Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Northeast British Columbia, Canada
Reserves: 38 trillion cubic feet of recoverable contingent and prospective resources
Area: 300,000 acres
Start-up Year: -
Natural gas resources in the Horn River and Cordova Embayment of northeast British Columbia are expected to feed the planned Aurora LNG facility. Nexen Energy ULC on behalf of Aurora Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., jointly owned by CNOOC Ltd.-held Nexen, INPEX Corporation and JGC Exploration Ltd., applied to the NEB is the operator of the acreage that will feed the Aurora LNG project. Nexen began acquiring large blocks of high-quality acreage in the Horn River and Cordova basins in 2006, it stated in the NEB export filing, adding that these regions have proven to be some of the most prospective gas fields in North America. In 2010, Nexen purchased additional land in the Cordova and Liard basins. In 2012, appreciating the high quality of Nexen\'s northeast British Columbia shale gas assets and technical and execution teams, INPEX Gas British Columbia Ltd. (IGBC) entered into a joint venture with Nexen to develop this resource.
Nexen and IGBC currently hold approximately 300,000 acres of shale gas resource within three basins: Liard, Horn River and Cordova, in northeast B.C. The Horn River is very early in the development cycle and still contains considerable remaining contingent resource to be developed, the filing stated. Nexen and IGBC consider the Liard and Cordova basin lands to contain high-potential shale gas opportunities and are in the initial planning and exploratory stages of development. In the latter part of 2013, the joint venture completed drilling the first of two high-pressure, high-temperature lease earning wells in Liard and have prepared and spudded the second one. In 2011, Nexen said a nine-well drilling campaign at the Horn River broke the regional record for the fewest days to successfully drill a horizontal well. Further lease earning and appraisal work is planned for the Liard and Cordova basins in 2014.
Nexen retained DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M) to independently evaluate Nexen and IGBC\'s northeast B.C. shale gas properties. D&M\'s evaluation of Nexen and IGBC\'s northeast B.C. resources in 2010 estimated that their lands in the Horn River, Cordova and Liard basins hold between nine to 38 trillion cubic feet of recoverable contingent and prospective resources. To date, proved and probable reserves have only been booked for the area under development in the Horn River, which corresponds with the level of development activity at this time. The Horn River December 31, 2012, booked reserves for total proved plus probable reserves for the joint venture working interest lands is 1.1 bcf. These booked reserves represent a small portion of the acreage and as drilling continues it is expected to prove up additional reserves, the filing stated.
INPEX and Nexen commenced a joint study of various positions in the Horn River Basin in August 2015 to evaluate geological characteristics and analyse rock samples extracted from shale reservoirs which lay in areas marked for development. The Horn River Basin was said to contain 28% of BC’s remaining recoverable gas reserves, 291 horizontal and 78 vertical wells as of 2012, according to local media.
In September 2015, British Columbia’s Environmental Appeal Board annulled Nexen’s licence to pump water from Tsea Lake in the Horn River Basin for its shale exploration activities. The EAB argued the revocation was justified because the science behind Nexen’s original licence award was flawed. It also argued BC failed to consult with the Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) indigenous community, whose territory includes Tsea Lake.
Operators:
Aurora Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. Joint Venture
Nexen Energy ULC (subsidiary of CNOOC Ltd.): Operator
INPEX Corporation
JGC Exploration Ltd.
Contractors:
DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M): Independently evaluate Nexen and IGBC\'s northeast B.C. shale gas properties