Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 21/00) - Resource companies have bid almost half-billion dollars in their search for natural gas in the northwestern NWT.

The exploration focuses on nine parcels of Crown land in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta. The parcels are in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region north of Aklavik and Inuvik.

The work expenditure bids total $466.5 million and cover nine of 10 parcels of land put up for bid earlier this year by the federal government.

Anderson Resources' bid, or its partnered in bids, is worth $352.6 million of the total. The Calgary-based company says it is now the largest holder of exploration licence acreage in the area.

"Although pipeline infrastructure in not yet available, Anderson believes that gas will begin flowing from the area to southern Canada and the United States well before the end of this decade and the company intends to participate," the company said in a statement.

Under the federal government's Northern Oil and Gas Directorate's call for bids process, companies are required to complete work expenditures to retain exploration licences.

Winning bidders receive nine-year exploration licences. Drilling at least one well within the first five years is a condition of holding the licence for four more years.

The bids range from $81.9 million by Petro-Canada and Anderson Resources on parcel five between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, to Anadarko Canada's $2.4 million bid on parcel six, located about 100 kilometres east of Tuktoyaktuk.

Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and a former NWT resident, said these bids are "a continuation of people looking northward for new gas supplies."

"Cash flows are strong, so industry is able to look at the North."

Northern communities will realize benefits from the exploration work in the form of employment and providing services to exploration companies, he said.

The long-term development will also identify additional reserves for pipeline infrastructure, he adds.

Tim Holt, president of BP Canada Energy, said the acquisition of parcel two is a "key building block for delivering future growth from Canada."

BP Canada, with Burlington Resources and Chevron Canada, successfully bid $76.7 million in work expenditures for parcel two.

Jim Simpson, president of Chevron Canada, said the bid win will "position our joint-venture for deepening both our assets and our relationships in the Mackenzie area."

Call for bids on the Delta parcels closed Aug. 14.

Second batch

The $466.5 million in Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta Crown land bids follows the recent $75.5 million in exploration bids made by Chevron Canada Resources, Petro-Canada and Anderson Exploration on Inuvialuit-controlled land. This call included work commitments and cash payments.

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which manages the Inuvialuit land claim, offered six parcels of land -- four were given conditional approval -- for bid in February. It was the first time the Inuvialuit have offered land for resource bids.

The concessions include work commitments and an option for the Inuvialuit to take a 25 per cent working interest in any discovery.