A private consultant in the province’s oil and gas industry is crediting John Crosbie’s role in helping to get the Hibernia project off the ground.
Rob Strong says when Gulf Canada withdrew it’s 25 per cent stake in the Hibernia project, John Crosbie and his colleagues went to work to fill the gap.
Strong asserts that without that hard work, Hibernia might never have been developed.
Crosbie was able to convince Mobil to take an extra five per cent and Petro Canada to take five per cent, leaving 15 per cent on the table.
(Hibernia Rig. Photo by Jack Lawson.)
Crosbie traveled to the US to talk Murphy Oil into taking another 6.5 per cent, and convinced his federal colleagues to pick up the remaining 8.5 per cent, allowing the project to go ahead.
Crosbie was up against some significant opposition in Canada’s equity stake in Hibernia, according to Strong.
The Globe and Mail in particular was against Ottawa investing in the Hibernia project.
(Rob Strong.)
On a personal level, Rob Strong recalls a “good comradeship” among those who supported the idea and fought to make it reality including Crosbie, Craig Dobbin, Lee Shinkle, Cabot Martin and Gordon Gosse among others.
Strong led a committee to build a monument to the victims of the Ocean Ranger disaster. After a lengthy process they came up $25,000 dollars short of their ultimate goal. Strong choked up remembering Crosbie’s role in making the monument a reality.
He approached Crosbie and told him the situation. Crosbie said “Rob, leave it with me.” A week later, Crosbie contacted him and said “I have the money, go ahead and start building it.”
