CALGARY – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNQ) has decided to keep the Montney shale gas assets that it put on the market early last year.
The Calgary-based oil, gas and oilsands producer says it received “a number of expressions of interest” for the assets but none was sufficient to merit a deal at this time.
CNQ announced in March it was looking for buyers or partners for the assets, which are in a part of northeastern British Columbia that contains huge reserves of natural gas within shale rock formations.
The company says third-party evaluators estimate that CNQ’s Montney lands contain about 6.7 trillion cubic feet of gas, one of the largest reserve holdings in Western Canada.
A number of other major energy companies have also been shopping around their land and infrastructure amid a period of low commodity prices — resulting in a crowded market.
“Canadian Natural received a number of expressions of interest on the acreage; however, none of the expressions were of sufficient merit to complete a transaction at this time, and as such, the company has elected to retain the acreage, maintaining one of the largest Montney land positions in Western Canada with over one million net acres,” the company said in a brief statement early Thursday.