Offshore coalition loses its leader
Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary correspondent
Brian Peckford says his job is done and it’s time to move on, which means that boosters of British Columbia’s offshore future have lost their highest-profile advocate.
As premier and energy minister of Newfoundland in the 1980s, Peckford was instrumental in establishing a framework to give his province a share of its offshore oil royalties.
Since moving to Vancouver Island 10 years ago, he has been a central figure in the fight to persuade the Canadian government and British Columbians to end a ban on developing its offshore resources.
As chairman of the Pacific Offshore Energy Association he turned a small group of people into a lobbying force and just three months ago he boldly predicted that offshore drilling would take place by 2007.
But, with the offshore still a hot-button issue for the government, coastal communities, environmentalists and aboriginals, Peckford was resigned as chair.
He told the Nanaimo Daily News that he wants to “feel free to comment on the issue without having ties,” turning the leadership over to Russ Hellberg, a former mayor of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. Effort shifting to public education Hellberg credited Peckford with setting the offshore association in the right direction. Now the emphasis has shifted from lobbying to public education, he said.
In recent speeches and interviews, Peckford has predicted that Canada’s newly installed Prime Minister Paul Martin will lift the federal moratorium on exploration by the end of 2004, clearing the way for seismic surveys in 2007.
Although he argued the federal government can merely change policy and does not require legislation to open up the offshore, he said legislation will be needed to establish an offshore oil and natural gas industry.
Peckford was adamant that Canada’s experience with environmentally safe offshore development of the east coast over 20 years and Alaska’s expertise can be transferred to the British Columbia coast.
“There is a very strong case to make that all the major issues around drilling off the coast of British Columbia can be addressed,” he said.
From a physical standpoint, British Columbia has the advantage of a narrow shelf, compared with Newfoundland’s shelf which stretches 180 nautical miles, suggesting British Columbia wells could be drilled for C$15 million-$20 million, compared with Newfoundland’s C$40 million-$60 million.
Looking at other offshore basins with comparable geology he said British Columbia is likely to yield “a couple of large oil finds and several gas finds” that would provide a major infusion to the B.C. economy.
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