BP Disaster: Canada’s deepwater well faces scrutiny
Officials insist record-depth drilling off Newfoundland is safe, blame Gulf spill on questionable techniques.
Shawn McCarthy
Ottawa — From Thursday's Globe and MailPublished on Wednesday, Jun. 02, 2010 3:27PM EDTLast updated on Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010 7:22PM EDT
Newfoundland and Labrador is proceeding with the high-risk game of oil exploration in ultra-deep water, as regulators in the province express confidence in industry’s safety practices despite the ecological catastrophe of BP PLC’s Gulf of Mexico blowout.
Canada’s East Coast is now the only region in North America where oil companies can continue to drill deep-water exploration wells afterPresident Barack Obama
last week ordered the industry to suspend such operations in the Gulf of Mexico, pending a review of the BP disaster.
Max Ruelokke, chair of the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, said Wednesday that it appears BP employed questionable drilling methods that would not be condoned in the Canadian offshore.
“We believe things were done in the Gulf that were not in compliance with regulations and probably not even good oil field practices,” Mr. Ruelokke.
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