Sales of oil sands leases since 1 April, the start of the Province`s fiscal year have been weak. As the table below illustrates, except for the June sale, interest has been weak. Land sales remain important as a leading indicator of future energy investment.
| Public Sales Results- Oilsands | |||
| Date | Bonus | Hectares | $/HA |
| 11-May | 61,690.63 | 5,169.89 | 11.93 |
| 25-May | 3,717.12 | 1,024.00 | 3.63 |
| 22-Jun | 11,170,378.05 | 28,039.00 | 398.39 |
| 06-Jul | 150,192.64 | 1,280.00 | 117.34 |
| 03-Aug | 170,923.52 | 3,264.00 | 52.37 |
| Totals | 11,556,901.96 | 38,776.89 | 298.0358136 |
The charts following are taken from the Department of Energy`s webpage disclosing its Petroleum and Natural Gas Sales Statistics. The historical data provide a helpful visual of the cycles that have occurred in the oilpatch over the past 36 years.
A big boost for development took place in the mid to late 1990s as the oilsands royalty regime was modified to deliberately open investment with modified royalty rates which allowed companies to recoup their capital and a rate of return before meaningful returns to the resource owners occurred.
These charts also show the difficulties faced during the 1980s and early 1990s, the rapid improvements in the 2000s, save the financial crisis of 2007-09, a sharp recovery followed by a steep decline. Oil and gas discoveries (Montney and Duvernay formations) and the impact of new fracking technology have also played an important role in the demand for land to explore and develop.
The charts reinforce the difficulty faced by the Crown as resource owner becoming addicted“ to the volatile flow of bonuses into the provincial Treasury.
$5.5B raised for TransMountain17-6-17 EJ
Contracts give TransCanada confidence to expand gas-pipeline system15-6-17 GM
Oil companies projected to slash spending14-6-17 GM
China’s return to the oil patch20-5-17 GM
Oilfield M&A transactions starting to pick up18-5-17 EJ
Alberta pledges $235 million to ‘orphan’ oil wells cleanup19-5-17 GM
Badger hit hard as earnings fall short13-5-17 EJ
Kinder Morgan releases updated list of Trans Mountain shippers8-5-17 GM
.Oil and gas sector moves from ‘hell’ to ‘purgatory’28-4-17 EJ
CNOOC casts doubt on future of Long Lake22-4-17 GM
BP mulls sale of oilsands assets21-4-17 GM
BP said to be weighing sale of oil sands assets21-4-17 GM
Drillers to rebound in Q119-4-17 EJ
Parkland snaps up Chevron assets19-4-17 GM
Chevron seen as next to make exit from oilsands15-4-17 EJ
Cenovus bullish on future after $17.7 B deal12-4-17 EJ
‘Control of our future’12-4-17 GM
Market pumps energy back into Canadian hands12-4-17 GM
Pembina Pipeline planning to build LPG export project in Prince Rupert area12-4-17 EJ
Oil services combination reflects new realities23-3-17 GM
Trican deal to create fracking behemoth23-3-17 EJ
Energy watchdog forces firm into receivership22-3-17 EJ
Recovery, interrupted22-3-17 GM
Source Energy to lower range on IPO21-3-17 GM
TransCanada moves ahead on Montney21-3-17 GM
As oil slumps, Calgary’s worries return15-3-17 GM
Foreign oil players make a bet that locals can turn it around15-3-17 GM
Natural gas deal could give boost to producers14-3-17 EJ
Oilpatch to post $1.1B loss in 201714-3-17 EJ
Savanna lobbies for all share bid14-3-17 GM
Oil service firms seeing signs of new life13-3-17 GM
Canadian Natural spends $12.7 B on oilsands assets10-3-17 EJ
Shell steps back in oil sands shakeup‘We’ve got the fight in us,’ oilsands leader says9-3-17 EJ
oilfield-company-seeks-300m-in-ipo-funds4-3-17-ej
husky-posts-fourth-quarter-profit25-2-17-gm
cenovus-resists-calls-to-spend-3-7b-war-chest17-2-17-ej
encana-shifts-to-growth-as-loss-narrows17-2-17-gm
keystone-revival-takes-step-forward17-2-17-ej
pembina-chevron-agree-to-team-up17-2-17-ej
delays-are-behind-mines-cost-hikes-suncor10-2-17-gm
pengrowth-looks-to-spac-cash-for-oil-and-gas-assets10-2-17-gm
lower-oil-prices-could-be-here-for-a-really-long-time-poloz-warms1-2-17-ej
gas-station-sales-boost-imperial-oil-profit-but-oilsands-output-falls1-2-17-ej
imperial-writes-down-oil-sands-reserves1-2-17-gm
altagas-to-acquire-washington-utility26-1-17-ej
altagas-to-buy-wgl-holdings-in-major-u-s-push26-1-17-gm
why-the-energy-stock-market-rebound-has-hit-a-wall18-1-17-gm
big-deals-forecast-in-energy-industry17-1-17-ej
altagas-in-talks-to-merge-with-u-s-firm13-1-17-gm
global-energy-sector-to-get-spending-boost12-1-17-ej
b-c-approves-transmountain12-1-17-ej
canadian-energy-sector-fears-competitive-disadvantage11-1-17-gm
legal-notice-edmonton-journal-suncor-application-meadow-creek-west-project9-1-17-ej
partial-upgrading-of-oilsands-could-be-worth-billions6-1-17-ej
oil-producers-plan-spending-hikes-as-hope-returns-to-patch6-1-17-gm
u-s-to-be-net-energy-exporter-by-2026-report6-1-17-ej
crucial-lessons-from-the-oil-shock27-12-16-ej
oil-industry-automation26-12-16-ej
reject-takeover-bid-savanna-tells-shareholders24-12-16-ej
savanna-sees-path-through-slump15-12-16-gm
toro-agree-to-buyout-by-oil-firm-owned-by-arc-financial15-12-16-gm
firm-develops-software-to-predict-pipeline-failures12-12-16-ej
total-officially-initiates-hostile-bid-for-savanna10-12-16-ej
cnrl-boosts-dividend-revives-expansion-in-alberta4-11-16-gm
cnrl-revives-oilsands-plant-shelved-earlier4-11-16
penn-west-trims-losses-in-q33-11-16-ej
alberta-forecast-to-see-small-rise-in-drilling-activity-in-20173-11-16-ej
transcanadas-equity-offering-sells-out3-11-16-gmas-oil-climbs-industry-eyes-new-spending24-10-16-ej
u-s-cowboys-bring-saudis-to-their-knees22-10-16-gm
transcanada-seeks-to-raise-3-5-billion2-11-16-gm
energy-project-could-put-idle-wells-to-work22-10-16-ej
prairie-farmers-take-financial-hit-as-oil-and-gas-slowdown-stalls-drilling-rigs10-10-16-gm
bond-yields-give-hope-to-pummelled-oilpatch8-10-16-ej
The transaction, referenced below, may build some goodwill with the First Nations’ in Northeastern Alberta. Mikisew Community website
Electric cars a growing threat to oil4-4-17 EJ
