West Central Alberta
Zargon’s West Central Alberta core area is comprised of two producing regions located directly west of the city of Edmonton and on the Peace River Arch. This core area is characterized by a large undeveloped land base of 250 thousand net acres. In 2009, the area accounted for approximately 41 percent of Zargon’s natural gas production and eight percent of oil production.
Some of our properties in West Central Alberta have substantial natural gas exploitation potential. In particular, the western acreage on the Peace River Arch has significant gas-charged Montney, Doig and Bluesky sandstones, which may be exploitable through new horizontal well fracture technology. Additionally, the core area’s large undeveloped land base and somewhat disparate natural gas properties can be rationalized through trades, acquisitions and sales into a more focused asset.
Although oil production volumes are relatively small, West Central Alberta includes five oil properties, generally located west of Edmonton, which have significant oil-in-place and exploitation potential. Consistent with many of our other assets, these properties hold smaller accumulations of oil-in-place that our exploitation programs target for increased recovery factors.