A new regional assessment process was announced today that maintains the strong protection of the offshore environment while significantly shortening timelines for exploration drilling program approval – a major consideration for companies looking to make global investment decisions.
This is a significant improvement over the previous process which caused considerable delays in issuing authorizations for offshore exploration activities that typically take 30-60 days to complete. This was largely a result of a decision made in 2010 to move the responsibility for offshore environmental assessments from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA).
As a result of this change, license issuance periods increased from an average of one year to over 900 days. This had a substantially negative impact on the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore sector’s global competitiveness. According to research carried out by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), in Australia, the average environmental assessment time for an exploratory well is 144 days. In the United States Gulf of Mexico, the average is 96 days. In Norway, the average is 79 days and in the United Kingdom the average is 18 days.
With the new regulations announced today, the regional assessment process allows the province to become more globally competitive while maintaining a strong and effective environmental regulatory regime. This is an important step in having routine, well understood and low impact activities, such as drilling offshore exploration wells, completed within a more predictable and timely regulatory process.
The new regional assessment process will work as follows:
- Not less than 90 days before a drilling program begins, an exploration company makes the Impact Assessment Agency aware of their plans.
- Once the Agency has posted receipt of this notification to its registry, the company may then submit an application to the C-NLOPB for its drilling program authorization.
- The C-NLOPB will then be responsible for ensuring that the company complies with all the conditions set out in the regulations. These are very robust conditions built upon the experience gained from previous exploration well programs that have gone through the CEAA environmental assessment process as well as upon the Regional Assessment Committee’s comprehensive review. This new process helps get to the decision to drill more quickly.
Quotes
“Through our significant work with industry and the Federal Government in this priority area, we have a new regional assessment process for the province that will shorten timelines for exploration drilling program approval while protecting the environment; two important areas of consideration for companies looking to make global investment decisions. We look forward to continuing this work with the Federal Government to support the offshore oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable Dwight Ball
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
“Through Advance 2030, we outlined the future of the offshore oil and gas industry of which there is tremendous potential – with over 650 leads identified to date, eight new entrants in the last six years, and 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 regional assessment process allows us to be globally competitive while ensuring an effective environmental regime. Newfoundland and Labrador can efficiently explore its offshore and hopefully make some great discoveries.”
Honourable Siobhan Coady
Minister of Natural Resources
– 30 –
Learn More
Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL and @NR_GovNL
Media Contacts
Jeremy Reynolds
Office of the Premier
709-729-3558
jeremyreynolds@gov.nl.ca
Lisa Lawlor
Natural Resources
709-631-8155
lisalawlor@gov.nl.ca