Newfoundland and Labrador’s Energy Minister says Ottawa has asked for more time to review a call for bids in the province’s offshore oil areas.

Andrew Parsons says his government has approved the 2022 call for bids from oil companies on parcels of seabed they’d like to explore for oil.

He says Ottawa has suspended that approval to take more time to review the call.

Meanwhile, Parsons does not think the Liberal-NDP partnership in Ottawa will creep into the Bay du Nord project and the approval process.

The federal government has delayed a decision on it until next month, but Parsons says it’s not a political project, noting that the NDP is aware of its economic importance to Newfoundland and Labrador.

They say they’re out for the betterment of this province and this project will have positive benefits for Newfoundland and Labrador and the federation, which is why it should be decided on that factor.