The premier says a direct correlation can be made between offshore oil exploration and a federal emissions cap.

The province’s offshore oil regulator, the C-NLOER, announced this week that it received no response to a recent call for bids, and will be reviewing its land tenure system in collaboration with government to identify opportunities to improve competitiveness in the province’s offshore.

Premier Tony Wakeham says the lack of bids is a “reflection of past Liberal governments who were anti-oil.”

“I’m still waiting to get confirmation that the emissions cap is gone because that’s something I’ve been asking for and has a significant impact on our offshore oil industry,” says Wakeham.