To Bob, good morning. RE: i decided to go out for awhile. nice article.
Posted by: NYBob In reply to: mick who wrote msg# 600 Date:9/11/2007 1:06:10 AM Post #of 601
BQI Saskatchewan startup rolls along -
Gary Park
For Petroleum News - Vol. 12, No. 36 - Week of September 09, 2007 Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry -
Oilsands Quest shows no signs of wilting its trail-blazing efforts to commercialize Saskatchewan’s oil sands deposits.
It picked up five of six blocks of exploration licenses offered in the Saskatchewan government’s latest land sale, paying C$252 million for 110,000 acres, plus an annual rental of about C$4.30 per acre, and added one oil shale exploratory permit to its holdings.
In addition, the startup company has regulatory approval to drill 97 exploratory wells on its permits in northwestern Saskatchewan, which expire March 31, 2008.
Two rigs are being mobilized to start drilling by mid-September before freeze-up.
The approvals cover 70 holes in the Axe Lake area, where Oilsands Quest has issued a “best preliminary estimate” for its properties of up to 750 million barrels of original bitumen in place.
It is now conducting pre-commercialization studies and running tests to assess the best recovery method.
Until those results are known, the company is not ready to set any timelines for development.
It said eight drilling rigs have been committed to operations over the next eight months, although the winter program will wait for “ideal” conditions.
Errin Kimball, Oilsands Quest’s vice president of exploration, said the program is the next chapter in the development of Axe Lake, increasing the company’s knowledge of the reservoir as potential production capability is assessed.
Oilsands Quest is combining 2-D and 3-D seismic, electrical resistance tomography and drilling to reduce risk and accelerate timelines for exploration and field production testing — a strategy it intends to use for its adjoining permits in Alberta.
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