Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 44 2022

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

BC’s gas producers hope to start

stalled Montney development

BRITISH NATURAL gas producers are hoping to restart – in terms of reserves – larger than the Marcellus
COLUMBIA development in British Columbia’s Montney in the US.
shale play and secure licences in time for the Canadian gas prices are currently high, but
winter drilling season. the Montney is landlocked and would rely on its
The province may be close to a deal with output being transported via pipeline to LNG
First Nations to develop the region, Reuters has export facilities on the coast of BC for shipment
reported. to Asia. However, large-scale liquefaction and
Around 18 months ago, BC’s Supreme Court export capacity on the BC coast is still under
halted new well licences by backing a claim by development. The BC
the Blueberry River First Nation that devel- The BC government has told gas companies
opment of Montney’s gas and other natural that a deal with First Nations is imminent, Crew government and
resources was damaging their traditional use of Energy’s CEO, Dale Schwed, was quoted by Reu-
the land for hunting, fishing and culture. ters as saying. Crew is a producer of gas in the First Nations
Development slowed, though companies that Montney.
already had permits were allowed to proceed. But Schwed said he is still cautious. “We’ve have been
Seventy-three gas well licences were issued in heard that [from the BC government] a few discussing how
the first nine months of this year, compared with times in the past,” he told the news service. “Peo-
302 in the same period last year, according to an ple are running out of permits. We’re now run- to assess and
RBC Capital Markets note. ning out of things to do, as are other companies.”
The Supreme Court awarded the First Nation A spokesperson for BC’s Ministry of Land, grant permits for
CAD65mn ($48mn) and control of 38,000 Water and Resource Stewardship told Reuters
square km of the play. that talks have been continuing and “we hope to wells and other
Since the ruling, the BC government and have more to say about this soon”. natural resource
First Nations have been discussing how to assess The winter drilling season, which is nearing,
and grant permits for wells and other natural is when heavy machinery can be more easily activities.
resource activities. moved.
There are 25 companies operating in the “It’s getting to a point of being fairly critical
region, which in total covers around 130,000 to the development of natural gas in BC,” the
square km spanning the border between BC and Explorers and Producers Association of Cana-
Alberta. At more than 300 metres thick in parts, da’s CEO, Tristan Goodman, was quoted by Reu-
it is the most prolific shale play in Canada and is ters as saying.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 03•November•2022