Canada hands out new offshore acreage. BP scoops four parcels

Canadian offshore oil & gas regulator, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB), has announced the results of its 2016 call for bids for acreage in the off Eastern Newfoundland region and Jeanne d’Arc basin.

The oil major BP came out as the biggest winner scooping acreage in four parcels out of eight awarded.

C-NLOPB said on Wednesday that the sole criterion for selecting a winning bid from the Call for Bids NL16-CFB01 in the Eastern Newfoundland Region and Call for Bids NL16-CFB02 in the Jeanne d’Arc Region, both located in the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area, was the total amount of money the bidder would spend on the exploration of the parcel during Period I, the first period of a nine-year license. The minimum bid for each parcel offered is $10,000,000 in work commitments.

To remind, C-NLOPB made the call for the submission of bids for new acreage in the NL16-CFB01 and NL16-CFB02 regions in April this year.

NL16-CFB01

The Call for Bids NL16-CFB01 offered 13 parcels totaling 2,949,252 hectares (7.3 million acres). The total value of the bids is $513,972,018 in work commitments. C-NLOPB said that, overall, seven bids were submitted and six parcels were awarded in the NL16-CFB01 licensing round.

Parcel 3 offered in the round spans across 577 371 acres and was awarded to BP Canada Energy Group ULC (50%), Hess Canada Oil and Gas ULC (25%) and Noble Energy Canada LLC (25%) for a bid amount of $276,305,000.

The trio was awarded two more parcels with identical operating interests like with Parcel 3. Parcel 4 and its 476,436 acres was awarded for a bid amount of $12,050,000 while the 623,896-acre Parcel 8 was awarded for $125,250,000.

The 499,494-acre Parcel 7 was awarded to Navitas Petroleum Ltd. (30%) and DKL Investments Ltd. (70%) for $48,000,018.

Parcel 10 which spans across 652,973 acres went to BP Canada Energy Group ULC (60%) and Noble Energy Canada LLC (40%) for a bid amount of $12,200,000.

The final 419,036 acres in this licensing round, Parcel 13, went to Nexen Energy ULC (100%) for $40,167,000.

NL16-CFB02

The Call for Bids NL16-CFB02 (Jeanne d’Arc Region) offered three parcels totaling 353,843 hectares (874,365 acres). The total value of the bids is $244,017,776 in work commitments for the two parcels that were awarded.

Parcel 1 and Parcel 2 were both awarded to Husky Oil Operations Limited (100%). The first 341,843-acre parcel was awarded for a bid amount of $155,008,888 while the second 180,967-acre parcel was awarded for $89,008,888.

C-NLOPB said that, subject to the bidders satisfying the requirements specified in Call for Bids NL16-CFB01 and NL16-CFB02 and upon receiving Ministerial approval, the Board would issue exploration licenses to the successful bidders in January 2017.

Offshore Energy Today Staff