The Canada‐Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C‐NLOPB) is announcing an amendment to the Scheduled Land Tenure System in relation to the boundary of the mature Jeanne d’Arc (JDA) region, cross boundary parcel configuration, and Call for Nominations NL18-CFN03 (Parcels).

Boundary Change to the Jeanne d’Arc Region

The C-NLOPB is updating the boundary of the JDA land tenure region to include the northern and southern extents of the Jeanne d’Arc Basin. This update will allow licence design to better align with subsurface geology and basin architecture.  The updated legal description for the JDA region is as follows:

The boundary of this region begins at the intersection of longitude 49°15’W and latitude 47°40’N; thence runs east along latitude 47°40’N to longitude 47°45’W; thence south along longitude 47°45’W to latitude 46°10’N; thence west along latitude 46°10’N to longitude 48°25’30”W; thence south along longitude 48°25’30”W to latitude 46°00’N; thence west along latitude 46°00’N to longitude 49°15’W; thence north along longitude 49°15’W to latitude 47°40’N.

Cross Boundary Parcel Nominations

With regards to the submission of cross boundary parcel nominations, the following two conditions must be met by the configuration:

1. parcels be designed so that at least 51% of the parcel coverage is within the nomination region; and
2. cross boundary prospectivity must be partially contained in the nomination region.

Deadline Extension

To accommodate the change to the JDA boundary, as well as the policy regarding cross boundary parcel design, the deadline for Call for Nominations for parcels within the JDA region, NL18-CFN03 will be extended and have an amended closing date of January 23, 2019 (rather than November 14, 2018 which was previously announced). This Call for Nominations will assist the C-NLOPB in selecting parcels to be included in subsequent 2019 Calls for Bids, which will close in November 2019, pending Board approval and ratification by the federal and provincial governments. Any successful bidders would be awarded licences in early 2020.

The JDA was 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. SEA involves a broader-scale environmental assessment (EA) that considers the larger ecological setting and consultation with a wide array of stakeholders. Further information on the Eastern Newfoundland SEA 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.

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. The Board is also discussing with the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador potential new approaches to environmental assessments through a Regional Assessment of offshore exploratory drilling in Eastern Newfoundland.

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 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
c. 709-725-2900
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