The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) received nearly US$563 million (CAD $758 million) in work commitments in its latest deepwater bid round for the East Newfoundland and Jeanne d’Arc regions, offshore the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador areas.
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Image from BP. |
In the Eastern Newfoundland region (NL16-CFB01) licensing round, C-NLOPB offered 13 parcels totaling nearly 3 million hectares. At a total of some $381 million (CAD $514 million), seven bids were submitted and six parcels were awarded, with BP coming in as the top winner.
BP Canada Energy Group walked away from this round as the biggest winner, often teaming up with Noble Energy Canada and Hess Canada Oil and Gas.
With the biggest price tag of almost $205 million (CAD $276 million), Parcel 3 at 233,654 hectares was awarded to BP (50%), Hess (25%), and Noble (25%).
Parcel 10, the largest of the parcels at 264,249 hectares, went to BP (60%) and Noble (40%) for about $9 million (CAD $12.2 million).
Parcel 8, at 252,482 parcels, was awarded to BP (50%), Hess (25%), and Noble (25%) for some $93 million (CAD $125 million).
Parcel 7 at 202,138 hectares was awarded to Navitas Petroleum (30%) and DKL Investments (70%) for about $36 million (CAD $48 million).
Parcel 4 was awarded to BP (50%), Hess (25%), and Noble (25%) for nearly $9 million (CAD $12 million) for an area of 192,807 hectares.
The smallest area in the region, Parcel 13 at 169,578 hectares, went to Nexen Energy (100%) for approximately $30 million (CAD $40 million).
In the Jeanne d’Arc region (NL16-CFB02), the C-NLOPB offered three parcels, totaling 353,843 hectares. Three bids were submitted and two parcels were awarded to Husky Oil at a total value of $181 million (CAD $244 million).
The areas include Parcel 1 at 138,339 hectares for $115 million (CAD $155 million), and Parcel 2 at 73,235 hectares for nearly $66 million (CAD $89 million).
The sole criterion for selecting a winning bid is the total amount of money the bidder commits to spend on exploration of the parcel during Period I, which is the first period of a nine-year license. In addition, the minimum bid for each parcel offered is $7.4 million (CAD $10 million) in work commitments.
“Subject to the bidders satisfying the requirements specified in Call for Bids NL16-CFB01 and NL16-CFB02 and upon receiving Ministerial approval, the Board will issue exploration licenses to the successful bidders in January 2017,” the C-NLOPB said.
Earlier this month, the C-NLOPB canceled exploration licenses 1127 and 1128,off Newfoundland’s west coast held 100% by Black Spruce Exploration, due to non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the license agreement.
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