The final Crown petroleum and natural gas public offering of the 2022-23 fiscal year took place Tuesday and raised over $3.1 million for the provincial coffers. The total revenue raised through the six public offerings topped $49 million, averaging $8.17 million per sale. This was over triple what was raised in the 2021-22 fiscal year as well when the total sales reached around $15 million. 

For the February sale, there were 54 dispositions – 50 leases and four licenses – available throughout the province. Of those, 26 licenses were up for bid in the southeast, totalling 1,819.14 hectares. The total of the bids received for the region topped out at nearly $982,000, which was an average of $539.74 per hectare.  

The highest bid for a single parcel came from Vermillion Energy Inc. for a 64.475-hectare lease 19 kilometres east of North Portal. The bid was $139,443.95, which worked out to $2,162.76 per hectare. The highest dollar-per-hectare bid also came from Vermillion Energy. They bid $3,156.67 for a 32.18-hectare lease 16 kilometres east of North Portal. The total for that bid came in at $101,581.64. Both of the parcels are located in the Northgate Frobisher Beds Oil Pool. 

The highest bid on a parcel came from the Lloydminster area. The 582.745-hectare exploration license is north of Lloydminster, in the Northminster Sparky Sand Oil Pool. The bid, $611,882.25, came from Metropolitan Resources Inc. 

The highest bid on a lease was near Lashburn. The lease, located three kilometres southwest of Lashburn, was for $270,891.76 from Synergy Land Services Ltd. The bid, in the Lashburn West Spark Sand Oil Pool, averaged $1,112.83 per hectare. 

The next Crown petroleum and natural gas offering will be on April 4th. This will be the first public offering of the 2023-24 fiscal year.