JUNE LAND SALE YIELDS $18 MILLION

The June sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas rights collected $18.1 million, bringing total revenue from land sales for the 2009 calendar year to $36.1 million.

While June land sales are historically "quieter", the $18.1 million is an increase over the first two sales of the year. The June sale doubled the year-to-date total for 2009.

"There has been a steady upward progression in revenue raised over the first three sales of the year," Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said. "We remain cautiously optimistic that this upward trend will continue through the second half of 2009."

Boyd noted there has been a fairly steady increase in oil prices since the price bottomed out at $30.28 (U.S.) per barrel on December 23, 2008. "Current prices are around the $70 (U.S.) per barrel mark, so it is more than doubled since December. Over time, growing strength in markets will be reflected in increased activity in Saskatchewan's oil patch."

The June sale included two petroleum and natural gas exploration licences that sold for $986,000 and 221 lease parcels that attracted $17.1 million in bonus bids.

The Weyburn-Estevan area received the most bids with sales of $11 million. The Swift Current area was next at $2.9 million, followed by the Kindersley-Kerrobert area with bonus bids totalling $2.2 million and the Lloydminster area at $1.9 million.

Both the highest price bid for a single parcel and the highest price paid on a per-hectare basis go to LandSolutions Inc. The company bid $1.5 million for a 129.5-hectare lease, and paid $17,529 per hectare for each of two separate 64.75-hectare leases, all three of which are located 15 kilometres north of Stoughton in southeast Saskatchewan.

The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas dispositions will be held August 10, 2009.

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For more information, contact:

Roy Schneider
Energy and Resources
Regina
Phone: 306-787-9694
Email: roy.schneider@gov.sk.ca