Drilling activity in the Montney play in Alberta and B.C. surged to some of its highest numbers on record in the first quarter of 2018, analysts with Peters & Co. said this week.
As a result, Montney natural gas production increased about 24 percent year over year to approximately 7 billion cubic feet per day.
The bulk of the growth was driven by Encana, which produces about 1.3 bcf/d from the Montney, or about 18 percent of the play’s natural gas, analysts said.
Encana nearly doubled drilling activity in the Montney play in the first quarter of 2018 following the start up of three new processing plants in the region in late 2017.
Peters & Co. said the company was the most active Montney player in the quarter, spudding 60 wells. This was followed by Seven Generations Energy with 35 and ARC Resources with 26 new well spuds.
“Montney natural gas production has increased by approximately 24 percent year over year to ~7.0 bcf/d in March 2018, with many operators growing their natural gas production by more than 35 percent over the last 12 months, including several operators which also target liquids-rich Montney assets such as Encana, Hammerhead, Kelt, NuVista, Paramount, Seven Generations and Tourmaline.”
Overall, 350 new Montney wells were spud in the first quarter of 2018, up from 346 in Q1/2017 and 155 in Q1/2016.
