Overview

Exploration and development activity in our Canadian region is concentrated in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. The region comprises approximately 22 percent of our estimated proved reserves, the second largest in the company. We hold approximately 4.9 million net acres in Canada, the largest of our North American regions. 

During 2008, the Canadian region drilled 484 total wells with 471 completed as producers.  The region also performed 531 workover and recompletion projects. 

We have a significant inventory of low-risk development drilling opportunities in and around a number of Apache fields in Alberta, including Provost, Hatton, Nevis, North Grant Lands, Kaybob, West 5 and Zama.  With our partners, Apache plans to drill 31 wells during 2009 to establish the commerciality of the high-potential play at Ootla in the Horn River basin.  In addition, we plan to drill five exploratory wells to test other new emerging plays in both Alberta and Northeast British Columbia (NEBC) during 2009. Intermediate depth gas development drilling continues in the Kaybob, West 5 and South Grant Land areas of central and southern Alberta. 

 Ootla

In April, 2008, Apache announced three successful horizontal wells in the Ootla shale-gas play, located in northeast British Columbia. During 2008, the company completed a total of seven horizontal wells. December gross production averaged 2.5 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd). Current plans for the Ootla development in 2009 include drilling 32 gross horizontal wells and construction of compression and gathering infrastructure required to take the additional production to existing processing facilities. Based on information obtained from the seven wells drilled in 2008, Apache expects to achieve significant improvements in both production rate and reserves per well. Apache has a 50-percent interest and operates approximately one-half of its 400,000 gross acreage position in the play. On the non-operated acreage, two wells were drilled and produced at an average flow rate of 5 MMcfd during the 2008 drilling season.

Canadian shale gas has significant resource potential and Apache is one of the leading players.  In 2009, we will continue our pursuit of the emerging resource play in the gas bearing shales of Northeast British Columbia (NEBC), where we have now acquired 217,000 highly prospective net acres. Initial drilling and production performance indicate significant production and reserve growth potential in this shale gas play.

 Enhanced oil recovery

Apache is successfully utilizing horizontal well technology to develop waterflood projects in the Zama and House Mountain fields located in Alberta, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in the Midale field of southeast Saskatchewan utilizing horizontal well technology. The enhanced oil recovery project at Midale uses carbon dioxide (CO₂) injections to increase oil-field production. For more information on Apache’s EOR innovation and its potential for sequestering greenhouse gases, please click here.

 Coalbed methane

Apache is the largest producer of coalbed methane (CBM) in Canada, producing about 120 MMcfd. CBM is natural gas trapped in coal seams rather than sandstones. The core areas for our CBM development are Nevis, Provost and the North Grant Lands.