Natural gas-prone B.C. got off to a slow start as it held its first monthly land sale of 2016 this week by attracting $200,053 in bonus bids, which generated a low average price of $76.53.
Eight parcels were up for auction, and six were acquired by industry, for a total of 2,614 hectares.
The next sale, scheduled for Feb. 24, 2016, will offer four parcels covering 1,084 hectares (while this posting for the February sale lists five parcels, lease 65895 has since been withdrawn).
The heyday for land buying in northeast B.C. occurred in the late 2000s, when companies scooped up acreage prospective for unconventional natural gas in the Horn River and Montney. The peak of this land rush came in 2008, when industry paid $2.66 billion for 756,752 hectares. In 2007, the government collected $1.05 billion in bonus bids.
More robust land prices in B.C. await a strong resurgence in gas prices and demand, which likely means LNG approvals.
