Fort Worth's Quicksilver moving ahead in Canada

Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources said today that it has begun a “midstream” natural gas pipeline system to transport gas from the company’s wells in the Horn River Basin in far northeast British Columbia in Canada.

The “first piece” of the system was the construction of a 20-mile, 20-inch gas gathering line that is awaiting tie-in to a Spectra pipeline system and is expected to be operational in May, the natural gas and oil producer said. Once the tie-in and new gas compression facilities are completed, Quicksilver expects that production will be unrestricted from four existing gas wells cumulatively “capable of producing more than 30 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.”

Quicksilver has drilled four additional Horn River wells and “we expect to begin completion activities on those wells during the next winter drilling season,” said Rick Buterbaugh, vice president for investor relations and corporate planning.

Quicksilver, which gets most of its natural gas production from North Texas’ Barnett Shale, views its Horn River lease holdings of 130,000 net acres as a prime source of future company revenues.

“The company estimates that our acreage position holds more than 10 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of potential resources,” and could “more than quadruple our existing reserves,” Buterbaugh said.

Quicksilver has executed an agreement under which TransCanada Pipelines will  begin work on a 70-mile Horn River pipeline extension and Fortune Creek Meter Station to be located within Quicksilver’s acreage. The extension, to be completed in 2014, is expected to be a large 36-inch pipeline giving Quicksilver access to a major gas hub.