Husky Energy says it’s not looking for a handout, but an investment from government to get the West White Rose project going again.
The project was mothballed last spring and Jonathan Brown, the senior VP for Atlantic Canada, doesn’t see restarting it even next year. The oil and gas industry has been asking the federal and provincial governments for help for the past several months.
Brown says they are reviewing not only West White Rose, but Husky’s involvement in the East Coast offshore.
Provincial Energy Minister Andrew Parsons admits that should West White Rose be mothballed, the revenue it represents would be hard to make up.
The impacts would be felt in royalties, taxes, and employment, but Parsons says based on ongoing conversations with Husky, the possibilities for provincial government assistance are limited. He says they’re looking for an equity investment, and given the province’s diminished fiscal capacity, there are only “so many levers to pull.”
Industry at “Brink of Collapse”: Noia
Noia CEO Charlene Johnson is frustrated with word that Husky is reviewing its West White Rose project.
She says the province’s biggest industry is on the “brink of collapse” and she and her members are tired of waiting.
She predicts the “same level of devastation as the cod moratorium”—the difference being this time around that the province “has an abundance of natural resources.” She says when it comes to the oil and gas industry, Norway has a strategy in place, and “we do not.”
Official Opposition Penning Plan to Help Offshore
Opposition Leader Ches Crosbie says the solution to helping the offshore industry is not “Liberals talking to Liberals.”
He says a “champion” is needed and believes it’s clear that the Liberal governments here and in Ottawa are not that champion.
In a video posted to Facebook, Crosbie says he is announcing a plan to get the offshore industry “back on track.”