Saskatchewan land surges

水管工 · 发表于 2008-6-13 14:21

Saskatchewan land surges
Sales in contrast to Alberta slump
Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, June 13, 2008
Saskatchewan continues to set records for land buying after it racked up the third-largest land sale in its history Thursday, while Alberta recorded one of its lowest.

Saskatchewan's June land sale raised $142.5 million while a similar auction in neighbouring Alberta brought in a paltry $20.25 million.

Saskatchewan's year-to-date revenue figure for 2008 now stands at $605.4 million, shattering the previous single-year record of $250.3 million set in 2007. It was also the third consecutive sale in excess of $100 million, something that has never happened before in Saskatchewan.

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Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has said he won't alter the province's oil royalty scheme as Saskatchewan continues to sell land for record prices.
Greg Pender, Canwest News Service

The numbers contrast with $415 million raised thus far in Alberta, down sharply from $705 million in 2007 when oil natural gas prices were half of what they are today.

Not surprisingly, Saskatchewan's politicians were ecstatic with the result.

Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said the last three consecutive sales have been the three largest in Saskatchewan's history.

"The latest sale is exceeded only by the previous two held earlier this year," Boyd said.

"Land sales are obviously influenced by oil and gas prices, but they also provide an excellent barometer of industry confidence and future activity levels. It speaks to a positive business climate and the excellent resource potential that exists in Saskatchewan."

Driving the interest is a light oil discovery called the Bakken play, which the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists says holds 100 billion barrels on this side of the border.

The United States Geological Survey estimates an additional 400 billion barrels lie south of the 49th parallel in Montana and North Dakota, which is larger than the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Nancy Malone, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors' economic analyst, said the Alberta government's decision to jack up royalty rates is only one factor in the exodus of land dollars out of Wild Rose Country into neighbouring provinces.

"It is what it is," she said, of Alberta's pending royalty changes. "Life goes on. 0They've got some new discoveries in Saskatchewan and a solid royalty scheme. The premier (Brad Wall) has promised not to touch them this term. Until we find something new in Alberta, everybody is going where the opportunity is."

Saskatchewan's sale was also noteworthy for the highest price paid for a single parcel at just under $39 million. Standard Land Company Inc. purchased the 9,094-hectare exploration licence located south of Lake Alma, near the Canada-U.S. border, making it the highest price ever paid for a single plot in the province's history.

The second record was the highest price paid on a per-hectare basis at $42,550. Windfall Resources Ltd. purchased the 150-hectare parcel six kilometres north of Stoughton, for more than $6.3 million.

By contrast, the highest-priced parcels in Alberta sold for $1.17 million or $4,570 a hectare.

Saskatchewan's sale included 10 exploration licences that went for $77.2 million and 240 lease parcels that brought in $65.3 million.

The Weyburn-Estevan area was once again the story of the sale, taking in nearly $132.5 million of the proceeds. The Kindersley-Kerrobert area was next at $7.1 million, followed by the Lloydminster area at $2 million and the Swift Current area at over $900,000.

Boyd noted three sales remain in 2008, and that the annual record for dollar value of land sales remains a work-in-progress.

"The bar has been raised to an unheard level this year. It's a good sign for our province, a sign that investors from across Canada and around the world continue to see this as a good place to be."

微笑 · 发表于 2008-6-13 21:17

那边土地单价是这儿的三分之一。

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