BG Group places bet on offshore Canada

LONDON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- British energy company BG Group said it was placing a bet on offshore Canada by acquiring positions from Spanish rival Repsol.

BG said it was taking an increased interest in reserves about 120 miles off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland

"This provides the company with access to early stage exploration in a proven prospective basin ahead of the first well being drilled later this year," the British company said in a statement. "This opportunity is in line with the company's strategic exploration focus to enter new basins."

There was no statement on the sale from Repsol, nor were any financial terms disclosed.

Total Canadian crude oil production in 2014 increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year to around 3.75 million barrels per day.

Oil sands represented 58 percent of total 2014 production, with output from Alberta accounting for 77 percent of total Canadian production followed by Saskatchewan with 13.8 percent. Production from offshore Newfoundland and Labrador declined by 5.8 percent year-on-year because of field maintenance and maturation.

Newfoundland's provincial government said many reserve basins off the eastern coast of Canada are past their prime.

Chevron Canada Ltd., ExxonMobil and their partners agreed to build projects off the provincial coast that could add another 150,000 bpd to the region's capacity by 2017. Trevor Giles, chairman of Newfoundland & Labrador Oil & Gas Industries Association, told The Financial Post in 2013, long before the slide in crude oil prices, that the regional energy sector "could be a little bit of a starving industry."