BP Canada given green light to begin drilling off Nova Scotia’s coast

The Canadian unit of British petroleum Canada has been given the go ahead by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) to begin drilling for oil off east coast of Nova Scotia.

The company has started to do so with the Aspy D-11 exploration well, approximately 330km off the coast of Halifax - the first of the company’s wider planned Nova Scotia Basin Exploration Project.

See also:

• Exxon Mobil to sell 19% stake in Terra Nova offshore oil project

• NL government to double oil production, source natural gas by 2030

• Canada’s ongoing billion-dollar oil & gas projects

The regulatory approval comes less than a year after BP Canada submitted its application to CNSOPB in September 2017.

The federal government in February 2017 stated that the project would not have any significant environmental impact, signaling that it would likely go ahead, later authorizing BP to carry out preparation for its drilling in April.

However, BP Canada and the government have both received criticism from environmental agencies due to the risk of an oil spill that the company’s activities may cause.

In response, BP have said they will responsibly take the appropriate measures to ensure that the safety of both the environment and its workers will be paramount throughout its regional drilling and exploration projects.