NOTICE OF HEARING
ApplicationS No. 1276521 AND 1276489
for a licenCe TO DRILL A SOUR NATURAL GAS WELL,
COMPULSoRY POOLING, AND SPECIAL well SPACING orders
LIVINGSTONE FIELD
POLARIS RESOURCES LTD.
Take Notice that the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) will hold a public hearing of Applications No. 1276521 and 1276489 at the Maycroft Community Centre, Maycroft, Alberta, on Tuesday, September 9, 2003, commencing at 9:00 a.m. All interveners to this proceeding must be present at the commencement of the hearing to register their appearance.
A Pre-hearing Meeting was held in Maycroft on April 16, 2003. Further information regarding how the Board plans to conduct the public hearing in the most efficient and effective manner possible may be found in the Memorandum of Decision (MOD) resulting from the Pre-hearing Meeting (Decision 2003-030). A copy of the MOD may be obtained from the EUB's Information Services Group listed below or from the EUB's website at www.ercb.ca.
Nature of Application 1276521
Polaris has applied to the EUB pursuant to Section 2.020 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Regulations (the Regulations) for a licence to drill a vertical level-3 critical sour gas well from a surface location in Legal Subdivision (LSD) 11 of Section 32, Township 10, Range 2, West of the 5th Meridian. The maximum hydrogen sulphide (H2S) content would be approximately 287.6 moles per kilomole (28.76 per cent), the cumulative drilling H2S release rate would be 11.30 cubic metres per second (m3/s), the producing release rate would be 3.06 m3/s, and the corresponding emergency planning zone would be 13.54 kilometres (km). The purpose of the well is to obtain gas production from the Palliser formation. The proposed well would be located approximately 32 km north of the Hamlet of Lundbreck.
Nature of Application No. 1276489
Polaris has applied to the EUB pursuant to Section 4.040 of the Regulations for an order to establish a special DSU comprised of Sections 32 and 33 of Township 10, Range 2, West of the 5th Meridian, with the target area being within the DSU and having sides 300 metres from and parallel to the sides of the DSU, for the production of gas from all zones below the top of the Mississippian System.
Polaris has also applied pursuant to Section 80 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act (the Act) for an order prescribing that all tracts within the special drilling spacing unit comprising Sections 32 and 33 of Township 10, Range 2, West of the 5th Meridian, be operated as a unit for the production of gas from all zones below the top of the Mississippian System, through a well to be drilled in LSD 11-32-10-2 W5M.
The applicant is requesting, among other things, that costs and revenues under the pooling order be allocated on a tract area basis and that it be named the operator of the subject well. The applicant has also requested that the maximum penalty allowed under the Act be applied to a tract's share of the costs of drilling and completing the well if the tract owner does not pay its share of those costs within 30 days of the later of the pooling order being issued, the tract owner being given written notice of its share of costs, and the well in question being placed on production.
Additional Information
To obtain additional information or a copy of the applications, contact:
Polaris Resources Ltd.
c/o Fire Creek Resources Ltd.
514 10th Street NW
Calgary Alberta T2N 1W3
Attention: Orville Cole
Telephone: 1-866-654-0505
Fax: (403) 234-9195
To File a Submission
Any person intending to make a submission with respect to the hearing of Applications No. 1276521 and 1276489 shall file on or before 4:00 pm Tuesday, August 12, 2003. Send one copy of your submission to the applicant at the name and address above and ten copies to:
Paul Forbes, Application Coordinator
Applications Branch, Facilities Applications Group
Alberta Energy and Utilities Board
640 5th Avenue SW
Calgary Alberta T2P 3G4
Board Approved Hearing Schedule
The following is the schedule for the hearing process:
June 6, 2003 Applications filed for advance of costs
June 20, 2003 Polaris's final submissions
July 11, 2003 Interveners issue IRs to Polaris Resources Ltd. (Polaris)
July 28, 2003 Polaris responds to IRs
August 12, 2003 Interveners file submissions
August 22, 2003 Polaris files rebuttal submission
September 9, 2003 Hearing commences
Notes
Any submission filed shall contain information detailing:
(i) the desired disposition of the application;
(ii) the facts substantiating the position of the submitter;
(iii) the reasons why the submitter believes the EUB should decide in the manner advocated; and
(iv) how the proposed project, if approved, may directly and adversely affect the submitter.
If you have an interest in this matter, you are required to make a submission with respect to this application even if you have previously filed a submission with the EUB or with Polaris on this application.
If there are no submissions received, this hearing may be cancelled and the EUB will continue to process the application without further notice or without a hearing.
In accordance with Section 38 of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board Rules of Practice, witnesses at the hearing must give evidence under oath or affirmation.
Submissions relating exclusively to compensation for land usage are not dealt with by the EUB but may be referred to the Alberta Surface Rights Board.
NOTE: Any statements filed regarding this application become part of the public record and are accessible by the public.
Issued at Calgary, Alberta on July 14, 2003.
ALBERTA ENERGY AND UTILITIES BOARD
Michael J. Bruni, Q.C., General Counsel
