In the non-oilsands sectors of the western Canadian oilpatch, various commodities or strategies have fallen in and out of favour over the years, depending on the economics. Coalbed methane, tight gas and natural gas in general have each been in vogue at certain points in the past dozen years. Light tight oil, conventional heavy oil and liquids-rich gas have all been in fashion since natural gas prices tanked.

At last week’s Peters & Co. Limited investor conference in Toronto, Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. president Darren Gee exhibited a slide showing the prices of key natural gas liquids (NGLs) based on Peyto’s monthly average realized prices in the second quarter, after pipeline/fractionation/transportation costs.

Topping the list was condensate at $90 per barrel. At the other end of the NGL price spectrum was ethane at $6 per barrel, or $2.10 per gigajoule in gas equivalency, which wasn’t much better than an average Alberta dry-gas price of $1.74 per gigajoule during the quarter