This summer, as we met the challenges of COVID-19 in our everyday lives and in our regulatory oversight, the C-NLOPB relocated to new offices at the Tower Corporate Campus, just west of downtown St. John’s. I would like to thank our dedicated staff who have executed a safe and flawless move, a huge undertaking during an extraordinarily challenging time.

The improved IT systems and facilities in our new premises will accelerate our digital transformation and increase our efficiency, with the benefit of continuous improvement in our regulatory oversight of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area, particularly as the local industry embraces its own, ongoing digital transformation.

Offshore workers, governments, operators, and the local supply and service community are to be commended on measures that have been put in place to date to help protect against the transmission of COVID-19 to offshore facilities. Our regulatory oversight since the pandemic was declared has included frequent engagement with offshore workers, operators, governments, other industry participants, and our counterparts in the International Regulators Forum, which the C-NLOPB chairs on Canada’s behalf. These engagements will continue into the foreseeable future as we work closely with all of these parties to meet the short and long term challenges created by life with COVID-19.

Our staff are now preparing a new, three-year workplan to replace our 2016-2021 Strategic Plan. This will help to frame and shape 2021 and our medium-term regulatory efforts, keeping safety and environmental protection paramount in all that we do. We have noted the commitments to net zero emissions by 2050 in the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area, and we are working with governments to implement the “Made-in-Newfoundland and Labrador Carbon Pricing Plan” as well as the Regional Assessment Follow-up Program.

In the days ahead, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area will see its cumulative production surpass two billion barrels. Great offshore prospectivity and a sound regulatory regime will play a critical role in Canada’s recovery from COVID-19 and our country’s energy transition. These are the concurrent challenges of a lifetime, which the C-NLOPB stands ready to meet.

I wish everyone a safe and healthy end of summer and autumn.

Please note you can now find us at:

240 Waterford Bridge Road
The Tower Corporate Campus – West Campus Hall
Suite 7100
St. John’s, NL A1E 1E2

Our phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain unchanged.

Blog 2020