ALL-TIME LAND SALE RECORDS SHATTERED

The December sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights has capped a record-breaking year for sales.

The $15 million realized in this week's sale brought the 2007 year-end total to $250.3 million in revenue for the province. That shatters the previous record of $199.7 million set in 1994. The average of $618 per hectare this year breaks the previous record of $450 per hectare set in 1983.

"A quarter of a billion dollar investment by the industry for drilling and production rights in Saskatchewan signals the start of a very busy time in our oil patch," Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said. "The province is committed to remaining competitive and maintaining the investment climate required to encourage development of our rich resources."

This month's sale included one exploration licence that sold for just under $350,000 and 176 lease parcels that brought in $14.8 million.

Once again the Weyburn-Estevan area dominated the sales activity on the strength of the hot Bakken Formation oil play with sales totalling $12.1 million. The Lloydminster area was next at $1.9 million followed by the Kindersley-Kerrobert area at $587,000 and the Swift Current area at $478,000.

The highest price paid for a single parcel was $1.3 million. Crescent Point General Partnership Corp. purchased this 129 hectare lease parcel of deeper rights adjacent to Stoughton in southeast Saskatchewan.

The highest price paid on a per-hectare basis was over $17,000. Triwest Energy Inc., which recently amalgamated with Provident Energy Resources Inc., placed a bid of over $1.1 million for a 64-hectare lease parcel of deeper rights beneath the Steelman Midale Beds Pool.

The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights will be February 11, 2008.

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For more information, contact:

Ed Dancsok
Energy and Resources
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2602