Prince George, B.C.- Oil and gas lease sales hit $178 million dollars yesterday, an amount the Minister in charge was, happily, surprised to see.

“It shows the confidence the industry has in B.C.” says Minister of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources , Blair Lekstrom. The bulk of the lease sales were in the north east of the province where there has been proven gas and oil reserves.

Speaking on the Meisner program on CFIS FM this morning, Lekstrom says new seismic information bodes well for oil and gas exploration west of Quesnel. “I think there‘s great potential there, I just can’t say if it’s going to be explored in 6 months or 6 years.”   That region has long been rumoured to be prime for oil and gas reserves but to this day, there has not been one lease purchased.

Although Lekstrom  says he believes the  Nechako basin   reserves would be "substantial" it is private industry that will have to take the new  data  and  determine if it is worth  exploring. Lekstrom says the province’s royalty incentive program is among the most competitive in North America.