Canadian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Wednesday that Chevron Canada’s voluntary surrender of 23 permits in February has left the energy company with the last remaining permit outstanding for oil and gas drilling off Canada’s Pacific coast. He said he returned the.
“With these final permits, Natural Resources Canada has formally secured the abandonment of all 227 permits in the Pacific offshore,” Wilkinson said. Saidsays the achievement is a milestone in “protecting the ecologically rich waters of Canada’s west coast.”
Canada’s provincial and federal governments moratorium For issuing new oil and gas exploration permits off the West Coast in 1972. Reasons stated This was to avoid possible environmental disasters and interference with fishing operations in the area. At that time, no one was talking about “decarbonization”. Permits issued before 1972 were technically still valid, but were virtually impossible to use.
Canada considered lifting the embargo and issuing new permits in the 1980s, but the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker disaster derailed those plans. Energy Industry expectations have risen.
A federal commission reached a similar conclusion in 2004, but the moratorium remained in place due to perceived opposition to drilling by indigenous coastal tribal groups.
Sensitivity to ecology and indigenous peoples soon gave way to a grand push to “decarbonize” and seal the fate of oil exploration on the Pacific Coast.Indigenous-led conservation efforts heavily funded by Ottawa drove Driving the final nail into the coffin. One of the main goals of this initiative is to create There is a vast refuge network for marine life along the coast, which would not have been possible if oil and gas drilling projects were underway in the area.
Wilkinson said the last outstanding permit was surrendered by Chevron Canada, which held exploration rights to about 5,900 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. These permits also included territory within protected areas for marine life.
chevron canada announced Two weeks ago, it announced that no development would proceed in the area where it had been approved. The company said it otherwise “remains committed to safely and responsibly developing Canada’s onshore and offshore oil and gas resources.”
Last year, ExxonMobil surrendered nine British Columbia permits it had held for more than 50 years.
