News Releases 2019

C-NLOPB Issues Calls for Nominations for Offshore Land Parcels

For Immediate Release
August 29, 2019

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) is issuing, under its scheduled land tenure system, a Call for Nominations (Parcels) NL19-CFN01 in the Eastern Newfoundland Region (Sector NL04-EN) and a Call for Nominations (Parcels) NL19-CFN02 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. The SEA examined the environmental effects that may be associated with a plan, program or policy proposal, allowing for the incorporation of environmental considerations at the earliest stages of program planning. Further information on the Eastern Newfoundland SEA can be found here.

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. Further information on the regional assessment can be found here.

Offshore safety and environmental protection are paramount in all Board decisions. The C-NLOPB supports the Government of Canada’s commitment to the protection of environmentally significant and sensitive areas, and will continue to work closely with DFO and others in this regard. In addition to the broad assessments described above, assessments of regional and/or site-specific issues will be completed before any work can begin within the licence area. The timing, spatial extent, and nature of proposed oil and gas activities, in addition to mitigations already prescribed by legislation, will determine the level of additional restriction or mitigation that may be required.

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 are acceptable in paper or electronic format. All submissions should be clearly labeled and submitted on or before November 13, 2019. Email submissions can be sent to information@cnlopb.ca.

Further detailed information about scheduled land tenure is available here.

Any parties interested in receiving email notifications on Scheduled Land Tenure related announcements can contact Shannon Bulger at sbulger@cnlopb.ca.

 

Media Contact:
Lesley Rideout
Communications Lead
(709) 778-4224
(709) 725-2900 (cell)
lrideout@cnlopb.ca

Stakeholder Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, P.Geo
Acting Director of Exploration and Information Resources
(709) 778-4246
sjohnson@cnlopb.ca


News Releases 2019

DateUpdate
2019, Dec 19C-NLOPB Suspends Production-Related Operations on the Terra Nova FPSO
2019, Dec 4C-NLOPB Hosts Productive Spill Prevention and Response Forum
2019, Nov 6C-NLOPB Releases Results for 2019 Calls for Bids
2019, Sep 5C-NLOPB Response to FFAW Press Conference and News Release regarding Calls for Nominations in Eastern Newfoundland and Jeanne d’Arc Regions
2019, Aug 29C-NLOPB Issues Calls for Nominations for Offshore Land Parcels
2019, Apr 3C-NLOPB Announces 2019 Calls for Bids in the South Eastern Newfoundland and Jeanne d’Arc Regions
2019, Feb 5C-NLOPB Announces Scheduled Land Tenure System Updates