The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has issued Calls for Bids for Exploration Licences in the Eastern Newfoundland and Jeanne d’Arc Regions, as well as a Call for Bids for a Production Licence, in the Jeanne d’Arc Region.

• Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region) consists of 16 parcels and a total of 3,941,046 hectares.
• Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region) consists of one parcel and a total of 142,448 hectares.
• Call for Bids NL18-CFB03 (Production Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region) consists of one parcel and a total of 1,423 hectares.

Interested parties will have until 12:00 p.m. NST on November 7, 2018 to submit sealed bids for the parcels offered in these Calls for Bids. Notification of any changes to these Calls for Bids will be posted on the Board’s website.

For Call for Bids NL18-CFB01 (Exploration Licences, Eastern Newfoundland Region) and Call for Bids NL18-CFB02 (Exploration Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region), the sole criterion for selecting a winning bid will be the total amount of money the bidder commits to spend on exploration of the parcel during Period I (the first period of a nine-year licence). The minimum bid for the parcels offered is $10,000,000 in work commitments.

For Call for Bids NL18-CFB03 (Production Licence, Jeanne d’Arc Region), the sole criterion for selecting a winning bid will be the highest drilling deposit bid. The minimum bid for the parcel offered is a $25,000,000 drilling deposit.

These Calls for Bids parcels are included in the 2014 Eastern Newfoundland Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The SEA examines the environmental effects which may be associated with a plan, program or policy proposal and allows for the incorporation of environmental considerations at the earliest stages of program planning. SEA involves a broader-scale environmental assessment (EA) that considers the larger ecological setting and consultation with a wide array of stakeholders. The Board is discussing with the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador potential new approaches to environmental assessments, details of which will be released as they become available.

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. Any additional measures would be determined during the project-specific environmental assessment and/or other regulatory approval processes.

Offshore safety and environmental protection are paramount in all Board decisions. 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.

Further detailed information about these Calls for Bids 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 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
sjohnson@cnlopb.ca

News Releases 2018