Canadian petroleum industry officials are expressing concern over “dry” wells drilled off the coasts Newfoundland, Labrador and Nova Scotia in the past several years.
Trying to put the best face possible on the situation Paul Barnes, Atlantic Canada Manger for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in early September, “While there has been a series of unsuccessful exploration wells drilled in the Atlantic Canada offshore in recent years, the potential size of the gas resource in the region is considered to be large.”
Barnes continued, “Although the announcement of `dry wells’ and `smaller reserves’ is disappointing, industry is very encouraged by the current activity in the region. The region, particularly offshore Newfoundland, is continuing to gain momentum as exploration companies recognize the untapped potential and there remains significant outstanding exploration commitments.”
Earlier in the summer Brian Maynard, vice-president of Atlantic Canada operations for CAPP, told the CBC, “It’s certainly been a downturn, and the results in Nova Scotia in particular have been disappointing for the industry. The cost of drilling is just so prohibitive that people really have to look long and hard at spending that kind of money.”
Barnes added, “All exploration decisions in this region are weighed very carefully because the cost is so high.”
Experts at an August conference on LNG in Brunswick noted that Nova Scotia’s gas reserves are thought to have peaked and are largely spoken for already. Pipelines built in the 1990s to transport Nova Scotia gas, asserted one conference speaker, “wouldn’t be built now.”