The past 30 days (March 13 – April 12) have seen a strong flow of licensing activity across BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan from producers of all sizes. In order to provide some insight on overall activity over the last month, we have prepared a summary analysis of the top licensees, fields and formations. As one might expect, licences for crude oil and bitumen outpaced those for natural gas, with 74% of licences targeting crude oil this month. Overall licensing activity was down slightly compared to the prior 30-day period, with February 10, 2023 to March 12, 2023 seeing a total of 568 wells licensed compared to the current period’s 424 wells. See all 424 licences on a map here, or head over to BOE Intel to check out our new activity map colour-coded by company.
| Top Licensees | ||
|---|---|---|
| Licensee | Licence Count | |
| Canadian Natural Resources Limited | 37 | |
| Cenovus Energy Inc. | 37 | |
| Baytex Energy Ltd | 33 | |
| Ovintiv Canada ULC | 31 | |
| Karve Energy Inc. | 26 | |
| Surge Energy Inc. | 21 | |
| Teine Energy Ltd. | 19 | |
| ARC Resources Ltd. | 18 | |
| Bonavista Energy Corporation | 18 | |
| Headwater Exploration Inc. | 16 | |
| Others | 168 | |
| Total | 424 | |
Among the most active companies over the last 30 days, here are some of the more noteworthy licences:
- Canadian Natural Resources – 29 of CNRL’s 37 licences were for heavy oil/bitumen, while CNRL had 6 Montney licences from the same pad in NE BC near Town.
- Cenovus – mostly oil sands licences, although 1 Clearwater licence at Fisher near the company’s Foster Creek development.
- Baytex – of the company’s 33 licences over the period, 22 were for the Viking, 6 for the Duvernay and 4 for the Clearwater.
- Ovintiv continues to be an extremely active driller/licensee, with 31 new Montney licences during the period. All of the licences were at Sunrise, where Ovintiv has been drilling the most prolific natural gas wells in Western Canada (see our most recent TOP WELL REPORT and any of the prior months as well).
- Karve Energy was an active licensee, with 26 wells all licensed for the Viking.
- Surge Energy had 21 licences, with 12 for the Frobisher formation. Surge increased its exposure to the Frobisher in an acquisition in May of 2022, and the company has regularly highlighted growth opportunities in this play.
- Of Teine’s 19 wells licenced, 11 were for the Viking and 8 were Lloydminster heavy oil licences.
- ARC Resources had 18 licences in the period, 17 for the Montney in the company’s condensate rich Karr/Kakwa area.
- Bonavista had 18 licences as well, 10 Glauconitic licences and 2 Duvernay licences.
- Headwater continues to be active in the Clearwater with 15 licences targeting that formation while 1 licence will target the Ostracod.
Other interesting licensing activity:
- The Clearwater had 39 licences in the period, driven by Headwater (15), Tamarack Valley (10), Spur (9) and Baytex (4).
- The Montney (72) and the Viking (72) were the most active formations licensed. The Montney was most actively licensed by Ovintiv (31), ARC (17), CNRL (6) and Birchcliff (6).
- Spur Petroleum had 3 Clearwater licences in the company’s northwest block of land that appear particularly noteworthy, as they would be more exploratory in nature (see map below), and pretty far removed from most of the company’s other Clearwater wells.
Spur Petroleum activity pictured below:
- Blue – well spuds since the beginning of 2018
- Red – three interesting Clearwater licences targeting company’s northwest acreage
- Yellow – Spur crown mineral rights
Field:
| Top Fields | ||
|---|---|---|
| Field | Licence Count | |
| Provost | 30 | |
| Fisher | 25 | |
| Estevan | 17 | |
| Ferrier | 17 | |
| Kindersley | 16 | |
| Marten Hills | 16 | |
| Monet | 13 | |
| Lindbergh | 12 | |
| Browning | 12 | |
| Kakwa | 11 | |
| Undefined | 25 | |
| Other | 192 | |
| Total** | 386 | |
**38 licences were recorded with a blank field entry
Producing Formations:
| Top Formations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Producing Formation | Licence Count | |
| Montney | 72 | |
| Viking | 72 | |
| McMurray | 42 | |
| Clearwater | 39 | |
| Frobisher | 21 | |
| Duvernay | 16 | |
| Lloydminster | 15 | |
| Glauconitic | 13 | |
| Cardium | 13 | |
| Waseca | 12 | |
| Other | 90 | |
| Total** | 401 | |
**23 licences were recorded with a blank producing formation entry
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