Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Fort Good Hope (Aug 01/05) - Drilling in the North is often limited to the frozen winter months, when heavy machinery can travel the ice roads.

A technology introduced near Fort Good Hope last summer could eliminate some of the limitations on seasonal exploration, resulting in more jobs and contractor opportunities for Northerners.

Large plastic mats are barged down the Mackenzie River. Once unloaded, they are joined together to form a road from the river bank over the soft muskeg to reach a property operated by Devlan Exploration north of Fort Good Hope.

The mats have been used in northern B.C. and Alberta for a few years, said Marty Cheyne, president and chief executive officer of Devlan.

The temporary summer road enabled Akita/Sahtu Drilling to reach the site a couple of hundred metres from the river's edge.

"Since many areas of interest are close to communities, winter road access makes sense," said John Pahl, northern contracts manager with Akita Drilling. "Devlan's Little Chicago site was off the beaten path but close to the river so economically the mats made sense."

Minimal environmental disturbance is caused by clearing brush under the mats, he said.

"Once we are on location, the drilling process is the same."

Neither Akita Drilling nor Devlan are using the mats this summer, but should the Mackenzie Valley pipeline go ahead, summer drilling will become much more desirable, he said.

A similar project was proposed years ago but the proponents decided to go with a winter road, said Larry Wallace, chair of the Sahtu Land and Water Board.

The board approved the construction of the mat road in part because the site was close to the river and was relatively flat, he said.

"There were no problems along the way and no complaints once the project was over," he said.