Findings of the 2019 Independent Resource Assessment Released

  • Natural Resources

October 3, 2019

Today, the Honourable Siobhan Coady, Minister of Natural Resources, released the 2019 oil and gas resource assessment results which identify an additional 3 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of gas potential offshore Newfoundland. In total, there is a combined resource potential of 52.2 billion barrels of oil and 199.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in just nine per cent of the province’s offshore. The assessment was conducted by Beicip-Franlab, a leading independent company in doing resource assessments globally.

Government is taking a systematic, scientific approach to understanding the province’s oil and gas resource potential. By leading the collection of new data in the early stages of the exploration cycle and providing extensive information about the offshore oil and gas resource potential, new areas for industry exploration and future resource development opportunities are being opened offshore.

The oil and gas industry plays an important role in the growth and development of Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy. Since 1997, the oil and gas industry has accounted for approximately 25 per cent of cumulative provincial GDP and as of June 2019 over 8,900 people were directly employed in construction and operations.

Quotes
“The purpose of embarking on this annual independent resource assessment is to broaden our understanding of the underexplored frontier basins and add to our geotechnical knowledge of the area. The resource potential in our offshore is incredible. We have over 650 leads and prospects identified to date, eight new entrants in the past three years, and $4 billion in recent exploration work commitments. We will continue to position the province as an internationally preferred location for oil and gas exploration and development – one that values safety and environmental responsibility and maximizes benefits to the people of the province.”
Siobhan Coady
Minister of Natural Resources

“We are applying rigorous exploration best practices and technical innovation to ensure we ultimately evaluate every area of our offshore for oil and gas resource potential. In addition to the 2D seismic collected over the area, we invested with Fugro in acquiring a high resolution multibeam survey which identified a number of seep like features coming from the ocean floor. Subsequent coring of these anomalies confirmed hydrocarbon presence which is an important insight in this frontier basin due to the limited number of wells and no discoveries to date in the area.”
Jim Keating
Executive Vice President, Offshore Development, Nalcor Energy-Oil and Gas

“Beicip-Franlab has carried out detailed interpretations of past and new data, well and seismic, in the Carson-Bonnition-Salar basins. The data integration approach applied was designed to rigorously assess uncertainty and risk, which allowed the generation of various probable alternative resource evaluation scenarios, confirming significant hydrocarbon potential in the area.”
Jean Burrus
CEO, Beicip-Franlab

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Learn more
Nalcor Energy – Oil and Gas Exploration

Advance 2030 – A Plan for Growth in the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industry

Advance 2030 – 2018-19 Implementation Report

Media contacts
Lisa Lawlor
Natural Resources
709-729-5777, 631-8155
lisalawlor@gov.nl.ca

Leona Barrington
Nalcor Energy-Oil and Gas
709-737-4244, 709-699-8035
leonabarrington@nalcorenergy.com

Gaël Lecante
Beicip-Franlab HQ
+33 (0)1 47 08 82 32, +33 (0)6 23 92 24 58
Gael.LECANTE@beicip.com

2019 10 03 3:00 pm