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Strategies & Market Trends : Dino's Bar & Grill -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Goose94 who wrote (17409)	10/18/2016 9:13:49 PM
From: Goose94	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 202401

ATI-V new 52 week high, 10 cents

To: Goose94 who wrote (17409)	9/22/2017 7:56:35 AM
From: Goose94	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 202401

Would-be oil and gas producers in Quebec had an interesting day, after the provincial government published its draft regulations for the implementation of the Petroleum Resources Act, further opening the door to exploration and production in the province. The Petroleum Resources Act was enacted as a result of last year's adoption of Bill 106. This bill was tabled by the government in June, 2016, and promptly caused no end of hysterical howling from green groups that la belle province would be overrun with explosions, earthquakes and toxic spills. The government pressed ahead and adopted the bill last December. Now it has released a draft version of proposed regulations. The draft will now be opened up to a 45-day consultation period, with the final framework expected to be implemented by the end of the year. Some of the regulations will raise eyebrows in the industry, while others will be counted as relative wins. Solvency requirements, for example, are on the burdensome side. The minimum solvency requirement, which will apply to operators with a land-based licence, is $10-million. That figure rises to $1-billion if the licence is in a marine environment. Also of interest is the minimum distance at which a well can be drilled from a house, 150 metres. That is stricter than, say, Alberta's minimum (100 metres), but still better than the 500-metre distance that the Quebec government had previously been considering. In addition, the draft regulations do not impose a general ban on fracking. Companies will be allowed to apply for fracking authorizations, although it is not entirely clear under what circumstances the authorizations will be granted. The publication of the draft was cheered by a handful of would-be Quebec producers, most notably Questerre Energy Corp. (QEC-T), which lost 33 cents to 96 cents on 1.06 million shares. Some of the selling likely reflects profit taking. Over the last six weeks, Questerre's stock soared to as much as $1.36 from around 70 cents, as investors awaited the draft's release. Similar trading excitement could be seen in some other Quebec-focused stocks, such as Altai Resources Inc. (ATI-V), which traded at just six cents in mid-August but was over 30 cents as of earlier this week. Today, it shed eight cents to 23 cents on 2.9 million shares. Meanwhile, Petrolympic Ltd. (PCQ-V), despite losing 1.5 cents to 16 cents today, is still up nicely from around 10 cents at the start of the month. Unfortunately, Petrolympic's joint venturer in Quebec, the thinly traded Squatex Energy and Ressources Inc. (SQX-Cse), did not see any similar excitement and has stayed squatting at 26.5 cents for most of this month, despite actually taking the time today to issue a press release about the draft regulations. Another Quebec junior that did not participate in the frenzy is Junex Inc. (JNX-V). It was around 48 cents a month and a half ago; today it lost 6.5 cents to 42 cents. There is also Petrolia Inc. (PEA-V Halted), but its stock has been halted at 16.5 cents since May because of a proposed reverse takeover. Back at Questerre, president and chief executive officer Michael Binnion (who is also the chairman of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association) remained upbeat despite today's drop in the stock. "Our step-by-step approach to engaging with the government and other stakeholders is working," he cheered. He added that Questerre is still in the process of reviewing the regulations, but reckons that they "reflect some of the highest standards in North America for oil and gas activity." (If he is hoping that such words will placate the keep-it-in-the-ground types, he hopes in vain. Greenpeace's Patrick Bonin is already making the media rounds decrying the regulations as "unacceptable" (to Le Devoir) and "literally an open bar" (to Radio-Canada).) In any case, the regulations are reasonably good news for Questerre, whose assets include land in Quebec's St. Lawrence Lowlands. It has been there since 2001 and touted a "significant" Utica shale discovery in 2008 during a vertical test well program. This soon led to the start of a pilot horizontal program, but that program was suspended in 2010 amid regulatory uncertainty. Questerre ended up halting all of its Quebec activity in 2013. Meanwhile, in 2012, it drilled its first well into the Alberta Montney, which now contributes nearly all of its production. Yet it has never given up on Quebec, emphasizing in its latest on-line presentation that legislative developments (which would include the above draft) are "key to resuming field activity." It is eager to do so because the Utica shale is about 50 per cent shallower than the Montney formation at its Alberta assets.