Introduction

History

New Brunswick is one of the oldest ‘oil provinces’ in the world. One of the first oil wells in North America was drilled in 1859 about 15 km southeast of Moncton on the east side of the Petitcodiac River. The well, along with three others, were drilled by H. C. Tweedal, a refiner from Pittsburgh. The four shallow wells produced a small quantity of oil (Hea, 1974). The oil wells put down in the Dover area by Tweedel were in Lower Carboniferous lacustrine sandstones of the Albert Formation. This would prove to be a significant find, because since that time, most of the exploration for oil and gas in New Brunswick has concentrated on the Albert formation. More information about the history of oil and natural gas exploration in the province can be found in publication IC 2000-5.

Stoney Creek-c. 1910's

Ownership and Surface Access

All oil and natural gas resources are owned by the Crown. Persons wishing to enter upon Crown lands or upon lands other than Crown lands for the purpose of exploring in any manner whatsoever for oil and natural gas must first obtain permission from the owner of such lands.

Legislation

The following are the Act and Regulations pertaining to oil and natural gas exploration. This is provided for general public information only. Legal details can be obtained from the Department of Justice web site.

Oil and Natural Gas Act

The Oil and Natural Gas Act provides the Minister of Natural Resources with the authority to manage tenure, exploration, development, production and abandonment/ reclamation of petroleum resources.

Survey System Regulation 86-190

The Survey System Regulation 86-190 describes how the Province is divided into a pattern of blocks to allow rights to be issued for subsurface resource ownership. The blocks, defined as a grid area, are divided into 100 sections, and each section is divided into 16 units completing the pattern. The following map  shows the grid survey system of the Province.

Geophysical Exploration Regulation 86-191

The Geophysical Exploration Regulation 86-191 provides details of the requirements that must be met in order to conduct geophysical exploration in the Province as well as the reporting procedure for a completed program.

Licence to Search and Lease Regulation 2001-66

The Licence to Search and Lease Regulation 2001-66 establishes the administrative procedure required to nominate lands for posting, and describes the types of tenure agreements required in order to explore and develop petroleum resources. This regulation also contains the royalty schedule for oil and natural gas.

General Regulation (Draft)

The General Regulation (Draft) deals with matters related to drilling, completion, production, abandonment and reclamation of oil and natural gas wells. Companies wishing to undertake any of these activities must adhere to and follow the principles of good geophysical practice, good drilling practices and good production practices.

The department is reviewing and updating legislation to provide a regulatory environment that encourages exploration and development of the Province’s oil and natural gas resources.

For additional information, please contact the Petroleum Tenure Manager