Imperial, BP pitch Arctic drilling to northerners (CBC News)

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 | 7:05 PM CT Comments9Recommend4

CBC News

Residents of Inuvik, N.W.T., have mixed reactions to plans by Imperial Oil and BP to explore for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea.

The two energy giants held a public meeting Monday night in the Arctic town, as part of a northern tour in which their proposed offshore exploration is being pitched to people in the region.

The two companies, along with Imperial parent corporation ExxonMobil, are in a joint venture, created in July, to prepare for potential oil and gas exploration in a large area of the Beaufort Sea.

Some citizens who attended Monday's meeting in Inuvik said they have concerns about the effects offshore drilling could have on the Arctic environment, especially given the potential for oil spills.

"Who knows, we might not have any whales or fish in the next 10, 15 years," said Shirley Kisoun, an Inuvik resident.

Jim Hawkins, Imperial Oil's Arctic operations and regulatory manager, said the company has to reassure people that it will avoid oil spills from happening.

"The worst-case scenario is just as terrible to us, an oil company, as it is to anybody else. The emphasis that we always place is on making sure that it doesn't happen," Hawkins said.

"We've been active in the North here, Imperial has, for over 50 years, and we've been able to fulfil that commitment," he added.

Regulatory approval needed

BP and Imperial representatives said at Monday's public meeting that oil and gas exploration could begin in the Beaufort Sea within two years. But the National Energy Board has to give its approval before any drilling takes place. The federal energy regulator is in the process of reviewing Arctic drilling regulations, in light of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.

Imperial and BP have hired scientists to carry out wildlife and ocean research in the Beaufort Sea over the next two years. The companies said they surveyed 44 people last year to gather traditional aboriginal knowledge about the region, but Kisoun said that is not enough.

Others, like Richard Dick, expressed support for drilling in the Beaufort Sea, citing the potential for economic growth in the region.

"Oil companies got it pretty straight now. I don't think there'll be an oil spill now," said Dick, who is looking for work as a wildlife monitor. "They do lots of research now, and I think let's say go ahead and drill," he added. "We need some work up around here."

Plane crash disrupts tour

Imperial Oil and BP were supposed to have continued their consultation tour this week in Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., but those meetings were postponed because of a fatal plane crash in northern Alberta on Monday. A pilot was killed and the nine other people on the twin-engine turbojet were injured, including seven BP employees and a contractor.

As a result of the crash, the BP officials on the northern tour returned to Alberta. The public meetings in Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk have been rescheduled to December.