Plans are underway to restart the production of natural gas in southeast Yukon.

EFLO Energy Yukon Ltd. applied last month for an environmental and socio-economic assessment of its proposal.

After determining the application contained all the necessary information for a review of the project, the assessment board’s Watson Lake office put out a call Monday for public input into the application.

After years of successful production from the Kotaneelee gas field beginning in 1979, the wells were shut down in 2012 as natural gas resources dwindled, resulting in a greater volume of ground water to manage during production.

The company is proposing to work over two of the existing wells beginning in January or June 2015, depending on how long the assessment board takes to complete its review, says the application.

It says once the work is done, the gas field will be ready for production at a rate of five million cubic feet per day, which is far below the peak achieved in 1999 but on par with production levels in the last couple of years of operation.

The EFLO application and the assessment board’s public notice both emphasize the proposal does not involve hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

In addition to reworking the two wells, the company is seeking to re-activate a gravel quarry near the camp to support upgrades and repairs to the existing network of roads, as well as provide for the construction of new roads.

The company purchased the controlling interest in the Kotaneelee Gas Project in 2012.

A Yukon government document written in 2011 indicated EFLO had plans to bring one well back into production, while reworking the other well to test the potential for shale gas.

Unconventional methods or fracking are commonly used in shale gas deposits.

A company information package indicates there is still ample potential for conventional gas it has under lease but much greater potential for shale gas.

Annual production from the Kotaneelee project peaked at 22 billion cubic feet in 1999, resulting in government royalties of just over $10 million, according to records.

From 1993 to 2012, the Kotaneelee Gas Project generated $45.4 million in royalties.

The natural gas was moved on the Spectra Energy Pipeline to a facility in Fort Nelson, B.C.

The entire site – existing 18-room camp, onsite processing plant, airstrip – and production is still licensed.

The site is accessible using an established winter road that follows the pipeline and an existing barge service and summer road, the application points out.

EFLO is planning to set up a temporary camp to house additional workers required to get the project rolling again, as onsite employment is expected to top out at 45 during the ramping-up phase.

Currently, there is a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Yukon pending the outcome of the work by the special legislative committee established last year to investigate the risks and benefits associated with fracking.

The committee is scheduled to deliver its report to the legislative assembly during this sitting, which is scheduled to end Dec. 16.

EFLO officials could not be reached for comment.

The Kotaneelee gas field is the Yukon’s only producing gas field, although Northern Cross is currently involved in an extensive exploration program for oil and gas on Eagle Plain in northern Yukon.