SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Calgary-based energy company is looking at long-term activity at the Deh Cho region's Liard Basin after receiving a commercial discovery declaration from the National Energy Board.
Aerial view of Lone Pine Resources Canada Ltd.'s Pointed Mounted shale gas exploration activities west of Fort Liard in 2011. - photo courtesy of Lone Pine Resources Canada Ltd.
|
The declaration announced earlier this month for natural gas resources located on Lone Pine Resources Canada Ltd.'s oil and gas leases at the Pointed Mountain field, makes the company eligible for a 21-year lease extension at the property from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
The company conducted exploration activity at an existing vertical wellbore in the Pointed Mountain area in 2011, to test two shale formations on the property.
A prospective shale gas resource of about 3.8 trillion cubic feet was determined by an independent evaluator of the resource, Netherland, Sewell and Associates Inc.
A Lone Pine official was not available for comment last week, but Shane Abel, vice-president of finance for the company told News/North recently that the formation is similar to the nearby Horn River Basin, which the National Energy Board has reported could support the potential for unconventional shale gas production as high as 96 trillion cubic feet.
Other companies that have previously received commercial discovery declarations from the National Energy Board in the Liard Basin area include Paramount Resources Ltd. and Chevron Canada Resources.
Paramount Resources, which sold its Cameron Hills oil and gas play in the Deh Cho region earlier this year to Calgary-based Strategic Oil and Gas Ltd., used a hydraulic fracturing method on its wells at Camereron Hills.
Lone Pine has not confirmed upcoming plans for its Pointed Mountain property, but Tim Granger, president and CEO of the company stated in a recent news release that receipt of the commercial discovery declaration "is an important step in the company's shale gas development strategy."
News/North had not heard back from Aboriginal Affairs as of press time about when the company's lease extension could be approved.
Shares of Calgary-based Lone Pine Resources Inc. (LPR) closed at $0.90 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
