The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil Industry Recovery Task Force has made 52 recommendations to government about the responsible development of the province’s oil and gas resources.

In a report released yesterday, the task force says some of the recommendations offered, if acted upon immediately, will be “transformative” and place the province’s offshore oil and gas industry “on a path toward a brighter future.”

It says despite good prospectivity, exploration in the province’s offshore is less attractive than other parts of the world. It says government should modify its royalty regime to allow offshore exploration expenses to be deductible in a project’s royalty calculations.

It’s also recommending that government revise its Offshore Exploration Incentive package and that “an attractive royalty regime” be implemented by government to attract natural gas development.

Energy Minister Andrew Parsons says government is open to making whatever changes they are able to make to help the industry get people back to work.

He says government needs to take a “quick deep dive” into the recommendations, 22 of which apply solely to the provincial government.

Parsons says government supports the formation of a recommended oversight committee and which he believes is a necessary step, and government is reaching out to Ottawa and the C-NLOPB to move that idea forward.

Meanwhile, NOIA CEO Charlene Johnson is pleased to see many of the suggestions they provided included in the Task Force recommendations.

Among them was establishing an agency to help maximize resource benefits and ensuring local participation, similar to other leading jurisdictions.

The report can be found on the government’s website.