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B.C. offshore gets new review; Chamber calls it a stall Canada launches public process as first step to open offshore to drilling Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
The Canadian government has taken its first, hesitant step towards removing barriers to oil and natural gas exploration offshore British Columbia.
Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal announced in Vancouver March 28 that a federal panel will start a review process to assess public opinion on the issue and identify the scientific concerns relating to exploring environmentally sensitive areas.
“The government is moving forward with this consultation plan immediately and with the objective that all the information needed to make an informed decision will be available” early in 2004, he said.
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, both welcomed the initiative.
Alvarez said it’s the first time the federal government has offered a clear process for making decisions on whether to lift a 31-year moratorium on drilling the offshore. Review of Queen Charlotte basin only But John Winter, president of the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce, was less enthusiastic, suggesting that government is using delaying tactics rather than negotiating a regulatory regime covering ownership issues, leases and permits.
Dhaliwal first proposed a review process earlier this year, urging a structured review with a defined objective and a deadline for reporting the findings.
The current review will cover only the Queen Charlotte basin, potentially the richest of British Columbia’s four offshore basins with a resource potential of 25.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 9.8 billion barrels of oil.
Three southern basins — Winona, Tofino and Georgia — have combined resources estimated at 15.9 tcf.
Dhaliwal said the review will exclude a national marine conservation area.
He said public consultations with all stakeholders and First Nations will help determine whether the moratorium should be lifted for selected areas. Environmental groups, First Nations opposed Despite major advances in offshore technology since the moratorium was first imposed, environmental groups are adamant that oil and gas development is unacceptable in such an earthquake-prone region and poses a catastrophic risk to marine life and a fishing industry.
First Nations have threatened legal action if drilling is permitted before land claims are settled.
Most observers feel the tangle of outstanding issues is too great to unravel in time to meet the British Columbia’s objective of having a regulatory system in place by 2005 and a producing industry “up and running” by 2010.
Dhaliwal also faces tough opposition from the federal Environment Minister David Anderson, who insisted that Canada will not “embark upon oil and gas development without proper analysis of the impact.
“We have to analyze what the benefits and costs from an environmental point of view might be,” he told the Canadian Parliament Feb. 27.
Anderson has argued that the industry should pay the estimated C$120 million cost of assessing the environmental risks of drilling — a prospect that has further dampened the enthusiasm of the leaseholders, Petro-Canada, Shell Canada Ltd. and Chevron Canada Resources.
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