Eager hunters of new supplies will have to wait a while forclear word on whether a promising nearby natural gas frontier willopen up again offshore of British Columbia’s western coastline. TheB.C. government is spreading a word of caution after industryanalysts and representatives put an enticing spin on statementsmade by provincial energy minister Dan Miller during appearances atthe 16th World Petroleum Congress last month in Calgary.

Miller described an open-for-business B.C. policy that includestaking another look at a moratorium against drilling offshore ofCanada’s west coast. The government’s word of caution is that sofar it is a gentle, preliminary look.

Exploration along B.C.’s northern coastline dates back to 1913.Concerns in the environmental and fishing communities led to amoratorium in 1959. It was lifted in 1966 then reinstated in 1972as a result of more concerns ignited by tanker traffic between theAlaskan oil port of Valdez and the lower-48 United States. Theearly drilling, plus 14 wells accomplished during the six-yearreprieve from the moratorium, generated tantalizing results. Theywere assembled by the Geological Survey of Canada in a 1995 reportthat estimated the region harbors 20 Tcf of gas and 2.7 billionbarrels of oil. Later estimates, with revised calculatingtechniques, have put the resource endowment at potentially doublethe GSC estimate.

Besides the wave of interest washing out from the conferencelast month, the B.C. government’s promise to take another look atthe west-coast drilling moratorium also prompted a conference ofCanadian offshore oil and gas specialists in Newfoundland, atMemorial University in St. John’s. The scholarly session dwelledheavily on ways to find a resource-management and political balancethat simultaneously allows offshore development, a healthy fishingindustry and happy environmentalists too.

In the B.C. capital of Victoria on Vancouver Island, energydepartment communications officer Kerry Readshaw has instructionsto advise callers to read the government’s statements literally andcarefully. Yes, the moratorium is getting a second look, and therewill be considerable work done on the issue this summer. But sofar, the work is strictly preliminary. It is a study of proceduresthat should be followed if a decision is made to go ahead andreview the substance of the moratorium, Readshaw stressed. Whetherto conduct that review remains to be decided. No firm target dateshave been set for reaching conclusions. B.C. ranks with California,Oregon and Washington on the scales of environmental sensitivityand power wielded by conservationists, natives and fisheryinterests. The petroleum industry’s target area, the QueenCharlotte Islands, stands among the most scenic and fertile regionsanywhere in Canada.

The sensitivity is well known to the industry. In 1997, ShellCanada Ltd., Chevron Canada Resources Ltd., Petro-Canada and MobilCanada made a 320,000-acre donation of drilling prospects to theGwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area along thesoutheastern tip of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The event wasmarked by high ceremony in Calgary, with the Duke of Edinburgh inattendance in his capacity as a prominent royal patron ofenvironmental causes (the British royal family, through agovernor-general, still serves as Canada’s symbolic head of stateand no serious politicians except Quebec separatists dare to tamperwith the tradition).

A joint statement by the companies, the World Wildlife Fund andthe Nature Conservancy of Canada called the Queen Charlottes a”marine treasure” of global proportions. The donation was far froma declaration that the companies have given up on the region,however. The 320,000 surrendered acres represented less than 10% ofthe west coast drilling prospects held under long-term leases. Thedonation involved the most sensitive property, a “transition zone”between deep waters and the land, site of a Canadian national park.

Gordon Jaremko, Calgary

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