Canada’s government is toughening standards for offshore conservation in ways that can preclude oil and gas activity in some areas.
A spokesperson at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the move offers needed clarity and will not greatly affect exploration and production off Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the government will apply two forms of offshore protection: “marine protected areas” and “other effective area-based conservation measures, such as marine refuges.”
Oil and gas work, along with three other types of industrial activity, will be prohibited in marine protected areas.
In areas covered by the other protection category, economic activities will be assessed case by case.
“These will be allowed if they are consistent with the conservation objectives of that specific area,” the fisheries ministry said in a press statement.
The ministry also created the 11,580-sq-km Laurentian Channel Marine Protected Area off southwestern Newfoundland and Labrador.
The move pushes to 8.27% the share of Canada’s marine and coastal area conserved from economic activity. The federal government committed in 2015 to conserving 10% of the Canadian offshore by 2020. At the time, the share was less than 1%.
The CAPP spokesperson said, “Industry has been asking for clarity about what activity will be permitted in MPAs and other areas like marine refuges, and this announcement provides that much needed clarity going forward.”
He said no oil and gas activity occurs or is planned in the Laurentian Channel MPA but added that CAPP was “disappointed with the decision to deviate from the original protection plan...which was based on extensive scientific evidence and stakeholder involvement. That plan, through a risk-assessment for the MPA, demonstrated that oil and natural gas activity could occur in certain areas using mitigation measures to protect species of interest.”
Overall, he said, “We don’t forsee any major impact” on offshore exploration and production.
Regulation of Canada’s Atlantic oil and gas production and licensing occurs through the federal-provincial agencies Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.
