BP, Shell explore Nova Scotia offshore oil
Shell Oil Co. and BP Plc. received government approval in Canada to explore offshore drilling sites in waters off Nova Scotia, a plan that has potential to create work for Maine contractors and has raised environmental concerns.
The Portland Press Herald reported each company has committed about $1 billion to surveying for oil deposits about 100 miles southeast of Nova Scotia, in an area that comes within about 50 miles of the Georges Bank fishing ground.
In the event of a major oil spill, the newspaper reported currents through that area would bring oil into the Gulf of Maine and down along the Maine coast.
Andrew Younger, Nova Scotia’s minister of energy, told the newspaper that environmental protection is the priority for the provincial government and that the province reviewed its regulations and safety systems after the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which spilled nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the gulf over 87 days. The province could get several billion dollars in royalties if the companies discover commercially viable oil deposits.
Shell has already completed a seismic study of the area and plans to begin drilling up to seven exploratory wells next year; BP plans to begin a two-year seismic survey of a 5,000-square-mile area this spring.
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