by Ralph Plath
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (DEC 06/96) - Three companies will see what fortune lies under the land around the Fort Liard region when they begin to drill for gas as early as this month.

Paramount, Unocal and Ranger Oil are readying sites for drilling after months and millions of dollars in seismic exploration.

"This is the basket where all of our eggs are," is all Unocal petroleum engineer Matt Mount said after being asked what the company's expectations are.

Mount said the company has a 10-per-cent chance of finding a good quantity of gas. But they have another location to try if the current site doesn't bring results.

"If they're dry we're out of here," he said.

Unocal's site lies four kilometres from Fort Liard, while the other two sites are some ways from the community, closer to Willow Lake and Bouvier Lake.

"For once, we'll know if there's something here," said Fort Liard First Nation Chief Harry Deneron. "This is a big interest for us."

If one or all of the companies are successful, the community may eventually use gas for power in the community or other projects, Deneron said.

But successful companies will still have to negotiate with local governments and the National Energy Board to extract the precious substance.

The bottom line for letting companies explore for oil and gas is the jobs being created, Deneron said.

Last year, eight parcels of land brought in almost $23 million in bids from companies. And this year, six oil and gas companies will spend an additional $20 million during the next four years.

The Unocal drill site, for example, has created about 20 jobs for local residents who are finishing construction of a road to the site and clearing the area for drilling.

The community has also been harvesting to sell timber cut down as the road was being built.

"We have to capitalize on job creation," Deneron said.