Shale gas has Horn River Basin jumping
CARRIE KELLY
Western Canadian Pipeline
The Horn River Basin is a hubbub of activity with everything from small exploration companies to huge producers flocking to the area.
With so much activity happening in the region located about 70 kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson, the Horn River Basin Producers Group was created to responsibly develop shale gas in that region of British Columbia. For its efforts, the group received a 2010 CAPP Steward of Excellence Award for Social Performance.
Rob Spitzer, vice president of exploration for Apache and chair of the Producers Group, recognized the need to create a unified body back in 2007.
“I knocked on doors and touched base with each company in the area to see if we could get everyone on the same page,” Sptizer explains. “The advantage of working together is we are not duplicating things and we are able to use the brainpower of 11 companies.”
The members collaborate to facilitate open communication in the region. Through education and awareness, the group has helped to support economic development and employment in the area.
The Horn River Basin Producers Group consists of Apache, ConocoPhillips, Devon, EnCana, EOG Resources, Imperial Oil, Nexen, Pengrowth, Suncor, Quicksilver and Stone Mountain.
“Our philosophy is to work with
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the community. We listen to the major concerns, which centre around employment and the environment,” Spitzer says.
Since forestry is on the decline in the Fort Nelson area after the closure of two mills, the Horn River Basin Producers Group looks at ways to hire as many locals as possible.
The Producers Group funded 100 per cent of the cost for Northern Lights College to hold an Oil and Gas Field Operations Training Program at the Fort Nelson campus.
“Sixteen people have successfully finished the course,” Spitzer says.
The group also partnered with Energy Services BC to provide the funding for a local procurement specialist to liaise between local vendors and the oil and gas companies.
“We have had many job fairs with the producers present and contractors,” says Spitzer.
The 2009 Fort Nelson Energy Expo featured 70 exhibitors.
The Horn River Basin is estimated to be one million acres in size.
A British Columbia sale of drilling rights announced March 25 showed two leases in the eastern Horn River Basin sold for $1 million, with bids of $1,333 per hectare and $2,813 per hectare.
The National Energy Board’s (NEB)
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WESTERN CANADIAN PIPELINE | SPRING 2010
Eleven companies form the Horn River Basin Producers Group. The Petitot Gathering, pictured, is an initiative that Producers Group members have supported for the last few years. The group won a CAPP award for its stewardship in the Fort Nelson area.
Photo courtesy Horn River Basin Producers Group.
short-term gas delivery report states that a shift is imminent in Canadian natural gas spending to B.C.’s shale plays at the expense of more conventional ones in Alberta.
The newly released report states that spending and activity is increasing in northeastern British Columbia, where output is expected to rise to 3.7 bcf per day, a jump of one bcf per day. Alberta's gas production is expected to decline from 12.7 to 8.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d).
The gains are the result of production of tight and unconventional gas in such regions as Montney and Horn River, the NEB outlines. As many as 70 Horn River wells could be drilled this year alone, it states.
In a decision released March 31, the NEB approved an application from Westcoast Energy Inc., carrying on business as Spectra Energy Transmission, for a proposed Fort Nelson North Gas Processing Facility.
Westcoast applied for permission to construct and operate a natural gas processing plant to accommodate the increased production and demand on the east side of the Horn River basin. The project is to be located about 75 kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson.
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