NL offshore has potential for new heights

Commercial oil discoveries off Newfoundland and Labrador could see three or four new fields coming online in the next ten years

The Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) offshore oil industry is again picking up speed after grinding to a near halt when the coronavirus pandemic hammered energy demand and prices in the first half of 2020. And assuming there are commercial discoveries during the latest rebound in exploration activity, the next decade could be positive for NL oil production, even with the Canadian government continuing to turn the environmental screws. “The first ray of sunshine was last September, when [Canada’s] Suncor formed a new ownership group and approved a plan to extend the life of Terra Nova by ten years,” Paul Barnes, director of Atlantic Canada and Arctic for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Pr