Founded in 2016, West Lake Energy is a Canadian producer with a broad set of mineral rights that extend from central Alberta to west Saskatchewan. The bulk of the company’s recent drilling and licensing activity has straddled the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, with the Provost medium oil project accounting for most of West Lake’s current production. According to gross licensed production data from BOE Intel and Petro Ninja, West Lake is an oil-weighted producer with natural gas, condensate and NGLs accounting for under 15% of June 2023 production.
West Lake Energy Mineral Rights as of August 3, 2023
West Lake has licensed consistently over the past 5 years, with a slight drop in pandemic-impacted 2020 and 5-year highs of 40 new licences in 2018 and 2021. Provost saw the most activity through this period, accounting for 102 of West Lake’s 165 total licences. The Swimming and Lloydminster fields, both of which are part of the Lloydminster heavy oil project, accounted for 27 and 17 licences respectively. Interestingly, West Lake has only licensed one well in 2023: UWI 100133302309W400 was licensed on July 28 and targets the Exshaw formation.
West Lake Licences by Year, 2018-2023 (2018 in blue, 2019 in grey, 2020 in green, 2021 in yellow, 2022 in red, 2023 in black)
| Year | Licences | Top Field |
| 2018 | 40 | Provost |
| 2019 | 29 | Provost |
| 2020 | 18 | Provost |
| 2021 | 40 | Provost |
| 2022 | 37 | Provost |
| 2023 | 1 | Cessford |
This pause in licensing is potentially the result of what might be a strategic move by the company. The company transferred 270 well licences (which produced a combined total of around 400 BBL/d of oil) in its Lloydminster property to Marlboro Energy Ltd. on July 25 2023. This transfer, particularly when considering the relative lack of licensing in the region compared to Provost, may suggest a shift in focus away from Lloydminster. The company has also shown up in our mineral rights transfer dataset as the recipient of 17 rights in the past two years, with 11 occurring in 2023. At least 10 of the agreements transferred were for small areas and were obtained from land brokers, which can often suggest a company is consolidating its position prior to drilling or selling off assets. The company’s sole 2023 well may provide a clue as to where West Lake might deploy its capital in the future, although it is important to remember that the company also holds mineral rights in areas such as central Alberta and the Peace River Arch that it has not exploited in recent years.
Current West Lake Wells Close To Wells Transferred to Marlboro Energy (Current Wells in orange, Transferred Wells in red)
With respect to production from recent wells, the company’s 2021 wells have held up impressively well; as of June 2023, the company’s 2021 wells are out-producing its 2022 wells in aggregate. The company’s production volumes have generally trended downward since around September 2022, a month that saw peak production from the company’s wells licensed in that year. This isn’t surprising, however, given West Lake’s lack of licensing activity thus far in 2023. It’s unlikely that production will grow until the company restarts its drilling program after just over 8 months without a spud. The company will likely continue to generate predictable production, however, as their existing assets appear to have fairly consistent decline rates.
Unsurprisingly, the company’s Provost medium oil project contains 7 of the company’s top 10 wells by June 2023 production. West Lake is exploiting various oil-rich producing formations, with the top 10 containing 3 wells targeting the Sparky and 2 wells targeting each of the Waseca, the Mannville, and the General Petroleum. In addition, the presence of some 2020 and 2021 wells in this list suggests that the company has resilient inventory. The company’s top well by recent licensed production is located in the Lindbergh field.
| UWI | Field | Producing Formation | Spud Date | Oil Production (BBL/d) | Equivalent Production (BOE/d) |
| 100091305603W400 | LINDBERGH | Waseca | 2022-11-09 | 148 | 148 |
| 102041503803W400 | PROVOST | Mannville | 2021-12-08 | 143 | 143 |
| 103080704002W400 | PROVOST | Sparky | 2022-06-08 | 137 | 138 |
| 100111104102W400 | PROVOST | General Petroleum | 2021-11-04 | 137 | 146 |
| 104101003803W400 | PROVOST | Mannville | 2022-07-10 | 126 | 126 |
| 100091505603W400 | LINDBERGH | Waseca | 2022-11-24 | 124 | 125 |
| 107110704002W402 | PROVOST | Sparky | 2021-07-31 | 109 | 110 |
| 106110704002W402 | PROVOST | Sparky | 2021-08-07 | 104 | 105 |
| 102152405207W400 | SWIMMING | Rex | 2020-02-12 | 101 | 104 |
| 105090203902W400 | PROVOST | General Petroleum | 2021-10-08 | 88 | 103 |
This analysis was made possible with BOE Intel and Petro Ninja. For more information or to arrange a demo, contact us.