08/26/2026
NOFRAC expresses deep concern over Houston’s choice of fracking company!!
Text of article:
Company in talks for onshore gas exploration in Nova Scotia identified
Questerre says it's in 'the final stages' of negotiations with the province
Michael Gorman · CBC News · Posted: Aug 25, 2026 4:02 PM ADT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
The company negotiating with the Nova Scotia government for onshore gas exploration rights identified itself in a news release Monday.
Alberta-based Questerre Energy said in a release that it is in “the final stages” of negotiations with the province to work on lands in the onshore Cumberland Basin of northern Nova Scotia.
“Winning the first bid round allows us to start building relationships in Nova Scotia — with local communities and landowners, the Department of Energy and research partners such as Dalhousie University,” company CEO Michael Binnion said in the release.
“We respect Premier [Tim] Houston’s efforts to strengthen the province’s energy security, and we intend to earn our place in that effort.”
Questerre was the one company the province selected from four proposals advanced by a team at Dalhousie University in May for consideration.
Last December, the province tapped Dal to oversee a new subsurface energy investment program, a $30-million initiative that includes about $24 million in incentives for developers. It’s part of the premier’s drive to expand natural resource development in the province, including potentially through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for onshore gas.
Houston spent part of the summer touring the province to give speeches at chambers of commerce where he promoted his natural resource agenda as a way of giving Nova Scotia more energy independence. He was in Alberta last week to attend the annual conference of the Canadian Energy Executive Association.
In the company’s release Monday, Binnion said an entry into Nova Scotia would provide the opportunity to “apply our extensive subsurface expertise in a new prospective basin.”
Negotiations continue
Questerre’s website lists assets in Jordan, Utah, western Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, where it holds “a significant natural gas discovery in the Quebec Utica shale, widely recognized as one of the most important undeveloped natural gas resources in Eastern Canada,” Monday’s release said.
One reason that site has remained undeveloped is because of a Quebec ban on oil and gas production and exploration. The company has challenged that legislation in court.
A spokesperson for Nova Scotia’s Energy Department said negotiations with Questerre continue.
Company officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Robin Tress, a member of the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition, a group that opposes fracking in the province, said she has concerns about Binnion’s association with the Modern Miracle Network.
A video on the network’s website says the outfit, which Binnion founded, is dedicated to “promoting, defending and encouraging thankfulness for the modern miracle of hydrocarbons” in Canada and around the world.
“We do not want to see this go ahead,” Tress said in an interview.
Tress said she does not think the premier is giving enough weight to public concerns about fracking, nor does she believe science related to possible risks to human health or the environment will be prioritized in the government’s final decision.
