A sizeable Duvernay posting at Niton — pushing the Duvernay land grab further north than was seen in 2025 — was a highlight of Alberta’s Feb. 11 land sale, which saw widespread activity across the province.

In addition, there were strong unit prices paid for the Belly River at Brazeau River, the Notikewin/Ellerslie at Pembina, the Deep Basin Stack at Ferrier, and the Glauconitic Sandstone/Duvernay at Garrington.

Key highlights are outlined below:

A – Niton: A sizeable posting of 5,440 hectares sold for a total bonus of $3.33 million for P&NG rights predominantly below the base of the Rock Creek to the base of the basement. Teine Energy Ltd. spud a Duvernay well in the adjacent township in January and received a licence for an additional Duvernay location on Feb. 2, 2026. The nearest Duvernay well that has public production data (100/05‑18‑053‑12W5/02) was drilled from the same pad as the January spud and February licence, and reported 1,523 mcf/d of gas and 97 bbls/d of oil in the most recent calendar month. For further subsurface context and play analysis, refer to the Duvernay exploration section in the Q1 2024 geoXPLORER newsletter.

B – Brazeau River: Millennium Land purchased 128 ha of P&NG rights from the surface to the base of the Belly River at a unit price of $1,258/ha. Recent activity in the area includes Highwood Asset Management Ltd. licensing a Basal Belly River well on Feb. 12, located approximately 3.2 kilometres to the southwest of the posted land. The section also lies adjacent to Highwood’s 23-well Belly River pad, (100/14-09-048-14W5/00), which targeted the Upper Belly River channels. In this area, the Upper Belly River channels exhibit an estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of 225 MBO, while the Basal Belly River typically yields an EUR of 140 MBO (Q3 2025 geoXPLORER). For additional subsurface context, see the Belly River exploration section in the Q3 2025 geoXPLORER newsletter.

C – Pembina: Half a section of P&NG rights from the base of the Cardium to the base of the Mannville sold to Mancal Energy Inc. for $1,593/ha. Over the past five years, drilling within these rights has seen the Notikewin and Ellerslie formations being targeted. In the adjacent section to the southwest, both formations are currently on production. The Notikewin well (100/16-32-047-11W5/00) produced 6,360 mcf/d, while the Ellerslie well (102/13-32-047-11W5/00) produced 85 mcf/d in the last calendar month.

D – Ferrier: Millennium Land purchased one section of P&NG rights from surface to basement for $4,712/ha. Multiple formations within the Deep Basin stack are actively being developed in the surrounding townships in recent years, which include the Cardium, Viking, Falher, Notikewin, Wilrich, Ellerslie and Rock Creek. On average, the first month production rates from the Cardium, Falher, Notikewin, Viking and Wilrich exceeded 2,000 mcf/d, reflecting strong up-front deliverability from these intervals. Additional technical analysis of the Cardium and Falher/Wilrich plays is available in the Q4 & Q2 2023 geoXPLORER newsletters, respectively.

E – Garrington: The highest unit price per ha at this land sale was $6,068/ha, paid by Millennium Land for 1,088 hectares of P&NG rights below the base of the Viking to the base of the basement. Since 2022, drilling in the area has targeted both the Duvernay and Glauconitic Sandstone. The Glauconitic Sandstone has delivered strong results, including the nearby 09-26-038-07W5 well, which produced 8,435 mcf/d in its first month of production. North of the posting, Paramount Resources Ltd.’s Duvernay wells reported an average of 3,772 mcf/d in the most recent month of production. See the Duvernay exploration section in the Q1 2024 geoXPLORER newsletter, for additional subsurface detail.

At the Feb. 11 land sale, the province sold 17,401 hectares of P&NG leases and licences for $13.70 million. Additionally, there were 2,307 hectares of oilsands rights sold for $0.71 million. This brings the total cumulative bonus paid to date for the year in Alberta to $41.19 million.

For full land sale results, click here: Alberta Collects $14.41 Million At February 11 Land Sale

Data for the map is provided by geoLOGIC systems ltd.’s geoSCOUT.