The Cretaceous continues to be of interest in the Wapiti area, as the Cardium and Falher, along with the Kakwa Dunvegan, brought in the highest prices in the June 26 land sale.

The province sold 12,116 hectares of P&NG leases and licenses bringing in $4.08 million. Additionally, there were 256 hectares of crown oilsands rights sold for $ 205,483 this sale. This brings the total cumulative bonus paid to-date for the year in Alberta to $285.94 million.

Details

A – Wapiti: Canada West Land Services purchased a single section in the Wapiti area for $310,000, which included P&NG rights from below base of the halfway to the basement, except P&NG rights in the Montney. The northern half of the section also included P&NG rights from surface to the base of the Spirit River. In the last five years the Cardium formation has been main target to the NW, and the Falher formation is of interest to the south. The nearby Cenovus Energy Inc. Cardium 100/04-27-066-08W6/00 well produced at a calendar daily rate of 128 bbl/d and 275 mcf/d in the last month from a 3,050 m lateral. The 20 recent Canadian Natural Resources Limited’s Falher wells, drilled in T065 R08W6, produced at an average calendar daily rate of 8,193 mcf/d/well in the first month. For additional subsurface details on the upper Falher see the exploration story in the Q4 2023 geoXPLORER newsletter.

B – Kakwa: The highest price per hectare at this land sale was $1,227/ha for eight sections in the Kakwa area (total bonus $1.1 million). The eight sections included P&NG rights from below the base of the Chinook to the base of the Dunvegan. The Dunvegan has been the most active formation being drilled in the area in recent years, and Tourmaline Oil Corp.’s 100/01-12-062-08W6/00 well produced at a daily average rate of 1,200 Mcf/d in the last month.