A local oil analyst is hopeful for a favourable decision on the Bay du Nord project.
A decision from the federal Environment Minister is imminent.
Rob Strong says Bay du Nord is the biggest subsea development ever in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the biggest ever done by Equinor, which is the largest deep water subsea company in the world.
Strong says Russia’s attack on Ukraine has changed nearly everything in terms of oil development worldwide.
He says a growing number of oil companies, including Shell, BP, Exxon and Equinor, are pulling out of Russia. As of yesterday, the price of oil had risen to $110 dollars US per barrel. Strong says Bay du Nord has the potential to deliver 200,000 barrel of oil per day.
“God knows Newfoundland needs it, so…let’s get on with it,” he says.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says over the last few days the strategic importance of energy security has become “brutally apparent.”
CAPP was responding to various groups, including the Sierra Club who oppose Bay du Nord by citing the IEA Net Zero report. The association says the same report goes on to show that if other countries stop investing in new oil projects, Russia’s global market share rises significantly with OPEC and Russia making up over 60 per cent of the world’s supply of global oil production.
CAPP says that raises the question as to whether or not that should be where the world gets its oil.
CAPP’s Director for Atlantic Canada and the Arctic, Paul Barnes says Canada has missed too many opportunities to build major projects that create needed jobs and develop energy projects that he says are critically important to trading partners around the world.
As the war in Ukraine continues oil produced in this province could help ease some of the burden caused by some NATO countries’ reliance on Russian oil.
That’s according to Premier Andrew Furey.
He says this province has a product that can be very valuable to the world at this time.
He says it is not landlocked and can go straight to market. He says the province has something that the world needs right now and government needs to make sure it is well positioned.
Furey says Russia has a “stranglehold” on NATO countries as it relates to petroleum products, and it’s important to make sure the world has access to Newfoundland and Labrador products as needed.
However, he stresses that that province isn’t trying to capitalize on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The point, he says, is that the province has a product that can be used strategically to relieve reliance on Russian petroleum. He says they’re making sure their voices are heard to let the world know of the province’s position.