Government Issues Beaufort Sea Call For Nominations

The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is once again inviting industry to select exploration acreage over 100 million hectares (400 000 square miles) in the Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea and western Arctic Islands.

The Call for Nominations is open until 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Jan. 12. Nominations will be considered for inclusion in a Call for Bids tentatively scheduled to be issued in February. The general terms and conditions of any subsequent Call for Bids may be found on the department's website. Visit the website to obtain a copy of the map. www.inac.gc.ca/oil showing the outer boundaries of the call area.

Packages relating to the call are being mailed out. For more information, contact the Northern Oil and Gas Directorate by phone, fax or e-mail. The website at http://www.inac.gc.ca/oil, was updated with the Beaufort Sea Mackenzie Delta call Dec. 1. Copies of the call document will also be available from the frontier information office of the National Energy Board in Calgary this week.

That there is high potential for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea/Mackenzie Delta has been proven by the 53 discoveries already made. The basin is remarkable for its proven potential, the scale of investment which has been sunk in exploration over 20 years and -- until Ikhil in 1999 -- the absence of development. Results of the 1999 and 2000 calls for bids in the Mackenzie Delta is sending a strong signal that Northern resources are needed and can be profitably developed, the department said.