N.L.'s full-speed-ahead approach to oil and gas misses the mark, says industry critic
A critic of the oil and gas industry says funding for the sector in Newfoundland and Labrador's new budget is a step in the wrong direction.
The budget, announced by Finance Minister Siobhan Coady last week, includes nearly $70 million to help build the offshore oil and gas industry at a time when experts around the world are calling on governments to transition away from fossil fuels.
The funding includes over $13 million for seismic work and $50 million for a program to encourage offshore exploration.
Angela Carter, an environmental policy researcher and professor at the University of Waterloo, says the budget is a complete left turn from what climate experts and economists say about where the demand for oil is going.
"This is all about developing a sector, when we know that global oil demand is on the verge of peaking," Carter said Monday.
"We don't transition off of fossil fuels by developing more fossil fuels. You know, it's like if a patient with cancer shows up to a doctor's office and they've got cancer because they've been smoking. Well, you don't get off of or get away from cancer by smoking a little bit more … but this is exactly what's happening in this case here."
Carter, who is from Newfoundland and Labrador, also opposed the exploration incentives by the provincial government, benefiting ExxonMobil, citing the corporation's record profits of nearly $56 billion US last year.
"This is putting funds not only in the wrong direction, but in a direction that makes our problem worse," she said.
"The benefits in terms of jobs and economic revenues really is on the transition, rather than trying to foster this sunsetting industry."
Budget shows positivity in oil sector, says Energy N.L. CEO
Charlene Johnson, CEO of provincial industry association Energy N.L., says the budget is a positive step for the sector as the demand for oil and gas increases around the world.
"When you look around the world, it is about balance. It's about investing in our oil and gas industry, in natural gas, while jurisdictions are looking to the future too. You see a lot of focus on wind and hydrogen," Johnson said Monday.
"There's a lot more capital investment in the world right now being invested into oil.… I think that government struck the right balance here."
Johnson said she's especially excited about the resumption of seismic work in Newfoundland and Labrador, which uses seismic waves to determine where exploration should happen for the best chance of oil and gas discovery.
It can also be used to find locations to store recaptured carbon, which she says will be key to the province's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
"We have the potential to store the equivalent of all of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions in our offshore, so the seismic data can also be helpful for that," she said. "We know we have the size and scale, it's just determining how to do it in a safe manner and where that carbon would come from."
Johnson says the injection of cash into the industry highlights a busy couple of years ahead, filled with projects that will both build the oil and gas sector while looking to more renewable projects like wind and hydrogen energy production.
"We're really on the cusp of being a leader in the world when it comes to energy," she said.
