NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
In anticipation of applications for drilling in the Beaufort Sea by companies like Imperial Oil and BP, the National Energy Board (NEB) is undertaking a review of Arctic offshore drilling regulations that will inform the board's assessment of all future applications for work in the Arctic offshore.

Vessels carry out seismic work for Imperial Oil in the Beaufort Sea in 2008. With Imperial and BP both having eventual plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea, the National Energy Board is mounting a review of Arctic offshore drilling that will inform its review of any future applications for work in Arctic waters. - photo courtesy of Imperial Oil

The review will look at topics such as safe drilling, protecting the environment and responding effectively when things go wrong.

The review grew up out of an initial effort by NEB to examine its views on same-season relief well drilling in the Canadian Arctic. That review was instigated when Imperial Oil asked the board to look at the company's current practice for relief wells.

"It wasn't for planned work," said Pius Rolheiser, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, which, together with ExxonMobil, purchased the rights to explore a 205,321 hectare parcel located 120 km from the outermost edge of the Mackenzie Delta in 2007.

"It was to help us in our planning for future work."

According to Sarah Kiley, a spokesperson for the National Energy Board, "The board decided not to look at this as one application. We said, 'You know what? Let's take a closer look at the entire relief well policy, see if it needs to be amended, see if we need to make changes to the policy.'"

A public meeting with 13 parties was scheduled in Inuvik for June, but on April 20, a BP drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, changing everything.

"Clearly it became quite obvious that what we were looking at in the North was much too narrow, and we need to take this review and broaden the scope of it," said Kiley.

"Now, all of a sudden, we're not just going to look at the rules around relief wells; we're going to be looking at all issues related to offshore drilling in the Canadian Arctic where we have regulatory authority."

A draft scope of topics for the review was released this summer for the public to provide their feedback.

"This is a really important issue, and there a lot of people who have concerns. We received comments from something like 60 different groups," said Kiley.

"What we hope to get out of this is a record of the best technical information that's currently available on offshore drilling in the Arctic. And what we'll do is we'll use that to inform any future applications that come our way for offshore drilling."

At last year's Inuvik Petroleum Show, Mike Peacock, exploration and development manager for Imperial Oil, said of Imperial's plans, "We anticipate that we would spud our first well in 2013 and we'd envision that being a multi-season well."

In 2008, BP purchased a 202,000 hectare parcel adjacent to Imperial's parcel for $1.2 billion.

The NEB has placed a moratorium on all Arctic offshore drilling until its review is completed.

"We want to be prepared for any application that may come our way and, yes, we're aware that these companies have spent a lot of money on purchasing their leases," said Kiley.

Work on the review this fall will include meetings with aboriginal groups, communities and the GNWT "to gain an understanding of their perspectives with respect to offshore drilling activities," according to the NEB document outlining the review process.

After it reviews all submitted material, the board will publicly release a report outlining its findings and how they will be applied to the board's assessment of future applications

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