Kelt Exploration Ltd. continues to deepen its commitment to the Wembley field in northwest Alberta, with a newly filed facility licence amendment that underscores a shift toward higher-throughput, pad-based development supported by modern drilling and compression infrastructure.
Facility Permit Signals a Targeted Upgrade at Wembley
The recent Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) application is not a greenfield build, but a facility licence amendment tied to an existing Wembley-area oil and gas facility. The application centers on a change in facility configuration, most notably the installation of additional compression, reinforcing the site’s role as a long-term development hub rather than a temporary gathering point.
Key elements of the amendment point to a capacity-driven upgrade:
- Installation of new gas and electric compressors, increasing total on-site compression horsepower
- No flaring or venting increases indicated, suggesting throughput optimization rather than emergency handling
- Integration with existing acid gas disposal and sulphur-handling infrastructure
Taken together, the permit reflects a facility being scaled to support sustained production and new well tie-ins, rather than simply maintaining legacy volumes.
Here’s what’s in the Kelt Exploration Ltd. AER Directive 056 (Facility) Licence Amendment package:
What this application is
- Applicant: Kelt Exploration Ltd. (BA Code A6D7)
- Application # 1959897 (submission Registered)
- Application purpose: Facility Licence Amendment
- Original facility licence number: 53476
- Category/Type: D421 – Oil/mineral battery – multiwell (≥ 1 t/d sulphur inlet)
- Amendment type indicated: Change category and/or type
Location (where the facility is)
- Legal location: 00-14-02-73-08W6Coordinates (NAD83): 55.301160, -119.119300
- AER Field Centre: Grande Prairie
- AER-designated field/strike area: Wembley
- Distance to nearest surface development / residence: 1.08 km
Design & emissions (key operating numbers shown)
Total inlet rates (page 3 table):
- Raw gas: 2831 (10³ m³/d)
- Oil/bitumen: 1500 m³/d
- Water: 1500 m³/d
- Sulphur: 383.9 t/d
Total continuous emissions rates (page 3 table):
- NOx: 6.95 kg/h
CO₂: 103.32 t/d - Flaring/incineration: 0.00
- Venting: 0.00
Compression / pumps & noise (what’s being installed/declared)
- Compressors on site: 2 gas, 4 electric; total compressor wattage 7622 kW
- Pumps on site: 0 gas, 2 electric; total pumps wattage 608 kW
- Noise: nighttime permissible sound level 40 dBa; predicted overall 40 dBa
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2025 Drilling Program Reinforces Pad-Based Development
Kelt’s 2025 drilling activity in the Wembley field aligns closely with the facility upgrade. Wells drilled during the year show repeated surface locations, confirming that Kelt is executing a pad drilling strategy, where multiple horizontal wells are drilled from a single surface lease.
Pad drilling offers several advantages that directly tie back to the facility amendment:
- Higher well density per surface location, increasing throughput to centralized batteries
- Reduced surface disturbance and streamlined permitting
- More predictable compression and flowback requirements, supporting permanent facility upgrades
This approach signals that Wembley is firmly in manufacturing mode, not appraisal.
Modern Drilling Techniques Drive the Need for Compression
The 2025 Wembley wells are consistent with modern Montney development practices, including:
- Longer horizontal laterals drilled from multi-well pads
- High-intensity completions, using larger sand volumes and tighter stage spacing
- Plug-and-perf completion designs optimized for liquids-rich gas zones
These techniques increase initial production rates and peak gas volumes, which in turn require robust compression capacity at the facility level. The addition of new compressors is therefore a direct response to how the wells are being drilled today—not how they were drilled a decade ago.
In short, drilling intensity has moved upstream of facilities, and Kelt is adjusting its surface infrastructure accordingly.
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Corporate Presentation: Wembley Identified as a Core Growth Area
Kelt’s November 2025 corporate presentation reinforces the strategic importance of Wembley within the company’s portfolio.
In the presentation, Kelt highlighted Wembley / Pipestone / La Glace as:
- The most active drilling area for the company during 2025
- A Montney land block where delineation is nearly complete
- An area with extensive infrastructure already in place, enabling higher activity levels
- A core asset positioned for additional gas processing capacity
This messaging aligns directly with the facility permit amendment. As Kelt shifts from delineation to full-scale development, facility upgrades—particularly compression—become essential to unlocking the next phase of growth.
Why This Matters
The combination of:
- A facility upgrade adding compression
- Pad-based drilling at shared surface locations
- Modern high-intensity drilling techniques
- And explicit corporate guidance pointing to Wembley as a 2025 focal point
…clearly positions Wembley as a long-life, infrastructure-backed development core for Kelt.
Rather than reacting to production growth after the fact, Kelt is proactively upgrading surface facilities to stay ahead of drilling momentum—an approach increasingly common among operators executing large-scale Montney development programs.
