The Opposition is questioning government’s strategy as the clock ticks toward deadlines for the Terra Nova project and Come By Chance refinery.
Suncor has said there must be alignment among all partners by June 15 to trigger a restart of Terra Nova, which has been offline since late 2019.
The $16-million provided by the province to help keep the refinery in warm idle, and workers working, expires at the end of the month.
(Photo courtesy Suncor Energy Inc.)
Energy Minister Andrew Parsons says so much of the upheaval is out of government’s hands. He says he would love to have the power to make COVID-19 go away, or to resolve disputes over the price of oil, but he says the reality is that it’s beyond government’s control.
Parsons suggested the Opposition acknowledge the positives instead of dwelling on the negative.
The minister noted Equinor, which recently moved its Calgary operations to St. John’s, has even higher hopes for its Bay du Nord find.
Original estimates of 300-million barrels of oil have tripled to almost one billion, according to an online publication, Upstream.
