The oil industry is “fueling” a rosy economic forecast for the St. John’s region this year.
The capital city released it’s Outlook 2019 yesterday.
It shows the city’s GDP is expected to increase 7.1 per cent this year, the biggest increase of any major Canadian metropolitan area this year – largely due to increased capital investment in the West White Rose offshore oil development and Voisey’s Bay.
Over 94.2 million barrels of oil are expected to be produced this year, an increase of 12.1 per cent.
Without the oil industry, the city’s GDP outlook would only be 3.9 per cent. In fact, last year’s GDP increase of 1.6 per cent would have been a drop of 2.9 per cent if not for oil production.
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary admits that the oil industry is too valuable to ignore.
She says that we need to work towards a green economy, but that we cannot ignore a resource which is at our fingertips and bringing us economic prosperity.