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CALGARY — A little known light oil shale play in central Alberta is getting plenty of attention after Crescent Point Energy Corp. quietly amassed a total of 142,000 hectares of drilling rights there.

The Calgary-based company said it spent about $112 million to build its position as one of the largest landholders in the East Shale Duvernay play. It said it added property through a series of transactions over the past year after entering the play by buying Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. in 2015.

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“This play is real and it’s meaningful in scale to us with over 500 sections of land,” said CEO Scott Saxberg in an interview Wednesday.

“We’re pretty excited about the future of that play, with positive results to come.”

He said the East Shale Duvernay could grow to rival Crescent Point’s production from Saskatchewan, where it is the province’s largest oil producer, as well as its fast-growing oil operations in Utah.