This region is one of the most spectacular, beautiful and nearly pristine regions I have ever seen in my life. Near the one gas pump and lodge on the 10 hour drive of the Dempster Highway called Eagle Plains, this place is one where the planet itself made me feel so tiny and insignificant, like an insect, a surreal experience that I have no parallel for. Now they want to plunder it for gas, gas they want to put into the Mackenzie Gas Project and send to Fort McMurray to make mock oil from tar and the devastation of more land than can be comprehended.
Shall we let them?
--M
B.C. company targets gas potential of Peel Plateau
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 | 4:44 PM CT
CBC News
A Vancouver-based company plans to start looking for natural gas in the Yukon's Peel Plateau region this spring, the corporation's president says.
AustroCan Petroleum Corporation was awarded rights Monday to explore the area after it promised to spend $2.28 million on the parcel, north of the Peel River, over the next six years.
It was the only company that put in a bid on the land. A second parcel attracted no bids.
In an interview from a sailboat in the Caribbean Monday, president Tore Jorgensen said the company is pinning its hopes on the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline.
"We are on a fast-track to identify the potential for the gas prior to the decision being made as to the size and so on and the beginning of the construction of the pipeline," he told CBC News.
"We wanted to get a foothold in there very quickly before they make a decision about the size of the pipeline they're going to build so we can hook up to the Mackenzie Valley pipeline."
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Otherwise, Jorgensen said, there may not be any room for additional gas to be fed into the pipeline.
The company will first conduct aerial surveys of the 395-square-kilometre parcel, with plans for groundwork to follow, he said.
One of the biggest obstacles will be access since there are no existing roads into the area, he said, adding he hopes to use ATVs to get around on the forested land.
The company plans to spend $2 million over the next two years to see if it can find a target worth drilling a well, which could cost between $10 million and $20 million, Jorgensen said.
The Yukon government says before Austrocan can begin work, its plans will need to be screened by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board.
The company has to put up a $500,000 deposit, but the government will refund it if $2 million worth of work is completed.
The company is not obligated to drill a well as part of the agreement.
AustroCan Petroleum is a newly-formed company with interests in South Africa and Argentina, Jorgensen said. It is also looking at possibilities in Alberta and B.C.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/12/18/austrocan-peel.html
