IPC outlines plans for Suffield drilling block
With the Suffield drilling block now officially in its position, International Petroleum Corporation is giving a glimpse of plans for the massive acreage in a presentation for investors.
On Monday the company, now based in Calgary, released its 2017 financial results and provided forecast guidance and an outline of capital spending plans.
They outline “near-term oil development drilling and gas optimization” at Suffield, though only about US$11 in capital will be spent this year while future plans are developed.
The investor’s presentation calls Suffield “a diverse portfolio of opportunities” where little investment has taken place in recent years. About 2,500 shallow gas targets and 160 oil locations are being examined, the company states.
Most work on the base was halted when the oil price plunged in 2014. Cenovus sold rights to the field, comprising 800,000 acres of gas rights and 100,000 acres oil rights at Suffield and Alderson, for C$512 million. That company used the cash to fund oilsands expansion.
Spun off from Swedish based Lundin Petroleum last year, the Canadian-traded company expects to triple its global production thanks mainly to the purchase that closed in early January.
The company also reports it now has corporate offices in Calgary and operational base in Redcliff, and has retained about 100 former Cenovus employees who previously operated the field.
That transaction quadrupled the reserves of IPC, which also operates in the Netherlands, France and Malaysia.
At Suffield, US$10.8 million will be spent on capital maintenance at drilling later this year of six wells, including a pilot hole, at areas known as South Gibson Lake and Easy Coulee.
New production is expected to come online in 2019, when injection and other enhanced recovery projects could be considered.
The largest portion of the company’s US$32.2 million capital budget will go toward continuing an infill program at its off-shore field in Malaysia.
Plans for southeastern Alberta include new infill work and evaluating gas and oil optimization plans for future years.