INDUSTRY INFORMATION
Opportunities
Crown Petroleum and Natural Gas Tenure
Royalties and Fiscal Regimes
CBG Royalty Regime
Regulations
Regional Coalfields
Opportunities
British Columbia has an estimated resource of 90 trillion cubic feet of coalbed gas (CBG). This resource offers significant opportunities for CBG development in coalfields throughout the province.
In British Columbia a company must obtain petroleum and natural gas rights in order to begin the process to access, explore and develop CBG. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources’ Titles Division is responsible for issuing and administering the provincially owned rights.
2006/2007 Petroleum and Natural Gas Rights Disposition Dates
Disposition dates and information on the disposition of petroleum and natural gas rights.
Coalbed Gas Opportunities in Southeastern British Columbia – Promotional Brochure (
2.7MB)
A promotional brochure on Coalbed gas opportunities in Crowsnest Coalfield
Coalbed Gas Opportunities in Crowsnest Coalfield - Information Package ( 180KB)
An outline of the coal geology, CBG in-place resource, historical exploration and production activities, regulatory process and other useful information for potential investors.
Coalbed Gas Potential in British Columbia, Petroleum Geology Paper 2004-1 ( 130MB)
This publication provides a brief overview of the major coalfields in British Columbia and their coalbed gas potential. Each coalfield is summarized and illustrated with simple figures, images and tables.
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Crown Petroleum and Natural Gas Tenure
Tenure is time-limited ownership of a specific parcel of subsurface petroleum and natural gas rights. Tenure confers the right to apply to the Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) to access, explore and develop the petroleum and natural gas according to applicable statutory regulations. Tenure is not required to drill test holes; however, industry must obtain permission from the OGC before drilling. In order to produce coalbed gas (CBG), industry must acquire Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) tenure rights. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources’ Titles Division is responsible for issuing and administering provincially owned PNG rights. Tenure is sold monthly, based on requests from industry for specific parcels. Tenure is typically awarded to the highest bidder; however, not every parcel offered is purchased. There may be no bids received or the bids are deemed to be unacceptable, as they do not provide sufficient return to the province based on a technical evaluation.
For more information please go to:
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Titles Division
Petroleum and Natural gas Rights in British Columbia
2004/2005 Petroleum and Natural Gas Rights Disposition Dates
Disposition dates and information on the disposition of petroleum and natural gas rights. To subscribe to the Information Letters, Titles Division Sales Notices, and/or Titles Division Sales Results email lists please visit the Oil and Gas Titles Homepage. For more information on surface and subsurface rights and land use planning please visit the Regulatory Information under the Technical & Regulatory Information section of the CBG website.
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Royalties and Fiscal Regime CBG Royalty Regime
Coalbed Gas (CBG) has the potential to play a significant role in British Columbia’s energy economy. The royalty regime for CBG reflects the unique development and production costs of this resource by providing appropriate royalty credits to initiate the development of the CBG industry. It will facilitate the development of provincial CBG resources while providing a reasonable return to natural gas producers and the Crown.
The CBG royalty regime:
- Includes produced-water handling costs which are now part of the producer cost of service allowance, supporting any costs of added water management;
- Creates a royalty bank to collect excess allowance to be used against future assessed CBG royalties;
- Increases the marginal well adjustment factor threshold to 600,000 cubic feet per day from 180,000 cubic feet per day to address the lower production rates; and
- Provides a $50,000 royalty credit for CBG wells drilled before July 1, 2008.
The CBG marginal well adjustment factor is shown in this Chart ( 14.20KB)
To support major investment to develop CBG and other unconventional gas resources, The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources has a Call For Proposals to Develop Unconventional Resources Using a Net Profit Royalty Regime.
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Regulations
In 1998 the
Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) was established under the
Oil and Gas Commission Act as part of the provincial government’s Oil and Gas Initiative. Reporting to the Minister of Energy and Mines, this independent Public Agency is responsible for regulating British Columbia’s oil and gas sector. The OGC has a legislated mandate to make decisions on oil and gas applications that balance the broad environmental, economic and social outcomes of oil and gas exploration and development. The OGC also has a responsibility to consult with First Nations, strengthen relationships with stakeholders and clients, ensure public safety and protection of the environment, and streamline regulatory processes.
For more information please visit the Regulatory Information under the Technical & Regulatory Information section of the CBG website.
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