The following statement was issued today by Paul Dicks, Minister of Mines and Energy. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I am pleased today to report the results of the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board�s 2000 Call for Bids for petroleum rights in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area.

I remind you that last year�s call for bids resulted in record work expenditure commitments of $192 million. This year $88.6 million in bids were received for 10 of 14 parcels offered, including a $55 million bid by Petro-Canada and Norsk Hydro for one parcel in the Carson/ Bonnition Basin. Petro-Canada and Norsk Hydro have been actively involved in the offshore area and I am encouraged to see them make such a substantial bid in a new, relatively unexplored basin.

PanCanadian continued its interest from last year�s sale with a bid of $1.6 million for a parcel in the Carson/ Bonnition Basin, and Corridor Resources was successful with a $1.2 million bid for a parcel in the offshore west coast area of the province. This is the second parcel acquired by Corridor offshore western Newfoundland.

Husky Oil was also active, bidding on two parcels in the Jeanne d�Arc Basin, and two parcels in the South Whale Basin for a total bid of $25 million. In addition to the above, a new player, Polaris Resources, submitted bids totaling $5.6 million for three parcels in the South Whale Basin. This brings the total work expenditure bids for lands in our offshore area to approximately $776 million for the past six years.

Although the bids were lower than the record bids received over the past couple of years they do indicate a sustained interest in the potential of our offshore, and provide encouragement that major discoveries will be made in new areas beyond the Jeanne d�Arc Basin.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the successful bidders and wish them great success in their exploratory efforts. I will also take this opportunity to welcome Polaris Resources into our offshore. Polaris is a Calgary-based company that I am proud to say is run by an ex-patriot Newfoundlander.

To place our petroleum industry into perspective we have major developments ongoing at Hibernia and Terra Nova. We will see developments at White Rose and Hebron/Ben Nevis in the near future.

In the past few years we have received substantial bids for lands outside the proven area known as the Jeanne d�Arc Basin and have seen record levels of seismic acquisition, which is the precursor to drilling. Considering all of these factors I am optimistic that our petroleum sector will continue to be a major force in the expansion of the province�s economy.

2000 12 12 2:40 p.m.