N.S. premier to pitch federal panel on offshore oil, gas exploration
Nova Scotia’s premier says he will make the case for allowing offshore development to co-exist with the coastal fishery, when he goes before a federal panel on marine protected areas on Friday.
Stephen McNeil will travel to Moncton,
N.B., where he will appear before the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards.
“We want to make sure that we work with the national government to achieve their objective of looking for marine protected areas,” McNeil said following a cabinet meeting Thursday.
“But it has to be done with a thought that Nova Scotians deserve to maximize the value of the resources off their coast.”
McNeil said projects such as the Sable offshore development off Nova Scotia - which began in 1999 and is winding down - are proof oil and gas exploration can be done safely.
The Sable project included five natural gas fields spread over 200 square kilometres in the North Atlantic near Sable Island, which is now a national park reserve.
The premier said it’s also a matter of protecting jobs and the potential for further employment.
“There are many international companies who believe that we have a resource off our coast that they are out there exploring for today. That means real jobs for Nova Scotians and real economic opportunity for Nova Scotians.”