Introduction

History

The Albert Formation is exposed over an area of about 340 km2 (34 000 ha) and comprises about 9 % of the total surface area of the Moncton Subbasin. About 1300 hectares or 4% of the surface area of the Albert Formation contains oil shale beds in sufficient quantity and /or thickness to comprise the major rock type in the local section. Sufficient data are available for the Rosevale, Dover and Albert Mines areas of Albert and Westmorland counties of southeastern New Brunswick to estimate that the oil yield from beds 10-20 m thick may range from 80 to 100 L/t.

Further historical and current industry related activities information about Bituminous Shale is available in IC 2000-5  .

Bituminous Shale Ownership and Surface Access

All bituminous shale, bituminous shale products and bituminous shale by-products 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 bituminous shale must first obtain permission from the owner of such lands.

Legislation

The following Act and Regulation pertain to Bituminous Shale exploration. This is provided for general public information only. Legal details can be obtained from the Department of Justice web site.

Bituminous Shale Act

The Bituminous Shale Act provides the Minister of Natural Resources with the authority to manage tenure, exploration, development and production of the bituminous shale, and bituminous shale by-products in the Province.

Regulation 87-14

The Licence to Search, Development Permit and Lease Regulation 87-14 establishes the administrative procedure required to nominate lands for posting, and describes the types of agreements required in order to explore, develop and produce bituminous shale resources. It also describes the royalty schedule.

Note: The regulatory requirements for Bituminous Shale geophysical exploration are in accordance with Regulation 86-191 geophysical exploration under the Oil and Natural Gas Act.