Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 06/99) - The federal government will soon offer resource companies more blocks of land to search for oil and gas in the central Mackenzie Valley, says a top federal government official.

We're trying to launch another call within a month," said Mimi Fortier, DIAND's northern oil and gas director.

"Norman Wells can't be the only one (discovery). It would be unusual if it was," she said.

Fortier spoke during the oil and gas session of the 27th annual Geoscience Forum held last week in Yellowknife.

Existing planned exploration activity in the central Mackenzie Valley includes:

• AECWest plans to drill four wells on exploration licence 387 between Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope.
• AECWest also plans to drill a deeper test on exploration licence 392, their Keele Arch block of property south of Tulita.
• Northrock Resources will operate two wells on the exploration licence 391 southwest of Tulita to earn an interest in the exploration licence originally issued to International Frontier Resources.

Word of a probable new call for bids for the central Mackenzie Valley comes just a few months after a successful call for bids in the Mackenzie Delta.

Under the bidding process, exploration licences are awarded to resource companies based on their spending commitments.

Four Delta blocks of land were nominated and four were bid for, for a total of $183 million in resource company work commitments.

The September call for bids in the Delta was the first since 1991. The results of the call for bids suggests economic development of Delta gas is being viewed as realistic in the medium term, Fortier said.

"The big news is the tenacity of the players. We've seen tremendous (Delta) bids."

Meanwhile, the territorial government has revealed its plans to aim new funding in support of oil and gas activity in the NWT.

The GNWT will provide $314,000 in new funding and "redirect additional existing funds to capitalize on opportunities arising for expansions in the oil and gas industry," the government said.

"A decision to put funds and programs in place now will allow us to work with communities and ensure benefits of future development come home to Northerners," Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED) Minister Stephen Kakfwi said.

Part of the $314,000 -- this funding covers a four-month period until fiscal year end -- will go to hire staff who can link community residents and companies with resource firms.

RWED will hire workers in the Deh Cho, Sahtu and Beaufort Delta regions who will provide information to communities and businesses so they can participate in the development.

"This is a very dynamic industry. We need someone on the ground keeping up with the changes," Chuck Parker, co-ordinator of the Mackenzie Valley Project, said. The Mackenzie Valley Project, consisting of RWED and aboriginal group representatives, was set up last September to plan for the coming oil and gas activity.

The funding move is a response to the big increase in demand for natural gas in North American markets. The money will be used for training and human resources programs, business development for NWT firms whose areas of operation include exploration, construction and operations contracting, and environmental monitoring, the GNWT said.