CNOOC interested in N.L.: minister
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s trade mission to China came to a close June 28, but the premier said followup is already underway — including the exchange of information on the provincial offshore.
Before departing Beijing, the government delegation met with representatives from state-owned oil companies Sinopec Group and the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) to discuss the potential for Chinese investment in oil exploration off Newfoundland and Labrador.
The meeting reportedly included some surprises.
“When we met with (CNOOC), they indicated that through their investment with Nexen (in Alberta) … they’re heavily invested in Canada in what they call the unconventional oil, namely the oilsands, and they wanted to balance that investment by investment in conventional oil,” said Natural Resources Minister Tom Marshall.
“And from that point of view, the Newfoundland offshore would be of interest to them.”
The meeting included Nalcor Energy president and CEO Ed Martin and the Crown corporation’s oil and gas division lead Jim Keating, who walked through recent early exploration work offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
The offshore area was pitched as a last frontier — an area the size of the Gulf of Mexico, without the same barriers as the deep Arctic and ripe for focused exploration.
“There was definite interest,” Marshall said, noting CNOOC has been looking at potential prospects offshore Iceland.
He suggested this province could tie in with any move by CNOOC into sub-Arctic waters.
“They mentioned they had already been approached to partner in the area offshore Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said.
A meeting with representatives from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), a government ministry responsible for approving foreign investment, followed the CNOOC and Sinopec meeting.
Marshall said the NDRC endorsed further discussions on possible exploration work offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
If the meetings in China spur enough interest, the result will be a bid for an exploration licence in a future offshore land sale by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
That would help satisfy the provincial government’s desire to increase the competition for offshore exploration licences, leading to greater commitments on exploration spending.
The province is currently looking to revamp its land-sale system for the same reason — providing greater notice on the auctioning of exploration licences, to allow time for information processing on the areas put up for bid and bids from companies not currently active in Newfoundland and Labrador.