B.C. oil and gas land rights sales totalled $2.4 billion in fiscal 2008-09, more than double last year's record-setting total of $1.2 billion and broke every tracked record for oil and gas land rights sales in the province.
According to Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Blair Lekstrom, the final month of sales totalled $15 million in bonus bids.
The March 25 sale offered 33 parcels in northeast B.C. covering 13,594 hectares. Twenty-seven parcels covering 12,054 hectares were sold. The average price per hectare was $1,246.
"Investors recognize the oil and gas resource potential in B.C. evidenced by records like an incredible $33,649 per-hectare bid for a drilling licence," said Lekstrom. "Projects such as the $187 million Sierra Yoyo Desan road upgrade and our royalty program incentives make B.C. a very attractive place to invest in oil and gas."
Two significant northeastern geological areas accounted for 80% of the 2008-09 sales: the Horn River Basin and the Montney Shale Formation.
Industry investment for 2008 is estimated at $8 billion almost three times the investment in 2001. B.C. is the only significant jurisdiction in Canada and only one of two in North America where oil and gas rig activity increased in January and February 2009 over the same period in 2008.