The re-start of the West White Rose project is music to the ears of workers, businesses and government.

But a manager with lead partner Cenovus says that certainly wasn’t the original plan, which was to abandon the field.

Jonathan Brown is the company’s vice-president of East Coast operations.

He says decommissioning was the base case and that prospect was “extremely real” not long ago, adding a lot of work and time went into turning that scenario around.

Brown partly credited the renewed royalty formula, which follows the Terra Nova template and rewards government when oil prices are high, and helps companies when they’re low.

He says a middle ground was found that recognizes the importance of a return for the government, in concert with the risks for companies during volatility.

The project should extend the life of the oil field by 14 years and yield another 200 million barrels of oil.

Provincial revenues for the project are estimated at $2.7 billion based on $65 barrel of oil.

Activity will begin almost immediately at Argentia, with about 1,500 jobs back online by next year.