Oil and gas production from offshore Atlantic Canada could reachabout 500,000 Boe/d if, as key operators in the region predict, anew development project begins every two or three years throughoutthe next two decades, according to “Harnessing the Potential -Atlantic Canada’s Oil and Gas Industry.”

“Offshore Atlantic Canada is now firmly established as one ofthe bright spots in Canada’s petroleum sector and has started toattract the attention of world-class players in the oil and gasindustry. Some of the world’s major oil and gas companies haveembarked upon aggressive and ambitious exploration and developmentprograms in Atlantic Canadian waters,” the report said. “Since1995, more than $700 million in exploration commitments have beenannounced for four regions within the Atlantic Canadian offshore:the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, Scotian Shelf, Sub-Laurentian Basin and theSt. Pierre Bank.”

Just announced are plans for BP Amoco to market 45 MMcf/d of gasproduction from the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) through anagreement with Nova Scotia Resources (Ventures) Ltd. (see Daily GPI,Sept. 8, 1999).

Also just announced is the fact that the largest pipe-layingvessel in the world, Allseas Solitaire, has finished installing 122miles of pipe along the ocean floor for the Sable project.Solitaire installed the main gathering line, which transports gasfrom Sable’s Thebaud Central Processing Platform, located 10 kmwest of Sable Island, to the landfall at Goldboro, GuysboroughCounty. Solitaire completed the final lay-down at the ThebaudPlatform Sept. 3.

Production for Atlantic Canada’s offshore of 500,000 Boe/d wouldbe equivalent to 50% of Canada’s current light crude oil productionand more than 300% of current oil consumption for Atlantic Canada.”To achieve this level of production, there could be as much as $55billion in cumulative capital and operating expenditures associatedwith the development and operation of these fields.

“East Coast Canada’s strong reserve potential provides anexcellent hunting ground; its large potentially hydrocarbon-bearingstructures remain virtually unexplored; exploration that has beenundertaken has had very encouraging rates of success. Typically,pool sizes have been large and flow rates superior.”

The report was sponsored by the Newfoundland Ocean IndustriesAssociation (NOIA), the Offshore Technologies Association of NovaScotia (OTANS), the Metal Working Association of New Brunswick(MWANB) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

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