Tourmaline’s Peace River High assets have substantial undeveloped potential

Tourmaline’s proved plus probable reserves in the Peace River High at year-end 2024 were estimated to be 272 million boe.

The company owns and operates two significant oil batteries capable of handling 50,000 bbls/d of fluids, with the associated natural gas delivered to a third-party for processing.

Tourmaline Oil Corp.’s Peace River High assets, currently on the market, have significant remaining upside across an almost 365 gross section footprint north of Grande Prairie.

Tourmaline also has an owned and operated 60 mmcf/d sour gas processing facility at Spirit River.

Tourmaline put the assets for sale in November, with reports Canadian Natural Resources Limited is in negotiations to acquire them.

Tourmaline’s management has a long history in the Peace River High region, said president and chief executive officer Mike Rose in announcing the potential sale along with its third quarter 2025 earnings results.

“This is a play that we actually invented. We started it vertically in [the] Duvernay Oil Corp. days, created a company called Exshaw, and ended up buying it back when Tourmaline was in existence, and then the play had a rebirth where we had a different application of horizontal multi-stage fracking drilling for the Charlie Lake, and it’s worked extremely well.”

The company drilled 30 Charlie Lake wells in 2025, with 24 wells drilled the previous year. It’s drilled 138 wells in the formation the last five years.

Current Charlie Lake production is approximately 23,500 boe/d, including 9,800 bbls/d of light oil.

Tourmaline’s total well costs at Charlie Lake are approximately $3.1 million with first year average production of 262 boe/d.

Very few wells have been drilled in the Montney and Cardium assets the last five years. Tourmaline has drilled only five wells in the Alberta Montney, with current Montney production of approximately 2,400 boe/d, according to Geologic data.

It spud three wells in the Cardium at Wapiti in the first quarter of 2025.

“It has been essentially on maintenance capital for four to five years,” said Rose, as the company has focused on its northeast B.C. Montney and Alberta Deep Basin assets.

Total Montney well costs are $4.39 million, with first year average production of 568 boe/d, according to the company.

If CNRL proves to be the buyer, the company has nearby assets and experience in both the Charlie Lake and Alberta Montney. CNRL has drilled 13 Charlie Lake wells in the last five years, including four in the final half of 2025.

The company is a dominant Alberta Montney operator, drilling 291 wells in the last five years, including 113 oil wells. The majority of these wells have been drilled at Wembley and Elmworth west and south of Grande Prairie, with current production of approximately 80,000 boe/d.