Although better than the previous two months, the June sale of B.C. crown petroleum and natural gas land rights was another sharp reminder of the current oil and gas industry lull. Only three leases were offered and purchased on Wednesday, and that resulted in a total tender bonus of $2,148,000.
That's more than double the combined amount for the previous two months, but the total for the current fiscal year, which began in April, is less than $3,000,000.
By comparison, the total for the same three months last year was nearly 50 million dollars, and in the record calendar year of 2008, it was 694 million. The final total for that year was more than $2.6 billion, but we're now on pace for a calendar year total, of $168 million and a fiscal year total, of less than $12 million.
The next sale has been set for July 18th.
