The production of both natural gas and petroleum in eastern Canada declined during 1972. A total of 12,691,588 Mcf of gas and 886,618 bbl of oil was produced. This represents a decrease of 3,476,143 Mcf (22%) of gas and a decrease of 80,104 bbl (8%) of oil from the previous year.

In the Moose River basin of the Hudson platform region, industry drilled 4 exploratory tests, totaling 3,779 ft.

In southwestern Ontario 84 exploratory tests and 47 development wells were completed during the year, an increase of 21 exploratory and a decrease of 19 development wells from 1971. Silurian exploratory drilling both onshore and in Lake Erie indicated a substantial increase, but Silurian development drilling continued to decline. A moderate drop in Cambrian drilling resulted in a 13% decrease in total footage. Of the 8 Silurian gas discoveries, 6 were in Lake Erie. An oil-filled Silurian pinnacle reef discovered near Petrolia rated as the most significant discovery in southwestern Ontario in 1972.

In Quebec, 6 dry exploratory tests were drilled. Industry completed 16.5 crew-months of geophysical work, practically all seismic.

In the Atlantic provinces, 2 dry exploratory tests were drilled onshore on Prince Edward Island. The offshore pace remained steady with 17 holes drilled, 3 of which were extensions to the Sable Island discovery reported last year. These 3 found undisclosed amounts of hydrocarbons. Four of the remaining 14 holes tested gas or oil. Offshore holdings dropped slightly from 476,454,433 acres in 1971 to 402,769,437 acres at the close of 1972. Industry accounted for 62 crew-months of geophysical activity offshore.