REGINA – Crown petroleum, natural gas and oil shale land sales are pumping more money into Saskatchewan government coffers.
The province says the April sale of petroleum and natural gas rights brought in $47.9 million in revenue, bringing the total of the first two sales this year to $98.6 million.
The government says that amount passes the $67.4 million in land sales in all of last year.
Sales in the Weyburn-Estevan area were the highest at $42.8 million, followed by the Lloydminster area at $2.3 million.
Energy and Resources Minister Tim McMillan says of particular interest in this sale was a cluster of exploration licences between Assiniboia and Rockglen in southwest Saskatchewan.
Drilling in the early 1950s proved the presence of Bakken oil in the area but the technology did not exist to develop the resource.
“With interest in this area rekindled after 50 years, we are hopeful that the technological advances made in the interim can be applied to produce significant amounts of oil,” McMillan said in a news release Thursday.
The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas and oil shale dispositions will be held June 2.