Exploration Program Largest in N.S. History
PETROLEUM DIRECTORATE-Exploration Program Largest in N.S. History
Nineteen new offshore licences and three new onshore permits represent the largest investment in petroleum exploration in the history of Nova Scotia, Premier Russell MacLellan said today.
"This is the start of a new era," said the premier, in Houston to lead the Nova Scotia delegation attending the Offshore Technology Conference. "It shows that the petroleum sector has confidence that Sable is just the beginning of Nova Scotia's vast oil and gas potential."
The offshore leases were put up for exploration bids in December by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, the body responsible for overseeing offshore activity. The onshore leases were awarded by the Nova Scotia Petroleum Directorate.
The total bid by companies for offshore exploration rights was a record amount of more than $592 million. Offshore leases are good for five years, and up to nine years under certain conditions.
The three onshore tracts awarded totalled $9.8 million. Onshore leases are valid for three years.
"The unprecedented interest in exploring both on and offshore Nova Scotia will solidify the petroleum sector as a growing and permanent part of the provincial economy," the premier said at a news conference. "It means jobs, not only for the workers on seismic ships and drilling rigs, but for the Nova Scotians employed by the hundreds of companies that supply and service the industry."
Among the latest round of leases is the single largest bid in the history of Nova Scotia's offshore. The partnership of PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Marathon Canada Ltd., Murphy Oil Canada Ltd., and Norsk Hydro Canada Oil and Gas Inc. bid more than $93 million for one of the 19 offshore parcels.
Four new companies are also joining the hunt for Nova Scotia oil and gas. Richland Minerals Inc., Murphy Oil Co. Ltd., Canadian 88 Resources Corp. and Corridor Resources Inc. were awarded offshore exploration rights for the first time.
Exploration will spread beyond the Sable Island area to include lands south of the island as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Offshore activity will also be stepped up with the awarding of three-year exploration rights to Hunt Oil and Northstar Energy.
The bids received by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board represent expenditures that the bidders commit to make in exploring the land parcels during the initial five years of a nine-year licence.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A faxed copy listing the 19 offshore bids is available by e-mailing CNSrelease@gov.ns.ca or calling collect 902-424-4492.