ExxonMobil Canada said Thursday it will provide $1 million for research and development for Atlantic Canada through the Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC), which fosters building capacity in the region’s oil and natural gas industry. ExxonMobil is a partner and operator of the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) near Nova Scotia and also has interests in Hibernia and Terra Nova developments in Newfoundland.

PRAC is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit, public-private partnership that began operations in 1999. PRAC’s members are drawn from academia, federal and provincial governments and industry.

Last December, ExxonMobil began natural gas production at the Alma field, the first Tier 2 production from the SOEP, which is located 125 miles offshore Nova Scotia (see Daily GPI, Dec. 3, 2003). The Alma field is producing about 120 MMcf and 3,000 bbl of condensate and natural gas liquids (NGL) per day. Overall, the SOEP is producing about 500 MMcf/d and 20,000 bbl/d of associated condensate and NGLs.

The $1 million grant over the next five years is in addition to an earlier $1.25 million grant in 1999 by ExxonMobil, which was a founding member of PRAC.

“Research and development are vitally important in the continued growth of the offshore energy industry,” said Alex Dodds, president of ExxonMobil Canada. He said that ExxonMobil was committed to developing research capability and capacity” in Atlantic Canada.

The SOEP is owned by ExxonMobil Canada (50.8%), Shell Canada Ltd. (31.3%), Imperial Oil Resources (9%), Pengrowth Corp. (8.4%) and Mosbacher Operating Ltd. (0.5%), which together have spent more than $20 million in Nova Scotia on research and development. Gas from the project is transported to markets in the Canadian Maritime Provinces and to the northeastern United States via the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline.

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