Questerre Wins Quebec OK for Carbon Storage Pilot on Utica Acreage
Quebec has approved Questerre Energy’s application to run a carbon storage pilot on its Utica Shale acreage near Bécancour — but don’t mistake this for Quebec lifting its ban on Utica gas drilling. The Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy approved the five-year pilot (extendable two more years) on August 19, letting Questerre drill injection and observation wells — including one existing well — to test the subsurface for long-term CO2 storage. CEO Michael Binnion is using the approval to push two bigger arguments: that Questerre’s pre-existing exploration rights survived Bill 21, the 2022 law that outlawed oil and gas production province-wide, and that gas and carbon storage should be developed together as Quebec’s “made in Quebec” answer to emissions and energy security. Buried in the release: Quebec has also given Questerre a decommissioning notice for its 12 suspended wells, due within 36 months — a deadline the company is now contesting using a separate bill that allows old wells to be repurposed for carbon storage. Read More “Questerre Wins Quebec OK for Carbon Storage Pilot on Utica Acreage”
The province of Québec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, passed a new law in 2022 outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province, called Bill 21 (see 
The province of Québec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, passed a new law in 2022 outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province (see 
In the end, we didn’t think they would actually do it–but they did. The province of Quebec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, has just passed a new law outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province. It is a breathtaking grab of totalitarian power. It’s also energy suicide. Quebec says it will pay a piddly $79.5 million (US) to expropriate the oil and gas drilling rights of companies owning those rights in the province. We’ve seen estimates that those rights are worth more than $5 billion. Questerre Energy, which owns more than 1 million acres of leases and an estimated 6 Tcf of Utica Shale reserves in the province, is considering its next legal move.
This is getting interesting. Last week MDN told you that Canadian driller Questerre Energy has found a way to fight back against Quebec, Canada’s insane, irrational plan to outlaw all oil and gas drilling–including drilling in the province’s Utica Shale layer–by forming an alliance with a local Indian tribe to drill on Indian land (see 
This is quite clever. Last October the province of Quebec, Canada announced it will expropriate all of the rights for all oil and gas companies in the province to drill and extract oil and natural gas (see 
In October the province of Quebec, Canada announced it will expropriate all of the rights for all oil and gas companies in the province to drill and extract oil and natural gas (see 
For years Canadian company Questerre Energy patiently waited to begin drilling on their extensive Utica Shale acreage in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec, Canada. Quebec has been like New York–completely closed to the oil and gas industry, particularly shale and fracking (see 
You have to admire Canadian driller Questerre Energy–they never give up. Questerre has patiently waited for years to begin drilling on their extensive Utica Shale acreage in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec, Canada. Quebec is like New York–completely closed to the oil and gas industry, particularly shale and fracking (see 
You gotta give Questerre Energy Corporation credit–they keep trying, even in the face of total opposition. Questerre, a Canadian driller, has patiently waited for years to begin drilling on their extensive Utica acreage in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec–even though last year Quebec all but permanently banned such drilling (see 
The Utica Shale, which underlies much of the Marcellus 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 since 2012. 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 
Advocating for anarchy (a doing away of laws and letting the mob rule) is not unique to radical environmentalists in the United States. Such anarchy is alive and well in the Canadian environmental movement too. The Utica Shale, which underlies much of the Marcellus 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 since 2012. 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