The sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the province was significantly softer in August.
The provincial government auctions the right to explore or drill for oil and gas six times a year. The latest offering was last week and it generated about $4.5 million.
That is considerably lower than June’s offering which brought in roughly $18 million. Back in April the province saw $13 million.
There was also one other difference in August. Lloydminster drew the most activity.
We usually expect southeast Saskatchewan to generate the most interest – often by a wide margin – but this time round, Lloyd, Estevan and Kindersley were almost equal. In fact, Kindersley brought the largest single bid.
This comes as oil prices continue to feel the lift of middle east tension. Higher prices likely triggered stronger interest from industry in the earlier sales but it seems that same feeling did not materialize this time round as the situation in the Strait of Hormuz reaches a standoff and global producers look for alternate shipping methods.
