When Calgary-based Cenovus Energy Inc. snapped up junior Oilsands Quest for $10 million last year, it renewed rumours across northern Saskatchewan that Meadow Lake, pop 5,100, is on the cusp of becoming the next big western resource play.
Meadow Lake is known historically for wheat farming and forestry. But the oil exploration done by Oilsands Quest before it hit a financial wall could change the economy of Meadow Lake forever.
Oilsands Quest, which had been operating under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act for over a year, held some promising assets. These include three oilsands leases, covering approximately 59,000 hectares in Alberta and Saskatchewan. They are adjacent to Cenovus's Telephone Lake oilsands project in northern Alberta.
At the time of the sale, Garth Wong, Oilsands Quest president and CEO said: "We have billions of barrels of discovered resource. We just need to get over this financing hurdle."
"We have great potential for both oil and gas" said Gary Vidal, mayor of Meadow Lake. "Some say we could be the next Fort McMurray."
That may be a stretch, but the former Oilsand Quests sites could equal the Cenovus oil production (95,000 barrels a day) of last year and be on the same level as the Bakken oil field in southern Saskatchewan.
