$38.6 million in bids for Offshore Newfoundland

November 6, 2019

The Honourable Siobhan Coady, Minister of Natural Resources, responded to the announcement that bids for exploration licenses offshore have been received as a result of the most recent calls for bids in the South Eastern Newfoundland Region and Jeanne d’Arc Regions, both located in the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area. There was a cumulative total of $38.6 million in bids. The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) released the successful bids today at www.cnlopb.ca/news/nr20191106/  .

“We are pleased with the news that a total of $38.6 million have been received in the calls for bids released today. While results vary each year, all commitments to explore our offshore are significant as we work to meet our goals of over 100 new exploration wells drilled by 2030. We are continuing to add to our geoscience storyboard and to expand on the already incredible potential that exists in our offshore. The most recent oil and gas resource assessment identified an additional 3 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion cubic feet of gas potential offshore Newfoundland. We are positioning the province as an internationally preferred location for oil and gas exploration and development – one that values safety and environmental responsibility, works together with all industries that depend on our ocean, including the fishing industry, and maximizes benefits to the people of the province,” said Honourable Siobhan Coady, Minister of Natural Resources for Newfoundland and Labrador.

In less than nine per cent of the province’s offshore, there is a combined resource potential of 52.2 billion barrels of oil and 199.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. There have been eight new entrants in the past three years and $3.9 billion in recent exploration work commitments.

An immediate priority of government is to drive exploration in the oil and gas industry as presented in Advance 2030 – The Way Forward on Oil and Gas which was developed to position Newfoundland and Labrador as a globally preferred location for oil and gas development. The Way Forward outlines all actions the Provincial Government is taking to achieve a strong, diversified province with a high standard of living, and can be viewed at thewayforward.gov.nl.ca.

Newfoundland and Labrador has four producing fields, more than 650 leads and prospects, and an ongoing, world-class seismic program with more than 20 basins mapped.

SOURCE: CNLOPB and Government of Newfoundland and Labrador