Click here to view this data in an advanced geospatial platform that is instantly available free of charge to guest users of geoLOGIC’s gDC Cloud. To gain unlimited access and time to view this insight and previous insights at your leisure, register for a free account.

Strong land sale activity in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin during 2025 continued to be focused on Duvernay, Montney and Mannville targets — representing an array of deep to shallow intervals, dry to liquids-rich gas, light to heavy oil, and well designs from intensely fractured to open hole multilaterals, with horizontal lengths ranging from one mile to up to 3.5 miles.

It can be said that the resources being developed by operators in the WCSB are effectively using “the whole hog.”

Additionally, some land sale parcels are bringing to light several emerging areas of interest, highlighting future areas of exploration and new play concepts. The most active land sale areas are highlighted below, which include Willesden Green/Ferrier, Sinclair, Elmworth, Peerless, Bonnyville, Flood-Girouxville, Eatonia, and Creelman.

Most Active Land Sale Areas of 2025

Willesden Green/Ferrier Duvernay

The Willesden Green/Ferrier corridor was the clear focal point of Duvernay land acquisition in 2025. Operators collectively secured more than 115,000 hectares, spending more than $120 million in bonus payments, with per hectare prices reaching $8,034.

Spartan Delta Corp., Baytex Energy Corp. and Paramount Resources Ltd. are leading development in the area and have outlined aggressive growth plans extending into 2026 and beyond.

Based on their latest investor presentations, production from these three companies is expected to grow to 175,000 boe/d in the coming years (Spartan Delta – 50,000 boe/d; Baytex – 25,000 boe/d; and Paramount – 100,000 boe/d).

To prepare for its ambitious target, Paramount plans to double capacity at its Alhambra plant by Q3 of this year. Spartan Delta claims to be building one of the largest Duvernay positions in the basin, nearly doubling its net acreage in each of the past two years, growing from 203 net sections in 2023 to 714 net sections in 2025. And Baytex boasts over 210 locations, planning to drill 12 wells in 2026 and 18 wells each year thereafter, suggesting rigs will be active in the area for many years to come.

Results from all three producers have been positive. Paramount’s 100/14-14-040-06W5/00 well has IP3 rates of 6.1 mmcf/d and 195 bbls/mmcf liquids. Spartan Delta’s 100/03-26-042-04W5/00 well has IP3 rates of 1.0 mmcf/d, with a liquids yield of nearly 100 bbls/mmcf, and 887 bbls/d of oil. Lastly, Baytex’s well at 102/11-24-044-03W5/00 well boasts IP3 rates of 2.2 mmcf/d and 1,126 bbls/d of oil.

Sinclair Montney

Land activity in the Sinclair area maintained its multi-year momentum through 2025, marking the culmination of a prolonged consolidation phase.

A notable sale just across the Alberta–British Columbia border in Cutbank brought in $31.4 million with a per hectare price of $3,877.00/ha.

In the past five years over 300 sections of land have been purchased with Montney rights in the area, totalling $135 million in bonus. In 2025, multiple parcels were sold at between $3,000 and $6,000/ha, with one section in 71-11W6 fetching $8,230.18/ha, which is $2.1 million/sec.

Paramount, Birchcliff Energy Ltd., Ovintiv Inc., Murphy Oil Corporation and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are actively drilling in the area. Operators are targeting the Montney D3 and D4 benches as well as the Sinclair Turbidite within the D2 interval, at depths up to 3,200 metres TVD.

Production fits into the dry gas category, with reported liquids content in the range of 20 bbls/mmcf. Test rates on recent drills are very encouraging, approaching 12 mmcf/d, as can be seen in Paramount’s exploratory well at 100/15-32-072-13W6/02.

Seventy sections of open Montney rights still exist, offsetting recently drilled exploratory wells by Paramount and Birchcliff. The biggest hurdle for development in the area appears to be infrastructure, which is being addressed.

Paramount has announced that it intends to grow production in the area to 50,000 boe/d and has sanctioned the development of the Sinclair gas plant, which will be capable of handling up to 400 mmcf/d of raw gas.

Peerless Wabiskaw

Interest in the Wabiskaw B sandstone interval has been the story of 2025 in Peerless, south of Brintnell, spurred by the impressive results of CNRL’s seven-leg multilateral at 102/15-36-078-23W4/00, which was spud in 2024.

The well has an IP3 rate of 378 bbls/d and has cum’d over 215,000 bbls of oil to date.

Although open rights are limited in the area, $27.6 million was spent on 31.25 sections of land in 2025. Most notable was a 5.5-section posting that captured $16.4 million, with a massive $13,850.97/ha price, purchased under broker in the sale on Aug. 6.

This parcel lies north of CNRL’s 15-36 well and south of Headwater Exploration Inc.’s 104/04-19-079-22W4/02 Wabiskaw B discovery well, which was spud in March of 2025. The 104/04-19 well has been producing flat at 500 bbls/d since put on production, producing over 125,000 bbls of oil in its first eight months.

Headwater has been bullishly acquiring land in the area, including a 34.5-section farm-in deal with the Bigstone Cree Nation, announced Jan. 2, 2025. Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd. drilled two Wabiskaw wells in the area in 2025 and Caltex Trilogy Inc. has licensed two Wabiskaw wells nearby as well. Currently there are 15 Wabiskaw wells licensed surrounding these recent land sales and drilling activity.

Bonnyville Mannville

Land activity continued in the Bonnyville/Cold Lake region in 2025, with 41 sections of OS rights selling for a total of $13,916,893.42.

Most sections sold for a healthy per hectare price, typically in the range of $1,000 to $3,000/ha, with one quarter section parcel selling for $12,015.88/ha, in sec 31-061-04W4 (CNRL currently has several licensed Waseca and Sparky wells in the west half of section 31).

Immediately north of section 31, CNRL and Caltex Trilogy have been drilling multiple intervals within the Mannville Stack. At some surface locations, up to 95 horizontal legs originate from a single pad, as is the case at 02-08-062-04W4.

Caltex is producing from two intervals in the Sparky, one in the Waseca and an additional zone in the Rex in the same section.

Operators are also testing overlying Colony and Mclaren channels when they are present.

Wells in this area create a kaleidoscope of horizontal legs, a true display of vertical farming, justifying the high per section prices being paid. Expect more activity in the years to come.

Elmworth Charlie Lake

Although there are limited Charlie Lake rights remaining across the play, opportunities still exist to get a land position in the area.

In 2025, Vital Energy Inc. purchased seven sections, which included Charlie Lake rights, paying $3,342.63/ha and a total bonus of $4.4 million. The land lies between the town of Wembley and Archer Exploration Corp.’s 102/13-27-070-08W6/00 well, which boasts an impressive IP3 rate of 1,021 bbls/d of oil and 2.3 mmcf/d of gas.

Archer’s 13-27 well was put on production in August 2025 and has already cum’d 140,337 bbls of oil and 335,193 mcf gas. Archer’s prolific well appears to be targeting the Charlie Lake B Marker, which subcrops along Vital Energy’s acquired lands.

Girouxville – Flood Montney

The unconventional Montney has been the darling of the WCSB in recent years, attracting the lion’s share of E&P capital, but the conventional Montney is gaining the attention across a large area from Girouxville in the south, to Flood in the north.

In total, 158 sections of Montney rights were sold in 2025, suggesting we could be witnessing the early stages of potentially a lot of Montney activity in the area in the coming years.

Operators such as Prairie Thunder and Sand Hills Div Corp Ltd. have been drilling open hole multilaterals in the Montney attempting to avoid the high-water cuts commonly associated with single leg cased hole conventional Montney horizontals.

There is reason to believe this play has upside potential.

Sand Hills spud a well early in 2025 at 102/13-07-083-04W6/00, which has an IP3 of 244 bbls/d of oil. This well has cum’d 54,335 bbls of oil to date at 0.5% water cut.

Four townships east of this location is Prairie Thunder’s 100/15-02-084-26W5/00 well, a two-leg open hole multilateral that was drilled a year earlier, in 2024. The 15-02 well has a similar IP3 rate of 224 bbls/d of oil and has cumulated just shy of 100,000 bbls to date and is still producing 103 bbls/d of oil.

Eatonia Basal Mannville

A large area south of Dodsland has captured the attention of Clearwater players, chasing heavy oil targets in the Basal Mannville.

In 2025, Rubellite Energy Corp. showed its hand, licensing a six-leg horizontal well at 101/01-25-024-28W3/00, on land it acquired for $856,917 at the March 31, 2025, land sale.

From 2023 to 2025, over 185 sections of land has been acquired in the area, which raised $9.9 million, on what is largely considered exploratory land.

Woodcote Inc. and ISH Energy Ltd. have subsequently drilled several wells in this new area, with Woodcote being the most active (and successful) of the two.

Woodcote’s 108/13-06-026-24W3/00 well, drilled this past summer, is showing promise for this new play with an IP3 rate of 172 bbls/d of oil. An additional 26.5 sections of land are posted for the April 7, 2026, land sale, offsetting Rubellite’s 01-25 well, which was recently spud.

Creelman Bakken

In Saskatchewan, 30 per cent of its land sale dollars in 2025 were collected in the Creelman area at the Aug. 5 sale.

Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. purchased 26.75 section of land, spending $17.5 million on two exploration licence parcels, surrounding a recently drilled Bakken multilateral, while Cache Island Corp. picked up the remaining 3.5 sections, spending $1.7 million.

Prior to the sale, Whitecap Resources Inc. spud an eight-leg multilateral, located at 101/08-26-010-10W2/00, in June 2025.

It is assumed Whitecap posted the land but was outbid by Saturn.

No production on Whitecap’s well was available at the time of the August land sale, but it may have tapped into a water leg, as it has an 87 per cent water cut.

Saturn has recently licensed and spud an eight-leg horizontal on some of the newly acquired land, three sections south of Whitecap’s 08-26 well, at 101/12-10-010-10W2/00.

Multilaterals, north of Viewfield, have re-invigorated interest in the prolific Bakken play, and speak to the ingenuity of drilling engineers with some wells approaching 35,000 metres of total lateral length, with IP rates on some of these wells exceeding 300 bbls/d of oil.

Outlook

Land sale activity in 2025 followed up a strong year that was seen in 2024. Just over half a billion dollars came into government coffers last year across the four western Canadian provinces.

Lower commodity prices are expected to lower the total dollars that will be spent in 2026; however, operators are going to pay up to expand their positions or do tuck-ins within their respective core areas.

Areas such as Willesden Green and Ferrier are seeing upside at multiple stratigraphic levels, other than in the Duvernay, and heavy oil within the Mannville Stack is seeing activity migrate across the Alberta border into Saskatchewan.

In addition, significant oilsands rights are being acquired in areas such as Calling Lake, Nixon and Slave, where future posting activity is likely to continue in 2026.

New thermal heavy oil projects such as International Petroleum Corporation’s Blackrod Phase 1 and Cardinal Energy Ltd.’s Reford 2, along with advancements in thermal project efficiencies, are likely to result in renewed interest in thermal heavy oil lands as well.

Large land acquisitions in 2026 are likely to be the result of mergers and acquisitions, but land activity is expected to remain strong on a price-per-hectare basis, with a lower number of hectares sold.

Explore more details, along with individual well production plots, completions, frac, drilling and LAS data, all instantly available free of charge for guest users of geoLOGIC’s gDC Cloud. See also the new select tool within gDC Cloud that allows you to search wells, rigs, pipelines, facilities and land data once you are a registered user.

Darin McBeath is a contributor to the geoXPLORER, a competitive intelligence quarterly newsletter, at geoLOGIC systems ltd. He has over 15 years of experience in oil and gas exploration, development and production.