Crossroads Staff
The books have closed on public offerings of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights for the government’s fiscal year, showing a slight increase from the previous year.
Results of the province’s February Crown land sale were announced on Feb. 8. The sale generated nearly $3.44 million in revenue.
The result of the February sale brings the total revenue from the 2017-18 fiscal year to nearly $64.6 million, up from $50.17 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Land sales occur six times per year. The sales during a fiscal year are held in April, June, August, October, December and February. The total of nearly $65 million in 2017-18 is a far cry from the record of $928.08 million in 2008-09, but it is more than each of the previous two fiscal years of $50.17 million in 2016-17 and $43.96 million in 2015-16.
The total of $928.08 million in 2008-09 is a bit of an anomaly because it is about $460 million more than any other fiscal year total in the province’s history.
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The province’s minister of energy and resources referred to the recent upswing in the industry.
“Saskatchewan is consistently a jurisdiction of choice for conventional producers looking for stability and solid returns,” Bronwyn Eyre, the minister, said in a statement issued with results from the February sale. “Increased drilling activity and industry investment indicate that one of our key economic sectors continues to gather momentum and stimulate growth in the province.”
A news release notes that the oil and gas industry accounts for an estimated 15 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total real gross domestic product (GDP). The industry is also single largest contributor to the province’s GDP among primary industries.
The annual Global Petroleum Survey done by the Fraser Institute ranks Saskatchewan in seventh out of 97 jurisdictions around the world in terms of attractiveness for oil and gas investment.
In the February sale, the Estevan area led the way once again with revenues of more than $2.45 million. The Kindersley area was second with revenues of $578,155 while the Swift Current area was third with $357,675 in revenues and the Lloydminster area rounded out the pack with only $50,297 in revenues.
Spartan Energy Corp. was the top purchaser of acreage in the province from the February sale spending nearly $1.04 million to acquire 18 lease parcels. The only exploration licence of the sale was purchased by Prairie Land & Investment Services Ltd., which paid $54,639 for a 1,554-hectare parcel located south of Eastend.
The top price paid for a single lease was $325,247 by Spartan Energy to acquire a parcel south of Carnduff measuring 129.5 hectares. The top price per hectare was paid by Synergy Land Services Ltd., a company that paid $2,523 per hectare for a 64.75-hectare parcel east of Estevan.
In the Kindersley area, the top purchaser of acreage from the February sale was Buffalo Hill Resources Ltd., a company that spent $322,323 to acquire three lease parcels. Buffalo Hill Resources also paid the top price for a single lease spending $140,292 for a 259-hectare parcel located west of Kindersley. The same parcel raised the highest price per hectare in the Kindersley area at $542 per hectare.
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