Nova Scotia’s Dream of Offshore Oil Has Become A Nightmare
The oil company Shell has decided to close two oil offshore wells off the coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in effect killing the province‘s dream of offshore oil. It is both good and bad depending on your point of view: good if you care about the environment and mother nature and bad if you are only interested in lining your pockets.
The two wells in question here are the Monterey Jack well and the Cheshire deepwater well which Shell says that the latter well did not have good quantity oil. Offshore projects were meant to propel the economy and oil industry of the east coast provinces.
Drilling in deepwaters and over 200km off coast is difficult and indeed expensive. There is another option: to drill more wells inland. Will it be explored? Only time will tell.
But according to Stuart Pinks, the chief executive of Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board said that it is “unlikely” that further oil exploration will go on in the province this year.
The next company looking to drill a well is BP Oil. This will probably be in 2018. The director of resources with the offshore board, Carl Makrides, said that the total number of BP wells in plan is 6. Statoil has 2 licenses. It is a Norwegian multinational oil and gas company that has yet to apply for any geoscience programs or exploration. Its first licence will expire in 2022, Jan. 14th.
The bidding on the Sydnet basin and the Orpheus-Graben basin goes out in April or May. The bidding will be concluded in the fall most probably.
Mr. Makrides believes that it would take years before any drilling took place if there are any successful bidders.
