Offshore Newfoundland Record Breaking Land Sale Results

Record bids for exploration licenses offshore have been received as a result of the most recent calls for bids in the Eastern Newfoundland Region and Jeanne d’Arc Regions, both located in the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area.

In total, there was a record cumulative total of $1.38 billion in bids and a record single bid of $621 million from BHP Billiton Petroleum in the Eastern Newfoundland region.

In less than 7 per cent of the province’s offshore, there is a combined resource potential of 49.2 billion barrels of oil and 193.8 trillion cubic feet of gas.

There have been eight new entrants in the past two years and $3.9 billion in recent exploration work commitments.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) announced the results of Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region), Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region) and Call for Bids NL18-CFB03 (Production Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region). The results include a record cumulative successful bid amount of $1,386,273,936 and a record single successful bid amount of $621,021,200.

Exploration Licences

For Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region) and Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region), the sole criterion for selecting a winning bid is the total amount the bidder commits to spend on exploration of the parcel during Period I (the first period of a nine-year licence). The minimum acceptable bid for each parcel is $10,000,000 in work commitments.

Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region)

Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region) offered 16 parcels totalling 3,941,046 hectares.

Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region)

Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region) offered one parcel totalling
142,448 hectares.

Production Licence

No bids were received for Call for Bids NL18-CFB03 (Production Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region).

Subject to bidders satisfying the requirements specified in Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 and NL18-CFB02 and upon receiving Ministerial approvals, the Board will issue the new exploration licences in January 2019.

These Calls for Bids parcels are included in the 2014 Eastern Newfoundland Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA examines the environmental effects which may be associated with a plan, program or policy proposal and allows for the incorporation of environmental considerations at the earliest stages of program planning. SEA involves a broader-scale environmental assessment (EA) that considers the larger ecological setting and consultation with a wide array of stakeholders. The Board is discussing with the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador potential new approaches to environmental assessments, details of which will be released as they become available.

Assessments of regional and/or site-specific issues will be completed before any work can begin within the licence area. The timing, spatial extent, and nature of proposed oil and gas activities, in addition to mitigations already prescribed by legislation, will determine the level of additional restriction or mitigation that may be required. Any additional measures would be determined during the project-specific environmental assessment and/or other regulatory approval processes.

Offshore safety and environmental protection are paramount in all Board decisions. No physical activity may occur on these licences without an operations authorization. The C-NLOPB will not approve any offshore petroleum-related activity until an Operator demonstrates that it has met all legislative and regulatory requirements and has reduced risks to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable.

Any parties interested in receiving email notifications on Scheduled Land Tenure related announcements can contact Shannon Bulger at sbulger@cnlopb.ca.