C-NLOPB Issues calls for nominations for offshore land parcels

The Canada-newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) is issuing — under its scheduled land tenure system — a call for nominations in the eastern Newfoundland region and in the Jeanne d’arc Region.

These calls for nominations will assist the C-NLOPB in selecting parcels to be included in subsequent 2020 calls for bids which will close in November 2020, pending board approval and ratification by the federal and provincial governments.

Any successful bidders would be awarded licences in early 2021. The Eastern Newfoundland Sector NL04-EN and the Jeanne d’arc Region were included in the Eastern Newfoundland Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) concluded by the C-NLOPB, with input from a multi-stakeholder working group in 2014.

In addition, a regional assessment of offshore exploratory drilling east of Newfoundland and Labrador is under development, focusing on the effects of existing and anticipated offshore oil and gas exploratory drilling in the area.

That assessment will build upon the experience and knowledge gained in assessing previous projects, reduce duplication in processes and information, and result in more efficient reviews for exploration projects.

For any lands entirely or partially beyond Canada’s 200 nautical mile zone, additional terms and conditions may be applied (e.g. through legislation, regulations, amendments to licences or otherwise) to any resulting licence from a call for bids in order to meet obligations arising pursuant to article 82 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Nomination submissions or comments regarding the call for nominations should be submitted on or before Nov. 13, 2019.