Although the primary focus of Marcellus Drilling News has always been on Marcellus and Utica Shale gas (and oil) as found in the northeastern U.S., the Utica Shale also underlies part of Canada’s Quebec province. From time to time we highlight news concerning the Utica in Canada. There hasn’t been much news to highlight over the years since Quebec has had a moratorium on fracking at least as long as New York’s moratorium (now at 9 years and 9 months and counting). But as we reported in December 2016, something of a minor miracle happened–the Quebec National Assembly voted to pass Bill 106, ostensibly to support Quebec’s “clean power plan” (see Fracking in Canadian Utica Shale Takes Big Step Closer to Reality). The bill includes a section that “lays out a framework for oil and gas development” in Quebec. Fracking will not begin immediately. The bill does, however, mean that new regulations will come along in 2017 and after that, it’s an almost certainty that fracking will begin. Those draft rules were finally been released in September of this year (see Quebec Government Publishes Draft Utica Fracking Regulations). Questerre Energy, which owns Canadian Utica leases in Quebec and has long lobbied get the government to allow Utica drilling. In Questerre’s recently-released third quarter 2017 update we get an update on their plans to drill in the Canadian Utica. The company says if progress continues with the draft regulations, they have eight well pad sites picked out where they will drill first–in locations that have been oil and gas friendly in the past…
Although the primary focus of Marcellus Drilling News has always been on Marcellus and Utica Shale gas (and oil) as found in the northeastern U.S., the Utica Shale also underlies part of Canada’s Quebec province. From time to time we highlight news concerning the Utica in Canada. There hasn’t been much news to highlight over the years since Quebec has had a moratorium on fracking at least as long as New York’s moratorium (now at 9 years and 9 months and counting). But as we reported in December 2016, something of a minor miracle happened–the Quebec National Assembly voted to pass Bill 106, ostensibly to support Quebec’s “clean power plan” (see 