We’ve observed a slight decline in licensing activity in June-July compared to last month, although activity levels remained elevated relative to the month prior; there were 509 new licences obtained in Canada in the past 30 days (June 12 to July 12) compared to 536 last month (May 12-June 11) and 473 in the month before that (April 12-May 11). This past month’s licences were spread across 89 licensees, representing an average of 5.7 licences per licensee. Using data from BOE Intel and Petro Ninja, we’ve identified a number of trends across the various producers and producing formations.
TOP LICENSEES
Among the top licensees, we identified the following trends:
- Cenovus had the most new licences this month after obtaining the fifth-most in May-June, led by 18 licences targeting its oil sands assets in the McMurray formation with 7 of these licences located in the company’s Christina Lake asset. The company’s other 26 licences were spread evenly between various producing formations, including 6 targeting the Waseca and 4 targeting the Falher.
- Whitecap, who conducted the most licensing last month, obtained 30 new licences between June 12 and July 12. As has been the case for the company in recent months, Whitecap’s licenses were predominantly targeting the Viking (11 licences) and the Montney (9 licences).
- ConocoPhillips Canada, which made a big splash in late-May by exercising its first right of refusal for TotalEnergies’ interest 50% in its Surmont asset, licensed almost exclusively in the Montney and the McMurray. Interestingly, the company licensed its first Clearwater well since 2011 (UWI: 102121308306W400). While this well’s proximity to the company’s oil sands assets may suggest it’s not a typical Clearwater well, we wanted to highlight this somewhat surprising finding. Time will tell whether this is the first hint of future development plans for ConocoPhillips.
- Tourmaline further developed its position across the company’s Alberta Deep Basin, Peace River Triassic Oil and northeast BC gas and condensate assets. The majority of the company’s licences between June 12 and July 12 were concentrated in the Alberta Deep Basin, with the Kakwa field receiving particular attention (6 wells).
Cenovus Licences with McMurray licences flagged (June 12-July 12 2023)
Tourmaline Licences with Asset annotations (June 12 – July 12 2023)
ConocoPhillips Licences with Montney assets on the left and oil sands assets on the right (June 12 – July 12 2023)
TOP PRODUCING FORMATIONS
Among the top producing formations, we identified the following trends:
- The Montney led all producing formations yet again, with 96 new licences this past month. The most active licensees were mostly a list of the usual suspects, with ARC Resources (20 licences), ConocoPhillips (18 licences) and Tourmaline (11 licences) leading the way. A big showing from one smaller company caught our attention, however; Coelacanth Energy, a relatively-new Montney pure-play producer, obtained 14 licences targeting the Montney this past month. According to the company’s July 2023 corporate presentation, Coelacanth expects to ramp up its production to around 20,000 BOE/d over the next few years with two distinct projects in Two Rivers West and Two Rivers East.
- The Clearwater, as our Marten Hills field roundup might have led our readers to suspect, was active once again this month. The top licensees were Spur Petroleum (19 wells), Rubellite (18 wells) and Headwater (7 wells). The Figure Lake field, concentrated mostly in township 063-18W4, was the site of the majority of Rubellite’s licensing. Other active fields include Marten Hills and Nipisi.
- The Viking saw another healthy month of licensing activity, with mainstays Teine Energy and Whitecap obtaining 14 and 11 licences respectively. Other active licensees include Novus Energy (9 licences) and Baytex Energy (8 licences).
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| Producing Formation | Licence Count |
| Montney | 96 |
| Mcmurray | 74 |
| Clearwater | 58 |
| Viking | 47 |
| Cardium | 16 |
| Mannville | 15 |
| Charlie Lake | 13 |
| Spirit River | 13 |
| Waseca | 12 |
| Ellerslie | 9 |
| Others | 136 |
| TOTAL | 489* |
*Please note that 20 licences did not identify a targeted producing formation
Montney Licences with Coelacanth Licences flagged (June 12 – July 12 2023)
Clearwater Licences with Field Annotations (June 12 – July 12 2023)
Viking Licences with Whitecap in brown, Teine in Blue, and all other producers in red (June 12 – to July 12 2023)
This analysis was performed with BOE Intel. To find out more or to arrange a demo, contact us.