Business
Shell Canada acquires significant additional land positions
Shell Canada acquires significant additional land positions.
About this update from Mapath Capital Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nCALGARY, Dec. 19 /CNW/ - Shell Canada announced today that it acquired an\ninterest in approximately 110,000 acres of land at recent Crown land sales in\nAlberta and British Columbia.\nThe Company continued to add to its land position in unconventional gas\nwith the acquisition of 66,400 acres in the deep basin area near Hinton,\nAlberta. In total, Shell Canada acquired a 100 per cent interest in 7 parcels\nfor a total price of $99 million. These lands are additional to 58,000 acres\nacquired in the deep basin of northeastern British Columbia in June 2005.\nAt the December 14th sale, the Company also acquired an interest in\napproximately 20,000 acres in the northeastern B.C. foothills offering\nconventional gas exploration prospects in Triassic, Permian and other deep\nstructures.\nThe Company's investment in oil sands continued with the acquisition of\nadditional leases with mining potential in the Athabasca area. Three leases\nwere acquired with a combined area of 22,800 acres for a total price of $86\nmillion. Leases 309 and 310 were acquired at the December 14th land sale and\nLease 15 was acquired at the November 30th sale. These lands are additional to\nfour other leases with a combined area of 45,900 acres acquired in the third\nquarter of this year.\nThe Company also recently purchased 12 quarter sections of private land\nadjacent to its Scotford complex near Fort Saskatchewan to accommodate future\nadditions of upgrading capacity.\nClive Mather, Shell Canada's President and CEO said, \"During 2005 we have\ninvested more than $350 million in additional land to support our growth\naspirations. With these recent purchases we have more than tripled our basin-\ncentered gas landholdings this year, providing us additional opportunity to\ngrow our Western Canada gas production. And we have increased our landholdings\nin Athabasca by more than 50 per cent during 2005. While drilling will be\nneeded to confirm the resource potential, we expect these lands will provide\nadditional support to the continued, long-term growth of our oil sands\nbusiness.\"\n\n This document contains \"forward-looking statements\" based upon current\nexpectations, estimates and projections of future production, project startup\nand future capital spending. Forward-looking statements include, but are not\nlimited to, references to future cap...