Bay du Nord benefits agreement talks going 'extremely well,' says minister
CBC
Equinor has delayed a crucial milestone for the massive Bay du Nord oil project in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, and it's touched off a political dust-up as the governing PCs and opposition Liberals spar over who's to blame.
Equinor put the brakes on what's called Decision Gate 2, which would see the company move forward with front end engineering and design work, and early procurement.
The Norwegian company had set December as the date for a decision, but one of the conditions for DG2 — a formalized benefits agreement with the provincial government — has not been achieved.
That's because of a shakeup in the province's political landscape, with the Liberals losing their 10-year grip on power in October's election, and the PCs, under Premier Tony Wakeham, still early in their mandate.
The online news site AllNewfoundlandLabrador broke the story this week, and on Tuesday, the Liberals came out swinging, saying it's unacceptable that the public had to learn about the delay through media reports.
“People will continue to hold out hope, but the hope starts to chip away when they don’t hear from their leaders," said Liberal Leader John Hogan.
“They campaigned on being open and transparent. We’ve seen none of that since they were elected.”
Energy and Mines Minister Lloyd Parrott fired back, saying that teams from the province and Equinor are meeting on a near-daily basis, and that negotiations are "moving ahead very well, extremely well."
Parrott also lobbed a political uppercut at the Liberals.
“Prior to November when we came in, there were no talks," said Parrott.
"We’ve been here for three months and we’ve moved more in three months than we have in six years."
A benefits agreement formalizes everything from fiscal and equity terms to employment and fabrication targets.
Meanwhile, the tone from Equinor seems to be one of patience. In a statement, the company said it has adjusted the timing of its engineering and procurement decision to allow for the transition of a new government.
Equinor also confirmed that talks with the province are ongoing.
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