March-April Licence Activity Review – A SAGD-lightful spring

After a slow start to 2024, Canadian licensing activity has broken a 2-month streak of declines. Between March 13 and April 12, 428 licences were obtained. This represents a noteworthy 17.9% increase compared to the previous month, which saw companies obtain 363 new licences. This past month’s licences were spread across 51 unique licensees, representing an average of 8.4 licences per licensee. Overall, licensing activity for the month was dominated by oil sands producers, with the McMurray formation being targeted by 87 licences. The Montney and the Clearwater both remained busy, however, with 72 and 58 licences respectively. Using data from BOE Intel and Petro Ninja, we’ve identified a number of trends across the various producers and producing formations.

Licensees

• CNRL led all licensees with 47 licences this month. As is often the case, the Canadian heavy-hitter licensed across Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan. We were most interested by its licences in northeastern British Columbia, however. CNRL obtained 11 licences at Township F/094-B-08, an area that has already seen some sporadic activity from the company. It’s one of the most western zones of the WCSB, and there are nearby projects operated by Petronas, Pacific Canbriam, and ARC Resources among others. For a Petro Ninja list of CNRL’s existing wells in the area, which appear to have generated around 4,800 BOE/d in gas-weighted January 2024 gross licensed production, click here.
• Many producers were active licensing in Alberta’s oil sands plays this month. CNOOC Petroleum North America, which cracked the top 10 for the first time this year, obtained 42 licences at its Long Lake SAGD operation. Suncor was busy across a number of projects, highlighted by an impressive 17 licences at Firebag. MEG Energy obtained 8 licences, right in the center of its Christina Lake project.
• Crescent Point’s licensing activity this month was split evenly between three distinct areas: Fox Creek, Southeast Saskatchewan and Southwest Saskatchewan. The Fox Creek licences, in particular, caught our attention on account of their location relative to the company’s existing wells in the area. Crescent Point’s new licences at Fox Creek appear to be further south than most of the company’s spuds from the past 5 years, and are on the opposite side of the asset from its only spuds thus far in 2024, as it continues to delineate its land base.
• While Cenovus mostly gets attention for its oil sands projects in Alberta, we wanted to highlight licensing that appears set to expand on a productive thermal project at Lloydminster. The development, referred to by the company as Spruce Lake, generated over 25,000 BOE/d in gross licensed production in February 2024. The company’s 12 licences obtained at the project last month all target the Waseca.

Licensees	Count
Canadian Natural Resources Limited	47
CNOOC Petroleum North America Ulc	42
Cenovus Energy Inc.	30
Strathcona Resources Ltd.	29
Crescent Point Energy Corp.	21
Suncor Energy Inc.	20
Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd.	19
Spur Petroleum Ltd.	19
Petronas Energy Canada Ltd.	19
Baytex Energy Ltd	17
Other	165
Total	428

Producing Formations

• We covered most of the highlights of a prolific month of oil sands licensing in the section above, so we will dive right into the Montney. For the most part, this month’s Montney licensing was dominated by the usual suspects. Petronas led all producers with 19 Montney licences, followed by Shell (14 licences), CNRL (13 licences), ARC Resources (8 licences) and Paramount (7 licences). We spotted something interesting from a smaller producer, however: Saturn Oil & Gas obtained 4 Kaybob Montney licences during the period. These licenses add to an existing pad at Township 063-19W5 (near Fox Creek). The company’s April 2024 Corporate Presentation provides a bit more information on Saturn’s Montney asset.
• If there’s one thing our readers love as much as the Montney, it’s the Clearwater. Once again, we saw a licensing spree unfold between the play’s major names. In an interesting twist, this month saw Tamarack Valley and Spur Petroleum obtain exactly the same number of Clearwater licences with 18 each. Tamarack Valley’s licences were mostly at Nipisi and Marten Hills, although 3 licences were obtained at the company’s South Clearwater asset. Spur’s licences, on the other hand, were concentrated at Nipisi across two pads at Township 076-06W5. Another Clearwater producer that put out an interesting month was Rubellite, which licensed what appears to be a 7-well pad at Figure Lake.
• We haven’t focused in on the Viking in a few months, but with 29 licences last month, we thought it was time to change that trend. The top Viking licensees were Baytex Energy (12 licences), Teine Energy (9 licences) and Saturn Oil & Gas (6 licences). Baytex obtained some interesting licences north of Kindersley that appear to be organized into 3 multi-well pads.

To keep track of the latest licensing activity in the Canadian oil patch for yourself, check out BOE Intel.