Canada’s Saturn Minerals Inc. acquired 158 sections of oil and gas special exploration permits in a geographic zone between the towns of Humboldt, Kamsack and Hudson Bay, Canada, the company said Aug. 16.

These additional permit areas were acquired as the result of a technical evaluation of drilling programs carried out on the Bannock Creek property, which confirmed Saturn's exploration model of Ordovician Red River source rock with large structural traps north of the Potash Restriction Zone, in the so-called oil triangle.

Saturn's exploration program at Bannock Creek outlined structural features within the Ordovician Red River formations which create traps for the known source rock. The Bannock Creek exploration model is definitive evidence that oil is pooling in this unexplored region of the province, the company said.

This area has never been adequately explored for economic pools of oil due to the interrupting presence of the Potash Restriction Zone. The newly acquired permits are all immediately adjacent to the zone.