The Canadian Press reports, “In Canada, at least 175,000 wells have been fracked, the majority of them in Alberta. The industry is also well-established in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and exploration is rapidly expanding in almost every other province.”
The article focuses on three Atlantic provinces and Quebec:
Nova Scotia – “An exploratory natural gas well (was) drilled in 2008 by Elmworth Energy, Canadian subsidiary of Denver-based Triangle Petroleum Corp., (near Minasville, N.S.). …(There are also) five test wells east of Windsor, N.S.”
New Brunswick – “Of the 49 wells that have been fracked in New Brunswick in recent years, 30 are already in production, the provincial government says. However, the government says only three shale gas test wells have been drilled in the province, two of which it considers in the same league as the shale gas wells that are attracting attention in the United States.”
Prince Edward Island – “In April, P.E.I.’s Liberal government said fracking will not get approval without an environmental assessment and public consultations.”
Quebec – “Quebec is home to one of the largest shale formations in North America… At least 30 test wells have been drilled in Quebec since 2008.”
For an October 2010 overview of fracking in provinces across Canada, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?p=4327. That blog notes:
British Columbia – Major activity is planned for the Horn River Formation, which is in north-eastern British Columbia extending to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Six areas in BC also hold coalbed methane natural gas potential: Peace country in the north east, Elk Valley in the southeast, Vancouver Island, the south central interior (around Merritt and Princeton), northwestern BC (around Telkwa and Iskut), and the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Alberta – Talisman, Encana Corp., and U.S-based Apache Corp. are planning massive investments in western Alberta. Kainaiwa Resources Inc., Calgary-based Bowood Energy, US-owned Murphy Oil have an agreement to frack no fewer than 16 drill sites on the Blood Tribe reserve.
Saskatchewan – It is believed that exploration companies are interested in the Bakken natural gas field in southern Saskatchewan.
Ontario – Calgary-based Mooncor Oil & Gas Corp. has been buying land rights in southwestern Ontario for shale gas drilling. Mooncor intends to drill in Lambton and Kent counties, and near Collingwood/Blue Mountain.
Quebec – Exploration companies have obtained 600 permits and have drilled a half dozen wells to test the viability of Quebec’s gas reserves.
New Brunswick – US-owned Apache Canada Ltd. and Halifax-based Corridor Resources Inc. are scheduled to begin drilling and exploration work for natural gas in the Elgin area of southern New Brunswick in June 2011.
Nova Scotia – There has been concern that Toronto-based Petroworth Resources Inc. may seek to frack near Lake Ainslie.
Newfoundland and Labrador – Canadian Imperial Venture Corp. was planning to drill an onshore-to-offshore well to look at the potential for oil and shale play this past fall on the Port au Port Peninsula. There may also be exploration near Deer Lake.
The Council of Canadians intends to launch a ‘fracker tracker’ web-tool in early-2012 that marks these fracking projects and others across the country. More on that soon.
We oppose fracking because of its high water use, its high carbon emissions, its impacts on human health, the disruption it causes to wildlife, and the danger it poses to groundwater and local drinking water. We are calling for a country-wide stop to fracking operations. We will also be launching a petition campaign shortly to put pressure on the federal government to step into a leadership role and ensure that our water sources, people’s health and the environment are protected from unnecessary and dangerous pollution.
The full Canadian Press article is at http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/controversy-over-shale-gas-fracking-galvanizes-communities-in-the-maritimes-135101343.html. For Council of Canadians blogs on our campaign against fracking, please see http://canadians.org/blog/?s=fracking.
