Shell Canada Ltd. secured the exploration rights on four parcels in Nova Scotia’s offshore with successful bids that totaled C$970 million — the highest bids ever — the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) said Friday.

The expenditures detailed in the bids for lease sale NS11-1 represent the amount of money Shell intends to spend exploring the parcels during the initial six-year period of a nine-year license, the CNSOPB said. Successful bidders are required to post a 25% deposit of the amount of the bid to demonstrate their commitment to conduct the intended work.

“The board will proceed with issuing exploration licenses effective March 1 to Shell Canada for these parcels, pending final ministerial approval by both the federal and provincial governments,” said CNSOPB CEO Stuart Pinks.

Shell bid C$1.76 million for parcel one; C$303.08 million for parcel two; C$235.026 million for parcel three and C$430.139 million for parcel four.

Under the terms, bidders are required to have experience in the past 10 years in drilling exploration wells in water depths deeper than 800 meters. The board said Shell had “demonstrated that it has extensive worldwide experience in deepwater drilling including involvement in three previous deepwater exploratory wells drilled offshore Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.”

The bids “are the highest received to date for parcels offshore of Canada’s east coast,” said Pinks. “These lands are located offshore Southwest Nova Scotia where recent studies have identified oil potential.

“It is also important for our community to know that we have a regulatory regime in place which serves to ensure that petroleum activities are only conducted by competent parties in a manner which holds the health and safety of offshore workers and the protection of the offshore environment paramount.”

No bids were received on the other four parcels included in the call for bids, the board said. The next lease sale is scheduled for May with nominations accepted until March 16. More information on future calls for bids, including forecasts of lands, also may be included.

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