Despite discovery, ConocoPhillips not planning more exploration
Guy Quenneville | CBC News | Posted: March 18, 2015 8:56 PM | Last Updated: March 18, 2015
Company's plans for Canol Shale parcel put on hold "for the foreseable future"
ConocoPhillips says it doesn't plan to do any more exploration work on its parcel in the N.W.T.'s Canol shale oil play for the foreseeable future.
That's despite its recent application to the Northwest Territories government for a significant discovery declaration related to exploration work it did south of Norman Wells last winter. The work included horizontal drilling paired with hydraulic fracturing.
"Although a significant discovery declaration and subsequent significant discovery licence is a positive indication for a play, it does not indicate commercial viability," said Kristen Ashcroft, a spokesperson for ConocoPhillips.
The company says it will return to the site next winter, but only to suspend a well — "a common industry practice to verify the secure condition of a well for the long term," said Ashcroft.
The company would not confirm whether its discovery is oil or natural gas or both.