Newfoundland and Labrador’s latest exploration licensing round has resulted in a $559 million bid led by ExxonMobil – the largest bid in the province’s history for a single parcel.
ExxonMobil bid as part of a consortium with Canada’s Suncor Energy and ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corporation, to explore a 266,139ha area in the Flemish Pass in Parcel 1.
The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has accepted the bid, along with two others, one each in the Carson and Jeanne d’Arc Region basins, and both also led by ExxonMobil. No bids were received for three other parcels.
Statoil, which made the 300-600MM bbl recoverable Bay du Nord discovery in the Flemish Pass basin in 2013 was not among the bidders. However, Statoil has indicated that Newfoundland and Labrador remains one of its six core focus areas, according to Derrick Dalley, Minister of Natural Resources, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The next Calls for Bids issued by the C-NLOPB in the spring will be under a new system, which includes providing operators with increased timeframes for Calls for Bids in more frontier areas.
Derrick Dalley, Minister of Natural Resources (pictured), said yesterday (15 December): “The interest by the petroleum industry in the Calls for Bids was significant and clearly demonstrates the long-term potential for exploration and development within Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore. In fact, the result for Calls for Bids in the Flemish Pass Basin of a $559 million commitment to exploration by ExxonMobil Canada Limited, Suncor Energy and ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corporation is the largest bid in the province's history for a single parcel. Exploration and production companies internationally are increasingly interested in our offshore.
As part of the government’s energy plan, launched in 2007, Nalcor was established and has invested in multi-client seismic programs which delineated the three new basins offshore Labrador. Nalcor, through the Offshore Geoscience Development Program, continues to pursue seismic, electromagnetic and seabed coring initiatives from the Labrador Sea to the southern Grand Banks, said the Minister.
The petroleum industry is the largest contributor to Newfoundland and Labrador’s GDP at 33%.
The bids now awarded were:
Subject to the bidders satisfying the requirements specified in the Call for Bids and on receiving Ministerial approval, the C-NLOPB will issue exploration licenses for all three parcels in January 2015.
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