Scotian

Encana Corp.’s long awaited Deep Panuke project, 155 miles southeast of Halifax on the Nova Scotian Shelf, will begin shipping its first natural gas by the end of March, officials said last week.

The Nova Scotian government gave EnCana Corp. the brush off late Thursday, telling the energy giant it does not want to pay any of the costs for a proposed pipeline to carry natural gas from EnCana’s on-and-off-again offshore Deep Panuke project. EnCana had offered the province the opportunity to take an ownership stake. The offer was required under Canadian law.

The Nova Scotian government gave EnCana Corp. the brush off late Thursday, telling the energy giant it does not want to pay any of the costs for a proposed pipeline to carry natural gas from EnCana’s on-and-off-again offshore Deep Panuke project. EnCana had offered the province the opportunity to take an ownership stake. The offer was required under Canadian law.

The Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour has concluded that a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, proposed for construction at the Point Tupper/Bear Head Industrial Park on the Strait of Canso, is not likely to cause significant adverse effects on the environment. The approval was a key step forward for Access Northeast Energy Inc., which wants commercial operations to begin by November 2007 (see Daily GPI, March 12).

EnCana on Wednesday withdrew its regulatory plan to develop the Scotian offshore Deep Panuke project, and said it will instead submit a new plan within six months after drilling two successful exploration wells at the natural gas play.

A Shell Canada Ltd. executive said last week he believes that Nova Scotia’s offshore oil and gas industry will decline after 2010 unless more discoveries are made in the near future.

A Shell Canada Ltd. executive believes that Nova Scotia’s offshore oil and gas industry will decline after 2010 unless more discoveries are made in the near future.

Canadian Superior Energy Inc. plans a major East Coast drillinginitiative offshore Nova Scotia on the company’s Marquis Prospectby September. The prospect is located about 12.5 miles northwest ofSable Island, and is analogous to PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd.’srecent 2 Tcf Abenaki Reef discovery there.