Sedimentary

Most of Canada’s natural gas output continues to be unearthed from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin of Alberta. However, as U.S. operators have proved, shale gas development, which can be developed at lower prices, is ramping up, with British Columbia’s (BC) Horn River and Montney shales now holding the most promise to revive the country’s dwindling production, Barclays Capital analysts said in a report Tuesday.

Direct Energy on Thursday agreed to pay Suncor Energy C$375 million to acquire natural gas assets in the Wildcat Hills of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), an acquisition that would boost the Centrica plc subsidiary’s total natural gas equivalent production by around 80% to 180 MMcfe/day, 95% weighted to gas.

North America’s Direct Energy on Thursday agreed to pay Suncor Energy C$375 million to acquire natural gas assets in the Wildcat Hills of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). With the acquisition, Direct Energy’s total natural gas equivalent production would increase by around 80% to 180 MMcfe/day, 95% weighted to gas.

Natural gas and oil operating costs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) continued to rise in 2008 because of higher processing fees, maintenance services and higher energy costs, but the costs through the first nine months of 2009 were “virtually flat” from a year ago, Ziff Energy Group reported last week.

Natural gas and oil operating costs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) continued to rise in 2008 because of higher processing fees, maintenance services and higher energy costs, but the costs through the first nine months of 2009 were “virtually flat” from a year ago, Ziff Energy Group reported Monday.

Conventional natural gas production from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) basically has peaked, but the region’s unconventional gas holds as much if not more potential — if costs can be contained and prices are competitive, a Nexen Marketing USA Inc. executive told attendees at the annual LDC Forum Canada/Industrial Gas Users Association in Toronto.

Conventional natural gas production from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) basically has peaked, but the region’s unconventional gas holds as much if not more potential — if costs can be contained and prices are competitive, a Nexen Marketing USA Inc. executive told attendees at the annual LDC Forum Canada/Industrial Gas Users Association in Toronto.

Shell Canada Ltd. offered to pay Duvernay Oil Corp. C$5.9 billion in cash in a bid to acquire half a million net acres in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), which includes acreage in the emerging Montney tight gas trend of northeastern British Columbia.

The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) has “clearly” been a challenge for natural gas producers in recent years, but the success from unconventional plays in the Lower 48 has led many to revise their “gloom and doom” outlook for the region, a Nexen Inc. executive said last week.