Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 13/00) - Resource companies will have a chance to bid for exploration rights on six parcels of land, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation announced recently.

The offering is being made through a competitive bid process. The bids will involve the value of exploration work companies plan to do.

"We're very encouraged that the industry will have a chance to bid on parcels in the NWT," Pierre Alvarez, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers president, said.

Alvarez adds that access to exploration land in the NWT has been one of the big impediments to natural gas and oil developments.

The move by the Inuvialuit is "viewed as positive," he said.

"The companies will indicate which parcels and what kind of work they envision. We, at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, with the communities, will look at the bids and determine which would be best for the communities," corporation communications advisor Peggy Jay said.

Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk have looked at land available and decided what parcels have the best potential for exploration results, Jay said.

The six parcels, Aklavik, Inuvik 1 and 2, and Tuktoyaktuk 1, 2 and 3, total 480,730 hectares.

Jay said there has been a lot of interest, especially from resource companies in Alberta, in the announcement. Bid packages are available from the corporation's office in Inuvik.

Bidding deadline is 5 p.m., April 14. Bids will be reviewed through April 25 with conditional approvals due by April 30.

During May, successful bidders will make presentations to Inuvialuit land corporations.

The petroleum and natural gas rights bidding on these six parcels should be concluded by the end of June.

Under the 1984 comprehensive land claim settlement, the Inuvialuit acquired ownership of 90,000 square kilometres, including 12,900 square kilometres of subsurface oil, gas and minerals.

Concessions granted through the bidding process will be made by the Inuvialuit Land Corp.