled 487 hectares, and sold for $171,955, or $353 per hectare.
The highest bonus bid and dollars per hectare received on a lease in this area was $115,471 or $509 per hectare. This 227 hectare lease was awarded to Teine Energy Ltd. and is located 15 kilometres southeast of Plenty, adjacent to the Dodsland Viking Oil Pool.
Swift Current area. Ministry of Energy and Resources
Swift Current
Five of the five posted leases in the Swift Current area sold, for a bonus of $614,208, or $389 per hectare on average.
Crescent Point Energy Corp. bid $586,653 to pick up four leases totaling 1,516 hectares. These leases are located five kilometres southwest of Frontier, near the Rapdan South Shaunavon Oil Pool.
The highest bonus bid received on a lease in this area was $193,259 or $750 per hectare. This 258 hectare lease was awarded to awarded to Crescent Point.
Notable, in recent years, Crescent Point has been bidding under its own name. Historically, the company would use land agents for these sort of sales, a common practice in the industry.