Canada ranks as the third-largest producer of natural gas in the world, behind only first-place Russia and the U.S. Currently, Canadian production stands at 17 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per day, and totals some 6.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) per year. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers forecasts production will climb close to 7.5 Tcf annually by 2012, thanks at first to strong growth in coalbed-methane (CBM) production and later to gas from the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea regions in far northern Canada. To date, 146 Tcf has been produced from conventional gas reservoirs in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). According to Alberta's Energy & Utilities Board and Canada's National Energy Board, remaining resources in the WCSB total 381 Tcf: conventional reservoirs still contain 144 Tcf; CBM reservoirs hold 167 Tcf; and northern Canada, 70 Tcf. Proved reserves, in contrast, are currently 56 Tcf. Despite the strong emphasis on unconventional resources and Arctic gas in the future, the WCSB still yields some monster gas wells. The best Canadian natural gas well of 2005 was Shell's Tay River discovery in the foothills of central Alberta, according to a review by Calgary-based investment-banking firm FirstEnergy Capital Corp. For more on this, see the June issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.
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