Â鶹´«Ã½AV
For the first time in several sales, the Bakken oil play in the southeast has been overshadowed by heightened interest in the southwest's Lower Shaunavon oil play in the province's latest sale of oil and gas rights.
The April sale brought in $109 million to bring land sale revenues so far this year to $152 million. The latest sale was the third best on record for an April sale, and also marked the seventh time in the last three years that a single land sale topped $100 million.
The Swift Current area led the sale with the most bids, bringing in $56.6 million, followed by the Weyburn-Estevan area with $40.4 million, then the Kindersley-Kerrobert area at $7.8 million, and last, Lloydminster at $4 million.
Breaking down to the Weyburn-Estevan statistics, the total bonus received was $40,363,565, which was an average of $553.17 per hectare, or $223.86 per acre. This compares to $18,128,914 at the last sale, which averaged out to $354.76 a hectare or $143.57 an acre.
"This was a great sale, based on both the quantity and the quality of the bids we received," said Energy and Resources minister Bill Boyd.
"Land sales are a key barometer of future activity in the industry, and based on what we've seen over the last 15 months from our sales, the forecast is very bright indeed for increased investment by the industry, investment that results in jobs and prosperity for the people of Saskatchewan," he added.
For the April sale, there were 17 licences and 205 leases posted covering 128.310 hectares; of these nine licences were sold, covering 22,662 ha, for $17.39 million, or an average of $767/ha, and 166 leases were sold for 50,305 ha for $22.97 million, or $456/ha.
Husky Oil was the top purchaser of acreage in the southeast area, as they spent $12.94 million to acquire two licences.
The top price paid for a single lease in this area was $2,535,932, paid by Prairie Land and Investment Services for a 970.6-ha (2,398-acre) parcel situated 13 km west of Ceylon, about 10 km southwest of the Amulet Ratcliffe Beds Pool.
The top price paid in the province for a single licence was $7,270,614, paid by Husky Oil Operations for a 2,330.99-ha (5,760-acre) block located 13 km southeast of the Oungre Ratcliffe Beds Pool, or 33 km southwest of Estevan.
The highest dollar per hectare was $10,213 per hectare (or $4,113 per acre) paid by Villanova Oil Corp. for a 31.33-ha (77.42-acre) parcel situated in the Carnduff Midale Beds Pool, 11 km southwest of Carnduff.
The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights will be held on June 6.
