The Government of Quebec passed Bill 21, effectively signaling an end to petroleum exploration and production and the public financing of those activities, Questerre Energy Corp. said in a release Apr. 13.
The province has agreed to provide financial compensation to the industry as a result.
Bill 21 was approved by the elected representatives of the National Assembly in Quebec. A provisional copy of the legislation is available online. It has received the assent of the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The law, in whole or in parts, will come into force at the government’s discretion following the finalization of the associated regulations including the proposed compensation program, the release continued.
“By blocking the development of its natural gas resources with zero-emissions technology for export, Quebec is missing an important opportunity to work with other nations to provide secure, reliable energy for our European allies,” said Michael Binnion, president and chief executive officer of Questerre.
“It also leaves the province highly dependent on imports of natural gas and petroleum that meet more than half their energy needs,” he continued.
The company will assess its legal options as it awaits implementation of the law, Binnion said.
Questerre holds assets in St. Lawrence Lowlands. In January 2020, the company acquired exploration rights to 753,000 net acres in Quebec, associated wells and equipment, geophysical data, and other miscellaneous assets. Post-closing, Questerre held rights to about one million net acres covering an established gas resource. A best estimate of unrisked gross contingent and prospective resources by an independent party as of Dec. 31, 2017, for the majority of the acreage was 3.9 tcf and 21.3 tcf, respectively.
In 2021, as a result of the then-proposed legislation, the company impaired the full carrying amount of its exploration and evaluation assets in Quebec of $104 million.
