Ottawa green lights offshore Bay du Nord project

Ottawa has approved the Bay du Nord oil project off the coast of Atlantic Canada proposed by Norway’s Equinor ASA.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault formally approved the Bay du Nord offshore oil megaproject Wednesday, making a decision that will infuriate environmentalists but boost the Newfoundland and Labrador economy.
In a statement Guilbeault said he has determined that the project would not cause “significant adverse environmental effects” with the implementation of mitigation measures.

“We accept the conclusions of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada on the Bay du Nord project,” Guilbeault said while speaking with reporters.
Guilbeault said the decision was difficult to make, but pointed out that the project is subject to 137 conditions, including one that the project would have to meet net zero emissions by 2050.
In a statement Wednesday evening, Equinor called the federal environmental decision “an important milestone” for the project.

The Bay du Nord project would involve building a floating platform to drill an estimated resource of 300 million barrels of light crude oil over 12 to 20 years in the ocean near Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador province.
Equinor and partner Cenovus Energy have not yet made a final investment decision on whether to build the project, located in the Flemish Pass basin roughly 500 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Bay du Nord would be Canada’s first remote deepwater project at around 1,200 metres deep. Other offshore platforms in the Atlantic region are significantly shallower.