by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Apr 18/97) - The Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation (IPC) announced last Thursday testing has shown their Ikhil natural gas find could supply Inuvik's energy needs for 18 years.

Tests indicate reserves of 15 billion cubic feet of gas, reported IPC. The well could extract up to 22.7 million feet per day, 10 times the average daily energy requirement of the town.

"We are confident the project will be economically viable if we can keep our costs down and strike reasonable contracts with the potential gas purchasers," said IPC chairman and CEO Russel Newmark.

Calgary's AltaGas has signed a letter of intent to participate in the construction, ownership and operation of the gas processing plant and pipeline.

Originally drilled in 1986, the well was redrilled last month to evaluate the feasibility of supplying Inuvik with natural gas.

The geological structure of the reserve area also indicates the possibility of additional compartments of natural gas near the well site.

The Ikhil well is 48 kilometres northwest of Inuvik. The corporation hopes to transport the gas to town through a subsurface pipeline.

Newmark said the corporation will be entering into negotiation of a gas purchase contract with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and a franchise agreement with the town of Inuvik over the next few months.

IPC is a Calgary based gas and oil exploration subsidiary of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.