Canada’s Questerre begins legal fight against Quebec ban
Questerre Energy, a Canadian producer with extensive contingent shale gas resources in Quebec’s St Lawrence Lowlands, said May 12 it had begun legal action against the government’s pending ban of oil and natural gas development in the province.
“Though it has not yet come into force, the National Assembly in Quebec passed Bill 21 banning oil and gas development in the province last month,” CEO Michael Binnion said as he released the company’s Q1 2022 financial results. “The government’s decision left us no choice but to take legal action to protect the rights of our shareholders. We have filed a statement of claim and we anticipate a pre-trial hearing could be held within the next few months.”
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As part of its ban, Quebec premier Francois Legault’s government is offering five oil and gas permit holders in the province, including Questerre, compensation of about C$100mn. They had asked for at least C$500mn.
Apart from its Quebec assets, Questerre has modest producing assets in the Kakwa area of Alberta’s Montney fairway, with Q1 production averaging about 1,288 barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/day. Net income for the quarter rose to C$2.4mn (US$1.8mn) from C$900,000, while adjusted funds flow from operations rose to C$4.3mn from C$2.9mn in Q1 2021.