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NOIA Golf Tournament
Thursday, 16 Sep 2010
  
5th International Symposium on Oil and Gas Resources in Western Newfoundland
Wednesday, 22 Sep 2010
  
Maritime Human Resource Conference
Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010
  
Networking Social
Thursday, 28 Oct 2010
  
Member Christmas Reception
Thursday, 9 Dec 2010
  Lorneville Mechanical Contractors
  Martin Industrial Group
  Spatial Energistics Group Inc.
  Weatherford Laboratories
 
Resource & Regulations
 
Petroleum Rights Issuance
Petroleum rights are issued and administered in Newfoundland and Labrador by the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NOPB) and in Nova Scotia by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NSOPB). The rights issuance process in these areas is delineated below:

Call for Nominations
The Call for Nominations provides interested parties with the opportunity to nominate crown reserve lands for inclusion in a Call for Bids. The CNLOPB has established an annual rights issuance cycle; the C-NSOPB has established a semi-annual cycle.

Plan for Interests
The CNLOPB and C-NSOPB are required to submit, for approval by provincial and federal ministers, plans for the disposition of petroleum rights offshore.

Call for Bids
Upon receipt of ministerial approvals, the CNLOPB and C-NSOPB will initiate a Call for Bids for Exploration Licences which will specify the sole criterion to be applied in assessing bids.  The sole criterion is either a cash bonus bid or a work expenditure bid.  A cash bonus bid is expressed as a dollar value a bidder will pay in order to acquire a particular licence.  A work expenditure bid is expressed as the sum of money a bidder will commit to spend on exploration within the first period of the term of the Exploration Licence.

Exploration Licence
Exploration Licences have a maximum term of nine years, comprising two consecutive periods of five years and four years.  The licensee is required to drill or spud one exploratory well on or before the expiry date of the first period. Annual rentals apply to the second period.

Significant Discovery Licence
If a drilling program results in a significant discovery and a Declaration of Significant Discovery has been made, by CNLOPB or C-NSOPB, a licensee is entitled to a Significant Discovery Licence.  This allows the licensee to hold rights to a discovery area while the extent of that discovery is determined or until commercial development becomes viable.

Production Licence
Where a commercial discovery is declared by the CNLOPB or C-NSOPB, the licensee is entitled to a Production Licence subject to the approval of a development plan and a Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador or Canada-Nova Scotia benefits plan.  A Production Licence is issued for a period of twenty-five years and for such period thereafter during which commercial production continues.

Onshore Newfoundland and Labrador

The Provincial Minister of Natural Resources is responsible for the issuance and administration of petroleum rights within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The key features of the petroleum licensing regime onshore Newfoundland and Labrador are summarized below:

Exploration Licence
An exploration licence confers the non-exclusive right to conduct an exploration survey.

Call for Postings
The Minister is authorized to issue a Call for Postings, inviting interested parties to identify the areas they would like to have made available in a Request for Bids.

Request for Bids
Depending on the level of interest expressed in response to the Call for Postings, the Minister may issue a Request for Bids for Exploration Permits, which will specify a single criterion to be applied in assessing bids. The single criterion may be a cash bonus bid, a work expenditure bid or any other single criterion chosen by the Minister.

Exploration Permit
An exploration permit confers the exclusive right to drill for petroleum on designated lands. It is valid for a primary term of five years and may be extended for a secondary term of two years if the permittee drills a well during the primary term or commits to drill a well during the secondary term by providing a security deposit to secure that commitment.

Lease
A lease confers the exclusive right to develop and produce a petroleum discovery in accordance with an approved development plan. A lease has an initial term of ten years and is subject to five year renewals.

Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island has undergone a review of its legislation pertaining to oil and natural gas exploration and development.  In an effort to more fully promote diligent exploration in the province and provide a regulatory framework in line with neighbouring provinces and the federal government, several substantive changes to the Oil and Natural Gas Act were proposed.  

With the enactment of An Act to Amend the Oil and Natural Gas Act in November 2000 and the subsequent passage of the Oil and Natural Gas Act Permit, Lease and Survey System Regulations, Prince Edward Island will now only issue exploration permits through competitive bidding.  Previously, permits were acquired through a first come - first serve process. The legislative changes also affect the term of the permits.  Length of terms will be for six and nine years, respectively, for onshore and offshore permits.  Prior to the amendments, permit terms were for one-year but could be renewed annually up to seven times. 

Under the amendment to the Act, the maximum size of a (production) lease may include up to 100% of the area of the permit in which the lease was derived.  This is a change from the requirement to relinquish at least 50% of the permit area after the discovery of commercial resources of hydrocarbons.  The terms for onshore and offshore leases area twenty and twenty-five years, respectively.
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