Some industry observers believe this is a pivotal time for oil and gas with all the political uncertainty caused by the upheaval in the Middle East – and, perhaps, a good time to try to attract investment in the Newfoundland oil patch.

The last few offshore land sales garnered no takers, but an article in the Calgary Herald last week has analyst Rob Strong thinking that we should be making a pitch to the industry.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston was in Calgary promoting his province’s energy capacity, and Strong says Newfoundland and Labrador has to somehow convince the players to include this province’s potential in its global thinking.

“We know we’ve had no response to land sales the last three years, but do we know why,” he says.

“Maybe we should hire a powerful international firm to go and talk to the oil companies, and make sure they know that we have, potentially, 37-billion barrels of oil and a lot of natural gas.”