Case considered: Bearspaw Petroleum Ltd v Encana Corporation, 2010 ABQB 225
PDF version: Yes folks the language of the habendum does matter
In this decision Justice Terry McMahon held that a petroleum and natural gas lease that provides for continuation at the end of its primary term where leased substances are “producible” will be continued where the lessee has drilled a well that has discovered natural gas in commercial quantities; the lease will be continued even though that well has not been tied in and is therefore not capable of actual production. The decision also offers a comment on implied and express covenants to market.