The following statement was issued today by Ed Byrne, Minister of Natural Resources. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I want to inform the honourable members of the House of Assembly of the progress in promoting our offshore oil and gas industry which was discussed during the recent meeting of the Atlantic Energy Roundtable on Wednesday, November 16.

As most of you are aware, the Atlantic Energy Roundtable brings together my colleagues from the other Atlantic Provinces, federal cabinet ministers, as well as industry, regulators and labour leaders to build a strong and sustainable future for the offshore oil and gas industry in Atlantic Canada.

Since its inception in 2002, both levels of government have worked to respond to industry challenges without compromising our positions on benefits, safety of operations, and the environment

Among the important accomplishments resulting from this process are: improvements to the regulatory system which directly reduces exploration and development costs, and developing programs to build and enhance the industrial supply and service capability.

At our meeting last week, the federal government announced amendments to the regulations under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act whereby future offshore oil and gas exploratory drilling projects would be subject to a more efficient screening type of environmental assessment, rather than the current, more lengthy, comprehensive type of assessment. I am pleased this decision was taken on the basis of sound science and sound public policy. This is another step forward in making our offshore an attractive area for exploration investment.

While there has been marked progress, we believe that more can be done. I took the opportunity last Wednesday to highlight the significant milestones in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore. These include the continued successes of Hibernia and Terra Nova; first oil at White Rose � on-time and on-budget; the start of preliminary discussions on the development of Hebron-Ben Nevis; the amount of seismic work that has occurred in the Orphan and Laurentian basins; and, of course, the recent news of more potential at the Hibernia field.

We have heard the concerns from industry, and governments have moved towards addressing them. Now, we believe it is time for industry to step up to the plate and fully recognize the opportunities that are before us.

We want industry to invest more in exploration activity. We want to see another project go ahead offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. Our past record has indicated that while industry may say our offshore is high risk, there have been proven, successful results.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will continue to participate in the Atlantic Energy Roundtable to: support ongoing government efforts to renew and modernize the regulatory regime; to build a strategic approach to address priority research and development; and, to continue to strengthen our supply and service capabilities.

We will also continue to use this forum to bring our concerns to industry, and the federal government, and it is our hope through this open dialogue we will see more exploration and other projects developed, that will reap optimal benefits for Newfoundland and Labrador.

2005 11 22                          1:50 p.m.