The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has issued a Call for Nominations (Areas of Interest) NL18-CFN01 – Eastern Newfoundland. This will assist the C-NLOPB in selecting a sector for introduction into the scheduled land tenure system. Nomination submissions or comments regarding the Call for Nominations are due by 4:00 p.m. NST on April 25, 2018.

Offshore safety and environmental protection are paramount in all Board decisions. The Eastern Newfoundland Region was included in the Eastern Newfoundland Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) concluded by the C-NLOPB in 2014. The SEA examined the environmental effects that may be associated with a plan, program or policy proposal related to oil and gas activities in the region. Further information on the Eastern Newfoundland SEA can be found here. The Board is discussing with the federal government and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador a potential new approach involving regional environmental assessments, details of which will be released as they become available.

The C-NLOPB will not approve any offshore petroleum related activity until an Operator demonstrates that it has met all legislative and regulatory requirements and has reduced risks to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable. Project-specific environmental assessments that focus on site-specific issues within defined boundaries must be completed before any proposed petroleum-related activities can be undertaken.

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 by the above-noted deadline. Email submissions can be sent to information@cnlopb.ca.

Further information on the Scheduled Land Tenure system and details regarding a modification to the timing of the high activity, 2-year land tenure cycle, and the low activity, 4-year land tenure cycle can be found 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 Officer
(709) 778-4224
(709) 725-2900 (cell)
lrideout@cnlopb.ca

Stakeholder Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, P.Geo
Director of Exploration and Information Resources (Acting)
(709) 778-4246
(709) 689-0459 (cell)
sjohnson@cnlopb.ca