{"id":762347,"date":"2026-06-26T21:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T21:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/762347\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T21:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T21:12:14","slug":"nova-scotia-looks-to-revive-oil-and-gas-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/762347\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Scotia looks to revive oil and gas industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marco Macleod, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Energy, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss Nova Scotia’s plans to strengthen energy production, <\/p>\n

Nova Scotia is looking to revive its offshore oil and gas industry with the provincial government arguing the sector\u2018s resurgence could boost economic growth. <\/p>\n

While the province hasn\u2019t produced commercial volumes of oil or natural gas in roughly eight years, its primary motivation is revenue generation rather than energy independence, energy minister Marco MacLeod told BNN Bloomberg. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to increase our GDP (gross domestic product),\u201d says MacLeod.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not go back to something Nova Scotians know well, the offshore oil and gas market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Nova Scotia Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project Workers lay a natural gas pipeline in Dartmouth, N.S. on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007. The Nova Scotia and federal governments granted their official sanction to Encana’s $700 million Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project. at an oil and gas industry conference earlier in the day. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Andrew Vaughan <\/p>\n

He says many Nova Scotians continue to leave the province for work in places such as Ontario and Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is really to create enough economic opportunity at home, so the choice that makes the most sense is Nova Scotians to find employment at home,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Looking to past economic benefits<\/p>\n

Nova Scotia\u2019s offshore oil and gas industry ended after its two primary gas fields, <\/a>the Sable Offshore Energy Project and the Deep Panuke Project, naturally dried up and closed in 2018<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Following that, global energy companies abandoned the region<\/a> after spending millions on exploratory wells that failed to find commercial quantities of oil. <\/p>\n

Still, MacLeod points to Nova Scotia\u2019s previous offshore industry as evidence of its economic potential.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nova Scotia Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project A work boat heads past the base of the jack-up drilling platform Rowan Gorilla III berthed in the harbour in Halifax on Friday, May 29, 2009. The Rowan Gorilla was used in a six-month drilling program for the Deep Panuke offshore gas. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Andrew Vaughan \"\"Nova Scotia Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project Workers unload steel pipe for EnCana’s Deep Panuke project gas pipeline in Sheet Harbour, N.S. on Monday, July 7, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Andrew Vaughan <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we look historically, offshore oil and gas, it generated $4.6 billion to the provincial government, including $2 billion in royalties, and then in our local economy it was another $4 billion injection,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He also argues that domestic natural gas production could help reduce energy costs because Nova Scotia currently imports much of its supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at the end of the pipeline, so we pay a premium for the natural gas that we import,\u201d MacLeod says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we generate it at home, not only does that mean employment and benefits to our local supply chain, but it also means a better price for Nova Scotians.\u201d<\/p>\n

While MacLeod did not provide projections for future government revenue or employment, he says development remains in its early stages.<\/p>\n

He says the province is working with Dalhousie University on methods to develop natural gas safely and recently completed a call for bids that attracted offers on two parcels worth $210 million.<\/p>\n

Natural gas seen as transition fuel<\/p>\n

MacLeod says natural gas would also play a role in Nova Scotia\u2019s transition away from coal-fired electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of our clean power plan,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Under the Nova Scotia Clean Power Plan<\/a>, the province is legally mandated to completely phase out coal usage and reach 80 per cent renewable energy by 2030. <\/p>\n

To support the shift, the newly formed Independent Energy System Operator (IESO) Nova Scotia recently approved fast-acting, gas-fired generation facilities designed to manage peak electricity demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re quite lucky in Nova Scotia, we have a lot of wind, so wind energy will play a huge role, but we also need backup power, and that\u2019s where natural gas can play a big role as we move towards renewables,\u201d says MacLeod. <\/p>\n

Investor interest growing, minister says<\/p>\n

MacLeod says the province has been actively promoting its energy sector to investors in Western Canada, Europe and the U.S. after several years of limited industry attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really positive,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went a few years where people weren\u2019t looking at Nova Scotia, to be fair, so we had to get back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacLeod says Nova Scotia estimates it has about 150 trillion cubic feet of offshore natural gas resources and as much as 50 billion barrels of oil available.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the opportunity is there, and we are open for business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marco Macleod, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Energy, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss Nova Scotia’s plans to strengthen energy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-762347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}