For Immediate Release
1 June, 2023
NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) is calling on government to do the hard work and ensure workers and communities in this province are insulated from the uncertainty in the offshore oil industry.
“Our people have to be at the forefront of any transition plan, and we need that plan now. Especially as we see the oil industry signal for the second time this year that our offshore oil projects are facing uncertainty,” said Dinn. “The government has to focus on doing the hard work and having the conversations about a transition plan, however uncomfortable that may be, put our workers and communities first as we transition away from oil in the coming years, and give them certainty for their future.”
The announcement that the Bay du Nord project will be delayed for up to three years comes on the heels of an earlier announcement that Terra Nova FPSO is also delayed. In 2021, the province had given over $205 million dollars from the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Recovery Assistance Fund, and an additional $300 million in royalty benefits to prop up the Terra Nova Project instead of ensuring workers and communities received direct supports. Suncor, who accepted the $505 million in subsidies posted a record profit of $2.74 billion in quarter 4 2022.
“We cannot continue to blindly believe that large profitable oil companies have our peoples’ best interests at heart,” said Dinn. “These companies came to the government hat in hand threatening to cancel projects then issued dividends to their shareholders, and delayed the projects that were supposed to give our economy stability – that’s not the behaviour of partners who have our people as their priority.”
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca