This oil drilling vessel is set to explore off Newfoundland, but a climate advocate says now's not the time

Energy N.L. says alarge drill ship anchored in Bay Bulls is set to begin exploratory drillingoff the coast of Newfoundland, but a climate advocatesaysthe time to begin work isn't when climate targets need to be reached.

British energygiantBPis planning to drill an initial exploratory well in the west Orphan Basin beginning in May, in water at a depth of 1.25 kilometres. It is a previously unexplored section of thebasinabout 400 kilometres northeast of St. John's.

The property iscalledEphesus, and companies will use the Stena IceMAXship currently docked in Bay Bulls. Drilling is expected to last for twoto five months.

Energy N.L. CEO Charlene Johnson said the well has been touted as one to watch in the energy sector.

"It's being compared a lot to a very prolific field in Brazil called the Marlimfield, which hasroughly three billion barrels of recoverable oil. It's bigger than the Marlimfield, so it has the potential for even more than that," Johnson saidWednesday.

"When you look at what we have right now, that's almost equivalent to everything we have now put together."

ExxonMobil is also expected to begin exploration drilling in the Jeanne d'Arc basin at some point this year. It willdrill inabout160 metres of seawaterfor 75 days.

While both projects are in the early stages, Johnson said, it's a positive stepfor the sector and the province's economy. She said each exploration well willbring benefits to the region.

"Each one of these exploration wells is about 400 jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador.You'll see more helicopters, you'll see more supply vessels, you're going to see restaurants busier. So it's that whole spinoff effect," she said. "When you get to production, that 400 becomes 4,000 or more jobs."

Johnson said it's also exciting to see companies like Exxon and BP, whichowns a 35 per cent stake in the Bay du Nord project, be aggressive in exploring and developing Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore.

Exploration goes against climate guidance, says advocacy group

However, a member of the climate advocacy group Sierra Club Canada says now isn't the time for new exploration.

"We know that even a lot of the oil and gas projects that are currently planned are not something that we could go ahead with if we were going to meet our climate targets," said Conor Curtis, the national head of communicationsfor the Sierra Club Canada Foundation said from Montreal.

"We also know that even past that, any further exploration is definitely out of the picture. So it's extremely concerning from a climate change perspective."

Curtis said the move is also economically concerning, as it shows a desire to see oil exploration as a key component of the province's future economy, which goes against the advice of climate experts and the United Nations.

"There's been sort of a sales pitch that the world is going to need this oil, that something has changed given the global energy situation that will require this oil. But there's no evidence that actually supports that," he said.

"This oil wouldn't contribute or help in any way to the global energy situation. In fact it would take years even just to develop."

Curtis said Johnson's comments about the creation ofjobs is a false promise, as there's no guarantee the project has a future beyond exploration.

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