Newfoundland and Labrador launches 41-block offshore oil and gas exploration licensing round

(WO) – The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) has issued a Call for Bids for Exploration Licenses in the offshore Eastern Newfoundland Region.

Call for Bids No. NL24-CFB01 (Exploration Licenses, Eastern Newfoundland Region) consists of 41 parcels and a total of 10,287,196 hectares, 32 of which have been made available under previous Calls for Bids or relinquishment of lands that have subsequently reverted back to Crown reserve.

The remaining nine parcels are new and were designed over Sector NL06-EN, with consideration given to stakeholder input from a previous call for nominations.

Interested parties will have until 12:00 p.m. Newfoundland time on November 6, 2024, to submit sealed bids for the parcels offered in this Call for Bids.

The sole criterion for selecting a winning bid will be the total amount of money the bidder commits to spend on exploration of the parcel during Period I (the first six years of a nine-year license). The minimum bid for the parcels offered is $10,000,000 in work commitments.

Some of the parcels in this 2024 Call for Bids overlap the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Marine Refuge. The C-NLOPB says it will continue to work with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to protect environmentally significant areas. Emissions-related considerations will be assessed as part of the regulatory review process when companies propose specific plans.

Planning, monitoring and assessment of offshore oil and gas activities will ensure they occur in an environmentally responsible way. The timing, spatial extent, and nature of proposed oil and gas activities, in addition to mitigations already prescribed by legislation or regulation, will determine the level of restriction or mitigation that may be required.

Regional and/or site-specific mitigation measures to be undertaken before and during oil and gas -related operations within a license area will be conditions of C-NLOPB approvals and authorizations.

For any lands entirely or partially beyond Canada’s 200 nautical mile zone, additional terms and conditions may be applied (e.g. through legislation, regulations, amendments to licences or otherwise) to any resulting licence from a Call for Bids in order to meet obligations arising pursuant to article 82 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Based on an assessment of nominations and land tenure considerations, the C-NLOPB has decided not to proceed with a Call for Bids in the Jeanne d’Arc Region in 2024. The decision to proceed with future Call for Bids in the Jeanne d’Arc Region will be assessed on an annual basis per the C-NLOPB’s Scheduled Land Tenure System.