Paul Davis: $1.2B in offshore bids proof PC policies work

Progressive Conservative Leader Paul Davis says $1.2-billion in new exploration commitments for the province's offshore is proof that Tory energy policies are working.

• Companies pledge to spend $1.2B on N.L. offshore exploration
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On Thursday, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board revealed the results of bidding on 11 parcels in the Flemish Pass basin.

Bids were submitted and accepted for seven of them.

Those parcels are all in a deepwater frontier area of the Newfoundland offshore.

N.L. to benefit from new spending

Davis says the province will benefit from the new exploration spending.

"So it means driving the economy, creating jobs, and also setting us up for a future of oil production for many, many years to come," the PC leader told reporters while campaigning in the district of Harbour Grace-Port de Grave on Thursday.

So it means driving the economy, creating jobs, and also setting us up for a future of oil production for many, many years to come.- PC Leader Paul Davis

"So this is all good news for Newfoundland and Labrador."

Davis says moves made by the Tories in recent years helped spur the exploration interest.

That includes seismic work done by Nalcor Energy, and a new system of bidding that gave the industry more time to assess the area's potential.

"We now have a competitive process, where companies have to bid on parcels of land," Davis said.

"We have scheduled land sales that take place ... And now (if) you want to be involved in our oil and gas business, you have to compete and come here. And it's paying off for Newfoundland and Labrador."

Between 2010 and mid-2015, Crown-ownedNalcorEnergy and the provincial government funnelled $43.6 million into offshore exploration programs.

Nalcor says that spending leveraged roughly $150 million of investment from the global oil and gas industry, through the end of 2014.

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