Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL) and Talisman Energy have offered their landbank in Montney up for sale, to cash in on record premiums transacted for the gas-soaked land in British Columbia last year, according to press and newswire reports.

Industry sources said the move could depress the value of assets recently bought by Malaysia's Petronas, PetroChina and ExxonMobil Corp, which had recently paid nearly US$10 billion (RM31 billion) to acquire companies which had Montney land, in a bid to kickstart liquefied natural gas exports from the region.

Petronas paid the highest price, RM18 billion for Calgary-based Progress Energy last December, a 97 percent premium according to Bloomberg. Progress, by some estimates, is Montney's top land holder with 334,000 hectares.

CNRL, the third biggest land holder with 262,000 hectares in Montney, is now putting a quarter of its natural gas assets up for sale or partnership, according to Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail.

"It's part of our evolution," CNRL president Steve Laut said in an interview with the newspaper last week. "It's different than the past, but we think there's an opportunity here."

Talisman Energy, with about 85,000 hectares in Montney, is also doing the same.

"Our 2013 priorities for North America include drilling to hold strategic land positions in some of our dry gas plays. We will also seek to monetise assets with minimal cash flow and high net asset values, specifically the Montney and North Duvernay plays," Talisman said last week, in a press briefing about the company's plans for 2013. The company said it expects these assets to fetch US$1-1.5 billion.

Go to KiniBiz for more .