Questerre Energy

Questerre Energy Corporation is an international energy exploration company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 2000 by Norwegian businessman Peder Paus and Canadian businessman Michael Binnion, the company has built its business around identifying, acquiring and advancing unconventional oil and natural-gas resources rather than operating as a large integrated producer. Its principal Canadian interests have included substantial acreage in Quebec’s Saint Lawrence Lowlands, particularly within the Utica Shale, as well as assets in Saskatchewan and the Montney Formation in Alberta. The company has also reported interests connected with shale-oil development in Utah and Wyoming and oil-shale opportunities in Jordan. Questerre’s most prominent asset position has been in the Utica Shale of the Saint Lawrence Lowlands. The company continued acquiring land and promoting the potential for natural-gas development in the region, but the advancement of those assets became dependent on provincial regulatory decisions and access to development permits. This regulatory environment made Quebec a central strategic and public-policy issue for the company. Questerre has argued that carefully managed natural-gas development could provide economic benefits to local communities and has referred to industry proposals for community profit sharing as a way to build local support. The company’s portfolio has also included an equity investment in Red Leaf Resources, which owns proprietary EcoShale In-Capsule Technology for extracting oil from shale. Through this investment and related leases, Questerre gained exposure to emerging oil-shale extraction technologies in Utah and Wyoming. Its international portfolio has additionally included shale-oil interests in Jordan, although the company’s Canadian unconventional-gas acreage has remained a defining part of its corporate identity. Michael Binnion has served as Questerre’s president and chief executive officer since the company’s establishment and became its largest shareholder. Peder Paus, a co-founder and for many years the company’s largest shareholder, served as chairman until 2015. Questerre has maintained a cross-border capital-markets profile through listings in Canada and Norway. It was included in the OBX Index during an earlier period and re-entered the index in December 2017. The company’s public profile has frequently combined resource exploration with advocacy concerning energy regulation, especially in Quebec. Questerre is best understood as a small, publicly traded exploration and development company whose value proposition rests on prospective unconventional-resource acreage, technical partnerships and the possibility of regulatory approval for projects that have not necessarily reached full commercial production. Its business scope spans natural gas, shale oil, oil-shale technology exposure and resource-leasing activities. Because the commercial development of several important assets has depended on regulatory access, the company’s prospects have been closely linked to provincial and national energy policy as well as subsurface resource potential.

Questerre Energy was established in 2000 by Peder Paus and Michael Binnion. From its beginning, the company pursued an exploration-oriented model centered on acquiring prospective acreage and developing unconventional oil and natural-gas resources. Binnion became president and chief executive officer at the time of formation and continued in that role, while Paus became an important shareholder and served as chairman until 2015. The company expanded its asset base across several Canadian regions. Its portfolio included acreage in Western Alberta, southeastern Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba and Quebec’s Saint Lawrence Lowlands. The Quebec position became especially important because it included a large Utica Shale land position, giving Questerre exposure to one of the province’s most significant unconventional-gas prospects. The company continued to acquire land and promote the development potential of the resource, but project advancement was constrained by the need for provincial regulatory approvals and permits. Questerre also developed an international and technology-oriented dimension. It made an equity investment in Red Leaf Resources, a company associated with EcoShale In-Capsule Technology for shale-oil extraction, and held or reported interests connected with leases in Utah and Wyoming. The company also identified shale-oil opportunities in Jordan. These activities broadened Questerre beyond conventional Canadian exploration and linked its strategy to the development of technologies intended to unlock oil from shale formations. Quebec regulatory policy became a defining issue in the company’s public affairs. Questerre maintained that natural-gas development could produce economic benefits for local communities and referred to a proposed industry practice under which communities would receive a share of project profits. The company’s advocacy was also connected with the Modern Miracle Network, an organization incorporated in 2016 by Michael Binnion and operating from Questerre’s offices. The network promoted arguments concerning modern energy development and included participants from the Canadian oil and gas sector. Questerre’s capital-markets presence included listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Oslo Stock Exchange. Its shares were included in the OBX Index during 2010–2011 and again from December 2017. This Norwegian market connection reflected the involvement of Paus and the company’s broader international shareholder and capital-market profile. By the late 2010s, Questerre remained principally an exploration and development company whose most consequential opportunities depended on the commercial and regulatory viability of unconventional resources. Its portfolio combined Canadian shale-gas acreage, western Canadian exploration interests, technology-linked shale-oil exposure in the United States and oil-shale opportunities in Jordan. The company’s identity therefore rested less on a mature production brand than on the potential value of its resource positions, technical partnerships and ability to obtain permissions for development.

• 2018

  Community-benefit proposal for Quebec gas development

  [1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Questerre discussed applying an industry proposal for sharing three percent of profits with local communities in connection with potential Quebec natural-gas development.

• 2017

  Questerre returns to the OBX Index

  [1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Questerre was included in the OBX Index again in December after an earlier inclusion from 2010 to 2011.

• 2016

  Modern Miracle Network is incorporated

  [1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Modern Miracle Network, an energy-development advocacy organization associated with Michael Binnion, was incorporated and operated from Questerre’s offices.

• 2015

  Peder Paus leaves the chairmanship

  [1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Paus ended his tenure as Questerre’s chairman after serving in that role for many years.

• 2000

  Questerre Energy is founded

  [1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Peder Paus and Michael Binnion co-founded Questerre Energy, with Binnion becoming president and chief executive officer.

A publicly listed unconventional-resource explorer focused on high-potential shale and tight-resource acreage, with a particular emphasis on Quebec’s Utica Shale and selected technology-led oil-shale opportunities.

• Unconventional natural gas

  Utica Shale natural gas

  Questerre’s principal resource position has been its substantial acreage in the Utica Shale beneath Quebec’s Saint Lawrence Lowlands. The opportunity centers on unconventional natural-gas exploration and potential development. Its advancement has depended on provincial regulatory permissions, environmental policy and community acceptance, making the asset both a technical resource opportunity and a public-policy issue.

• Oil and gas exploration

  Western Canadian exploration assets

  The company has reported exploration interests in Saskatchewan and the Montney Formation in Alberta, as well as assets in western Alberta and southwestern Manitoba. These holdings broaden the portfolio beyond Quebec and provide exposure to established Canadian petroleum regions, although the available reference material does not specify a current production profile for each asset.

• Oil-shale technology investment

  Red Leaf Resources investment

  Questerre has held an equity investment in Red Leaf Resources, owner of EcoShale In-Capsule Technology. The technology is designed to extract oil from shale, giving Questerre exposure to a technology-led approach to oil-shale development rather than only to conventional drilling and production.

• Shale oil

  Utah and Wyoming shale-oil leases

  Through its broader oil-shale activities, Questerre has been associated with leases and development opportunities in Utah and Wyoming. These interests complement the company’s Canadian gas acreage and are connected to the potential application of Red Leaf’s oil-shale extraction technology.

• Shale oil

  Jordan shale-oil interests

  Questerre has identified shale-oil opportunities in Jordan as part of its international resource portfolio. The available material establishes the presence of these interests but does not provide sufficient detail on their development stage, production status or commercial scale.

• 2016Modern Miracle Network

  Canada

  Modern Miracle Network was incorporated by Michael Binnion and operated from Questerre Energy’s offices. It functioned as an advocacy platform connected to arguments supporting modern energy development and included personnel and activists associated with the Canadian oil and gas sector.

  Source

• 2018

  Support a community profit-sharing model for Quebec developmentStrategy

  Background

  Questerre faced difficulty obtaining regulatory access for its Quebec Utica Shale interests and sought ways to improve local acceptance of natural-gas development.

  Action taken

  The company stated that it would follow an industry best practice involving the sharing of three percent of profits with local communities.

  Aftermath

  The proposal represented a community-relations and development strategy, but the available material does not establish that it led to regulatory approval or commercial production.

  Source

• 2018

  Questerre’s Quebec Utica development remained subject to regulatory approval[1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Regulation

  Company reporting described continued interest in developing the Utica Shale in Quebec while noting that regulatory permits had not been available under successive provincial governments.

• 2018

  Questerre discussed community profit sharing for Quebec gas development[1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Questerre indicated that it would follow an industry best-practice proposal involving a three-percent profit-sharing model for local communities to encourage support for natural-gas development.

• 2017

  Questerre rejoined the OBX Index[1]Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Questerre was included again in Norway’s OBX Index in December 2017 after having previously appeared in the index between June 2010 and December 2011.

1. 1Questerre Energyen.wikipedia.org