Word to the Wise: Blueberry River First Nations Drilling Overview

December 7, 2021

Each week, XI Technologies scans its unique combination of enhanced industry data to provide trends and insights that have value for professionals doing business in the WCSB. If you’d like Wednesday Word to the Wise delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe here. 

In November, XI provided an overview of the current state of oil and gas development within the Blueberry River First Nations territory. This was in response to the BC government signing an interim agreement with Blueberry River First Nations to provide funding to restart 195 forestry and oil and gas projects that had been placed on hold due to a BC Supreme Court ruling this summer. But 20 other projects, which had been approved, will not proceed without negotiation with the First Nation because they relate to development in areas of cultural importance.

Due to the incredible response to our earlier post that shared AssetBook data on the area, we thought it would prove useful to take another look at the area, this time using the drilling data captured in our OffsetAnalyst software.

Since 2016, over 2500 wells have been drilled by nearly 30 operators in the Blueberry River claim area, with 5 operators making up over 75% of the wells drilled. Click on all charts for a closer view or click here for an interactive dashboard of this information.

If we dig in a little more at the five most prominent operators in the area, we see that Petronas stopped drilling in 2017, made a slow return in 2018-19, and is back to regular activity today. Ovintiv made a big investment in Blueberry in 2017-18 and drew back in 2019. Tourmaline is the opposite and has been by far the most active operator in terms of drilling new wells for the past two years.

Looking at the past two years, we see a dramatic shift in average well depths compared to the 5-year average, telling us that operators (Ovintiv and CNQ most notably) continue to test their limits as they reach further with their horizontal legs. We also see that Petronas has re-emerged as a major player in these Blueberry areas, with the most meters drilled among the top 5.

Click here to download an interactive dashboard of the above data.

Given the uncertainty involved in future development in the area, it is more important than ever that those seeking licenses in the area arm themselves with as much data as possible to deal with the added scrutiny that should follow. XI Technologies offers some of the most robust drilling data available with OffsetAnalyst. To learn more about how our software can help you improve drilling research and performance, contact us today.